Old Believers history. Who are the Old Believers? What do Old Believers believe and where did they come from? Historical reference

Recently, being carried away by the study of Russian culture and various paths of spiritual and physical development, many people have become interested in the Old Believers. Indeed, the Old Believers - who are they? There are many opinions and views on this matter. Some believe that these are those Orthodox Christians who profess the faith that existed before the church schism during the Nikon reform. Others think that these are people who have chosen a faith for themselves, which Orthodox priests call pagan. The old faith, which was spread before the Baptism of Rus' by order of Prince Vladimir.

Old Believers - who are they?

The first associations that come to mind are people living in the taiga, who have rejected all the benefits of civilization, follow the ancient way of life, do everything themselves, without using any technology. Medicine is also not widespread; all diseases are treated with the prayers of Old Believers and fasting.

How true is this? It’s difficult to say, because Old Believers don’t talk about their lives, don’t sit on social networks, don’t write about it in blogs. The life of Old Believers is secretive, taking place in closed communities, they try not to have unnecessary contact with people. One gets the feeling that they can only be seen by accidentally getting lost in the taiga, wandering for more than one day.

Where do the Old Believers live?

For example, Old Believers live in Siberia. In a harsh and cold climate, it was thanks to them that new unexplored and inaccessible corners of the country were explored. There are Old Believers villages in Altai, several of them - Upper Uimon, Maralnik, Multa, Zamulta. It was in such places that they hid from persecution from the state and the official church.

In the village of Verkhniy Uimon you can visit the Museum of Old Believers and learn in detail about their life and faith. Despite the fact that attitudes towards them have changed for the better with the course of history, Old Believers prefer to choose remote corners of the country to live.

To clarify the questions that involuntarily arise when studying them, it is worth first understanding where they came from and what the difference is between them. Old Believers and Old Believers - who are they?

Where did they come from

To find out the answer to the question of who they are, the Old Believers, you first have to plunge into history.

One of the significant and tragic events in Russia was the schism of the Russian Church. He divided believers into two camps: followers of the “old faith” who did not want to accept any innovations, and those who humbly accepted the innovations that arose thanks to Nikon’s reforms. appointed by Tsar Alexei, who wanted to change the Russian Church. By the way, the concept of “Orthodoxy” appeared along with Nikon’s reform. Therefore, the phrase “Orthodox Old Believers” is somewhat incorrect. But in modern times this term is quite relevant. Because today the Russian Orthodox Church, or the Old Believers Church, officially exists.

So, changes in religion occurred and entailed many events. It can be said that at that time in the 17th century the first Old Believers appeared in Russia, whose followers exist to this day. They protested against the Nikon reforms, which, in their opinion, changed not only the features of some rituals, but also the faith itself. These innovations were carried out with the goal of making Orthodox rituals in Rus' as similar as possible to Greek and global ones. They were justified by the fact that church books, which were copied by hand, since the time of Epiphany in Rus' had some distortions and typos, according to supporters of innovation.

Why did people resist Nikon's reforms?

Why did people protest against the new reforms? Perhaps the personality of Patriarch Nikon himself played a role here. Tsar Alexei appointed him to the important post of patriarch, giving him the opportunity to radically change the rules and rituals of the Russian church. But this choice was a little strange and not very justified. Patriarch Nikon did not have sufficient experience in creating and carrying out reforms. He grew up in a simple peasant family and eventually became a priest in his village. Soon he moved to the Moscow Novospassky Monastery, where he met the Russian Tsar.

Their views on religion largely coincided, and soon Nikon became patriarch. The latter not only did not have sufficient experience for this role, but, according to many historians, he was domineering and cruel. He wanted power that had no boundaries, and envied Patriarch Filaret in this regard. Trying in every possible way to show his importance, he was active everywhere and not only as a religious figure. For example, he personally participated in the suppression of the uprising in 1650, it was he who wanted brutal reprisals against the rebels.

What changed

Nikon's reform brought significant changes to the Russian Christian faith. That is why opponents of these innovations and followers of the old faith appeared, who later began to be called Old Believers. They were persecuted for many years, were cursed by the church, and only under Catherine II the attitude towards them changed for the better.

During the same period, two concepts appeared: “Old Believer” and “Old Believer”. What is the difference and who they mean, today many people no longer know. In fact, both of these concepts are essentially the same thing.

Despite the fact that Nikon’s reforms brought only splits and uprisings to the country, for some reason there are opinions that they changed almost nothing. Most often, history books indicate only two or three changes, but in reality there are more. So, what has changed and what innovations have occurred? You need to know this in order to understand how the Old Believers differ from the Orthodox believers who belong to the official church.

Sign of the Cross

After the innovation, Christians made the sign of the cross by folding three fingers (or fingers) - the thumb, index and middle. Three fingers or “pinch” implies the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Although earlier, before the reform, only two fingers were used for this. That is, two fingers - the index and middle - were left straight or slightly curved, and the rest were folded together.

It should depict the main two symbols of faith - the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. It was two-fingered fingers that were depicted on many icons and came from Greek sources. Old Believers or Old Believers still use two fingers, making the sign of the cross.

