BULGAKOV, MACARIUS. - Russian theologian, b. 1816, d. 1882. He became a monk, changing his name from Mikhail Petrovich to Macarius; he taught ecclesiastical history at Kiev and theology at the Ecclesiastical Academy of St. Petersburg (1842), of which he became rector in 1850. Consecrated bishop the following year, he successively occupied the sees of Vinnitsa, Tambov (1857), and Kharkov (1859), combining diocesan administration with numerous other offices and dignities, while finding time to write important and voluminous works.
His two principal works are: 1) a complete course of Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, in 6 vols. (St. Petersburg 1847-53, reduced to 3 vols. in the final edition), in which the author drew heavily on the course of Fr. Perrone, though the speculative element is almost entirely absent; 2) a History of the Russian Church in 13 vols., covering the period from its origins to the Moscow Council of 1667, a work weak in critical method but valuable for the ancient documents it reproduces.
Of all the Russian theologians of the 19th century, B. was the best known abroad, especially because of his theological course and the compendium he produced in 1868, which was translated into several languages. One must be careful not to equate B.’s doctrine with that of other Russian theologians of the 19th century, and especially with that of contemporary theologians. There is disagreement on many points.