Interpretation of the biblical text in Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel "The Master and Margarita"

The biblical text occupies an important place in the structure of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita". Nevertheless, the problem of its interpretation in literary criticism remains controversial. From the perspective of the Christian concept of Russian classical literature and culture, Bulgakov's novel cannot be unambiguously interpreted as apologetic in relation to Christianity. Symbolism of the characters and motives in the novel, which are based on biblical archetypes, as well as the general stylistic “biblical background” of the narrative in the Yershalaim chapters, do not fully correspond to the Christian mentality and value system. The biblical text has an ambiguous and often am-bivalent interpretation, and this allows us to conceive of the author not as a religious philosopher, but primarily as an artist.