TV channel culture biblical story Nikolay 2. “Bible story”: made with love

In this article we invite you to familiarize yourself with the most famous biblical stories. It is known that biblical stories became the basis of many cultural works. Bible stories do more than just teach us wisdom, tolerance, and faith. Bible stories help us better understand culture and ourselves.

In this material we offer you biblical stories of the Old and New Testaments. The greatest prophets, kings of the Ancient World, apostles and Christ himself are the heroes of epic biblical tales.

World creation.

The biblical story of the creation of the world is described in the Book of Genesis (Chapter 1). This biblical story is fundamental to the entire Bible. Not only does it tell how it all began, it also establishes the basic teachings about who God is and who we are in relationship with God.

The creation of man.

Man was created on the sixth day of creation. From this biblical story we learn that man is the pinnacle of the universe, created in the image of God. This is the source of human dignity and this is why we pursue spiritual growth, so we will become more like it. Having created the first people, the Lord commanded them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and have dominion over animals.

Adam and Eve - a story of love and the Fall

The story of the creation of the first people Adam and Eve and how Satan, under the guise of a serpent, tempted Eve to sin and eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of good and evil. Chapter 3 of Genesis describes the story of the Fall and the expulsion of the first people from Eden. Adam and his wife Eve are in the Bible the first people on Earth, created by God and the ancestors of the human race.

Cain and Abel - the story of the first murder.

Cain and Abel are brothers, sons of the first people - Adam and Eve. Cain killed Abel out of jealousy. The story of Cain and Abel is the story of the first murder on the young Earth. Abel was a cattle breeder, and Cain was a farmer. The conflict began with a sacrifice to God made by both brothers. Abel sacrificed the firstborn heads of his flock, and God accepted his sacrifice, while Cain’s sacrifice - the fruits of the earth - was rejected due to the fact that it was not offered with a pure heart.

Longevity of the first people.

We have been asked many times in commentaries on chapters of the book of Genesis why people lived so long in those days. Let's try to imagine all possible interpretations of this fact.

Great Flood.

Chapters 6-9 of Genesis tell the story of the Great Flood. God was angry at the sins of mankind and sent rains to the earth, which became the cause of the Flood. The only people who managed to escape were Noah and his family. God commanded Noah to build an ark, which became a shelter for him and his relatives, as well as for animals and birds, which Noah took with him into the ark.

Babel

After the Great Flood, humanity was a single people and spoke one language. The tribes that came from the east decided to build the city of Babylon and a tower to heaven. The construction of the tower was interrupted by God, who created new languages, which is why people stopped understanding each other and were unable to continue construction.

Abraham's Covenant with the Lord

In the Book of Genesis, several chapters are devoted to the post-flood patriarch Abraham. Abraham was the first person with whom the Lord God entered into a Covenant, according to which Abraham would become the father of many nations.

Sacrifice of Isaac.

The Book of Genesis describes the story of the failed sacrifice of Isaac by his father, Abraham. According to Genesis, God called Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a “burnt offering.” Abraham obeyed without hesitation, but the Lord spared Isaac, convinced of Abraham’s devotion.

Isaac and Rebekah

The story of Abraham's son Isaac and his wife Rebekah. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel and the granddaughter of Abraham's brother Nahor (Abraham, who lived in Canaan, decided to find a wife for Isaac in his homeland, in Harran).

Sodom and Gomorrah

Sodom and Gomorrah are two famous biblical cities that, according to the Book of Genesis, were destroyed by God for the sinfulness and depravity of their inhabitants. The only one who managed to survive was Abraham's son Lot and his daughters.

Lot and his daughters.

In the tragedy of Sodom and Gomorrah, God spared only Lot and his daughters, since Lot turned out to be the only righteous person in Sodom. After fleeing Sodom, Lot settled in the city of Zoar, but soon left there and settled with his daughters in a cave in the mountains.

The story of Joseph and his brothers

The biblical story of Joseph and his brothers is told in the Book of Genesis. This is the story of God's faithfulness to the promises made to Abraham, His omnipotence, omnipotence and omniscience. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, but the Lord directed their destinies in such a way that they themselves accomplished what they were so eager to prevent - the rise of Joseph.

Egyptian plagues

According to the book of Exodus, Moses, in the name of the Lord, demanded that Pharaoh free the enslaved children of Israel. Pharaoh did not agree and 10 Egyptian plagues were brought down on Egypt - ten disasters.

The Wanderings of Moses

The story of the forty-year exodus of the Jews from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. After forty years of wandering, the Israelites circled Moab and reached the bank of the Jordan at Mount Nebo. Here Moses died, appointing Joshua as his successor.

Manna from heaven

According to the Bible, manna from heaven is the food that God fed the people of Israel during their 40-year wanderings in the desert after the exodus from Egypt. The manna looked like white grains. The collection of manna took place in the morning.

Tencommandments

According to the book of Exodus, the Lord gave Moses ten commandments about how to live and relate to God and each other.

Battle of Jericho

The biblical story tells how Moses' successor, Joshua, asked the Lord to help him take the city of Jericho, whose inhabitants were afraid of the Israelites and did not want to open the gates of the city.

Samson and Delilah

The story of Samson and Delilah is described in the Book of Judges. Delilah is the woman who betrayed Samson, repaying her love and devotion by revealing the secret of Samson’s strength to his worst enemies - the Philistines.

The Story of Ruth

Ruth is the great-grandmother of King David. Ruth was known for her righteousness and beauty. The story of Ruth represents righteous entry into the Jewish people.

David and Goliath

The biblical story of a young man who, led by faith, defeated a great warrior. Young David is the future God-chosen king of Judah and Israel.

Ark of the Covenant of God

The Ark of the Covenant is the greatest shrine of the Jewish people, in which the stone Tablets of the Covenant were kept, as well as a vessel with manna and Aaron’s staff.

Wisdom of King Solomon.

King Solomon is the son of David and the third Jewish king. His reign is described as a wise and just reign. Solomon was considered the personification of wisdom.

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

A biblical story about how the legendary Arabian ruler Queen of Sheba paid a visit to King Solomon, famous for his wisdom.

Golden image of Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar, who saw a golden image in a dream, could not get rid of the desire to make a similar statue of enormous size and from the purest gold himself.

Queen Esther

Esther was a beautiful, quiet, modest, but energetic woman who was passionately devoted to her people and her religion. She is the intercessor of the Jewish people.

