Vadim L. Rabinovich is known to the Russian-speaking audience as the author of "Alchemy as a Phenomenon of Medieval Culture" first published in 1976 and recently appeared in second edition. In his interview to the Journal V. Rabinovich speaks about the hurdles he faced while publishing the first edition, makes explicit his understanding of the meaning of alchemy as cultural phenomenon, and explains the reasons for using a special "literary" style in his writings. He gives some particular details about his scholarly and literary career in the history of science. Keywords: science and religion, science studies, alchemy, hermetical tradition. Good afternoon, Vadim Lvovich. Our issue is dedicated to the topic "Religion and the scientific Revolution". Disputes about the degree of influence of the religious factor on the formation of Western European natural science continue to this day. Is it possible to speak unambiguously about the positive or negative influence of religion on early Modern science? Vadim Rabinovich. In general terms, religion is older than science, it has existed as long as man has existed. The creation of science, that is, the scientific theoretical thinking of the seventeenth century, took religion by surprise: scientific knowledge appears, which says that it can do without religion. The attitude is this: scientific knowledge is designed to discover new truths, on the basis of which there are still new ones to a bad infinity, and religion says that the truth exists from the very beginning, it only needs to be revealed and revealed to the city and the world. This is the fundamental difference between religion and science, and why science and religion cannot be reduced to one another. page 192How did religion help science become a science, you ask? In my opinion, religion has played a very significant role in this process. First, let us take the idea of a dual truth as it has been formed in Christian theology : one truth is given in revelation, the oth ... Read more