Bows during services

Before the reforms, several types of bows were performed at the service, there were four in total. The first - to the fingers or to the navel, was called ordinary. The second - in the waist, was considered average. The third was called “throwing” and was performed almost to the ground (small bow to the ground). Well, the fourth - to the very ground (great prostration or proskynesis). This whole system of bows is still in effect during Old Believer services.

After the Nikon reform, it was allowed to bow only to the waist.

Changes in books and icons

In the new faith and the old they wrote the name of Christ differently. Previously they wrote Jesus, as in Greek sources. After the reforms, it was necessary to extend his name - Jesus. In fact, it is difficult to say which spelling is closer to the original, since in Greek there is a special symbol indicating the stretching of the letter “and”, in Russian it is not.

Therefore, to make the spelling match the sound, the letter “i” was added to the name of God. The old spelling of the name of Christ has been preserved in the prayers of the Old Believers, and not only among them, also in the Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Croatian, Belarusian and Ukrainian languages.

Cross

The cross of the Old Believers and the followers of innovations is significantly different. The followers of ancient Orthodoxy recognized only the eight-pointed version. The Old Believer symbol of the crucifixion is represented by an eight-pointed cross located inside a larger four-pointed one. The most ancient crosses also lack images of the crucified Jesus. For its creators, it was the form itself that was important, rather than the image. The Old Believer's pectoral cross also has the same appearance without the image of the crucifixion.

Among Nikon's innovations regarding the cross, one can also highlight Pilate's inscription. These are the letters that are visible on the uppermost small crossbar of an ordinary cross, which is now sold in church shops - I N T I. This is the inscription left by Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator who ordered the execution of Jesus. It means "Jesus of Nazareth, King of Judea." It appeared on new Nikon icons and crosses, old versions were destroyed.

At the very beginning of the schism, heated debates began about whether it was permissible to depict this inscription. Archdeacon Ignatius from the Solovetsky Monastery wrote a petition to Tsar Alexei on this occasion, rejecting the new inscription and demanding the return of the old I X C C denoting “Jesus Christ King of Glory.” In his opinion, the old inscription speaks of Christ as God and Creator, who took his place in heaven after the Ascension. And the new one speaks of him as an ordinary person living on earth. But Feodosius Vasiliev, deacon of the Red Yam Church and his followers, on the contrary, defended the “Pilate inscription” for a long time. They were called Fedoseevtsy - a special branch of the Old Believers. All other Old Believers still use a more ancient inscription in the manufacture of their crosses.

Baptism and procession

For Old Believers, only complete immersion in water is possible, carried out three times. But after Nikon’s reforms, it became possible either partial immersion during baptism, or even just dousing.

The religious procession used to take place according to the sun, clockwise or salting. After the reform, during rituals it is performed counterclockwise. This caused strong discontent in its time; people began to consider it a new darkness.

Criticism of the Old Believers

Old Believers are often criticized for their strict adherence to all dogmas and rituals. When the symbolism and some features of the old rituals were changed, this caused strong discontent, riots and uprisings. Followers of the old faith could even prefer martyrdom to accepting the new rules. Who are the Old Believers? Fanatics or selfless people defending their faith? This is difficult for a modern person to understand.

How can you doom yourself to death because of one letter that was changed or thrown out or, on the contrary, added? Many authors of articles write that symbolism and all these small, in their opinion, changes after Nikon’s reform are only external in nature. But is it correct to think so? Of course, the main thing is faith, and not just blind adherence to all rules and customs. But where is the limit of these permissible changes?

If you follow this logic, then why do we need these symbols at all, why call ourselves Orthodox, why do we need baptism and other rituals, if they can be so easily changed by simply gaining power, while killing hundreds of people who disagree. Why is such an Orthodox faith needed if it is not at all different from Protestant or Catholic? After all, all these customs and rituals exist for a reason, for the sake of their blind execution. It was not for nothing that people kept knowledge about these rituals for so many years, passed them on from mouth to mouth, and copied books by hand, because this is a huge amount of work. Perhaps they saw something more behind these rituals, something that modern people are not able to understand and see in it unnecessary external paraphernalia.

In fact, their customs and traditions are far from the false ideas that “Old Believers are those who still make sacrifices to Zeus and Perun.” The reason for the split at one time was the reform that Tsar Alexei Romanov and Patriarch Nikon (Minin) decided to carry out. The Old Believers and their difference from the Orthodox began with the difference in making the sign of the cross. The reform proposed changing two fingers to three fingers, abolishing prostrations; later the reform affected all forms of the Church’s charter and order of worship. Until the reign of Peter I, changes took place in church life, which the Old Believers, who valued old customs and traditions, perceived as an encroachment on the traditional and correct, from their point of view, religious way of life.

Archpriest Avvakum called for preserving the old faith, including the Old Believer cross, and to suffer for the “old faith,” if necessary. The reform of Patriarch Nikon was not accepted in the Solovetsky Monastery either; the inhabitants of the monastery turned to Tsar Alexei Romanov with a petition in defense of the old faith. Old Believers in Russia today are followers of those who did not accept the reform in the 17th century.

Who are the Old Believers and what is their difference from the Orthodox, what is the difference between the two traditions?

