Russian Orthodox Christians can listen to the sermons of Archpriest Andrei Tkachev online, and on TV, and in person. He is an innovator, sincerely wanting to help those in need of spiritual food, not afraid to explore deeply the Law of God, scripture, to express his own personal opinion regarding their controversial issues.
Andrey Tkachev is not just a clergyman. In addition, he is also a writer, journalist, TV presenter, missionary. It opens up more and more facets of scripture, helps Orthodox Christians to better understand its essence, explains the canons of the Law of God in simple language. Who is he and where from? How long was his path to Orthodoxy?
Biography of Archpriest Andrei Tkachev
Andrei Yurievich is as open as possible for both his admirers and his enemies. There is free access to information about who he is and where from, about his path in Orthodoxy, the reasons for moving from Ukraine to Russia.
Tkachev was born on the penultimate day of December 1969, in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. The boy’s parents were Orthodox Christians; they baptized Andrei in early childhood, but prayer was not present daily in their family. Andrei Yurievich himself was imbued with faith in his teens, when the world seemed to him meaningless and empty.
Parents prophesied a military future for their son and gave it to one of the Suvorov schools (Moscow) after graduating from incomplete secondary school. Then in his life he served in the ranks of the SA, the Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, the faculty of special propaganda, the direction of the Persian language.
All this time Andrew carried with him a love of Christianity, a deep faith, an interest in writing and covenants. He tried and is trying now to understand the meaning of the Law of God in all its depths. All his sermons, conversations with parishioners and all who are interested in him are directed at this.
The path of Andrei Tkachev to Orthodoxy
"Symptoms" of transitional age are individual. Andrei Yuryevich in this period of his life did not feel cravings for everything forbidden, but longing and hopelessness. Orthodoxy, faith in the Lord God helped him fill these voids.
Later, during his military service in the ranks of the Soviet Army, he became acquainted with a unique book - "Poem about God" in Sanskrit. Its reading further confirmed him that he would serve Christianity, but not in the usual understanding of this activity, to help others understand the essence of the scriptures, the Law of God.
Before becoming a clergyman, Andrey Tkachev managed to work as a loader, a watchman, and graduated from the Kiev Theological Seminary as an external student. Andrei Yuryevich’s path to Orthodoxy was somewhat extraordinary - he comprehended the essence of the teachings through a Sanskrit book, his informal friend instilled in him a love of church music and chants, he was expelled from the seminary more than once, and therefore he had to finish it externally.
He had to leave Ukraine in 2014. The reason was the political events and disagreements in the Orthodox world of the country. Andrei Tkachev has always been uncompromising and impatient for falsehood and sinfulness. These character traits made him objectionable to the ruling ranks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Sermons of Archpriest Andrei Tkachev
Andrei Yurievich is one of the few clergy who seek to convey the Law of God to listeners in a simple and understandable language. He is sure that the scripture is too embellished and multiplied in a verbal sense, which makes it sometimes difficult to understand.
Andrei Tkachev’s conversations are held in accordance with the rules developed by him - to speak clearly and clearly, to be able to keep the audience with a lively interest in her. And he developed these rules on the basis of scientific areas - oratory, homiletics and others.
The law of God and scripture from the lips of Archpriest Andrei Tkachev sometimes sound unusual and even somewhat wild, but if you listen carefully, you can understand that they have exactly that kind of meaning. A striking example is "it is difficult for a beautiful woman to stay good when there are so many temptations around her." But this statement of his does not mean at all that he protects or justifies sin. To understand the essence of Tkachev’s sermons and conversations, it is necessary to listen to them from beginning to end, delving into and not missing a word of the archpriest.
Criticism of Andrei Tkachev
Many consider Archpriest Tkachev incompetent, rude and aggressive towards the audience and their opponents. Is it so? Does Andrei Yuryevich cross the line of sanity and tolerance in his sermons?
The words of Tkachev, uttered by him against the "rebels" in Kiev, on whose heads he asked God for "diseases, fears" and other misfortunes, were severely criticized.
Literary masters were horrified by the fact that once on television he called one eminent poet "a primitive cormorant", and the other - "even stranger." But in this case, on his scales, freedom of speech and attitude to a particular work of art.
