THEME OF AUTHORITY IN THE WORDS SELECTED FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
The article examines the work Words Selected from the Holy Scriptures..., dedicated to the Novgorod campaign of Ivan III of Russia in 1471. The work has integrity, independence, contrasts stylistically with the chronicle’s material. The theme of authority, which is presented as given from above, from God, plays an important role in the Words Selected from the Holy Scriptures... Ivan III of Russia is depicted as an exemplary, ideal ruler on earth. At the same time, Marfa Boretskaya and Pimen are opposed to him as false pretenders to the authority, put forward by the Devil from hell. The text also emphasizes that Ivan III of Russia is the heir of the princes-predecessors (including Kievan Rus’), which determines his claims to the possession of Novgorod. This is aimed at justifying the justice of the Novgorod campaign of 1471 and, more broadly, the policy of the Grand Duke associated with the collection of Russian lands and the creation of a single Russian state.