Jesus’ Parables of Growth of the Kingdom of God and Anton Chekhov’s «The Steppe»

Abstract

The article considers the reminiscences of a number of Jesus’ parables found in Anton Chekhov’s «The Steppe», such as the Parables of the Talents and of the Minas, the Parable of the Leaven, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Parable of
 Drawing in the Net, the Parable of the Great Supper, and the Parable of the Lamp under a Bushel. They are ranked according to archpriest Lev Liperovsky’s classifi-
 cation as those of the «birth and growth of the Kingdom of God in the human soul». It is shown that «initiation tests», that Egorushka had to undergo during his journey
 across the steppe, are connected with the story devoted to the Exodus of the Israelis from Egypt and their wanderings in the desert. The idea of spiritual growth is ex-pressed mostly by the image of the cookie given to the boy by Roza, which serves as
 a parallel to manna and the Divine Body of Jesus Christ. The image of the fish has the same meaning. «Spiritual» food is contrasted with the «temporal» one: cucum-
 bers, melons, which the Israelis ate in Egypt, and poppy seeds, which figure in the myth of Demeter. Money is a material equivalent of the spiritual. The author comes
 to the conclusion that the task, set before the hero of the story, a protagonist, concerning liberation from the slavery of self-love has not been accomplished. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the New Testament reminiscences, as far as
 we know, have not been given sufficient consideration.