Is Humanity King to Creation? The Thought of Vladimir Solov'ev in the Light of Ecological Crisis

The Russian philosopher, poet and mystic Vladimir Solov'ev (1853-1900), the father of the sophiological movement in Russian thought, remains a little known figure in the West. This article considers Solov'ev’s credentials as an environmentalist before his time and develops a number of strands of his biblical theology from an ecological perspective. It goes on to explore his envisioning of the ‘kingship’ of humanity in God’s creation, which he understood as the ideal relationship between humanity and the world, and to unravel the complexities of his thought on the ‘coming’ of the Kingdom of God. The article suggests that Solov'ev has much to offer theologians and religious people in the articulation, and application, of an ecological theology of creation.