Job the long-suffering

Biblical stories of the New Testament.

Birth of John the Baptist

The Old Testament ends with the hope that God will send Elijah to prepare the people for the coming of the Savior, the Messiah. Such a person turns out to be John the Baptist, who prepares people for the coming of the Messiah, telling them about repentance.

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The biblical story is about the announcement by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary of the future birth according to the flesh from her of Jesus Christ. An angel came to the Mother of God and uttered the words that She had been chosen by God and had found grace from God.

Birth of Jesus

Even in the Book of Genesis there are prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. There are more than 300 of them in the Old Testament. These prophecies come true in the birth of Jesus Christ.

Gifts of the Magi.

The Three Wise Men bring gifts to baby Jesus at Christmas. In the Bible, the Magi are kings or magicians who came from the East to worship the baby Jesus. The Magi learned about the birth of Jesus by the appearance of a miraculous star.

Massacre of the innocents

The Massacre of the Innocents is a New Testament biblical tradition described in the Gospel of Matthew. Tradition speaks of the massacre of infants in Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus. Murdered babies are revered by a number of Christian churches as holy martyrs.

Baptism of Jesus

Jesus Christ came to John the Baptist, who was near the Jordan River in Bethabara, with the goal of being baptized. John said: “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” To this Jesus replied that “we must fulfill all righteousness,” and received baptism from John.

Temptation of Christ

After his baptism, Jesus went into the desert to fast for forty days. In the desert the devil tempted Jesus. In Christianity, the temptation of Christ by the devil is interpreted as one of the proofs of the dual nature of Jesus, and His wounding of the Devil is interpreted as an example of the fight against evil and the grace-filled result of baptism.

Jesus walks on water

Jesus walking on the waters is one of the miracles performed by Christ to assure the disciples of His Divinity. Walking on water is described in three Gospels. This is a famous biblical story that was used for Christian icons, mosaics, etc.

Expulsion of traders from the temple

A biblical story describing an episode of the earthly life of the Messiah. On the Passover holiday in Jerusalem, Jews rounded up sacrificial cattle and set up shops in the temple. After entering Jerusalem, Christ went to the temple, saw the merchants and drove them out.

last supper

The Last Supper is the last meal of Jesus Christ with His twelve disciples, during which He established the sacrament of the Eucharist and predicted the betrayal of one of the disciples.

Prayer for the Cup

The Prayer of the Cup or the Prayer of Gethsemane is the prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. The prayer for the cup is an expression of the fact that Jesus had two wills: divine and human.

Kiss of Judas

Biblical story found in the three Gospels. Judas kissed Christ at night in the Garden of Gethsemane after praying for the cup. The kiss was a sign for the arrest of the Messiah.

Pilate's Court

The Trial of Pilate is the trial of the Roman procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, over Jesus Christ, described in the four Gospels. The Judgment of Pilate is included in the Passion of Christ.

Denial of the Apostle Peter

The Denial of Peter is a New Testament story that tells how the Apostle Peter denied Jesus after his arrest. Denial was predicted by Jesus during the Last Supper.

Way of the Cross

The Way of the Cross or carrying the cross is a biblical story, an integral part of the Passion of Jesus, representing the path taken by Christ under the weight of the cross, on which he was subsequently crucified.

Crucifixion of Christ

The execution of Jesus took place on Golgotha. The execution of Christ by crucifixion is the final episode of the Passion of Christ, which precedes the burial and Resurrection of Christ. Jesus suffered on the cross next to the thieves.

Resurrection.
On the third day after death, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. His body was transformed. He came out of the tomb without breaking the Sanhedrin seal and invisible to the guards.

On September 30, 1452, the first book, the Bible, was printed in Mainz by Johannes Gutenberg. The Bible contains many different stories. Today we decided to make a selection of the five most popular stories from the Bible.

The Bible is a collection of sacred Christian texts, consisting of the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament is also the sacred text of the Jews. The New Testament is the second part of the Bible, a collection of 27 Christian books that have come down to us in ancient Greek. This part of the Bible is most important for Christianity, while Judaism does not consider it divinely inspired.

Nativity

One of the most important stories in the New Testament. Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem because of the Roman Empire's census. According to the law, every resident of the empire had to appear in his city. Both Joseph and Mary were descendants of David and they headed to Bethlehem. When Mary and Joseph arrived in the city, all the hotels were already occupied. Mary was approaching her due date, so the Holy Family took refuge in a cave near the city, which was used as a stable for animals, where the baby Jesus Christ was born. After Jesus was born, he lay in an animal feed manger. Among the people, shepherds came to worship him, notified of this event by the appearance of an angel. According to the Evangelist Matthew, a miraculous star appeared in the sky, which led the Magi to the baby Jesus. They presented Christ with gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh.

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Kiss of Judas

The story of the kiss of Judas appears in three versions of the Gospel. Judas Iscariot, deciding to betray Christ, brought many high priests and armed people, then Judas approached Jesus and betrayed him, pointing him out to the guards, kissing him at night in the Garden of Gethsemane after praying for the cup. After this kiss, which was a sign to the people that Jesus should be arrested, the next Passion of Christ began. The kiss of Judas Iscariot is one of the Passion of Christ.

Crucifixion of Christ

The execution took place on Golgotha, on which was the crucifixion of Christ. The execution of Jesus Christ by crucifixion is the final episode of the Passion of Christ and precedes the burial and Resurrection of Christ. Jesus suffered on the cross, and two thieves were crucified next to him. One told Christ that since He is the Christ, let Him save us and Himself. The second thief defended Jesus and repented of his sins. Then Jesus told him that he who repented would be with Him in Paradise.

Resurrection of Jesus Christ

When Saturday passed, at night, on the third day after his suffering and death, the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. His body was completely transformed. He came out of the tomb without rolling away the stone, without breaking the Sanhedrin seal and invisible to the guards. From that moment on, the soldiers, without knowing it, guarded the empty coffin. Later, Mary Magdalene was ahead of the other myrrh-bearing women and was the first to come to the tomb. It was early, it was dark outside. Mary saw that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, and immediately ran to Peter and John and said: “They have taken the Lord away from the tomb, and we do not know where they laid Him.” Hearing such words, Peter and John immediately ran to the tomb. Not finding the body of Jesus Christ, they noticed an angel in white clothing sitting on the right side of the place where the Lord was laid, and they were seized with horror. The angel said to them: “Do not be alarmed; You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene crucified; He has risen; He's not here. This is the place where He was laid. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He will meet you in Galilee, there you will see Him, just as He told you.”

