“You Will Bring the Truth into Your Kingdom...”. The Image of the “True Christian Kingdom” in Russian Spiritual and Political Writings in the Middle of the 16<sup>th</sup> Century
The article examines the ideas of Russian spiritual and political thinkers of the 16th century about the “true Christian kingdom” under the conditions of expecting the imminent arrival of the Antichrist and the Second Coming of Christ. According to Russian spiritual and political figures of that time, the Russian state should fully comply with Christian notions about the ideal Christian state structure, and Russian rulers and ordinary residents should be filled with Christian piety. Only in that case, Russia could be ready to meet the “end of the world” with dignity, and its Orthodox inhabitants would be able to hope for “eternal salvation”. Therefore, throughout the 16th century in Russia, the search was constantly conducted for the most correct, from the Christian point of view, political and state structure, and domestic spiritual and political thinkers presented in their works various images of the ideal (“true”) Christian kingdom. It was important that the representatives of the interests of almost all social strata of contemporary Russian society (the peasantry, service people, boyars, the clergy) and even the tsar himself took part in those discussions.