Old Orthodox faith. Difference between Old Believers and Orthodox Christians

(OLD BELIEVERS)- the general name of followers of religious movements in Russia that emerged as a result of church reforms carried out by Patriarch Nikon (1605-1681). S. did not accept Nikon’s “innovations” (correction of liturgical books, changes in rituals), interpreting them as Antichrist. S. themselves preferred to call themselves “Old Believers,” emphasizing the antiquity of their faith and its difference from the new faith, which they considered heretical.

S. was headed by Archpriest Avvakum (1620 or 1621 - 1682). After condemnation at the church council of 1666-1667. Avvakum was exiled to Pustozersk, where 15 years later he was burned by royal decree. S. began to be subjected to severe persecution by ecclesiastical and secular authorities. Self-immolations of Old Believers began, which often became widespread.

At the end of the 17th century. S. divided into priests And Bespopovtsy. The next step was the division into numerous agreements and rumors. In the 18th century many S. were forced to flee outside Russia to escape persecution. This situation was changed by a decree issued in 1762, which allowed the Old Believers to return to their homeland. From the end of the 18th century. two main centers of Old Believer communities emerged - Moscow, wherebespopovtsylived on the territory adjacent to the Preobrazhenskoe cemetery, andpriests- to the Rogozhskoe cemetery, and St. Petersburg. At the end of the 19th century. The main Old Believer centers in Russia were Moscow, p. Guslitsy (Moscow region) and Volga region.

In the first half of the 19th century. pressure on the Old Believers increased. In 1862Belokrinitsky hierarchycondemned the ideas of the reign of the Antichrist in her “District Message”.

During the years of Soviet power, S. continued to be persecuted. Only in 1971 did the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church lift the anathema from the Old Believers. Currently, there are S. communities in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltic countries, South America, Canada, etc.

Literature:

Molzinsky V.V. Old Believer movement of the second half of the 17th century. in Russian scientific-historical literature. St. Petersburg, 1997; Ershova O. P. Old Believers and power. M, 1999; Melnikov F. E. 1) Modern requests for the Old Believers. M., 1999; 2) A brief history of the Old Orthodox (Old Believer) church. Barnaul, 1999.

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?

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. 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.

In fact, such the greatest Russian ascetic, 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 “The Spiritual Sling,” published with the blessing of the New Believer Synod, it was 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 “Old Believers.” 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.

The 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 the 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 PeterIinclusive.

Material taken here: http://ruvera.ru/staroobryadchestvo

(1645-1676). The reform consisted of correcting liturgical books and some changes in rituals according to the Greek model. For example, as a result of the reform, the two-fingered folding of the fingers when making the sign of the cross was replaced by a three-fingered one, the double exclamation of “Hallelujah” was replaced by a triple one, walking “on the sun” around the baptismal font was replaced by walking against the sun, and the spelling of the name Jesus by Jesus.

The Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, held in the year, recognized the wrongness of the Moscow Council of 1656 and the Great Moscow Council of 1667, which “legitimized” the schism. The anathemas against adherents of the old rituals pronounced at these councils were recognized as “not former”, and the old rituals themselves were recognized as equal in honor to those accepted in the Russian Orthodox Church. It should be remembered that rituals taken individually are not at all saving.

According to rough estimates, there are about two million followers of the Old Believers.

The history of the Old Believers is one of the most tragic pages in the history of not only the Russian Church, but also the entire Russian people. The hasty reform of Patriarch Nikon divided the Russian people into two irreconcilable camps and led to the apostasy of millions of believing compatriots from the Church. The schism divided the Russian people into two classes according to the most important sign of religious faith for a Russian person. For more than two centuries, people who sincerely considered themselves Orthodox experienced distrust and enmity towards each other and did not want any communication.

A special role in the Old Believers is played by the preservation of old traditions and rituals, thanks to which many elements of Old Russian culture were preserved: singing, spiritual poems, speech tradition, icons, handwritten and early printed books, utensils, vestments, etc.

