Who are the Old Believers?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

What do Old Believers believe and where did they come from? History reference

In recent years, an increasing number of our fellow citizens are interested in the issues of a healthy lifestyle, environmentally friendly methods of management, survival in extreme conditions, the ability to live in harmony with nature, and spiritual improvement. In this regard, many turn to the thousand-year experience of our ancestors, who managed to master the vast territories of present-day Russia and created agricultural, commercial and military outposts in all remote corners of our Motherland.

Last but not least, in this case, we are talking about the Old Believers - people who at one time settled not only the territory of the Russian Empire, but also brought the Russian language, Russian culture and Russian faith to the banks of the Nile, to the jungles of Bolivia, the wastelands of Australia and to the snow-capped hills of Alaska … The experience of the Old Believers is truly unique: in the most difficult natural and political conditions, they were able to preserve their religious and cultural identity, not to lose their language and customs. It is no coincidence that the famous hermit Agafya Lykova from the Lykov family of Old Believers is so well known all over the world.

However, not much is known about the Old Believers themselves. Someone thinks that Old Believers are people with primitive education who adhere to outdated methods of economy. Others think that Old Believers are people who profess paganism and worship the ancient Russian gods - Perun, Veles, Dazhdbog and others. Still others ask the question: if there are Old Believers, then there must be some kind of old faith? Read the answer to these and other questions concerning Old Believers in our article.

Content

• Old and new faith
• Old Believers or Old Believers?
• What do Old Believers believe?
• Old Believers-priests
• Old Believers-Bezpopovtsy
• Old Believers and Pagans

Old and new faith

One of the most tragic events in the history of Russia in the 17th century was the split in the Russian Church. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his closest spiritual associate Patriarch Nikon (Minin) decided to carry out a global church reform. Beginning with seemingly insignificant changes - changes in the folding of the fingers at the sign of the cross from two fingers to three fingers and the abolition of bowing to the ground, the reform soon affected all aspects of Divine Services and the Rite. Continuing and developing in one way or another right up to the reign of Emperor Peter I, this reform changed many canonical rules, spiritual institutions, customs of church administration, written and unwritten traditions. Almost all aspects of the religious, and then the cultural and everyday life of the Russian people have undergone changes.

Painting by V. G. Perov “Nikita Pustosvyat. Dispute about faith"

However, with the beginning of the reforms, it became clear that a significant number of Russian Christians saw in them an attempt to betray the very doctrine, the destruction of the religious and cultural structure, which took shape in Russia for centuries after its Baptism. Many priests, monks and laity opposed the plans of the tsar and the patriarch. They wrote petitions, letters and proclamations, denouncing innovations and defending the faith that has been preserved for hundreds of years. In their writings, the apologists pointed out that the reforms not only by force, under pain of execution and persecution, reshape traditions and traditions, but also affect the most important thing - they destroy and change the very Christian faith. Almost all defenders of the ancient church tradition wrote that Nikon's reform is apostate and changes the faith itself. Thus, the Hieromartyr Archpriest Avvakum pointed out:

He also urged not to be afraid of tormentors and to suffer for the "old Christian Faith." The famous writer of that time, the defender of Orthodoxy Spiridon Potemkin expressed himself in the same spirit:

Potemkin condemned divine services and rituals performed according to new books and new orders, which he called "evil faith":

The confessor and martyr Deacon Theodore wrote about the need to defend the fatherly tradition and the old Russian faith, citing numerous examples from the history of the Church:

Confessors of the Solovetsky Monastery, who refused to accept the reform of Patriarch Nikon, wrote to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in their fourth petition:

So gradually it began to be said that before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, before the church schism there was one faith, and after the schism there was already a different faith. The pre-split confession began to be called the old faith, and the post-split reformed confession - the new faith.

This opinion was not denied by the supporters of the reforms of Patriarch Nikon. So, Patriarch Joachim said at the famous dispute in the Faceted Chamber:

While still an archimandrite, he argued:

So gradually the concept of "old faith" appeared, and people who profess it were called "Old Believers", "Old Believers". Thus, Old Believers began to call people who refused to accept the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon and adhere to the church institutions of ancient Russia, that is, the old faith. Those who accepted the reform were called “novovers” or “novolyubtsy”. However, the term "new believers" did not take root for a long time, and the term "old believers" still exists today.

