Durylin's 1919 story “Grekh zemle” (“A sin for the earth”), its history, context and interpretation

The key subject of Durylin's story “Grekh zemle” (1919) is formulated by the author in the Russian title, which refers to the Russian Folk Spiritual Verse “Unforgivable Sin”, an example of the spiritual poetry of the Strigolniki heretics (14th century). Durylin turned to this subject because of the theology of the Strigolniki, whose teachings influenced the theology of the Old Believers, in particular, the soteriology of the Netovsi and Beguny groups. Tere is an obvious historical parallel between the topic of simony in the 14th century and the processes in the Russian Church during the period before the Council of 1917-1918. Te interpretation of Mother Earth (Matʹ-zemlʹa) as a Sinless Patroness suffering from human sin is also characteristic of Russian folk spiritual poetry and the poetry and philosophy of the 1910's (S. Bulgakov, P. Florensky, Ye. Trubetskoy, N. Klyuev and V. Ivanov). However, we find no discussion yet of metaphysical betrayal, an unforgivable sin. Te problem of the unforgivable sin appears in Russian philosophical rhetoric only afer the Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War. Tis story is one of the first atempts to understand this phenomenon in the spiritual life of Russia.