RETELLING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

Greek philosopher to Prince Vladimir

In the beginning, on the first day, God created heaven and earth. On the second day he created a firmament in the midst of the waters. On the same day the waters divided - half of them rose to the firmament, and half went under the firmament. On the third day he created the sea, rivers, springs and seeds. On the fourth day - the sun, moon, stars, and God decorated the sky. The first of the angels, the elder of the rank of angels, saw all this and thought: “I will descend to earth and take possession of it, and I will be like God, and I will set my throne on the northern clouds.” And immediately he was cast out of heaven and after him those who were under his command fell - the tenth angelic rank. The name of the enemy was Satanail, and in his place God put the elder Michael. Satan, having been deceived in his plan and deprived of his original glory, called himself an adversary to God. Then, on the fifth day, God created whales, fish, reptiles and birds. On the sixth day God created animals, livestock, and creeping things on the earth; created man too. On the seventh day, that is, on Saturday, God rested from his works.

And God planted a paradise in the east in Eden and brought into it the man whom he had created, and commanded him to eat the fruit of every tree, but not to eat the fruit of one tree - the knowledge of good and evil. And Adam was in paradise, saw God and glorified him along with the angels. And God cast a dream upon Adam, and Adam fell asleep, and God took one rib from Adam, and created for him a wife, and brought her into paradise to Adam, and Adam said: “Behold, bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; she will be called woman.” And Adam named the cattle and the birds, the beasts and the creeping things, and even gave names to the angels themselves. And God subjugated the beasts and cattle to Adam, and he possessed them all, and everyone listened to him. The devil, seeing how God honored man, became jealous of him, transformed into a serpent, came to Eve, and said to her: “Why don’t you eat from the tree that grows in the middle of paradise?” And the wife said to the serpent: “God said: Do not eat, but if you eat, you will die.” And the serpent said to his wife: “You will not die; for God knows that on the day on which you eat from this tree, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” And the wife saw that the tree was edible, and she took the fruit and gave it to her husband, and they both ate, and the eyes of both were opened, and they realized that they were naked, and they sewed themselves a girdle from the leaves of the fig tree. And God said: “Cursed is the earth because of your deeds; you will be filled with sorrow all the days of your life.” And the Lord God also said: “When you stretch out your hands and take from the tree of life, you will live forever.” And the Lord God expelled Adam from paradise. And he settled opposite paradise, weeping and cultivating the earth, and Satan rejoiced at the curse of the earth. This is our first fall and bitter reckoning, our falling away from the angelic life. Adam gave birth to Cain and Abel. Cain was a plowman, and Abel was a shepherd. And Cain offered the fruits of the earth as a sacrifice to God, and God did not accept his gifts. Abel brought the firstborn lamb and God accepted Abel’s gifts. Satan entered Cain and began to incite him to kill Abel. And Cain said to Abel: “Let’s go into the field.” And Abel listened to him, and when they left, Cain rose up against Abel and wanted to kill him, but did not know how to do it. And Satan said to him: “Take a stone and hit him.” He took the stone and killed Abel. And God said to Cain: “Where is your brother?” He answered: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” And God said: “Your brother’s blood cries out to me; you will groan and shake until the end of your life.” Adam and Eve cried, and the devil rejoiced, saying: “Whom God honored, but I made him fall away from God, and now I have made him cry.” And they cried for Abel for thirty years, and his body did not decay, and they did not know how to bury him. And by the command of God, two chicks flew in, one of them died, the other dug a hole and put the deceased in it and buried him. Seeing this, Adam and Eve dug a hole, put Abel in it and buried him weeping. When Adam was 230 years old, he gave birth to Seth and two daughters, and took one Cain, and the other Seth, and that is why people began to be fruitful and multiply on the earth. And they did not know Him who created them, they were filled with fornication, all uncleanness, murder, envy, and people lived like cattle. Only Noah alone was righteous among the human race. And he gave birth to three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. And God said: “My spirit will not dwell among people”; and again: “I will destroy what I have created, from man to beast.” And the Lord God said to Noah: “Build an ark 300 cubits long, 80 cubits wide, and 30 high”; The Egyptians call a cubit a fathom. Noah spent a hundred years making his ark, and when Noah told the people that there would be a flood, they laughed at him. When the ark was made, the Lord said to Noah: “Go into it, you and your wife, and your sons, and your daughters-in-law, and bring to you two of every beast, and of every bird, and of every creeping thing.” And Noah brought in whom God commanded him. God brought a flood on the earth, all living things drowned, but the ark floated on the water. When the water subsided, Noah came out, his sons and his wife. From them the earth was populated. And there were many people, and they spoke the same language, and they said to each other: “Let us build a pillar up to heaven.” They began to build; and God said: “Behold, people and their vain plans have multiplied.” And God came down and divided their speech into 70 and 2 languages. Only Adam's tongue was not taken from Eber; This one of all remained uninvolved in their crazy deed, and said this: “If God ordered people to create a pillar up to the sky, he would have commanded it with his word - just as he created the sky, the earth, the sea, everything visible and invisible.” That is why his language did not change; from him came the Jews. So, people were divided into 71 languages ​​and dispersed to all countries, and each people adopted its own character. According to the teachings of the devil, they sacrificed to groves, wells and rivers, and did not know the true God. From Adam to the flood, 2242 years passed, and from the flood to the division of nations, 529 years. Then the devil misled people even more, and they began to create idols: some wooden, others copper, others marble, and some gold and silver. And they bowed to them, and brought their sons and daughters to them, and slaughtered them before them, and the whole earth was desecrated. Serukh was the first to make idols; he created them in honor of dead people: some he placed for former kings, others for brave men and wise men, and adulterous wives. Serukh begat Terah, and Terah begat three sons: Abraham, Nahor and Aaron. Terah made graven images, having learned this from his father. Abraham, having begun to understand the truth, looked at the sky and saw the stars and the sky, and said: Truly that is God who created the heavens and the earth, and my father deceives people. And Abraham said: “I will test the Gods of my father,” and turned to his father: “Father! Why are you deceiving people by making wooden idols? He is the God who created heaven and earth.” Abraham took fire and lit the idols in the temple. Aaron, Abraham's brother, seeing this and honoring the idols, wanted to take them out, but he himself was immediately burned and died before his father. Before this, the son did not die before the father, but the father before the son; and from then on, sons began to die before their fathers. God loved Abraham and said to him: “Leave your father’s house and go to the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and generations of men will bless you.” And Abraham did as God commanded him. And Abraham took his nephew Lot; this Lot was both his brother-in-law and nephew, since Abraham took for himself the daughter of his brother Aaron, Sarah. And Abraham came to the land of Canaan to a tall oak tree, and God said to Abraham: “To your descendants I will give this land.” And Abraham bowed to God. Abraham was 75 years old when he left Haran. Sarah was barren and suffered from childlessness. And Sarah said to Abraham: “Come in to my handmaid.” And Sarah took Hagar and gave her to her husband, and Abraham went in to Hagar. Hagar conceived and gave birth to a son, and Abraham named him Ishmael. Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born. Then Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son, and named him Isaac. And God commanded Abraham to circumcise the boy, and he was circumcised on the eighth day. God loved Abraham and his tribe, and called them his people, and separated them from others, calling them his people. And Isaac grew to manhood, and Abraham lived 175 years and died and was buried. When Isaac was 60 years old, he gave birth to two sons: Esau and Jacob. Esau was deceitful, but Jacob was righteous. This Jacob worked for his uncle for seven years, seeking the hand of his youngest daughter, and Laban, his uncle, did not give her to him, saying: “Take the eldest.” And he gave him Leah, the eldest, and for the sake of the other, he told him to work for another seven years. He worked another seven years for Rachel. And so he took for himself two sisters and fathered eight sons from them: Reuben, Simeon, Leugia, Judah, Isachar, Zaulon, Joseph and Benjamin, and from two slaves: Dan, Nephthalim, Gad and Asher. And from them came the Jews. Jacob went, when he was 130 years old, to Egypt, along with his entire family, numbering 65 souls. He lived in Egypt for 17 years and died, and his descendants were in slavery for 400 years. After these years, the Jews became stronger and multiplied, and the Egyptians kept them in slavery. During these times, Moses was born to the Jews, and the Egyptian magicians said to the king: “A child has been born to the Jews who will destroy Egypt.” And the king immediately ordered all Jewish children born to be thrown into the river. Moses' mother, frightened by this destruction, took the baby, put him in a basket and carried him and placed him in a water meadow. At this time, Pharaoh's daughter Fermufi came to bathe and saw a crying child, took him, spared him, named him Moses and nursed him. That boy was handsome, and when he was four years old, Pharaoh’s daughter brought him to her father. Pharaoh, seeing Moses, fell in love with the boy. Moses, somehow grabbing the king’s neck, dropped the crown from the king’s head and stepped on it. The sorcerer, seeing this, said to the king: “O king! Destroy this youth, but if you don’t destroy him, then he himself will destroy all of Egypt.” The king not only did not listen to him, but, moreover, ordered not to destroy the Jewish children. Moses grew to manhood and became a great man in Pharaoh's house. When a different king became in Egypt, the boyars began to envy Moses. Moses, having killed an Egyptian who had offended a Jew, fled from Egypt and came to the land of Midian, and when he walked through the desert, he learned from the angel Gabriel about the existence of the whole world, about the first man and what happened after him and after the flood, and about the confusion of languages, and who lived how many years, and about the movement of the stars and their number, and about the measure of the earth, all wisdom. Then God appeared to Moses in a burning thorn bush and said to him: “I saw the grief of my people in Egypt and came down to free them from the power of Egypt, to lead them out of this land. Go to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and tell him: “Release Israel, so that they may perform the demands of God for three days.” If the king of Egypt does not listen to you, then I will beat him with all my miracles.” When Moses came, Pharaoh did not listen to him, and God sent ten plagues on him: 1) bloody rivers, 2) frogs, 3) midges, 4) dog flies, 5) pestilence, 6) boils, 7) hail, 8) locusts, 9) three-day darkness, 10) pestilence on people. That’s why God sent ten plagues on them because they drowned Jewish children for ten months. When the pestilence began in Egypt, Pharaoh said to Moses and his brother Aron: “Get away quickly!” Moses, having gathered the Jews, left Egypt. And the Lord led them through the desert to the Red Sea, and a pillar of fire walked ahead of them at night, and a pillar of cloud during the day. Pharaoh heard that the people were running, and he pursued them and pressed them to the sea. When the Jews saw the situation they were in, they cried out to Moses: “Why did you lead us to death?” And Moses cried out to God, and the Lord said: “Why are you crying out to me? Strike the sea with your rod.” And Moses did so, and the waters parted in two, and the children of Israel entered into the sea. Seeing this, Pharaoh pursued them, and the children of Israel crossed the sea on dry ground. And when they came ashore, the sea closed over Pharaoh and his soldiers. And God loved Israel, and they walked from the sea three days through the wilderness, and came to Marah. The water here was bitter, and the people grumbled against God, and the Lord showed them a tree, and Moses put it in the water, and the water was sweet. Then the people again murmured against Moses and Aaron: “It was better for us in Egypt, where we ate meat, onions and bread to our full.” And the Lord said to Moses: “I heard the murmur of the children of Israel,” and gave them manna to eat. Then he gave them the law on Mount Sinai. When Moses went up the mountain to God, the people cast the head of a calf and worshiped it as God. And Moses cut off three thousand of these people. And then the people again grumbled against Moses and Aron, because there was no water. And the Lord said to Moses: “Strike the stone with the rod.” And Moses answered: “What if he does not give up water?” And the Lord was angry with Moses because he had not magnified the Lord. And he did not enter the promised land because of the murmuring of the people, but he took him to Mount Vamskaya and showed him the promised land. And Moses died on that mountain. And Joshua took power. This one crossed the desert, entered the promised land, defeated the Canaanite tribe and settled the sons of Israel in their place. When Jesus died, judge Judas took his place; and there were fourteen other judges. With them, the Jews forgot God, who brought them out of Egypt, and began to serve demons. And God was angry and handed them over to the foreigners for plunder. When they began to repent, God had mercy on them; and when he delivered them, they again turned away to serve demons. Then there was the judge Elijah the priest, and then the prophet Samuel. And the people said to Samuel: “Appoint us a king.” And the Lord was angry with Israel, and made Saul king for them. However, Saul did not want to submit to the law of the Lord, and the Lord chose David and made him king of Israel, and David pleased God. God promised this David that God would be born from his tribe. He was the first to prophesy about the incarnation of God, saying: “From the womb before the morning star he begat you.” So he prophesied for 40 years and died. And after him, his son Solomon prophesied, who created a temple for God and called it the Holy of Holies. And he was wise, but in the end he sinned; reigned for 40 years and died. After Solomon, his son Rehoboam reigned. Under him, the Jewish kingdom was divided into two: one in Jerusalem, and another in Samaria. Jeroboam, Solomon's servant, reigned in Samaria; He created two golden calves and placed them - one in Bethel on the hill, and the other in Dan, saying: “These are your Gods, O Israel.” And people worshiped, but forgot God. So in Jerusalem they began to forget God and worship Baal, that is, the God of war, in other words Ares; and they forgot the God of their fathers. And God began to send prophets to them. The prophets began to denounce them for lawlessness and serving idols. They, being exposed, began to beat the prophets. God was angry with Israel and said: “I will cast myself aside and call other people who will obey me. Even if they sin, I will not remember their iniquity.” And he began to send prophets, telling them: “Prophesy about the rejection of the Jews and the calling of new nations.”

