The book is the most comprehensive collection of documents ever published on the formation of the patriarchate in Russia. The book was originally conceived as a study of political theology of the late 16th – mid-17th centuries. Since consideration of specifically theological issues in this era – in abstraction from the historical context – is meaningless, and consideration of the Russian Church separately from the Moscow state is impossible, this collection of documents describes the genesis of the Russian Church, the Muscovite kingdom and Orthodox thought.

The collectors of this book allow history to speak in its own language, adding from themselves only what allows them to read historical monuments in connection with each other. Reading this book is an overview of the texts fundamental to the Russian Church and the Muscovite kingdom, a kind of excursion that allows you to explore the main intellectual attractions of Russia over a period of more than half a century.

The book is divided into three volumes. The second volume sanctifies the main events during the period of the patriarchates of Philaret and Joasaph.