This article discusses the religious aspects of N. Leskov's work. the author draws attention to the peculiarities of the literary path of Nikolai Semenovich. This article will be of interest to novice specialists in the field of theology and literary studies.

Keywords: N. Leskov, religious and philosophical research, Christianity, Orthodoxy

I am... I'm just looking for the truth in life, and maybe I won't find it.

N. S. Leskov

Today, in Russian literature, the name of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov thunders «softly» even in intelligent circles. But his literary legacy itself is of interest, even if it attracts attention in many ways only because of the originality of the language. It is worth assuming that this is due to a rethinking of the worldview of a modern personality. After all, as the great classic and part-time friend of the writer Leo Tolstoy noted.: «Leskov is a writer of the future, and his life in literature is deeply instructive» [1, с.15].

More than a hundred years have passed, but Leskov, even if «they didn't throw him overboard from the Steamer of modernity», was pressed against him, and he still stands there, unfairly in the shadow of the «giants» of Russian literature. The attitude towards him, as well as to his works, remains rather contradictory. What circumstances led to the fact that a writer who left a collection of works in 30 volumes was and, unfortunately, remains «unfashionable»? What is the nature of the writer's religiosity, and what are the features of the fiction writer's work on the way to identifying the Christian ideal?

Along with Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and other famous classics of the nineteenth century, Leskov devotes a special place to the problem of faith, its history in the everyday life of the Russian people and clergy, and its geographical location on the map of the fate of Russia and the Church. According to N. Leskov himself: «Religiosity has been in me since childhood, and moreover quite happy, that is, the kind that early began to reconcile faith with reason in me» [2, p. 22].

The creative activity of the writer contained a characteristic feature that was not inherent in his contemporaries. He was the first to search for and «collect» images of the righteous in the provinces, in the eccentrics. N. S. Leskov's goal is to find souls in which there is something «besides trash and filth». As Leskov himself admits in the preface to the famous short story «Odnodum» (1879): «I went in search of the righteous, I went with a vow not to rest until I found at least that small number of the three righteous, without whom «there is no city of standing»«... [3, p. 16]. The author is deeply convinced that not only the city will not stand without the righteous, but also life is impossible without gaining moral support.

So the relentless desire to find pure hearts in the «terrible age» in 1880 prompted the writer to create and combine a number of his works into the collection «Three Righteous Men and One Sheramur»; then this cycle will include the story «The Enchanted Wanderer» and other stories of the 70s-80s.

In the early 1890s, N. S. Leskov worked on a series of legends about the early Christians of Egypt and the Middle East. In them, he sought the ideals of a truly conscientious life under the scorching sun of Africa, on the streets of Damascus among the desert dwellers of Palestine. In fact, his work was an artistic translation of the Prologue, a collection of the lives of saints compiled in Byzantium in the X-XI centuries.

N. S. Leskov found positive Russian characters among representatives of different classes. However, mostly these «little great people», according to the exact definition of A. M. Gorky, were from the lower class, of insignificant social status. Paradoxically, it is in the provinces that, among the «serving people» who committed «treason» («Pygmy»), Leskov discovers characters with a high level of morality, «that there is no need to look for the best».

Based on his own religious experience, having begun to «live life» rather than study it, separating himself from the people, Leskov outlines and shows a new path in the pages of his short stories and novels, which must be followed for the self-assembly of man. This path consists in an attempt and sincere hope for the possibility of improving an unrighteous society «from within», using not harsh administrative measures or other types of punishment of a person and his conscience. He does not emphasize the necessity of suffering, like Dostoevsky. The Christian-moral vectors of Leskov, the artist, are continuously guided by love, «perfect love casts out all fear» (1 John 4:18).

The features of a person's spiritual self-determination are inextricably linked to the historical context. In the nineteenth century, following the peasant transformation, Russia, which liberated the serf population, also needed a reformation concerning spiritual and moral guidelines. N. S. Leskov felt this need especially acutely. According to the writer, the people are «stupid and evil», and the bearer of the ideal of Christ can be a specific person. Leskov's «humble heresiarch» was constantly being led and twisted. According to the literary critic A. V. Amphitheater: «God's spark is stronger than mud and stone: in the end, it broke free and shone» [4, p.125].

The religious idealism of Leo Tolstoy greatly influenced the spiritual development of N. S. Leskov, on rethinking his life position on the correct structure of the world. In many ways, their views on the Russian Orthodox Church converged, but N. S. Leskov was more «sensitive Orthodox». Firstly, unlike his contemporary, he revered Christ for God, and not for a historical figure, whose morality is an example for self-improvement. Secondly, while criticizing the church, N. S. Leskov did not set himself the goal of correcting the dogmatic content of the creed. Thirdly, even the sharpest criticism of the writer against the Russian Orthodox Church was motivated by a desire for its spiritual revival.

Orthodoxy in Leskov's worldview is a combination of pagan traditions and Byzantine Christianity. Throughout his life, the writer has been caught between two poles in his religious walks: on the one hand, «happy religiosity» and an easy «reconciliation of faith and reason», and on the other hand, an uncompromising attitude towards the formalities of the rituals performed, "... we are baptized into Christ, but we are not clothed in Christ!". The salvation of the human soul is not a matter of the Church alone. To purchase a «ticket» with external piety in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven is not an actual way for Christ himself: «The owner will see, yes, maybe he will tell you to let him in, he will say: «It's okay that there is no ticket, I already know him: please come in»" [5].

The originality of the Christian painting in Leskov's prose is emphasized by the author's special attitude to the minor, but detailed details of peasant life.

Leskov writes for everyone and at the same time individually for everyone. The mystical mystery of the «non-fatal Golovan», the «enchanted wanderer» who is constantly in search of God, is a new type of righteous people «brought» to the stage by Leskov based on the conviction that the dignity of the human person is the highest value.

In the history of literature of the nineteenth century, another original, original, unlike anyone else author appeared, who, according to M. Gorky, «created for Russia the iconostasis of its saints and righteous». And that says it all.

Литература:

1. «Знаток души человеческой» // Дальнеконстантиновская централизованная библиотечная система. URL: http://dk-biblkochin.ru/?p=4575
2. Дунаев М. М. Православие и русская литература. В 6 частях. Ч. IV. Издание второе, исправленное, дополненное. — М., Христианская литература. 2003. С.365.
3. Лесков Н. С. Очарованный странник: Повести и рассказы. М.: Современник, 1983. С.16.
4. Амфитеатров А. В. Николай Семенович Лесков // Амфитеатров А. В. Курганы. СПб.: Общественная польза, 1905. С. 77–93.
5. Лесков Н. С. Собр. соч.: В 12 т. М.: Правда, 1989. Т. 1. С. 350.
6. Лесков Н. С. Собр. соч.: В 12 т. М.: Правда, 1989. Т. 1. С. 355.
7. Русская литература XIX-XX веков.: учеб.-метод. пособие для студ. ф-та СПО / сост. И. К. Матей; Воронежский ГАСУ. — Воронеж, 2016. С. 31.