Literature

• Old Believers in pre-revolutionary Russia (a unique collection of photographs from the early 20th century)

Used materials

• Priest Mikhail Vorobyov, rector of the Holy Cross Church in Volsk. Answer to the question “about the irreconcilable attitude of representatives of the Drevlyan Pomeranian Church towards the Russian Orthodox Church” // Portal of the Saratov diocese

First, I want to explain why I was interested in the Old Believers, or, as they are also called, Old Believers or schismatics. Matters, as they say, are things of the past, which are poorly connected with the turbulent modernity. There are few Old Believers left in Russia. Wikipedia says - about 2 million out of more than 143 million Russians. Most of them live in remote Siberian corners. A certain number are outside Russia: in Romania, Bulgaria, America, Canada, Latin America and even Australia. They live in closed communities and communicate with the outside world to a minimum. For the average Russian, the Old Believers are of the same interest as the Amish are for the average American: read the article, be surprised, groan and forget. The Old Believers themselves do not want to participate in heated political and social discussions, and seem to prefer to be left alone.

But the more I read about the schismatics, the more I realized that the Old Believers are not at all like the Amish. The interest in them is not only zoological - to gaze at them as if at a strange animal in a cage and continue to live as usual. They write about the Old Believers with a feeling of nostalgia and regret. For many, the Old Believers are a miraculously preserved type of Russian peasant, economical, sober, prudent, strong and family-oriented. Old Believer is the embodiment present man, as he is described by authors nostalgic for Tsarist Russia, the master of the land and his own destiny. This is the bearer of those very traditional values ​​that the media shout about and which the government strives with all its might to instill and protect.
In modern Russia, this type has died out like a mammoth, being driven out by the authorities due to ideological differences. And in general, the Old Believers were too independent and stubborn for any authority, as we will see later. I noticed another curious thing that makes the history of the Old Believers relevant. The Old Believers resisted to the last the imposition of Western ideas and the Western way of life. They seemed to be preserved and, in an almost unchanged form, conveyed to us the cultural code of the Russians of the 17th century. In modern times, when there is a McDonald's on every corner, TV shows about the machinations of the State Department mixed with American blockbusters, a law on foreign agents is being passed and people are boasting about new iPhones, the history of the Old Believers can be instructive.

Wrong Orthodox and fiery oppositionists

It all started in the 17th century. On the Russian throne sat Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, nicknamed the Quietest. Together with the seventh Moscow Patriarch Nikon, the tsar carried out the church reform of 1650-1660. The purpose of the reform was, in general, good: to bring the ritual tradition of the Russian Church in line with the Greek one, which was considered more advanced. Some historians believe that Nikon thus wanted to make Russia the “Third Rome”, elevate Alexei Mikhailovich to the throne of the Byzantine emperors, and himself become the Ecumenical Patriarch. Externally, the reform looked like this: one had to be baptized with three fingers, not two, the name of Christ should be written with two “Is” at the beginning, the procession of the cross should be made against the sun, and during the service, “Hallelujah” should be proclaimed three times, not twice (a three-part Hallelujah instead of a special one). Minor changes were made to the sacred texts and bowing ritual. In the opinion of a modern person, far from ecclesiastical quarrels, the harmless reform was essentially an attempt to impose a Western model in Russia. As the priests themselves say, an attempt to forcefully Westernize Russia. The people perceived this as an encroachment on traditional, naturally established values ​​and refused to accept the new liturgical tradition. There was a split. This is how they appeared in Russia right and wrong Orthodox. Since dissent, especially mass dissent, undermines the foundations of the state, the fight against the schismatic opposition began.

(Patriarch Nikon)
The laws at that time were harsh, unlike modern liberal ones. In general, there were problems with tolerance in Russia at that time. First, any deviation from correct Nikonian Orthodoxy was punishable by death with confiscation of property, in some cases eternal imprisonment in an earthen prison, and then imprisonment, hard labor or exile. As a sign of protest, the schismatics, unlike modern oppositionists, did not hold rallies or write long articles on the Internet. They protested on a grand scale, radically: despite the harshest condemnation of suicide by the church, schismatics voluntarily went to martyrdom and burned themselves. Whole families, with children and old people, mind you. The Old Believers especially suffered in the times of Peter the Great, when Westernization was carried out super-actively. Oppositionists were banned from wearing traditional clothing, growing beards, and were ordered to smoke tobacco and drink coffee. To this day, Old Believers remember the great sovereign-transformer with an unkind word. In the 17th and 18th centuries, more than 20 thousand Old Believers voluntarily burned themselves. Many more were burned involuntarily.