Hosea was the first to prophesy: ​​“I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. I will break the bow of Israel... I will no longer show mercy to the house of Israel, but I will sweep them away and deny them, says the Lord, and they will be wanderers among the nations.” Jeremiah said: “Even if Moses and Samuel appeared before me... I will not have mercy on them.” And the same Jeremiah also said: “Thus says the Lord: Behold, I have sworn by my great name that my name will not be pronounced by the lips of the Jews.” Ezekiel said: “Thus says the Lord Adonai: I will scatter you, and scatter all your remnant to all the winds... Because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your abominations; I will reject you... and will not have mercy on you.” Malachi said: “Thus says the Lord: I have no more favor with you... For from the east to the west my name will be glorified among the nations, and in every place they will offer incense to my name and a pure sacrifice, for my name will be great among the nations.” peoples. For this reason I will give you over to be reproached and to be scattered among all nations.” Isaiah the great said: “Thus says the Lord: I will stretch out my hand against you, I will rot and scatter you, and I will not gather you again.” And the same prophet also said: “I have hated your holidays and your new moons, and I do not accept your Sabbaths.” Amos the prophet said: “Hear the word of the Lord: I will cry for you; the house of Israel has fallen and will rise no more.” Malachi said: “Thus says the Lord: I will send a curse on you and curse your blessing... I will destroy it and it will not be with you.” And the prophets prophesied many things about their rejection.

God commanded the same prophets to prophesy about the calling of other nations in their place. And Isaiah began to cry out, saying: “From me will come the law, and I will make my judgment a light for the nations. My truth is near and ascending... and the nations trust in my arm.” Jeremiah said: “Thus says the Lord: I will make a new covenant with the house of Judah... Giving them laws for their understanding, and writing them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Isaiah said: “The former things have passed away, but I will proclaim the new things; before they were proclaimed, they were shown to you. Sing a new song to God.” “My servants will be given a new name, which will be blessed throughout the whole earth.” “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The same prophet Isaiah says: “The Lord will bare his holy arm before the eyes of all nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.” David says: “Praise the Lord, all nations, glorify him, all people.”

So God loved the new people and revealed to them that He would come to them, appear as a man in the flesh and atone for the sin of Adam through suffering. And David, before others, began to prophesy about the incarnation of God: “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” And again: “The Lord said to me: You are my son; Today I have given birth to you.” Isaiah said: “Neither an ambassador nor a messenger, but God himself, when he comes, will save us.” And again: “A child will be born to us, dominion is on his shoulders, and his name will be called great light by the angel... Great is his power, and his world has no limit.” And again: “Behold, a virgin will conceive, and they will call his name Immanuel.” Micah said: “You, Bethlehem, the house of Ephraim, are you not great among the thousands of Judah? From you will come one who is to be a ruler in Israel and whose origin dates back to the days of eternity. Therefore he places them until the time of giving birth to those who give birth, and then their remaining brothers will return to the children of Israel.” Jeremiah said: “This is our God, and no one else can compare with him. He found all the ways of wisdom and gave it to his son Jacob... After that he appeared on earth and lived among people.” And again: “He is a man; who will know that he is God? for he dies as a man.” Zechariah said: “They did not listen to my son, and I will not hear them, says the Lord.” And Hosea said, “Thus says the Lord: My flesh is of them.”

Alexander Yakovlevich Askoldov’s father was a commissar... Hero of the Civil War, director of the Bolshevik plant, one of the largest in Kyiv. In 1937, he was taken straight from the hospital, where he was treating old wounds, and taken to Lubyanka, Moscow, where he was shot. Then they came for mom. When she was taken away at night, he heard the elder say to the guard: you will register her and come back for the boy. Sasha was five, he did not yet know how to tie his shoelaces, and did not know how to open the door. He talks about this touchingly: how suddenly everything worked out, when he realized that he had to run: his shoes laced up and he thought of putting a chair against the door and remembered how they had fun visiting his father’s friends who lived nearby, and he went. It was a large Jewish family, they understood everything, and burst into tears and grabbed; none of the neighbors reported; and then managed to send it to my grandmother in Moscow. He looked for them later, but the traces were lost somewhere in Babi Yar...

“Obviously, they died, these people who sheltered me, and I think that this gratitude that lived in me all these years for this family was, to some extent, the impulse that also influenced the birth of the painting, which became the film "Commissioner".

My grandmother is a simple village woman, very smart, very tough, her maiden name is Bogoroditskaya; she went to the monastery, cared for a very sick woman, whom we called abbess... The grandmother worked at the depot, near Novodevichy, as a night cleaner of trams, and earned extra money doing laundry. Three years later, my mother was released; it was almost impossible to get a job, but she was a courageous person, she achieved it - she was hired as a nanny, to wash pots...” Alexander Askoldov

When the war began, my mother’s old friend was appointed director of the blood transfusion institute, and he was able to make her his assistant. She transported blood to the fronts. And she donated it herself: the donor was entitled to a piece of sugar and a piece of butter... Mom’s merits helped the son of an enemy of the people to go to college, and then even become an assistant to the Minister of Culture, mother was once friends with Furtseva...