The Old Believers retained the position of the ancient Church regarding the confession of the Holy Trinity, the incarnation of God the Word, as well as the two hypostases of Jesus Christ. The Old Believer cross is an eight-pointed cross inside a four-pointed one. Such crosses are also found in the Russian Orthodox Church, along with the Serbian Church, so it is still impossible to consider the Old Believer cross exclusively Old Believer. At the same time, there is no image of the Crucifixion on the Old Believer cross.

The Old Believers, their customs and traditions largely overlap with the traditions of those who reacted favorably to the reform and accepted it. Old Believers are those who recognize baptism by immersion, canonical iconography... At the same time, only church books published before 1652, under Patriarch Joseph or earlier, are used for Divine services. The name of Christ in these books is written as Jesus, not Jesus.

Lifestyle

It is believed that in everyday life the Old Believers are very modest and even ascetic, and their culture is full of archaism. Many Old Believers wear beards, do not drink alcohol, learn the Old Church Slavonic language, and some wear traditional clothes in everyday life.

“Popovtsy” and “Bezpopovtsy”

To learn more about the Old Believers and understand who they are, you also need to know that the Old Believers themselves divide themselves into “priests” and “non-priests.” And, if the “priests” recognize the three-rank Old Believer hierarchy and the sacraments of the ancient Church, then the “bezpopovtsy” are sure that after the reform the pious church hierarchy was lost, and therefore many sacraments were abolished. The Old Believers “bezpopovtsy” recognize only two sacraments and their main difference from the Orthodox is that the only sacraments for them are Baptism and Confession, and the difference between the Old Believers “bezpopovtsy” and the Old Believers of chapel consent is that the latter also recognize the latter as sacraments Eucharist and Great Blessing of Water.

At the end of the 20th century, neo-pagans began to call themselves “Old Believers,” so Old Believers in Russia today are not only opponents of reform, but also supporters of various religious associations and sects. However, it is wrong to believe that the real Old Believers, their customs and traditions are somehow connected with paganism.

The split caused by Nikon's reforms did not just divide society into two parts and cause a religious war. Due to persecution, the Old Believers were divided into a great variety of different movements.

The main currents of the Old Believers are Beglopopovshchina, clericalism and lack of priesthood.

Beglopopovshchina is the earliest form of Old Believers

This movement got its name due to the fact that believers accepted priests converting to them from Orthodoxy. From beglopopovshchina in the first half of the 19th century. The Concord of the Hours occurred. Due to the lack of priests, they began to be managed by charterers, who conducted services in the chapels.

Groups of priests in organization, doctrine and cult are close to Orthodoxy. Among them, co-religionists and the Belokrinitsky hierarchy stood out.Belokrinitsky hierarchy- This Old Believer Church, founded in 1846 in Belaya Krinitsa(Bukovina), on the territory of Austria-Hungary, in connection with which the Old Believers who recognize the Belokrinitsky hierarchy are also called the Austrian Concord.

Bespopovschina at one time was the most radical movement in the Old Believers. According to their religion, they are non-priests They moved further away from Orthodoxy than other Old Believers.

Various branches of Old Believers stopped appearing only after the revolution. However, by that time so many different Old Believer movements had arisen that even simply listing them was a rather difficult task. Our list does not include all representatives of Old Believer confessions.

Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church

Consecrated Council of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church (October 16-18, 2012)

Today it is the largest Old Believer denomination: according to Paul, about two million people. Initially it arose around the association of Old Believers-Priests. Followers consider the Russian Orthodox Church to be the historical heir of the Russian Orthodox Church, which existed before Nikon's reforms.

The Russian Orthodox Church is in prayerful and Eucharistic communion with the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church in Romania and Uganda. The African community was accepted into the fold of the Russian Orthodox Church in May of this year. The Ugandan Orthodox, led by priest Joachim Kiimba, separated from the Patriarchate of Alexandria due to the transition to a new style. The rituals of the Russian Orthodox Church are similar to other Old Believer movements. The Nikonians are recognized as heretics of the second rank.

Lestovka is an Old Believer rosary. The word “lestovka” itself means ladder, ladder. A ladder from earth to heaven, where a person ascends through unceasing prayer. You run through the rows of sewn beads in your fingers and say a prayer. One row - one prayer. AND the ladder is sewn in the form of a ring - this is so that the prayer is unceasing. One must constantly pray so that the thoughts of a good Christian do not wander around, but are directed toward the divine. Lestovka has become one of the most characteristic signs of the Old Believer.

Distribution in the world: Romania, Uganda, Moldova, Ukraine. In Russia: throughout the country.

Common believers. The second largest number of parishioners is the Old Believer denomination. Common believers - The only Old Believers who came to a compromise with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Women and men of fellow believers stand in different parts of the temple, during censing they raise their hands in prayer, and the rest of the time they keep their hands crossed. All movements are kept to a minimum.

This trend of priests arose at the end of the 18th century. The persecution of the Old Believers led to a serious shortage of priests among the Old Believers. Some were able to come to terms with this, others were not. In 1787, the Edinoverians recognized the hierarchical jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate in exchange for certain conditions. Thus, they were able to bargain for the old pre-Nikon rituals and services, the right not to shave their beards and not wear German dresses, and the Holy Synod undertook to send them myrrh and priests. The rituals of the Edinoverie are similar to other Old Believer movements.