Old Believers or Old Believers?

For a long time, in government and church documents, Orthodox Christians who preserve the ancient divine rites, old printed books and customs were called "schismatics." They were accused of loyalty to church tradition, which allegedly led to a church schism. For many years, the schismatics were subjected to repression, persecution, and infringement of civil rights.

However, during the reign of Catherine the Great, attitudes towards Old Believers began to change. The Empress considered that Old Believers could be very useful for settling uninhabited areas of the expanding Russian Empire.

At the suggestion of Prince Potemkin, Catherine signed a number of documents granting them the rights and benefits to live in special regions of the country. In these documents, the Old Believers were named not as “schismatics,” but as “Old Believers,” which, if it was not a sign of benevolence, undoubtedly indicated a weakening of the state's negative attitude towards the Old Believers. The Old Orthodox Christians, the Old Believers, however, did not suddenly agree to the use of this name. In the apologetic literature, in the decrees of some Councils, it was indicated that the term "Old Believers" is not entirely acceptable.

It was written that the name "Old Believers" implies that the reasons for the church division of the 17th century lie in some church rites, and the faith itself remained completely intact. This is how the Irgiz Old Believers Council of 1805 called co-religionists, that is, Christians who use old rituals and old printed books, but obey the Synodal Church, "Old Believers". The resolution of the Irgiz Cathedral read:

In the historical and apologetic writings of ancient Orthodox Christians of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries, the terms “Old Believers” and “Old Believers” were still used. They are used, for example, in the History of the Vygovskaya Hermitage by Ivan Filippov, in the apologetic composition of the Deacon's Answers, and others. This term was also used by numerous new believers, such as N. I. Kostomarov, S. Knyazkov. P. Znamensky, for example, in the "Guide to Russian History" edition of 1870 says:

At the same time, over the years, some of the Old Believers nevertheless began to use the term “Old Believers”. Moreover, as the well-known Old Believer writer Pavel Curious (1772–1848) points out in his historical dictionary, the name Old Believers is more inherent in pop-free consents, and “Old Believers” are more inherent in persons belonging to consents who accept the fleeing priesthood.

Indeed, by the beginning of the 20th century, concords accepting the priesthood (Belokrinitsky and Beglopopovskoe) began to use the term “Old Believers” instead of the term “Old Believers,” “Old Believers” more and more often. Soon the name Old Believers was enshrined at the legislative level by the famous decree of Emperor Nicholas II "On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance." The seventh paragraph of this document reads:

However, even after that, many Old Believers continued to be called Old Believers. Especially carefully kept this name pop-free consent. D. Mikhailov, author of the magazine Rodnaya Starina, published by the Old Believers' circle of zealots of Russian antiquity in Riga (1927), wrote:

What do Old Believers believe?

The Old Believers, as heirs of pre-schismatic, pre-reform Russia, try to preserve all the dogmas, canonical provisions, ranks and successions of the Old Russian Church.

First of all, of course, this concerns the main church dogmas: the confession of St. Trinity, the incarnation of God the Word, two hypostases of Jesus Christ, his atoning sacrifice of the Cross and Resurrection. The main difference between the confession of Old Believers and other Christian confessions is the use of forms of worship and church piety, characteristic of the ancient Church.

Among them are the sign of the cross with two fingers, immersion baptism, unison singing, canonical icon painting, and special prayer clothes. For divine services, Old Believers use old printed liturgical books published before 1652 (mainly published under the last pious Patriarch Joseph. The Old Believers, however, do not represent a single community or church - over hundreds of years they were divided into two main directions: priests and bezpopovtsy.

Old Believers-priests

The Old Believers-priests, among other church institutions, recognize the three-ruled Old Believer hierarchy (priesthood) and all the church sacraments of the ancient Church, among which the most famous are: Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist, Priesthood, Marriage, Confession (Repentance), Blessing of Oil. In addition to these seven sacraments in the Old Belief, there are other, somewhat less well-known sacraments and sacraments, namely: monastic tonsure (equal to the sacrament of Marriage), large and small Consecration of water, consecration of oil on Polyeleos, priestly blessing.