Despite severe repression, the Old Believers continued to persist. In the 19th century, according to some estimates, up to a third of Russians were Old Believers. At the same time, significant relaxations occurred in the attitude of the authorities and the official church towards the Old Believers. A modern liberal law was adopted: direct persecution was abolished, but any propaganda was prohibited. It was forbidden to build churches, publish books, and hold leadership positions. Also, the state did not recognize the marriage of Old Believers, and until 1874 all children of Old Believers were considered illegitimate. In 1905, the government went even further in its tolerance and issued the Highest Decree “On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance.” The decree allowed the organization of communities and religious processions.

During the respite, the Old Believers became something like Russian Protestants. The Old Believers are related to the latter by the cult of labor and modesty in everyday life. These were, as I said above, strong and sober business executives. In the 19th century, Old Believers formed the backbone of the wealthy merchants and peasantry. 60% of all bank accounts in the country belonged to Old Believers merchants.

The Bolsheviks did not delve into the subtleties of faith. Old Believers were persecuted in the same way as ordinary Orthodox Christians. Many Old Believers suffered during dispossession and collectivization, because the Old Believers were wealthy and did not want to join collective farms. During Stalin's time, thousands of Old Believers received prison sentences for anti-Soviet agitation. The accusation is at least strange, because the Old Believers have always strived to live in closed communities, on their own.

Some Old Believers, instead of martyrdom, the royal fire and the Soviet camp, chose voluntary exile and emigration. They fled to Siberia, where the long tentacles of the Tsarist secret police and the NKVD could hardly reach. She fled to China, and from there to Latin America. This is how Old Believer communities were formed outside of Russia.

Downshifters

Old Believer communities are tin cans that have preserved the traditions, way of life and thinking of the Russian peasantry of the 16th century in almost unchanged form. These people deliberately reject modern civilization. Old Believers live according to the house-building system, relationships in the community are built along the traditional vertical: children, women, then men, and above all is God. The man is the undisputed head and breadwinner of the family. A woman is a mother and keeper of the home, or, as feminists would say, the work of women is kinder, küche, kirche (children, kitchen, church). You can get married at the age of 13. Abortion and contraception are prohibited. Old Believer families usually have 6-10 children. Unconditional respect and submission to elders. Old Believers of the old school do not shave their beards, women do not wear trousers and always cover their heads with a scarf, even at night. Alcohol and tobacco are either prohibited completely, or homemade mash is allowed. Controversial achievements of civilization, such as television and the Internet, are not welcomed by Old Believers. However, there is no strict prohibition: many have cars, fields are cultivated with tractors, girls download embroidery patterns and culinary recipes from the Internet. They feed themselves mainly from their own farms; many Old Believers in the United States have become successful farmers. Old Believers prefer to encounter official medicine as rarely as possible, except in serious cases; are treated with herbs, prayers and gelstat. It is believed that most diseases come from bad thoughts and information garbage in the head.
In a word, Old Believers lead a healthy lifestyle: instead of working in a stuffy office and relaxing with a bottle of beer in front of the TV - physical labor in the fresh air, instead of semi-finished products with preservatives and imported bananas - organic products grown with their own hands, instead of American blockbusters and watching news with murders and political quarrels - soul-saving prayers. Therefore, Old Believers are mostly very healthy people; old people over 90 look at most 60. But women fade early from frequent childbirth. It can be said that Old Believers are kind of downshifters for religious reasons. In this sense, Old Believers are in trend: fleeing the dubious blessings of civilization, top managers settle in abandoned villages, and hipsters nest en masse in Goa. Both would have something to learn from the Old Believers.