It is customary for fellow believers to come to church in special clothes for worship: a Russian shirt for men, sundresses and white scarves for women. A woman's scarf is pinned under the chin. However, this tradition is not observed everywhere. “We don't insist on clothes. People don’t come to church for sundresses,”- notes Priest John Mirolyubov, leader of the community of fellow believers.

Rdistribution:

In the world: USA. In Russia: according to the Russian Orthodox Church, there are about 30 communities of the same faith in our country. It is difficult to say exactly how many there are and where they are located, since fellow believers prefer not to advertise their activities.

Chapels. The trend of the priests, which, due to persecution in the first half of the 19th century, was forced to turn into a non-priest movement, although the chapels themselves do not recognize themselves as non-priests. The birthplace of chapels is the Vitebsk region of Belarus.

Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vereya

Left without priests, a group of Beglopopovites abandoned the priests, replacing them with lay leaders. Divine services began to be held in chapels, and this is how the name of the movement appeared. Otherwise, the rituals are similar to other Old Believer movements. In the eighties of the last century, some chapels from North America and Australia decided to restore the institution of priesthood and joined the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church; similar processes are now observed in our country.

Chapels of the Nevyansk plant. Photos of the early 20th century

Spreading:

In the world: Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, USA, Canada. In Russia: Siberia, Far East.

Ancient Orthodox Pomeranian Church. DOC is the modern name of the largest religious association of the Pomeranian consent. This is a non-priest movement, the Pomors do not have a three-rank hierarchy, Baptism and Confession are performed by laymen - spiritual mentors. The rituals are similar to other Old Believer faiths. The center of this movement was in the Vyzhsky Monastery in Pomorie, hence the name. The DOC is a fairly popular religious movement; there are 505 communities in the world.

In the early 1900s, the Old Believer community of the Pomeranian Consent acquired a plot of land on Tverskaya Street. Enlarge The five-domed church in the “neo-Russian style” with a belfry was built on it in 1906 – 1908 according to the design of the architect D. A. Kryzhanovsky, one of the largest masters of St. Petersburg Art Nouveau. The temple was designed using the techniques and traditions of the architecture of ancient churches in Pskov, Novgorod, and Arkhangelsk.

Spreading:

In the world: Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Poland, USA, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, Germany, England. In Russia: Russian north from Karelia to the Urals.

Runners. This non-popov movement has many other names: Sopelkovites, skrykniki, golbeshniks, underground workers. It arose at the end of the 18th century. The main idea is that there is only one way left for salvation: “have neither a village, nor a city, nor a house.” To do this, you need to accept a new baptism, break all ties with society, and evade all civil obligations.

Wanderer readers Davyd Vasilievich and Fyodor Mikhailovich. Photo. 1918

By its principle, running is asceticism in its most severe manifestation. The rules of the Runners are very strict, the punishments for adultery are especially severe. Moreover, there was not a single wandering mentor who did not have several concubines.

As soon as it emerged, the current began to divide into new branches. Thus the following sects appeared:

Defaulters They rejected divine services, sacraments and veneration of saints, and worshiped only certain “old” relics. They do not make the sign of the cross, do not wear a cross, and do not recognize fasts. Prayers were replaced by religious home conversations and readings. Communities of defaulters still exist in Eastern Siberia.

The Mikhailovsky plant in the Urals is one of the centers of defaulters

Luchinkovites appeared at the end of the 19th century in the Urals. It was believed that the Antichrist reigned in Rus' back in 1666. From their point of view, the only object of worship not tainted by the Antichrist was the torch, so they rejected all other means of illumination. Luchinkovites also refused money and trading equipment. Completely disappeared in the first half of the 20th century.

The Nevyansk plant in the Urals became the center of Luchinkovites

Moneyless peoplecompletely rejected money. It was not easy to do this even in the 19th century, so they regularly had to resort to the help of their host countries, who did not disdain money. Disappeared by the beginning of the 20th century.

The descendants of this direction of the Old Believers inherited the surname Bezdenezhnykh. Village TRUCHACHI VYATSKAYA GUB.

Marriage WanderersMarriage was also allowed after taking a vow of pilgrimage. Disappeared in the first half of the 20th century.

M.V. Nesterov (1862–1942), “The Hermit”

Hermits They replaced wandering with removal to remote forests and deserts, where they organized communities, living according to such ascetic standards that even Mary of Egypt would have called too harsh. According to unverified information, communities of hermits still exist in Siberian forests.

Aaronites. The non-popovian movement of the Aaronites arose in the second half of the 18th century.

Aaron. Mosaic in the Church of St. Sophia in Kyiv.

One of the leaders of the movement had the nickname Aaron, and after his “drive” they began to call this denomination. The Aaronites did not consider it necessary to renounce and withdraw from life in society and allowed marriage to be performed by a layman. They generally treated marriage issues very favorably; for example, they allowed combining married life and desert living. However, The Aaronites did not recognize the wedding performed in the Russian Orthodox Church and demanded a divorce or a new marriage. Like many other Old Believers, Aaron’s followers shunned passports, considering them “seals of the Antichrist.” It was a sin, in their opinion, to give any kind of receipt in court. In addition, the doubles were revered as apostates from Christ. Back in the seventies of the last century, several Aaron communities existed in the Vologda region.

