Having discovered something very important, interesting and hitherto unknown, the ordinary layman Sergei Maslennikov was baptized in 1994 and completely immersed in the study of the spiritual heritage of Christians. Practically abandoning all his worldly affairs, he studied the writings of St. Louis for three years . Ignatius Brianchaninov and various interpretations of the Holy Scriptures of the holy fathers of the church. Then Maslennikov Sergey Mikhailovich began his rapid creative writing, which was very well publicized and “untwisted”. Many still wonder how he did it.
Maslennikov Sergey Mikhailovich: biography
On the writer's personal website you can find out his full biography, but we will dwell on key points, since they are limited by the scope of a small article. So, he was born in Tchaikovsky, Perm Region, on July 26, 1961, graduated from high school (in 1978) with a gold medal, then entered and graduated from the Ural Electromechanical Institute in 1983.
In 1982, Sergei Maslennikov decided to marry. His biography indicates that two children were born in the marriage. Then he worked from 1983 to 1986 as an electrician and head of the site in the Tobolsk distance signaling and communications. Then, in 1986, he lived in Sverdlovsk (today's Yekaterinburg) and until 1994 worked at the fish gastronomy plant - first the head of the electric shop, then the chairman of the trade union committee, and then the deputy director for trade and. about. directors.
Novice
In 1999, he became a novice of one of the monasteries in Yekaterinburg, and he was asked to head the Sales Department in the Yekaterinburg diocese. Maslennikov Sergei Mikhailovich all this time continued to study the works of the Holy Fathers and at the same time held "Lessons of Morality" for schoolchildren of Yekaterinburg.
Since 2002, he began to work as an altar boy, singer and reader in the parish of the Vladimir Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the city of Yekaterinburg. And at the same time he led announcements and a Sunday school for adults. To this end, he studied the writings of St. Ignatia Brianchaninova. For five years - from 2003 to 2008 - he reported about 200 hours of lessons from the School of Penance series.
Achievements
Since 2005, Sergei Maslennikov was considered a senior lecturer at the newly created rector of the School of Penance, for which he specially developed a curriculum and even trained teachers.
Since 2010, he began to work on the compilation of the works “Christian Virtues” and “Passion - Soul Disease”, which amounted to 8 books with a circulation of 300,000 copies. Conducted lectures "Asceticism for the laity."
At the beginning of 2015, Sergey Maslennikov became a laureate of the All-Russian Literary Prize for the book “Reconciliation with Christ” and was awarded the medal of St. blgv. Prince Alexander Nevsky.
Book Distribution Ban
And now we come to the most interesting: in 2015, the Russian Orthodox Church Publishing Council revoked the stamp and banned the books of Sergei Maslennikov. The situation was commented on by the acting head of the secretariat of scientific and theological peer-review and expert assessment Oleg Vasilievich Kostishak.
According to him, the review of the works of S. M. Maslennikov really took several years, and some of his works were provided with a church stamp. But the farther into the forest, as they say, the more firewood. After reading his latest works, the writer made specific comments, which he ignored. These his works were called unprofitable for Christians, and even dangerous for people not mature in the spiritual life (as estimated by O. V. Kostishak). Priest Georgy Shinkarenko commented on the situation like this: “Having heard the references to the authority of the Holy Fathers, many might think that there is an interpretation of their teachings. But in fact, the teachings of the Orthodox Church are conveyed through Maslennikov’s personal spiritual experiences. And, unfortunately, the result is a distortion of understanding ways of salvation. " According to the priest, not only his individual erroneous opinions or inaccuracies led to this state of affairs, but, on the whole, the wrong system of views of this person on the whole Christian life.
Mistakes
Sergei Maslennikov does not have a theological education and is not a clergyman, and the path of his spiritual knowledge is rather doubtful. All of his mistakes mainly come not at all from malicious intent, but more from spiritual illiteracy, since he is trying to explain those moments from the Scriptures that are not at all so easy to explain. The spiritual practice recommended by the writer, according to researchers, is unhealthy and can lead a person to a severe spiritual impasse. The author constantly refers to the words of St. Ignatius Bryanchaninov, although he makes gross and sometimes unacceptable mistakes in interpreting his works.
Maslennikov's ideas about passions and virtues consisted of a mechanical and formal comparison of the utterances of the holy fathers, but at the same time the Holy Scriptures, the writings of the holy fathers and liturgical texts require a long organic understanding. A vivid example is the Diary of the Penitent, which he often advocates, where he consciously classifies sins. “I don’t know how an experienced confessor can allow filling out such a diary, with sins that are disgusting to read, not to list them out loud then? Total control over the state of mind on the part of a person who, moreover, is not a priest, cannot end with anything good! ”, Shinkarenko notes.
Opinions of the inhabitants of reputable monasteries
The reviews of the respected clergy of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Optina Desert and the Valaam Monastery, which sent their reviews, were unanimous in their negative assessment of the works of Maslennikov. A common place in the reviews was a certain “template” approach, which makes living and gracious repentance in the formation of personality impossible. They note that an attempt to love the Lord God without austerity (intentional self-restraint, selflessness and the fulfillment of difficult vows) and repentance can result in spiritual hedonism (sensual pleasure - spiritual and bodily), that is, penance for austerities, and repentance for repentance is grim sectarianism.
Conclusion
The comments concern both his books and speeches, but it can be added that at a certain stage S. M. Maslennikov’s books can be useful, but only if you look at his work as a whole. Therefore, the distribution of the works of this writer is suspended through the church book network.
There are more severe reactions to the writings of Maslennikov. Their authors unanimously say that it seems very strange and completely illogical that a person without a proper education teaches asceticism and theology.