“At some point,” says Alexander Yakovlevich, I felt the absolute meaninglessness of my work as an bureaucrat; the thaw ended, and I left. And I, like everyone else, submitted an application to the highest directing courses; it was very interesting: people whom I had just recently examined in his ministry, this time they examined me. They smiled and giggled. But I passed. Only Romm asked if it was too late. I said: Michal Ilyich, it’s probably too late. But I can’t handle being an official anymore. I want to try something do..."

It's time to make a graduation film. “And then, one day at a party, such a home one, a friend of my mother, cheerful, laughing, suddenly said: you know, yesterday I read Grossman’s story, there’s such a story! The commissar comes to a Jewish family, she has time to give birth, and so on... And I crawled out from behind the table, into another room, almost without realizing it, I sketched out a plan for the future painting, and I didn’t want to think about anything else. I naively thought that I would make such a film, I understand so much about life that tomorrow, after watching this film, people will become a little better. It’s just that a lot worried me, I saw a huge dissonance: interethnic relations in the country, I was deeply hurt by the absolute lack of culture in relation to religion, I was outraged by the cloying depiction of the Civil War in our art. I believed that war is the limit of immorality, and civil war is lawlessness.” Alexander Askoldov.

Rolan Bykov said that Askoldov was the first to show the Civil War as a tragedy. A woman should love, give birth and raise children, but she kills. The female image is the image of Rus'; Mother. His understanding of the Russian apocalypse is a continuation of the pillar path of all Russian literature: it is not for nothing that he graduated from philology and for nine years helped Elena Sergeevna sort through the Bulgakov archive... This is Petrov-Vodkin’s “Petrograd Madonna”, and, of course, “horses”.

“I saw this dream - a dream about the Commissioner. I saw these horses. I saw these children. I had never seen how people were killed in my life, and I thought, why am I going to film this? It's going to be a movie. But I realized that war, injustice, hardens. If she embitters a child, then what will grow out of him... And so the Jewish pogrom arose for me in the form of a children's game of pogrom. It's probably immoral to force these kids, for a minute, to turn into little animals. I had a lot of difficulty filming it. But the result is moral - it should give rise to such an aversion to violence! Which will be stronger than articles and words.” Alexander Askoldov

“At first,” Rolan Bykov said, many people supported the film, because the theme was supported in the world, and they wanted a good attitude from international filmmakers... But the first denunciation that was written about the picture was the denunciation of our consultant, the rabbi of a Moscow synagogue. He wrote that anti-Semites Shukshin, Mordyukova and Bykov had gathered and were mocking the image of a Jew. This letter came to the party committee... terrible panic. And I asked Askoldov to let me talk to this rebbe, and asked: “What doesn’t suit you?” He says: Why are you playing such a dirty Jew? Are Jews so dirty? I answered: Who told you that I play a Jew? What, when playing Hamlet, should I play a Dane? I play a father of seven children. Time of the Civil War: there is no barber on every corner, the baths are closed, there is no soap: where can it come from, so clean? And then you see only individual frames, bricks, but what I will build from bricks, what kind of temple - you have no idea...”

They met in their youth, when Askoldov beat Bykov at a reading competition. Then fate brought them together in St. Petersburg, when Alexander Yakovlevich, an official sent by Furtseva to close the Bykovsky performance, on the contrary, defended it... At first, Rolan Antonich refused to play in the Commissioner. Then I thought about it and decided to play a Jew, whom everyone doesn’t like, so that they love him. This is how they built the role of Efim Magazanik. Naturally, he has a nervous breakdown when he has to give the room to the commissar. But having learned that she is expecting a child, he sews her a dress, gives her slippers, and repairs her crib. And when she gives birth in pain, she prays as for her own.

It’s not just Efim who is changing. Looking at this family, at Mary, their faith and true love - he washes her feet like Christ did to the apostles! - The Commissioner is changing. The Commissioner becomes a woman and runs to baptize and dedicate her child to God. “Listen to how she sings! This little girl has gone completely crazy... Either he has a cold, or he has a fever... - like a good Jewish mother, in a word. - And what do you think? If a woman puts on leather pants, she becomes a man..."

“In order to film the “Passage of the Doomed” scene, extras were needed. Where can I get so many Jews? A.Ya. tells On the advice of the entangled man, he put on his cap and went to the local rabbi. He listened to me and said: “I served my time, I don’t want to go to jail for your picture, and I can’t set people up, they believe me.” I'm desperate. I am writing a letter to the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party of Ukraine, Comrade. Bracket: “I’m making a film about the revolution, about ordinary people, about Jews... Help!” What do you think? An instructor came from the regional committee, the command was given, they just asked me, should I bring the children? and children! And when the extras were ready, and we were about to begin, the man with the violin said: Comrade Mordyukova, I have a word for you. We won’t film because the Jews will laugh at us later. Mordyukova says: We are making such a picture, but you are a coward! Oh you Jews! He left; circle, conferred; he said: comrade director, we will film. Only your film will never come out. I said: it will work!”

When Alexander Yakovlevich is asked what this film is about, he always answers: about Love; to a woman, to children, to one's neighbor, and about that great one about whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: as if someone lays down his life for his friends. Klavdia Vavilova, understanding what the people who love her are risking, as if foreseeing their future, goes to fight for them. Knowing that - to certain death.

“The most painful thing,” says Askoldov, was that the first to kill the painting were not party workers, not the KGB, but the brother artists. There was a screening at the studio, but the film was not accepted. He was fired from his job for professional incompetence! “The stomping and whistling are still in my ears.” Then he was accused of embezzling government money. There were trials. They could easily have put you in prison... Sympathizers said: remove the Holocaust scene, and they will leave you behind. He sacrificed himself.

When the moment of complete despair came - the painting was washed away, all the working material was destroyed, he began to write letters to Suslov - asking the all-powerful party ideologist to save at least one copy. And Suslov saved it.

“The most difficult year was 1986. When Perestroika was already raging. When the V Congress of Cinematographers took place and the films that had been on them for a long time were removed from the shelves... And about the film “Commissar”, the closed board of Goskino met, where my colleagues... buried “Commissar” in the ground. And I found myself completely isolated.

There was a Moscow festival in July 1987, says A.. Within the framework of this forum there was a press conference. And in response to a question from a Brazilian journalist - have all the films on the shelf already been released to the screen? - it sounded: that's it. Something outraged me, something irrational raised me, I went up to the presidium and said: “20 years ago I made an anti-war picture, a picture about a cancerous tumor of humanity - about chauvinism. I don’t know whether it’s good or bad. But I invested in "She has all her strength and skill. I ask you, look and tell me whether she is alive or dead." The next day, Gorbachev received the famous writer Marquez - and this demarche of mine was attended by De Niro, Marquez, Vanessa Redgrave... - and Marquez obviously told Gorbachev what happened. The command was given, and on July 11, in the same White Hall of the Cinema House, where I was expelled from the party and muzzled, “The Commissioner” was shown. The public reaction was amazing. Bykov cried, and all the guests wanted to know more about the fate of the picture, and in general, this viewing decided its fate - “The Commissioner” broke free.” Alexander Askoldov

In many Orthodox families, television is a non grata item. You can understand these people: nowadays you don’t often see something useful for the soul on the screen, satellite Orthodox channels are not available to everyone, and central Christian programs can only be watched at Easter or Christmas.

However, there are happy exceptions to this rule, and one of them is the “Biblical Story” program, which airs on the “Culture” TV channel. The author and presenter of the program, Dmitry Mendeleev, talks about how to create an interesting program about spiritual life and what good things there are for a Christian on modern television.

- Your program is long-lived. How old is she?

The program “Bible Story” has been on screen for nine years. In September we begin our tenth anniversary season.

Ten years ago, religious topics were not yet as popular in the media as they are now. Why did you come up with the idea of ​​making a program about Christianity?

The initiator of the appearance of this program was the TV channel “Culture”. We all know works of art, world masterpieces associated with Christianity, written on biblical subjects, but we have little idea of ​​the very basis of this or that work. Therefore, the idea arose to make some kind of educational program that would explain what Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Pushkin, Lermontov, Pasternak, Tarkovsky wanted to tell us. That's how this program was born.

- Is your program still religious or secular?

The program is designed for the widest audience. You can, of course, say that it is for secular people, but church people also did not have the opportunity to obtain information about the life of the great masters of the past. During the 70 years of absence of religious education in Russia, we have forgotten all the most basic things, without which it is impossible to understand true works of art. But all artists saw their main goal as understanding the secrets of the world, searching for the true meaning of existence - that is, they were looking for God. This is an integral feature of real art. In addition, all truly great works that leave a mark on history, on the lives of peoples all over the world, are created by the Holy Spirit.

I don't agree that there wasn't. For example, the program “The Word of the Shepherd” was broadcast, hosted by Patriarch Kirill, then Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad. On Channel 2 there was a program called “Orthodox Calendar”, then there was “Canon” on Channel 6. Then the “Orthodox Encyclopedia” appeared on TVC. Almost every channel had its own Orthodox program. So I can’t say that we appeared out of the blue.

I don’t think that anything has changed significantly in ten years from the point of view of Orthodox television. Perhaps the only thing is that there are more programs - but this is a pleasant trend.

There are approximately the same number of high-quality, interesting programs left - after all, they occupy a niche that the television format allows them to occupy.

However, one can often hear the opinion that there are few spiritual and moral programs on television, including Christian ones, while the number of entertainment programs exceeds all reasonable limits. How can you comment on this?

The management of channels where there is advertising naturally cares about the rating: the higher it is, the more expensive the commercial space is. As a result, almost all channels follow the viewership mass. But it should be the other way around, of course: television should educate the audience and not forget about those people - attentive, thoughtful, responsive, who need a serious interlocutor. This audience, albeit small, is very expensive. Of course, the rating of “The Bible Story” cannot be compared with the rating of the popular series, but we have our own loyal viewers, and there are quite a lot of them.

This means that you managed to make a serious, but at the same time popular program among TV viewers. What's your secret? How to make an interesting program about Orthodoxy?

When we started this program, my workmates and I were only taking our first steps in the Church. I was a neophyte - that, by the way, is the name of our television studio. We were all neophytes. This helped us a lot, because neophyte is such an elevated state, like first love. Of course, a neophyte may look crazy in the eyes of others, but inside himself he concentrates, he develops some colossal strength, energy, enthusiasm, joy of life. Our entire passion was aimed at creating a program. This helped a lot. At that time, my worldview was influenced by the books of two wonderful people: Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh and Father Alexander Men. I would like to quote the thought of Father Alexander: you can draw Madonna, and it will be a shame to look at her; Or you can paint a bird in the sky, but so that it screams about the beauty of God’s universe, about the love of God for people, people for God.

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Once, my good friend, Abbess Theodora from the Monastery of St. Nina in Bodbe (Georgia), said that everything done with love is an Orthodox work. These words really stuck with me. Indeed, the point is not to show a lamp or a candle; The main thing is to make the transfer with love.

Well, if we judge know-how from a professional point of view, then we must remember that a journalist is the person who notices what others do not notice. To do this, you need to constantly educate yourself, read, delve into the topic that the journalist has chosen for himself. This applies not only to Orthodoxy, you need to constantly study your topic, be it politics, economics or sports. You can't stop.

By the way, TV people still don’t like to show lamps and candles - they consider it hackneyed and “out of format.” You can’t even watch a divine service on TV without constant explanations...

Fortunately, “Bible Plot” gives me the opportunity to work freely. Our video series is not subject to censorship, but the Culture channel, I must admit, is special. In the process of working on the program, we managed to create the necessary microclimate, when my colleagues and I were not driven into uncomfortable frameworks - that’s why we achieved something.

You also “had a hand” in the creation of the famous series of documentary films “Shrines of Christendom.” What kind of project was this, and will there be a continuation of the series?

This cycle tells specifically about the shrines: the Shroud of Turin, the Cross of the Lord, the Holy Sepulcher, the crown of thorns, Noah’s Ark, the gifts of the Magi... The fact that they have come down to us, one might say, witnesses to the greatest events of sacred history is surprising in itself. But they also help to understand the Bible and the Gospel more deeply.

We are currently filming the continuation of the series. In the new films we want to talk about the House of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is located in Italian Loreto - where, by the way, the miraculous image “Addition of Mind”, known to every Orthodox student, originates; about the robe of Christ, kept in ancient German Trier; about the cross of the Apostle Andrew, about the relics of the Apostle Thomas and St. Nicholas.

- Has the creation of Orthodox programs helped your personal churching?