Alternative Russians

For centuries, the Old Believers unwittingly turned out to be inconvenient to any government - both tsarist and Soviet. The modern government and the modern church have finally decided to make peace with the Old Believers. In 1971, the Russian Orthodox Church abolished the harsh laws against Old Believers and decreed that the oaths of 1667 should be considered “as if they had not been”. In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia repented to the Old Believers. Now in Russia, along with the well-known Russian Orthodox Church, there is the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church) and the DOC (Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church). In general, the Old Believers are divided into several branches, but I will not delve into these subtleties. Relations with the official church still remain tense, mainly due to the reluctance of the Old Believers join the team.

(The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Korniliy, gives Patriarch Kirill an Old Believer rosary - a lestovka)

In 2006, a state program began to operate to assist the voluntary resettlement of compatriots living abroad to the Russian Federation. In 2012, Putin made it permanent. Magadan, Sakhalin, Kamchatka, and Buryatia were declared priority areas for settlement. And the Old Believers - bearded men in jeans and loose shirts and women in sundresses and scarves, speaking Russian with a foreign accent - stretched from warm Latin America and Australia to the harsh and poorly developed Siberia and the Far East. The Russian government promised to pay for the move, provide housing, provide allowances (up to 120 thousand rubles for each family member) and pay unemployment benefits for the first 6 months. True, with a condition: you can’t leave until the money allocated for resettlement has been spent. This is serfdom in a modern way.

The blessed return of the former oppositionists did not work out.

Firstly, The Old Believers were faced with a clumsy bureaucratic machine. Good intentions are good intentions, and paperwork must be completed according to all the rules. Bearers of Russian traditions found themselves equated with migrants. Of course, the Old Believers, unlike ordinary migrant workers, received concessions, but still the procedure for naturalization of descendants originally Russian turned out to be difficult and long. Some unwittingly turned into illegal immigrants and again, like centuries ago, fled deeper into the taiga, into the forests, hiding from the authorities. Again, the Old Believers found themselves in opposition against their own will, again in confrontation with the state. History repeats itself.

Secondly, Russia turned out to be completely different from the quiet country of birches and churches that grandparents told modern Old Believers about. The Russian village is on the verge of destruction: only old people and alcoholics remain in the villages, collective farms have collapsed, hired workers are working in the fields. The morals of modern Russians are strikingly different from those accepted among the Old Believers. In order to avoid being “interfered” with the laity and to preserve themselves, the Old Believers again strive to hide, to get away from people and civilization. The authorities' hopes that the Old Believers would help the spiritual revival of Russia did not materialize.Many Russians themselves do not want to be spiritually reborn , and the Old Believers were not ready to take on this most difficult task. The Old Believers do not need modern Russia.

The phenomenon of the Old Believers is that they represent, as it were, an alternative version of the Russians. Russians who were not changed by the revolution of 17, the years of Soviet indoctrination, the apocalypse of the 90s and the capitalism of the 2000s. Which our disputes about the fate of Russia and the national Russian idea do not concern. They found their idea back in the 16th century and carried it almost untouched to this day. On the one side, an example of enviable spiritual fortitude, a famous Russian character. The “pernicious” influence of the West had almost no effect on the Old Believers. Traditional values, as the example of Old Believers families shows, work. Who knows whether there would be a demographic crisis in Russia now if the family according to the Old Believer model had survived to this day. From a government point of view, our politicians who zealously promote traditional values ​​are probably right.

On the other hand, such stubborn conservatism and rejection of civilization hinders development. Old Believers are undoubtedly fanatics. Progress always means going beyond the established system, breaking traditions. And I can hardly imagine how to squeeze a modern person into the tight confines of a patriarchal family.

From the third side , while we are discussing the fate of Russia, the Old Believers are working silently. Without wasting time on doubts and reflections. They already have the answers.

Video: The whole truth about the life of the Old Believers:

Video: Old Believers - It’s easy to leave, it’s difficult to return:

What do you think about the Old Believers? Do Russia need them or do they exist?

Old Believers and Old Believers - how often these concepts are confused. They were confused before during conversations, and they are still confused today, even in the media. Every educated person who respects the culture of his people is simply obliged to understand the difference between these two different categories of people.

