On the material of the works of Russian writers who worked at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, the famous modern literary critic S.L. Slobodnyuk reveals the origins of the "satanic theme" in poetic modernism (and partly realism). Analyzing the evolution of the idea of ​ ​ World Evil in Russian literature, he eventually comes to the conclusion that the Silver Age created an openly anti-Christian trend in literature, dating back to the ideas of ancient Gnostics (II-III centuries according to PX).