Jacob's Ladder: On Angels

Few of Sergius Bulgakov’s professional writings achieve the lyrical heights of Jacob’s Ladder. In it he discusses the doctrine of angels and their importance for contemporary humanity. He includes reflections on the meaning of love, the sexes, death, and the Christian hope of resurrection, meditating on the Wisdom of God in the creation.

This work completes the word picture of divinized and Sophianic creation begun in The Burning Bush and The Friend of the Bridegroom, which together constitute what scholars call Bulgakov’s “major,” or first, trilogy.

 

Sergius Bulgakov (1871-1944) is widely regarded as the twentieth century's leading Orthodox theologian. His other books include Relics and Miracles, The Unfading Light, The Burning Bush, The Lamb of God, The Comforter, Jacob's Ladder, and Churchly Joy (all Eerdmans).

Thomas Allan Smith is associate professor of the history and theology of Eastern Christianity at the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto.