state. This involves the essence of free theocracy, for men, he holds, cannot fail to approve and accept true Christianity as soon as they are sufficiently acquainted with it.
The church is the organisation of piety. Man lives in "this world," which is imperfect, finite, and relative; but man lives also a life in God, in "the realm of God," and for this latter life the church is the mediating religious instrument.
Religious life, religious truth, is neither scientific nor philosophical; it is not even theological; but it is life, pious life, such as the teachings of religion demand and render possible. Theoretic theosophy finds expression in theurgy. The mysteries of the seven sacraments and the dogmatic utterances of the seven councils (the holy seven!) are represented and manifested in the church by and through life.
In the church a fraternity, a liberty, and an equality, real because spiritual, are realised, not however through the individual, but through Christ. Solov'ev accepts Dostoevskii's dictum concerning "Russian socialism," whereby is denoted the essential being of the church universal. The principle of the spiritual life, says Solov'ev, basing himself on St. John, is "not of itself"; hence the need for the apostolate and the hierarchy—the church. The church is for Solov'ev the incarnation of God; in and through the church, men are united with Christ, God incarnate
The personal representatives of the moral organisation of mankind, those upon whom the higher services devolve, are: the high priests, absolute authority (but an authority devoted to true tradition), the representative of the highest piety; the climax of grace and sympathy, absolute power, the being truly aware of existing needs, to wit the king (tsar); the prophet, finally, who represents the acme of the sense of shame and of conscience, represents absolute freedom, believes in the true picture of the future.
Solov'ev has most of all to tell us about the prophetic function. Christianity was in truth right to do away with the prophets. In rare cases only have they appeared since, and usually as false prophets, this explaining all the anomalies of medieval and modern history. Solov'ev desires the reestablishment of the prophetic function, but this does not depend upon the human will. The prophet has profound social significance in that he is perfectly independent, has no fear of anything external, and is not subordinated to anything external—possesses