Old Believers-Bezpopovtsy

The Bezpop Old Believers believe that after the church schism perpetrated by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the pious church hierarchy (bishops, priests, deacons) disappeared. Therefore, part of the church sacraments in the form in which they existed before the split of the Church was abolished. Today, all Bezpop Old Believers definitely recognize only two sacraments: Baptism and Confession (repentance). Some bezpopovtsy (the Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church) also recognize the sacrament of Marriage. The Old Believers of Chapel Consent also allow the Eucharist (Communion) with the help of St. gifts consecrated in antiquity and preserved to this day. The chapels also recognize the Great Consecration of Water, which on the day of the Epiphany is obtained by pouring water into new water, consecrated in the old days, when, in their opinion, there were still pious priests.

Old Believers or Old Believers?

Periodically, a discussion arises among the Old Believers of all agreements: "Can they be called Old Believers?" Some argue that it is necessary to be called exclusively Christians because no old faith and old rituals exist, as well as a new faith and new rituals. According to those, there is only one true, one right faith and one true Orthodox rituals, and everything else is heretical, non-Orthodox, crooked confession and wisdom.

Others, as already mentioned above, consider it imperative to be called Old Believers who profess the old faith, since they believe that the difference between the Old Orthodox Christians and the followers of Patriarch Nikon is not only in rituals, but also in the faith itself.

Still others believe that the word Old Believers should be replaced with the term “Old Believers”. In their opinion, there is no difference in faith between the Old Believers and the followers of Patriarch Nikon (Nikonians). The only difference is in the rituals, which are correct for the Old Believers, and that for the Nikonians are damaged or completely incorrect.

There is also a fourth opinion regarding the concept of Old Believers and the old faith. It is mainly shared by the children of the Synodal Church. In their opinion, between the Old Believers (Old Believers) and the New Believers (New Believers) there is not only a difference in faith, but also in rituals. They call both old and new rites equally honorable and equally salvage. The use of these or those is only a matter of taste and historical and cultural tradition. This is stated in the decree of the Local Council of the Moscow Patriarchate from 1971.

Old Believers and Pagans

At the end of the 20th century, religious and quasi-religious cultural associations began to appear in Russia, professing religious views that had nothing to do with Christianity and, in general, Abrahamic, biblical religions. Supporters of some of these associations and sects proclaim the revival of the religious traditions of pre-Christian, pagan Russia. To stand out, to separate their views from Christianity, received in Russia during the time of Prince Vladimir, some neo-pagans began to call themselves "Old Believers."

Christians and pagans

And although the use of this term in this context is incorrect and erroneous, the views began to spread in society that the Old Believers are really pagans who are reviving the old faith in the ancient Slavic gods - Perun, Svarog, Dazhbog, Veles and others. It is not by chance that, for example, the religious association “Old Russian Inglistic Church of Orthodox Old Believers-Ingling” appeared. Its head, Pater Diy (A. Yu. Khinevich), who was called “the patriarch of the Old Russian Orthodox Church of the Old Believers,” even stated:

There are other neo-pagan communities and cults of kin, which may be mistakenly perceived by society as Old Believers and Orthodox. Among them are "Velesov Circle", "Union of Slavic Communities of Slavic Native Faith", "Russian Orthodox Circle" and others. Most of these associations arose on the basis of pseudo-historical reconstruction and falsification of historical sources. In fact, apart from folklore folk beliefs, no reliable information about the pagans of pre-Christian Russia has survived.

At some point, in the early 2000s, the term "Old Believers" began to be widely perceived as a synonym for pagans. However, thanks to extensive explanatory work, as well as a number of serious lawsuits against "Old Believers-Ynglings" and other extremist neo-pagan groups, the popularity of this linguistic phenomenon today has declined. In recent years, the overwhelming majority of neo-pagans still prefer to be called "Rodnovers".