Masons. This priestless religious denomination has nothing in common with the Freemasons and their symbols. The name comes from the Old Russian designation for mountainous terrain - stone. Translated into modern language - highlanders.

All the scientists and researchers of this area were surprised at the qualities of the inhabitants. These mountain settlers were brave, bold, determined and confident. The famous scientist K. F. Ledebur, who visited here in 1826, noted that the psychology of communities is truly something gratifying in such a wilderness. The Old Believers were not embarrassed by strangers, whom they saw less often, and did not experience timidity and withdrawal, but, on the contrary, showed openness, straightforwardness and even selflessness. According to the ethnographer A. A. Printz, the Altai Old Believers are a daring and dashing people, brave, strong, decisive, tireless.

Masons were formed in the inaccessible mountain valleys of southwestern Altai from all sorts of fugitives: peasants, deserters. Isolated communities followed rituals characteristic of most Old Believer movements. To avoid close relationships, up to 9 generations of ancestors were remembered. External contacts were not encouraged. As a result of collectivization and other migration processes, masons dispersed throughout the world, mixing with other Russian ethnic groups. In the 2002 census, only two people identified themselves as bricklayers.

Kerzhaki. The homeland of the Kerzhaks is the banks of the Kerzhenets River in the Nizhny Novgorod province. In fact, the Kerzhaks are not so much a religious movement as an ethnographic group of Russian Old Believers of the North Russian type, like masons, the basis of which, by the way, was the Kerzhaks.

Hood. Severgina Ekaterina. Kerzhaki

Kerzhaks are Russian old-timers of Siberia. When the Kerzhen monasteries were destroyed in 1720, tens of thousands of Kerzhaks fled to the east, to the Perm province, and from there they settled throughout Siberia, to Altai and the Far East. The rituals are the same as those of other “classical” Old Believers. Until now, in the Siberian taiga there are Kerzhatsky settlements that have no contact with the outside world, like the famous Lykov family. In the 2002 census, 18 people called themselves Kerzhaks.

Self-baptizers.

Self-baptizer. Engraving. 1794

This priestless sect differs from others in that its followers baptized themselves, without priests, through triple immersion in water and reading the Creed. Later, the self-baptizers stopped performing this “self-rite.” Instead, they introduced the custom of baptizing babies as midwives do in the absence of a priest. This is how the self-baptized people received a second name – grandmother’s. Self-baptized grandmothers disappeared in the first half of the 20th century.

Ryabinovtsy. Ryabinovites refused to pray at icons where anyone other than the image depicted was present. There were few such icons, and in order to get out of the situation, the Ryabinovites began to carve eight-pointed crosses from rowan wood without images or inscriptions for prayers.

The Ryabinovites, as the name implies, generally revered this tree very much. According to their beliefs, the cross on which Christ was crucified was made from rowan. In addition, the Ryabinovites did not recognize church sacraments; they themselves baptized their children in the name of the Holy Trinity, but without the rite of baptism and prayers. They generally accepted only one prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners!” As a result, they buried their dead without a funeral service; instead, they bowed to the ground for the repose of the soul of the deceased. Completely disappeared in the first half of the 20th century.

Hole makers. This is a movement of non-priest-self-baptists. The name of the sect appeared because of the characteristic way of praying. Dyrniks do not venerate icons painted after the church reform of Patriarch Nikon, since there was no one to consecrate them.

At the same time, they do not recognize “pre-reform” icons, since they were desecrated by “heretics”. To get out of their predicament, the hole-makers began to pray like Muslims, on the street facing east. In the warm season this is not difficult to do, but our winter is very different from the Middle East. It is a sin to pray while looking at the walls or a glass window, so hole piercers have to make special holes in the walls, which are plugged with plugs. Separate communities of hole makers exist to this day in the Komi Republic.

Middles. Sredniki is another non-priest-self-baptismal movement. Unlike other self-baptizers, they do not recognize... the days of the week. In their opinion, when during the time of Peter the celebration of the New Year was moved from September 1 to January 1, the courtiers made a mistake by 8 years and moved the days of the week. Like, today's Wednesday is former Sunday. Our Sunday is Thursday according to them. Completely disappeared by the beginning of the 20th century.

More than three centuries have passed since the church schism of the 17th century, and most people still do not know how the Old Believers differ from Orthodox Christians. Let's figure it out.

Terminology

The distinction between the concepts of “Old Believers” and “Orthodox Church” is quite arbitrary. The Old Believers themselves admit that their faith is Orthodox, and the Russian Orthodox Church is called New Believers or Nikoninans.

In the Old Believer literature of the 17th - first half of the 19th centuries, the term “Old Believer” was not used.

Old Believers called themselves differently. Old Believers, Old Orthodox Christians...The terms “orthodoxy” and “true Orthodoxy” were also used.

