It is this political rather than religious spirit which also underlies the repressive attitude of the government, and of the The Raskolniki. Orthodox Church as the organ of the government, towards the various dissident sects (Raskolniki, from raskol, schism), which for more than two centuries past have played an important part in the popular life of Russia, and, since the political developments of the end of the 19th and early years of the 20th century, have tended to do so more and more. To understand the problem of the Raskolniki it is necessary to bear two things in mind: the fundamental principle of Eastern Orthodoxy as distinct from Western Catholicism, and the practical identification in Russia of the National Church with the National State. The very basis of Orthodoxy is that the Church is by Christ's ordinance unalterable, that its traditional forms, every one of which is a vehicle of saving grace, were established in the beginning by Christ and his apostles, and that consequently nothing may be added or altered. The trouble began early in the 17th century with the attempt, made in connexion with the printing of the liturgical books, to emend certain ritual details in which there was proved to have been a departure from primitive usage;[1] it came to a head under the patriarch Nikon (q.v.). Under his influence a synod endorsed the changes in 1654; one bishop alone, Paul, of Colomna, dissented, and he was deposed, knouted and kept in prison till he died mad. In 1656 the synod anathematized the adherents of the old forms, and the anathema was confirmed by those of 1666 and 1667. To the conservatives, known subsequently as Old Ritualists or Old Believers, this marked the beginning of the reign of Antichrist (was not 666 the number of the Beast?); but they continued the struggle, conservative opposition to the Westernizing policy of the tsars, which was held responsible for the introduction of Polish luxury and Latin heresy, giving it a political as well as a religious character. The rising of the Strelitsi in 1682 all but gave them the victory; the crushing of the rising relegated them definitely to the status of schismatics. They were placed in still completer antagonism to the established Orthodox Church by the innovations of Peter the Great. The Muscovite tsars had pursued them with fire and sword. The Russian emperors, having established themselves as heads of the Church and the Holy Synod as a state department, were not likely willingly to tolerate their existence.
The Raskol was threatened with extinction by the gradual dying out of its priests, which led to a further schism, within itself, into the Popovshchina (with priests) and the Bezpopovshchina (without priests). The Popovsti, who were served by priests converted from the Orthodox Church, made their headquarters in the island of Werka, in a tributary of the Dnieper, in Poland (1695), and after its destruction by the government in 1735 and again in 1764, at Starodubye in the government of Chernigov, whence their doctrine spread in the country of the Don. In 1771 their headquarters were fixed at Moscow, in the Rogoshkiy cemetery assigned to them during the plague; here they had a monastery, seminary and consistory, until they were ejected by the emperor Nicholas I. In 1832 priests were forbidden to join them, and they had to apply to a deposed Bosnian metropolitan, who became their chief bishop, establishing his see in the monastery of Belokrinitsa in Bukovina. In 1862 the synod of the Popovshchina passed a circular letter making advances to the government with a view to a compromise, which was arranged on the basis of the Old Believers consenting to accept the ministrations of Orthodox priests on condition that they should use the unrevised books. This led to a further schism into three sections: those who recognize the metropolitan and the compromise (Edinovyertsi), those who recognize the metropolitan but repudiate the compromise, those who repudiate both (Bieglopopovtsi). There had already been other schisms on such questions as the right way to swing a censer and the legality of self-immolation for the Lord's sake.
The Bezpopovtsi, known also as Pomoranye, because they are mainly found in the sparsely populated country near the White Sea, are in some ways more remarkable. They reject the ministration of priests altogether, since in the time of Antichrist (i.e. the heretic tsar) the only sacrament that remains is baptism. They therefore elect elders, who expound the Scriptures, baptize and hear confessions. They are, however, in no sense evangelicals in the Western sense; for they observe rigorous fasts, reverence icons, and believe implicitly in the efficacy of the multiplication of crossings, bowings and prostrations. They have, moreover, thrown off from time to time a number of extravagant offshoots. Such are the Philippovsti, founded by one Philip (who burned himself alive for Christ's sake in 1743), who have exalted self-immolation into a principle; the Stranniki (pilgrims) and Byeguni (runners), who interpret Matt. x. 37 ff. literally, and reject legal marriage; the Nyetovsti (denyers), who deny the necessity for common worship, since there are no priests; the Molchalyniki (mutes), whom no torture can persuade to utter a word.
Closely akin to these, though not derived from the Old Believers, are certain mystic sects which deny the efficacy of the sacraments altogether. Of these the most remarkable are the so-called Klilysti (“flagellants,” from klyesat, “to strike, lash,” but possibly a corruption of Khristi, “Christs”). They originated in 1645, when, according to their belief, God the Father descended in a chariot of fire on Mount Gorodim, in the province of Vladimir, and took up his abode in a peasant named Daniel Philippov, who chose another peasant, named Ivan Suslov, for his son, the Christ. Suslov selected a “mother of God” and twelve apostles. Though twice crucified and once flayed by order of the tsar, he always rose again, and did not die till 1716. Suslov chose a successor in one Prokopiy Lupkin, and since then—in the belief of the sect—every generation, even every community, has had its Christ and its “mother of God,” who are worshipped by reason of the Divine Spirit dwelling in them. It is the duty of all believers to strive to become one or other of these by subduing the flesh, which is the product of Evil, and all motions of the will. Each community is presided over by an “angel,” or prophet, and a prophetess, whose word is law. All alike are subject to the twelve commandments issued by the “Sabaoth,” that is to say Daniel Philippov. These include the prohibition of alcoholic drink, of fleshly sins and of marriage, and the inculcation of faith in the Holy Ghost and complete surrender to his influence. At their prayer meetings the Khlysti dance to the accompaniment of hymns, the dance gradually developing into a wild dervish-like spinning which is kept up till they drop, foaming at the mouth and prophesying. Perhaps the most remarkable fact about this sect is that it is secret, and that its members ostensibly belong to the Orthodox Church.
An offshoot of the Khlysti is the more celebrated secret sect of the Skoptsi (skopets, a eunuch), which represents an extreme ascetic reaction from the promiscuous immorality of some (by no means all) of the Khlysti. Their idea of attaining salvation is self-mutilation according to the counsel of perfection implied in Matt. xix. 12 and xviii. 8, 9. The “royal seal” is complete self-castration; partial mutilation is known as the “second purity.” In the case of women the mutilation usually takes the form of amputation of the breasts. This horrible sect, which was founded by one Selivanov in the last quarter of the 18th century, seems to have a morbid attraction for people of all classes in Russia, and all the efforts of the government have not succeeded in stamping it out (see Skoptsi).
Closer akin to certain Western forms of dissidence from traditional Catholicism, though of native growth, are the Molokani, so called popularly because they continue to drink milk (moloko) during fasts. Their origin is unknown, but they are officially mentioned as early as 1765. They style themselves “truly spiritual Christians,” and in their rejection of the sacraments, their indifference to outward forms, and their insistence on the spiritual interpretation of the Bible (“the letter killeth”), they are closely akin to the Quakers, whom they resemble also in their inoffensive mode of life and the practice of mutual help.
- ↑ The most important alterations were the repetition twice, instead of three times, of the “Alleluiah” at the Eucharist, and the making the sign of the cross with two fingers instead of three.
