Raskolniks

At first these renewed their clergy by taking over dissatisfied or dismissed priests from the established Orthodox Church, after having them take an oath against all the reforms instituted by Nikon and Peter; but this method was hardly satisfactory, for in most cases the material thus obtained was of low moral grade. They believed that the whole Russian episcopate had gone over to Antichrist, but were still valid bishops, and hence endeavoured to have bishops ordained by them, but in vain. They searched the Eastern world for a bishop who held their particular ideas, and it seemed almost they must eventual change for lack of clergy, when chance aided them. A community of Popovtsi monks had settles at Bielo-krinitsa (White fountain) in Bukowina. Ambrose (1791-1863), a Greek monk, was appointed Bishop of Sarajevo in Bosnia, and was consecrated by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Subsequently a later patriarch deposed him, and when his resentful feelings against the a Constantinople authorities were at their height, the Raskolniks approached him with the request to become their bishop. On 16 April, 1846, Ambrose agreed to go over to their faith and adopt all the ancient practices, consecrate other bishops for them, and become their metropolitan or archbishop. On 27 October, 1846, he was solemnly received in the monastery of Bielo-krinitsa, took the necessary oaths, celebrated pontifical Mass and assumed episcopal jurisdiction. Bielo-krinitsa is only a few miles from the Russian border, and a hierarchy was soon brought into being for Russia. After bishops were consecrated for Austria and Turkey, bishops were consecrated and installed in Russia. The Russian government could not crush the head of the Raskol Church, for it was in Austria. The Popovsti grew by leaps and bounds, commenced to provide for a regular educated clergy and vied with the established church. At present they have, since the decree of toleration in 1905, a well-established hierarchy in Russia with a Metropolitan in Moscow, and bishops at Saratoff, Perm, Kazan, Caucasus, Samara, Kolomea, Nijni-Novgorod, Smolensk, Vyatka, and Kaluga.

Their chief stronghold is the Rogozhsky quarter in Moscow, where they have their great cemetery, monastery, cathedral, church, and chapels. In 1863, at the time of the Polish insurrection, the Raskolnik archbishop and his lay advisors sent out an encyclical letter to the "Holy Catholic Apostolic Church of the Old Believers", supporting the tsar and declaring that on all main points they were in agreement with the Established Church. This again split their church into two factions which last to this day: the Okruzhniki or Encyclicalists, and the Raznordiki or Controversialists, who denied the points of agreement with the national Church. In addition to this the Established Church has set up a section of these Raskolniks in union with it, but has permitted them to keep all their peculiar practices, and these are called the Yedinovertsi or "Uniates". A great many of the Controversial section of the Raskolniks are coming into the Catholic Church, and already some eight or ten priests have been received.

Bezpopovtsi, or the Priestless, seemed to represent the despairing side of the schism. They have their greatest stronghold in the Preobrazhenky quarter in Moscow, and are strong also in the Government of Archangel. They took the view that Satan had so far conquered and throttled the Church that the clergy had gone wrong and had become his servants, that the sacraments, except baptism, were withdrawn from the laity, and that they were left leaderless. They claimed the right of free interpretation of the Scriptures, and modelling their lives accordingly. They recognize no ministers save their "readers" who are elected. Lest this be said to duplicate Protestantism it must be said that they have kept up all the Orthodox forms of service as far as possible, crossings, bowings, icons, candles, fastings, and the like, and have regularly maintained monasteries with their monks and nuns. But they have no element of stability; and their sects have become innumerable, ever shifting and varying, with incessant divisions and subdivisions. The chief of these subdivisions are: (1) Pomortsi; or dwellers near the sea, a rural division which is very devout; (2) Feodocci (Theodosians) who founded hospitals and laid emphasis on good works; (3) Bezbrachniki (free lovers) who repudiated marriage, somewhat like the Oneida community in New York; (4) Stranniki (wanderers) a peripatetic sect, who went over the country, declaring their doctrines; (5) Molchalniki (mutes), who seldom spoke, believing evil came through the tongue and idle conversation; and (6) Niemoliaki (non-praying) who taught that, as God knows all things it is useless to pray to him, as He knows what one needs. These various divisions of the priestless are again divided into smaller ones, like many of the strange sects in England and America, so that it is almost impossible to follow them. Often they indulge in the wildest immorality, justifying it under the cover of some distorted text of Scripture or some phrase of the ancient Church service.

