While he is widely acknowledged as the most important Russian thinker of the nineteenth century, Vladimir Soloviev?s place in the landscape of world philosophy nevertheless remains uncertain. Approaching him through a single synoptic lens, this book foregrounds his unique envisioning of the interaction between humanity and the material world. By investigating the development of a single theme in his work?his idea of the?spiritualization of matter?, the?task? of humanity?Smith constructs a rounded picture of Soloviev?s overall importance to an understanding of nineteenth-century thought, as well as to modern theology and philosophy. The picture that emerges is of a writer whose contribution to a Christian philosophy of matter resonates with many of the religious debates of modernity.