HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Nov. 26, 2005 In the year 988, Prince Vladimir I adopted the religion of the Byzantine Empire as the official religion of Rus (Russia). The division of the Catholic Church that took place in 1054, resulting in the separation of the Roman Catholic Church, of Rome, from the Eastern Orthodox Church, of Constantinople (today’s Istanbul), therefore, placed Russia in the Eastern Orthodox Church. So there came into existence a body called the Russian Orthodox Church (Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov). In 1448, five years before the capture of Constantinople by the Seljuk Turks, the Russian Orthodox Church became independent of the Greek Orthodox Church. The seat of the ROC was moved from Kiev, where it had been during the period called Kievan Russia, to Vladimir, and eventually to Moscow. Nikita Minin (1605-1681), better known as Patriarch Nikon, was the head of the Russian Orthodox Church from 1652-1658, and instituted reforms that would lead to the so-called Schism (Raskol) in the Church. His influence depended in part on his personal friendship with Tsar Alexius I (Russian=Alekcei, lived 1629-1676, reigned 1645-1676). During his tenure as patriarch, he became aware of the fact that passages in the Russian service-books varied from the Orthodox norm. Russian icons and churches displayed features that were unorthodox. Prescribed forms of ritual and worship did not conform to traditional standards. In the mid 1650’s, Nikon invited scholars and prelates from Greece to consult with him in Russia, and reviewing the whole body of texts and the liturgy, they catalogued the errors in the Russian practises, many of them due to copyists' mistakes. On the basis of these synods that he convoked, Nikon decreed a number of changes that were to be held as mandatory. Apparently, Nikon’s true goal was to harmonize Russian ritual with Greek, Ukrainian and other ritual, thereby making pan-Orthodox unification under his own leadership possible. In other words, it may have been a power grab that motivated him. Whatever his motives, his reforms produced a stubborn reaction. The reactionaries were called Old Believers (Starovery or Staroobryadtsy). Because of their intransigence, Old Believers were persecuted from Nikon’s time until the reign of Peter I (Peter the Great, Russian=Pyotr, lived 1672-1725, reigned 1682-1725). They did not receive official toleration until 1905. Many, many fled to remote parts of Russia, like the Arctic North, Siberia, etc., as well as to the Western Hemisphere, and other places. Today Old Believers number one to ten million on a worldwide basis. So what were some of the radical changes that provoked such defiance in the Old Believers that they were willing to undergo imprisonment, exile, and corporal and capital punishment? Here are some of the theological differences: The Old Believers use two fingers instead of three to make the sign of the cross. The Old Believers reject all the textual emendations to the Bible made by Nikon, even though the emendations are historically justified. The Old Believers think that infants should be baptized by triple immersions in the font, instead of single immersions, sprinkling or pouring. The Old Believers do not believe in polyphonic music, singing in unison only. The Old Believers believe in using only old-style Russian icons, rather than pictorial representations of other kinds. The Old Believers don’t kneel, they bow low (zemniy poklon) using a special rug. The Old Believers wear Russian apparel and use special prayer-beads. The Old Believers say Alleluia twice, not three times, in the psalmody, and use seven hosts, instead of five, in the liturgy. The Old Believers don’t recognize any saints canonized after 1666. There are some other points of difference too. I’m glad I’m not an Old Believer. I don’t see much there for me to die for or accept torture or imprisonment to preserve. But it takes all kinds to make a world! ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