In the writings of Old Believer teachers of the 19th century, the term “true Orthodox Church” was often used.

The term “Old Believers” became widespread only towards the end of the 19th century. At the same time, Old Believers of different consents mutually denied each other’s Orthodoxy and, strictly speaking, for them the term “Old Believers” united, on a secondary ritual basis, religious communities deprived of church-religious unity.

Fingers

It is well known that during the schism the two-finger sign of the cross was changed to three-finger. Two fingers are a symbol of the two Hypostases of the Savior (true God and true man), three fingers are a symbol of the Holy Trinity.

The three-finger sign was adopted by the Ecumenical Orthodox Church, which by that time consisted of a dozen independent Autocephalous Churches, after the preserved bodies of the martyrs-confessors of Christianity of the first centuries with folded fingers of the three-finger Sign of the Cross were found in the Roman catacombs. There are similar examples of the discovery of the relics of saints of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

It’s not for nothing that I attached to the article this particular work by the artist Surikov, where the character, Boyarina Morozova, demonstrates “two fingers.” A little about the picture itself:

"Boyaryna Morozova"- a gigantic (304 by 586 cm) painting by Vasily Surikov, depicting a scene from the history of the church schism in the 17th century. After its debut at the 15th traveling exhibition in 1887, it was purchased for 25 thousand rubles for the Tretyakov Gallery, where it remains one of the main exhibits.

Surikov’s interest in the topic of Old Believers is associated with his Siberian childhood. In Siberia, where there were many Old Believers, handwritten “lives” of the martyrs of the Old Believer movement, including “The Tale of Boyarina Morozova,” became widespread.

The image of the noblewoman was copied from an Old Believers whom the artist met at the Rogozhskoe cemetery. And the prototype was the artist’s aunt, Avdotya Vasilievna Torgoshina.

The portrait sketch was painted in just two hours. Before this, the artist for a long time could not find a suitable face - bloodless, fanatical, corresponding to the famous description of Habakkuk: “The fingers of your hands are subtle, your eyes are lightning fast, and you rush at your enemies like a lion.”

The figure of the noblewoman on the sliding sledge is a single compositional center around which representatives of the street crowd are grouped, reacting differently to her fanatical readiness to follow her convictions to the end. For some, a woman’s fanaticism evokes hatred, mockery or irony, but the majority look at her with sympathy. A hand raised high in a symbolic gesture is like a farewell to old Russia, to which these people belong.

Agreements and rumors

The Old Believers are far from homogeneous. There are several dozen agreements and even more Old Believer rumors. There is even a saying: “No matter what a man is, no matter what a woman is, there is agreement.” There are three main “wings” of the Old Believers: priests, non-priests and co-religionists.

Name of Jesus

During the Nikon reform, the tradition of writing the name “Jesus” was changed. The double sound “and” began to convey the duration, the “drawn-out” sound of the first sound, which in the Greek language is indicated by a special sign, which has no analogy in the Slavic language, therefore the pronunciation of “Jesus” is more consistent with the Universal practice of sounding the Savior. However, the Old Believer version is closer to the Greek source.

Differences in the Creed

During the “book reform” of the Nikon reform, changes were made to the Creed: the conjunction-opposition “a” was removed in the words about the Son of God “born, not made.”

From the semantic opposition of properties, a simple enumeration was thus obtained: “begotten, not created.”

The Old Believers sharply opposed the arbitrariness in the presentation of dogmas and were ready to suffer and die “for a single az” (that is, for one letter “a”).

In total, about 10 changes were made to the Creed, which was the main dogmatic difference between the Old Believers and the Nikonians.

Towards the sun

By the middle of the 17th century, a universal custom had been established in the Russian Church to perform a procession of the cross. The church reform of Patriarch Nikon unified all rituals according to Greek models, but the innovations were not accepted by the Old Believers. As a result, New Believers perform the anti-salting movement during religious processions, and Old Believers perform religious processions during salting.

∗ Salting is a movement across the sun that helps increase vitality and accelerate spiritual evolution.

Ties and sleeves

In some Old Believer churches, in memory of the executions during the Schism, it is forbidden to come to services with rolled up sleeves and ties. Rolled up sleeves are associated there with executioners, and ties with gallows.

Question of the cross

Old Believers recognize only the eight-pointed cross, while after Nikon’s reform in Orthodoxy four and six-pointed crosses were recognized as equally honorable. On the crucifixion tablet of the Old Believers it is usually written not I.N.C.I., but “King of Glory.” Old Believers do not have an image of Christ on their body crosses, since it is believed that this is a person’s personal cross.

A deep and blatant Hallelujah

During Nikon's reforms, the pronounced (that is, double) pronunciation of “halleluia” was replaced by a triple (that is, triple). Instead of “Alleluia, alleluia, glory to you, God,” they began to say “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to you, God.”

According to New Believers, the triple utterance of alleluia symbolizes the dogma of the Holy Trinity.

However, Old Believers argue that the strict pronunciation together with “glory to Thee, O God” is already a glorification of the Trinity, since the words “glory to Thee, O God” are one of the translations into the Slavic language of the Hebrew word Alleluia (“praise God”).