Undoubtedly! And not only mine, but also my colleagues and friends! I am eternally grateful to God for the Bible Story program, because by doing it we all grow in faith. When we study the material from which the program is to be made, we receive an endless amount of new knowledge, new sources for reflection, doubt and discovery. And this is a very interesting and exciting process. And it is endless. Studying the spiritual path of the artist, I immediately discover several more interesting personalities and themes. That’s why it’s unlikely that we’ll run out of ideas for shows any time soon. There are many more of them than we can cover. I hope that the spiritual search of artists that we talk about can inspire our viewers to some kind of moral effort.

- You mentioned people who influenced your worldview. Do you have programs about these people?

Eat. And about Bishop Anthony, and about Father Alexander. The main thing we wanted to tell about them was their love for God and their neighbors. They were amazing people, and after all, they are almost our contemporaries, they managed to be Christians in a world that is so familiar to us and which, in our laziness, it sometimes seems to us, is absolutely not conducive to any revelations of the spirit.

I am amazed by their preaching and selfless service, they burned like that candle about which the Gospel says: “No one, having lit a candle, covers it with a vessel, or puts it under the bed, but puts it on a candlestick, so that those who enter see the light.” That’s how they shone for us all, and we basked in this warmth.

- What other church figures interested you as heroes for programs?

We had programs about the Fathers of the Church and about the Old Testament prophets: Moses, King David, King Solomon, Isaiah and others. We also talked about St. John of Damascus, Saints Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, and Blessed Augustine.

It is difficult for a person to burn constantly. Were there any difficulties in your work when you wanted to give up everything and close the program?

Of course, there were such difficulties. My biggest enemy is myself. It is very important for Christian journalism to draw living water from the everlasting source that is God. “Sowing what is reasonable, good, and eternal” is simply impossible if you yourself do not try to live according to the Gospel. The topic itself imposes very large obligations on a person, and because we do not meet them, real problems arise. But work saves and prevents death.

Today there are several satellite Orthodox channels, and more and more often there is talk about the creation of a federal church channel. Do you think this is real?

Hard to say. Previously, I was convinced that such a channel was not needed. Discussions about its creation took place five and seven years ago. Someone should maintain such a channel. But if it’s a state, then the question will arise: why an Orthodox channel? Then there should be both a Muslim channel and a Jewish one. In addition, to create such a channel, creative people were needed, and there weren’t enough of them then. There were not such a large number of high-quality Orthodox programs for content. It seemed to me that it was much more important that Orthodox programs be present on federal channels - after all, everyone should watch them, and not a limited number of churchgoers. You can make Orthodox television using the resources of large channels. This is, in fact, how it is done.

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But now, I think, maybe such a channel is needed, because there are more literate church people, there are more church journalists who would like to work on it. In addition to journalists, there are cameramen, make-up artists, artists, and directors who are not alien to Orthodoxy and could work on such a TV channel. Many creative people feel stifled by the programs they are forced to work on. I myself would gladly take part in the creation of an Orthodox TV channel.

But the big question for me is what kind of channel it will be, who should finance it, and whether there will be patrons. Maybe it will be a board of trustees, or a foundation, or something else... Why am I talking about this in the first place? Because journalists should be given greater freedom. This cannot be an initiative, at the level of “something good needs to be done.” If you do it professionally, otherwise they won’t watch it, and many will even turn away from Orthodoxy after seeing such a “home video.” That is, if we want to speak to a wide audience, then we must meet the modern requirements of television, and this is a lot of money, and people must work constantly and professionally and receive good salaries so that they can feed their families. And when it comes to financing, then the issue of control arises. The relationship between the author and producer is a very important point. If you put endless pressure on a journalist, nothing good will come of it.

- Do you yourself watch Orthodox programs on TV?

Sometimes I watch such programs on public channels, although, of course, in my free time I’m more interested not in television, since that’s my job, but in going for mushrooms, for example. But I don’t have a satellite dish, so I don’t watch Orthodox channels.

I like the “Word of the Shepherd” program with the participation of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill. This lively conversation that the patriarch conducts with the viewer is always very interesting, and personally, several times this dialogue helped me resolve internal issues that related to spiritual life. The fact that the patriarch remained a TV presenter can be considered a unique phenomenon. And the fact that he directly addresses the audience is simply wonderful.

- What do you miss on our television?

In my opinion, there are many untapped resources for preaching. For example, it would be possible to create an excellent program like the “Travelers Club” - but show not beaches and tourist services, but the beauty of God’s world, temples and monasteries, pilgrimage routes. You can make films and programs about church history, about people’s lives.

Now a living person has practically disappeared from the screen, and this is a real disaster. From program to program we see the same faces. Do you remember recently the program “Interlinear” was broadcast, where P. Lungin’s mother talked about her life? There were no modern television technologies there, but the country did not look away from the screens, because a living person is always interesting.

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I know that in the archives there is a long interview, for example, with the already mentioned Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. If you launch it in the evening, on the same Rossiya channel, I guarantee that everyone will watch it.

In Soviet times, there were people on the screen, and there was a discovery of real personalities. Our people are hungry for such television, and I personally miss it too. It is a pity that the main functions of television - education and communication of people - have been forgotten.

- What new awaits us in the anniversary season of “Biblical Plot”?

We will continue to talk about artists, writers, poets and musicians. As for the upcoming programs, their heroes will be Heinrich Heine and other great masters. At the end of his life, when he became seriously ill, Heinrich Heine published wonderful books of penitential poems - we will tell this story.

Another program will be dedicated to Samuel Morse, the inventor of the famous alphabet. He was tormented by spiritual quests for many years. Not everyone knows that he was an artist and at one time even headed the American Creative Union. But then he gave up everything, started studying physics and believed that this was his calling. And when he sent his first telegram, these were the words: “How wonderful and great are your deeds, Lord.”

-Who else would you like to see as the hero of your show?

Maximus the Confessor. He is a great philosopher and has an amazing biography; he single-handedly opposed not only the entire state led by the emperor, but also the Church: the patriarch and all the bishops in Constantinople declared him a heretic, and the Lord told him that he was right. He was actually killed, because he did not survive the exile to which he was sent, by cutting out his tongue so that he would not preach, and cutting off his hand so that he would not write. But after his death, the Council met, and everything that it said about Christ, about the union of His two natures, Divine and human, all this became the property of the Church and all humanity.

In addition, I would like the film from a large four-hour interview with Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh to be released as soon as possible. Once upon a time, the Kultura channel showed only a small 20-minute program. I rewrote it many times for friends, because it aroused great interest then.