Abstract

Vladimir Soloviev should probably not be described as a philosopher or theologian of the highest rank. However his importance in the intellectual history of Russia and of Eastern Orthodoxy in general is peerless. This fact is now slowly beginning to seep into Western scholarship. He was and remains relevant and interesting as a formidable animator, a man of enormously diverse interests, and a genuine ecumenicist. Without him the Russian theological school in twentieth century France would not have been possible. Moreover, the curious debate about his repeated conversions and reconversions and his strongly pro-Jewish essays contribute to this interest.