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"Bulgakov's theological speculations on the Divine Wisdom (Sophiology) provoked heated discussion: they never prevailed even in France where his influence was greatest, and were eventually condemned as heretical by the Moscow Patriarchate in 1935 and by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The "sophiology" debate has cast something of a shadow over Fr. Bulgakov's memory, but it would be hard to dispute his significance as a Christian role model for Russian intellectuals of his generation."{{ref|1}}
St. [[John Maximovitch]], in his book ''The Orthodox Veneration of the Virgin Mary'', devotes an entire chapter on why the sophiology of Sergius Bulgakov is [[heresy]], specifically one as destructive as [[Nestorianism]].Speaking of those who attempt to deify the Theotokos, he wrote: '':In the words [Fr. Sergius Bulgakov], when the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the Virgin Mary, she acquired "a dyadic life, human and divine; that is, She was completely deified, because in Her hypostatic being was manifest the living, creative revelation of the Holy Spirit" (Archpriest Sergei Bulgakov, The Unburnt Bush, 1927, p. 154). "She is a perfect manifestation of the Third Hypostasis" (Ibid., p. 175), "a creature, but also no longer a creature" (P. 19 1)....But we can say with the words of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus: "There is an equal harm in both these heresies, both when men demean the Virgin and when, on the contrary, they glorify Her beyond what is proper" (Panarion, "Against the Collyridians"). This Holy Father accuses those who give Her an almost divine worship: "Let Mary be in honor, but let worship be given to the Lord" (same source). "Although Mary is a chosen vessel, still she was a woman by nature, not to be distinguished at all from others. Although the history of Mary and Tradition relate that it was said to Her father Joachim in the desert, 'Thy wife hath conceived,' still this was done not without marital union and not without the seed of man" (same source). "One should not revere the saints above what is proper, but should revere their Master. Mary is not God, and did not receive a body from heaven, but from the joining of man and woman; and according to the promise, like Isaac, She was prepared to take part in the Divine Economy. But, on the other hand, let none dare foolishly to offend the Holy Virgin" (St. Epiphanius, "Against the Antidikomarionites"). The Orthodox Church, highly exalting the Mother of God in its hymns of praise, does not dare to ascribe to Her that which has not been communicated about Her by Sacred Scripture or Tradition. "Truth is foreign to all overstatements as well as to all understatements. It gives to everything a fitting measure and fitting place" (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov)."''
Sergei Bulgakov was an enthusiastic follower of Aleksey Khomyakov's [[ecumenism|ecumenistic]] idea of union between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Anglican church. He was one of the founders of the Anglican-Orthodox ecumenical [[Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius]], which devoted itself to the establishment of such a union.
