There were times when the expanses of Rus' were inhabited by very outlandish Orthodox sects. They had funny names, bizarre customs, and you would have considered them the invention of humorists.
According to the unforgettable Count Uvarov, the Russian Empire rested on three pillars: Orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality. The last two whales are a special subject, but the whale of Orthodoxy has always been difficult and sometimes so fidgety that it required considerable horse riding skill. The Orthodox flock was large and supervised diligently. For falling away from Orthodoxy, for converting to another faith, for an unauthorized marriage with a non-Christian, for raising children outside the Orthodox tradition until 1913, punishment was punishable by hard labor; for neglecting confessions and services - punishment and fines.
Of course, there were Mohammedans, Lutherans, Catholics, Jews and even some undesirable but tolerant pagans, like Buddhists. Although these were considered citizens of the second, and some even third, they were under supervision, they knew their place, and their mullahs and priests regularly collaborated with the Holy Synod, and with the Ministry of Spiritual Affairs, and with the office of the Chief Prosecutor.
And yet, the main headache of all those responsible for the spiritual bonds of the Russian Empire was not heterodox. Much sadder was the fact that Orthodoxy itself in our vast empire was sometimes perverted by local craftsmen so shamelessly that before you even have time to turn around, right at your fingertips, in some Vologda province, such a nasty heresy is already blooming in full bloom, that the Antichrist himself I wouldn't have thought of it. And our gullible people are already ready to take up pitchforks in defense of this heresy, drown themselves in the river in villages, and wander to hard labor.
They live in the forest and pray to the wheel
The main problem of Christianity in general and Orthodoxy in particular is, of course, the absence of precise and clear instructions in its main Holy Book. That is, the Old Testament part is full of them, but they were all written for the Jews!
It turns out to be a terrible mess. If in your most important book it is written that every male child must be circumcised, otherwise God will be angry, but at the same time the church authorities will send you to Siberia on foot for circumcising a Christian baby, you begin to get a little confused.
What to do if in the Bible you are forbidden to work on Saturday under pain of immediate death, but at the same time the abbot of the monastery will skin you for not going to hay on a holy day, and even suspect you of heresy?
And what do you feel when you look at the priest eating ham with horseradish on the fast day, and remembering all the troubles that Jehovah promises to anyone who defiles himself with unclean pig meat?
It’s also unclear with Christ. He demanded not to kill anyone, and in his name they send you to stab the Turks. He forbade idols and graven images, but your entire church is covered in icons and sculptures. He preached modesty in dress, and his servants bend under the weight of gold pots on their heads.
It is not surprising that Catholics refused to translate the Bible into national languages for so long, so as not to lead the people into temptation; Orthodox hierarchs preferred to conduct services in Church Slavonic, and for religious education to give the flock only collections of prayers and lives, published with the approval of the Holy Synod.
Future priests, who, as part of their service, had to become acquainted with primary sources, were reliably hammered into their heads in schools and seminaries with the idea that understanding of faith is accessible only to spiritual vision, and spiritual vision should be such as is ordered by the authorities, and there is no need to talk about it. , what your stupid head is not supposed to think about.
A very effective method. But sometimes it still didn't work.
And yet another young priest, sent to Smorguli for failure in science and taking cranberry liqueurs there, was sometimes very tempted to acquire his own spiritual vision, revealing the truth. What truth he sometimes shared with his flock - under great secrecy. And in just ten to fifteen years, the next inspector from the Chief Prosecutor's Office will have to drag his crew in liquid mud to Smorguli following a denunciation: that a new extremely malicious sect has appeared here, worshiping the Savior in the form of a giant cranberry.
Sectarianism in Orthodoxy and Orthodoxy in sectarianism
It is a mistake to think that all Orthodox are really not sectarians and that all sectarians are really not Orthodox. Not every Orthodox by name is like that in spirit, and not every sectarian by name is like that in spirit, and nowadays in particular one can meet an “Orthodox” - a real sectarian in spirit: fanatical, unloving, rationally narrow, resting on the human point, not hungry, not thirsty for the truth of God, but satiated with his proud truth, strictly judging a person from the top of this imaginary truth of his - outwardly dogmatically right, but devoid of birth in the Spirit. And, on the contrary, one can meet a sectarian who clearly does not understand the meaning of Orthodox service to God in Spirit and Truth, who does not recognize this or that expression of church truth, but in fact conceals within himself much that is truly God’s, truly loving in Christ, truly brotherly towards people.
And the presence of such mixtures in a Christian society does not allow us to approach the issue of religious relations frivolously. Sectarians sin in not understanding Orthodoxy, but we, Orthodox Christians, do not follow our Orthodoxy, not understanding them, sectarians, who are sometimes surprisingly ardently and purely striving to follow the Lord, to life in Him, the One.