Bows at the service

At services in Old Believer churches, a strict system of bows has been developed; replacing prostrations with bows from the waist is prohibited. There are four types of bows: “regular” - bow to the chest or to the navel; “medium” - in the waist; small bow to the ground - “throwing” (not from the verb “to throw”, but from the Greek “metanoia” = repentance); great prostration (proskynesis).

Throwing was banned by Nikon in 1653. He sent out a “memory” to all Moscow churches, which said: “It is not appropriate to do throwing on your knees in church, but you should bow to your waist.”

Hands cross

During services in the Old Believer church, it is customary to fold your arms with a cross on your chest.

Beads

Orthodox and Old Believer rosaries are different. Orthodox rosaries can have a different number of beads, but most often rosaries with 33 beads are used, according to the number of earthly years of Christ’s life, or a multiple of 10 or 12.

In the Old Believers of almost all agreements, the lestovka* is actively used - a rosary in the form of a ribbon with 109 “beans” (“steps”), divided into unequal groups. Let us turn once again to Surikov’s painting:

∗ Lestovka — in the noblewoman's hand. Leather Old Believer rosary in the form of steps of a ladder - a symbol of spiritual ascent, hence the name. At the same time, the ladder is closed in a ring, which means unceasing prayer. Every Christian Old Believer should have his own ladder for prayer.

Full immersion baptism

Old Believers accept baptism only by complete threefold immersion, while in Orthodox churches baptism by pouring and partial immersion is allowed.

Monodic singing

After the split of the Orthodox Church, the Old Believers did not accept either the new polyphonic style of singing or the new system of musical notation. Kryuk singing (znamenny and demestvennoe), preserved by the Old Believers, got its name from the method of recording a melody with special signs - “banners” or “hooks”.

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In recent years, our country has been growing interest in the Old Believers. Many both secular and ecclesiastical authors publish materials devoted to the spiritual and cultural heritage, history and modern day of the Old Believers. However, he himself phenomenon of the Old Believers, his philosophy, worldview and terminology features are still poorly researched. About the semantic meaning of the term “ Old Believers"read the article" What is Old Believers?».

Dissenters or Old Believers?

The term itself Old Believers" arose out of necessity. The fact is that the Synodal Church, its missionaries and theologians called the supporters of pre-schism, pre-Nikon Orthodoxy nothing more than schismatics and heretics. This was done because the ancient Russian Old Believer church traditions, which existed in Rus' for almost 700 years, were recognized as non-Orthodox, schismatic and heretical at the New Believer councils of 1656, 1666-1667.

In fact, such a great Russian ascetic as Sergius of Radonezh was recognized as non-Orthodox, which caused an obvious deep protest among believers.

The Synodal Church took this position as the main one and used it, explaining that supporters of all Old Believer agreements without exception fell away from the “true” Church because of their firm reluctance to accept the church reform that they began to put into practice Patriarch Nikon and continued to one degree or another by his followers, including the emperor Peter I.

On this basis, everyone who does not accept the reforms was called schismatics, shifting onto them responsibility for the split of the Russian Church, for the alleged separation from Orthodoxy. Until the beginning of the 20th century, in all polemical literature published by the dominant church, Christians professing pre-schism church traditions were called “schismatics,” and the very spiritual movement of the Russian people in defense of paternal church customs was called “schism.”

This and other even more offensive terms were used not only to expose or humiliate the Old Believers, but also to justify persecution and mass repressions against supporters of ancient Russian church piety. In the book " Spiritual sling", published with the blessing of the New Believer Synod, it said:

“The schismatics are not the sons of the church, but sheer heedless ones. They are worthy of being handed over to the punishment of the city court... worthy of all punishment and wounds.
And if there is no healing, there will be death.".

In Old Believer literatureXVII — in the first half of the 19th century, the term “Old Believer” was not used

And most of the Russian people, without meaning to, began to be called offensive, turning things upside down. the essence of the Old Believers, term. At the same time, internally disagreeing with this, the believers - supporters of pre-schism Orthodoxy - sincerely sought to achieve an official name that was different. For self-identification they took the term “ Old Orthodox Christians"—hence the name of each Old Believer consensus of its Church: Ancient Orthodox. The terms “orthodoxy” and “true Orthodoxy” were also used. In the writings of Old Believer readers of the 19th century, the term “ true orthodox church».

It is important that among believers “in the old way” the term “Old Believers” was not used for a long time because the believers themselves did not call themselves that. In church documents, correspondence, and everyday communication, they preferred to call themselves “Christians,” sometimes “.” The term " Old Believers”, legalized by secular authors of the liberal and Slavophile movement in the second half of the 19th century, was considered not entirely correct. The meaning of the term “Old Believers” as such indicated the strict primacy of rituals, while in reality the Old Believers believed that the Old Faith was not only old rituals, but also a set of church dogmas, worldview truths, special traditions of spirituality, culture and life.

