Book by the famous writer and historian D.M. Volodikhin is dedicated to an acute moment in our history: the conflict between Tsar Ivan the Terrible and Metropolitan Philip - the royal power and the Metropolitan House. The main reason for the discord between the two hierarchs was the oprichnina, “free autocracy,” which the tsar saw as the only legitimate form of power in a Christian state. It was a time of rampant “sovereign dogs”, fierce torture and executions. However, Metropolitan Philip, having accepted the system and the rank of metropolitan in it, was not afraid to declare to the autocratic ruler that the sovereign was obliged to observe the Commandments of God with the same strictness as the last beggar on the temple porch. He stands up for the victims of atrocities committed at the orders of the king by his minions...