The Quality of Becoming: Sophia and Sophiology in Istorija Stanovlenija Samosoznajuščej Duši

The article explores the enduring influence of Sophiology, as well as similarities with later sophiological thought, in Belyiʼs Istoriia stanovleniia samosoznaiushchei dushi (ISSD). It demonstrates continuity between Belyiʼs thinking, which adopts the otherwise very different conceptual apparatus of anthroposophy, and that of figures such as Jacob Boehme, Vladimir Solovʼev and Sergei Bulgakov on the question of Sophia as relational matrix and the sophianicity of culture. Concentrating particularly on the significance Belyi gives to the categories of “quality” and “style” in the dynamics of becoming, it uses the many parallels that exist between Belyi and Sophiology on the question of the vocation of the individual to explicate one of the central concerns of ISSD.