Changing attitudes towards the term “Old Believers” in society

However, by the end of the 19th century, the situation in society and the Russian Empire began to change. The government began to pay great attention to the needs and demands of the Old Orthodox Christians; a certain generalizing term was needed for civilized dialogue, regulations and legislation. For this reason, the terms " Old Believers", "Old Believers" is becoming increasingly widespread. At the same time, Old Believers of different consents mutually denied each other’s Orthodoxy and, strictly speaking, for them the term “Old Believers” united, on a secondary ritual basis, religious communities deprived of church-religious unity. For the Old Believers, the internal inconsistency of this term consisted in the fact that, using it, they united in one concept the truly Orthodox Church (i.e., their own Old Believer consent) with heretics (i.e., Old Believers of other consents).

Nevertheless, the Old Believers at the beginning of the 20th century positively perceived that in the official press the terms “schismatics” and “schismatic” began to be gradually replaced by “Old Believers” and “Old Believer.” The new terminology did not have a negative connotation, and therefore Old Believers' consent began to actively use it in the social and public sphere. Word " Old Believers"is accepted not only by believers. Secular and Old Believer publicists and writers, public and government figures are increasingly using it in literature and official documents. At the same time, conservative representatives of the Synodal Church in pre-revolutionary times continue to insist that the term “Old Believers” is incorrect.

"Recognizing existence" Old Believers", they said, "we will have to admit the presence of " New Believers“, that is, to admit that the official church uses not ancient, but newly invented rites and rituals.”

According to the New Believer missionaries, such self-exposure could not be allowed. And yet, over time, the words “Old Believers” and “Old Believers” became more and more firmly rooted in literature and in everyday speech, displacing the term “schismatics” from the colloquial use of the overwhelming majority of supporters of “official” Orthodoxy.

Old Believer teachers, synodal theologians and secular scholars about the term “Old Believers”

Reflecting on the concept of “Old Believers,” writers, theologians and publicists gave different assessments. Until now, the authors cannot come to a common opinion.

It is no coincidence that even in the popular book, the dictionary “Old Believers. Persons, objects, events and symbols” (M., 1996), published by the publishing house of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, there is no separate article “Old Believers” that would explain the essence of this phenomenon in Russian history. The only thing here is that it is only noted that this is “a complex phenomenon that unites under one name both the true Church of Christ and the darkness of error.”

The perception of the term “Old Believers” is noticeably complicated by the presence among Old Believers of divisions into “agreements” ( Old Believer churches), who are divided into supporters of a hierarchical structure with Old Believer priests and bishops (hence the name: priests - Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, Russian Ancient Orthodox Church) and on those who do not accept priests and bishops - non-priests ( Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church, Hourly Concord, runners (wanderer consent), Fedoseevskoe consent).

Old Believers—bearers of the old faith

Some Old Believer authors They believe that it is not only the difference in rituals that separates the Old Believers from the New Believers and other faiths. There are, for example, some dogmatic differences in relation to church sacraments, deep cultural differences in relation to church singing, icon painting, church-canonical differences in church administration, holding councils, and in relation to church rules. Such authors argue that the Old Believers contain not only old rituals, but also Old Faith.

Consequently, such authors argue, it is more convenient and correct from the point of view of common sense to use the term “ Old Belief", unspokenly implying everything that is the only true thing for those who accepted pre-schism Orthodoxy. It is noteworthy that initially the term “Old Belief” was actively used by supporters of priestless Old Believer agreements. Over time, it took root in other agreements.

Today, representatives of New Believers churches very rarely call Old Believers schismatics; the term “Old Believers” has taken root both in official documents and church journalism. However, New Believer authors insist that the meaning of the Old Believers lies in the exclusive adherence to the old rituals. Unlike pre-revolutionary synodal authors, current theologians of the Russian Orthodox Church and other New Believer churches do not see any danger in using the terms “Old Believers” and “New Believers.” In their opinion, the age or truth of the origin of a particular ritual does not matter.

The Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1971 recognized old and new rituals absolutely equal, equally honest and equally saving. Thus, in the Russian Orthodox Church the form of ritual is now given secondary importance. At the same time, New Believer authors continue to instruct that Old Believers, Old Believers are part of the believers, seceded from the Russian Orthodox Church, and therefore from all Orthodoxy, after the reforms of Patriarch Nikon.

What is Russian Old Believers?

So what is the interpretation of the term “ Old Believers» is most acceptable today both for the Old Believers themselves and for secular society, including scientists studying the history and culture of the Old Believers and the life of modern Old Believers churches?

So, firstly, since at the time of the church schism of the 17th century the Old Believers did not introduce any innovations, but remained faithful to the ancient Orthodox church tradition, they cannot be called “separated” from Orthodoxy. They never left. On the contrary, they defended Orthodox traditions in their unchanged form and abandoned reforms and innovations.

Secondly, the Old Believers were a significant group of believers of the Old Russian Church, consisting of both laity and clergy.

And thirdly, despite the divisions within the Old Believers, which occurred due to severe persecution and the inability to organize a full-fledged church life over the centuries, the Old Believers retained common tribal church and social characteristics.

With this in mind, we can propose the following definition:

OLD BELIEF (or OLD BELIEF)- this is the general name of the Russian Orthodox clergy and laity seeking to preserve the church institutions and traditions of ancient Russian Orthodox Church andthose who refusedaccept the reform undertaken inXVIIcentury by Patriarch Nikon and continued by his followers, right up to PeterI inclusive.