Russian Orthodox Christians can listen to the sermons of Archpriest Andrei Tkachev both online, on TV, and in person. He is an innovator, sincerely willing to help those in need of spiritual food, not afraid to deeply investigate the Law of God, the Holy Scriptures, 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. He opens more and more facets of Holy Scripture, helps Orthodox Christians to understand its essence deeper, explains the canons of the Law of God in simple language. Who is he and where is he from? How long was his path to Orthodoxy?
Biography of Archpriest Andrei Tkachev
Andrey Yuryevich is as open as possible both for his admirers and for his enemies. There is free access to information about who he is and where he is 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 Lvov. The boy's parents were Orthodox Christians, they baptized Andrei in early childhood, but prayer was not present daily in their family. Andrei Yuryevich himself was imbued with faith in adolescence, when the world seemed to him meaningless and empty.
Parents predicted a military future for their son and sent him to one of the Suvorov schools (Moscow) after graduating from an incomplete high school. Then in his life he served in the ranks of the SA, the Military Institute of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the faculty of special propaganda, the direction of the Persian language.
All this time Andrei carried with him a love of Christianity, a deep faith, an interest in scripture and covenants. He tried and is trying now to understand the meaning of the Law of God in all its depth. All his sermons, conversations with parishioners and everyone who is interested in him are aimed at this.
Andrey Tkachev's path to Orthodoxy
"Symptoms" of adolescence are individual. During this period of his life, Andrei Yurievich felt not a craving for everything forbidden, but melancholy and hopelessness. Orthodoxy, faith in the Lord God helped him to fill these voids.
Later, during his military service in the ranks of the Soviet Army, he got acquainted with a unique book - "Poem of God" in Sanskrit. Reading it even more confirmed him in the fact 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, watchman, graduated from the Kiev Theological Seminary as an external student. Andrei Yuryevich's path to Orthodoxy was somewhat extraordinary - he learned the essence of the teaching through a book in Sanskrit, 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 as an external student.
He had to leave Ukraine in 2014. The reason was political events and disagreements in the Orthodox world of the country. Andrey Tkachev has always been distinguished by his uncompromising attitude and impatience to falsehood and sinfulness. These character traits made him undesirable for the ruling ranks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Sermons by Archpriest Andrei Tkachev
Andrey Yuryevich is one of the few clergymen who strive to convey the Law of God to the audience 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 it.
Andrey 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 keen interest in her. And he developed these rules on the basis of scientific directions - oratory, homiletics and others.
The law of God and the Holy Scriptures from the mouth of Archpriest Andrei Tkachev sometimes sound unusual and even somewhat wild, but listening attentively, one can understand that they carry this very meaning. A striking example is "it is difficult for a beautiful woman to remain good when there are so many temptations around for her." But this statement does not mean that he defends or excuses 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 Andrey Tkachev
Many consider Archpriest Tkachev to be incompetent, rude and aggressive towards the audience and his opponents. Is it so? Does Andrei Yuryevich overstep the boundaries of sanity and tolerance in his sermons?
The words of Tkachev, uttered by him to the "rebels" in Kiev, on whose heads he asked God for "diseases, fears" and other misfortunes, were harshly criticized.
Literary masters were horrified that once on TV air he called one eminent poet "primitive cormorant", and another - "even stranger." But in this case, freedom of speech and attitude to this or that work of art are on the scale.
Family of Archpriest Andrei Tkachev
Andrey Yuryevich is married and has four children. He entered into an official marriage even before entering the Kiev Seminary, in 1992. The names of his wife and children, their exact place of residence are not in the public domain. The archpriest carefully protects them from the attention of the press and ill-wishers, especially after his performances in Ukraine and moving to the Russian Federation.
The topic of family, personal life, children, Archpriest Andrei Tkachev, in his conversations with journalists, always bypasses, and sometimes harshly suppresses. How he knows how to do it. And this is not a whim at all, but only an attempt to protect loved ones from harm from the outside. Fans and those who do not accept his position, do not understand him, must respect the right of Andrei Yuryevich to a closed private life.