Sectarians

The various bodies which make up the Sektanstvo have seceded from the national Russian Church quite independently of the schism at the time of Nikon and the reform in the church books. They correspond more closely with the various sects arising from Protestantism, and are founded upon some distorted idea of the Church, or a rule of life of doctrines of the Faith. Some of them are older than the schism, but most of them are later in point of time. The principal ones comprise between one and two millions and may be subdivided, or classified as follows: (1) Khylsti (Flagellants), who believe in severe penances, reject the Church, its sacraments, and usages. They also are called the Ludi Bozhi, or "God's People", and also the "Farmazoni" (Freemasons) on account of the secret initiations they have. They hold secret meetings in which they sing wild, stirring hymns, dress in white, and jump, dance, or whirl, much like the negro revivals in the Southern States.

(2) Skoptsi (Eunuchs), who not only teach absolute celibacy, but mutilate themselves so as to be sexless. They boast that they are pure like the saints and walk untainted through this world of sin, and take the literal view of Matthew 19:12. Women are also mutilated, particularly after they have borne children to recruit the sect, but these children are not born in wedlock. The Skoptsi are said to be usurers and money changers.

(3) Molokani (Milk-drinkers) said to be so named because they make it a point to drink milk and use other prohibited foods during Lent and fast days, to show their objection to the Orthodox church. They abhor all external ceremonies of religion, but lay stress upon the Bible. They say there is no teacher of the faith but Christ himself, and that we are all priests; and they carry their logic so far as to have neither church nor chapel, simply meeting in one anothers' houses.

(4) Dukhobors (Spirit wrestlers) are those who deny the Holy Ghost and place but a minor importance on the Scriptures. They are better known to America, for some thousands of them emigrated to Canada, where they are now good colonists. They give a wide place to tradition, and designate a man as "the living book", in opposition to dead books of paper and ink. In some respects they are pantheists, saying that God lies within us, that we must struggle with the spirit of God to attain the fullness of life. They do not give an historical reality to the gospel narratives, but take them figuratively. Their idea of the Church is in conformity with their belief; they consider it an assembly of the righteous on earth, whether Christians, Jews, or Moslems. Yet they have all the peculiarities and fanaticism of the Slav.

(5) Stundists, or a kind of Russian Baptist. These seem to be an offshoot of the Lutherans or Mennonites who settled in Russia. Their name is derived from the German Stunde, or hour, because they assembled at stated hours to read the Bible or worship. They rejected the sacraments, even baptism at first, yet retain it. They gave up all Christian holidays, and agreed with the Melokani in repudiating the idea of a clergy. They are nearly all Little Russians, in the South of Russia.

(6) Subbotniki (Sabbatarians), who have substituted Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, for Sunday. They have also taken up a great many practices from the Old Testament along with such elemental forms which they retain. They are practically Unitarians, and expect the Messias; and they are also said to be like the Mormons, living in polygamy in many instances, although most of them are content with one wife.

Besides these principal sects there are numerous smaller ones. One can almost run the same round of strange and erratic religious beliefs in Russia as in the United States. There are the Pliassuny (Dancers), Samobogi (Self-gods), Chisleniki (Computers), who have changed Sunday so as to fall on Wednesday, and Easter to the middle of the week, Pashkovites, Radstockites (so named after their founders), and numerous others, which exploit some peculiar tenant of their various founders and believers. In addition to those are the various missionary enterprises and local churches of Western Protestantism, of which the Lutherans and Baptists are the leading ones.