The Burning Bush: Writings on Jews and Judaism

Glazov, professor of biblical studies at the Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, deserves credit for rescuing Solovyov—whom he dubs “a Russian analogue to St. Thomas Aquinas and a trailblazer for Russian Orthodox Christians seeking unity with the West and Catholicism”—from obscurity in this comprehensive volume. It is as much biography and commentary as it is a collection of primary sources concerning Solovyov’s writings about Jews and Judaism. Glazov declares Solovyov to be “one of nineteenth-century Russia’s greatest Christian philosophers, mystics, poets, political theorists social activists, debaters, and satirists.” During the pogroms that swept Russia following the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, Solovyov took up his pen to combat official and unofficial anti-Semitism, including an analysis of the Talmud to demonstrate that it “does not contain any of those bad laws which the anti-Semites would like to discover in it.” His denunciation of religious prejudice was firmly grounded in his own faith; in Solovyov’s 1884 essay, “Jewry and the Christian Question, “ he notes that “We Christians... still have not learned to treat Judaism in a Christian way... in dealing with them, [we] have constantly broken, and continue to break the precepts of the Christian religion.” Glazov also includes relevant excerpts from his subject’s correspondence with Tolstoy. The level of detail makes this better suited for the academic than the lay reader. [em](July) [/em]