Old Believers are people who adhere to old Christian rituals. During the reign of A.M. Romanov, under the leadership of Patriarch Nikon, carried out religious reform. Those who refused to obey the new rules united and immediately began to be called schismatics, since they seemed to split the Christian faith into old and new. In 1905 they began to be called Old Believers. Old Believers became widespread in Siberia.


The main differences between the new and old rituals include:

• The Old Believers write the name of Jesus, as before, with a small letter and one “and” (Jesus).
• The three-fingered sign introduced by Nikon is not recognized by them and therefore they continue to cross themselves with two fingers.
• Baptism takes place according to the tradition of the old Church - immersion, because this is exactly how they were baptized in Rus'.
• When reading prayers according to old rituals, clothes specially designed for this purpose are used.

Old Believers are not people of the Christian faith, they are those who adhere to the one that existed in Rus' before it. They are the real guardians of the faith of their ancestors.


Their worldview is Rodnoverie. The Slavic Native Faith has existed since the first Slavic tribes began to appear. This is what the Old Believers keep. Old Believers believe that no one has a monopoly on truth, and it is precisely this that all religions claim. Each nation has its own faith and everyone is free to communicate with God as they see fit and in the language they deem correct.

According to the Native Faith, a person, through his worldview, creates his own understanding of the world. A person is not obliged to accept as faith someone else's idea of ​​the world. For example, tell someone: we are all sinners, this is the name of God and you need to address him like this.

Differences

Indeed, they often try to attribute the same worldview to Old Believers and Old Believers, despite the fact that there are huge differences between them. These confusions are created by people who do not know Russian terminology and interpret the definitions in their own way.

Old Believers originally believe in their own Family, and at the same time do not belong to any religion. Old Believers adhere to the Christian religion, but the one that existed before the reform. From some point of view, they can even be called a type of Christians.

It's easy to tell them apart:

1. Old Believers have no prayers. They believe that prayer humiliates both the one to whom it is addressed and the one who performs it. There are their own rituals among the clan, but they are known only to a specific clan. Old Believers pray, their prayers are similar to those that can be heard in Orthodox churches, but they are performed in a special robe and end with the fact that they cross themselves according to the old rites with two fingers.
2. The rituals of the Old Believers and their ideas about good, evil, and way of life are not written down anywhere. They are passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. They may be written down, but each clan keeps these records secret. Old Believer religious writings constitute the first Christian books. 10 commandments, bible, old testament. They are in the public domain and knowledge is passed on freely, not based on family ties.
3. Old Believers do not have icons. Instead, their house is full of photographs of their ancestors, their letters, and awards. They honor their family, remember it and are proud of it. The Old Believers also do not have icons. Although they adhere to the Christian faith, their churches are not filled with impressive iconostasis; there are no icons even in the traditional “red corner”. Instead, they make holes in churches in the form of holes, because they believe that God is not in the icons, but in the sky.
4. The Old Believers do not have idolatry. Traditionally, in religion there is a main living element who is worshiped and called God, his son or prophet. For example, Jesus Christ, Prophet Muhammad. Rodnoverie praises only the surrounding nature, but not considering it a deity, but considering itself a part of it. Old Believers praise Jesus, the biblical hero.
5. In the Native Faith of the Old Believers, there are no specific rules that must be followed. Every person is free to live in harmony with his own conscience. It is not necessary to participate in any rituals, wear robes and follow one common opinion. Things are different for the Old Believers, because they have a clearly defined hierarchy, a set of rules and clothing.

Is there anything in common?

Old Believers and Old Believers, despite their different Faiths, have something in common. Firstly, they were connected by history itself. When the Old Believers, or as the schismatics of the Russian Orthodox Church were then called, began to be persecuted, and this was just in the time of Nikon, they headed to Siberian Belovodye and Pomorie. Old Believers lived there and gave them shelter. Of course, they had different faiths, but nevertheless, by blood they were all Russians and tried not to let this be taken away from them.

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.

Vasily Surikov, “Boyaryna Morozova” 1887

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 analogue 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, the New Believers perform the anti-salting movement during the religious processions, and the Old Believers perform the anti-salting religious processions.

∗ 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”.