The human narrow, proud, sick mind, not transformed by the Spirit of God, equally strives for division and seeks a reason for it, no matter who this mind belongs to - Orthodox or sectarian.
We Orthodox believe and spiritually see that we have the fullness of humanly expressed truth. But this does not mean at all that we are already following this fullness of truth and that this fullness fills us. We sometimes have it only on the tongue, or we think that it is in our eyes and should replace the log of our spiritual laziness. But this is far from true. We have the truth, and the complete truth, but we don’t want to live in it or don’t know how, and we simply often don’t strive to live in it, because it is very shy for our old man. And we are not averse to being proud and boasting about our Orthodoxy.
Among Christians of other faiths there are many who live in the truth of Orthodoxy - in their spirit. There are sectarians who burn in spirit and with love for God and for their neighbors much more than other Orthodox Christians, and this spirit of burning love for God and for man is a sign of true living Orthodoxy. Whoever does not have it among the Orthodox is not truly Orthodox, and whoever has it among the non-Orthodox is truly Orthodox. Humanly he is mistaken, humanly he does not understand this or that, does not see this or that color in the nature of the world (spiritual color blindness; does not see, for example, the meaning of icons, communications with saints who have departed from this world), but in spirit , according to his inner man, he is faithful and true, with unfeigned love devoted to the Living God Incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ - to death. The presence of such truly Orthodox Christians is noticeable both among Orthodox Christians and among Roman Catholics, as well as among Protestants of all shades, to which shades also belong the Russian sectarians who have become sectarianized, i.e. separated by mind and experience from the dogmatic confession of the Church, partly due to a misunderstanding of this confession in the Spirit, partly due to bad examples of the implementation of this confession in life. It is clear to every Orthodox Christian that people who are Orthodox in their beliefs are often not only not an edification for society, but a direct corruption of this society. We are not talking about the examples of politicians and public figures: they, of course, also apply to a large extent to us, the clergy, who do not always stand at the spiritual heights of Orthodoxy, despite a clear consciousness of the truth of their Church. And the monasteries... there was so much deep unorthodoxy, a worldly, corruptible spirit sometimes under the humble clothes of a monk. And everything “frivolous” and rotten floated to the surface of church life and was more striking than the truly humble, self-denying work of many shepherds and monks of true Orthodoxy, who followed Christ with their lives and died in Christ. The revolution showed and exposed the weak layer of the Orthodox Russian priesthood, but it also emphasized the martyrdom of the Orthodox life of the majority of priests. Someone said that the presence of sectarianism shows the religiosity of the people. One can say this: the presence of sectarianism shows the Orthodoxy of the people, their burning spirit, their desire for the ideal, their thirst not for external religion, but for internal one, the thirst for their heartfelt covenant with God. And this is essentially Orthodoxy. In the presence of sectarianism, an Orthodox Christian, and especially a priest, is always more to blame than the sectarians. To think like this is not to think in an Orthodox way, taking upon oneself guilt and responsibility for the separated brothers. Otherwise, there will be no truth of Christ - if you do not take the blame upon yourself. It is difficult to realize human truth in finding sectarians guilty, but Christ’s truth is different, “crazy” for the world, wise only for God.
Neither disputes, nor disputes, nor bickering, nor harsh denunciations can show the positive power of the Spirit of God that lives in Orthodoxy, which is Orthodoxy itself; this Spirit can only be revealed in the humanly insane renunciation of one’s reasonable rights and the provision of Judgment to the Spirit .
In Orthodox apologetics, it is necessary, first of all, to place a clear and firm emphasis on explaining the meaning of doctrine and demonstrating this doctrine in life.
We must clearly understand that Orthodoxy is a terrible Fire, like the Holy Mysteries. Those who accept the fullness of Orthodoxy will either be transformed or burned by this Fire. Orthodoxy created the spirit of the Russian people, but it also plunged the Russian people into fire. The Orthodox are scorched by Orthodoxy. They became unworthy partakers of the Holy Place of the Fullness of Faith. This shrine not only lives, but also scorches.
Sectarianism is a non-Orthodox search for the paths of Orthodoxy. Due to the weakness of man, it is accomplished not in depth, but sideways, so to speak, not in dogma, but near dogma. Dogmatic (pure) life around dogma represents, of course, greater Orthodoxy than non-dogmatic (prodigal) life in dogma. This must be understood with all clarity, with all the certainty of God’s Word, which directly points to this at least in the parable of the two sons, one of whom said that he would not do his father’s will, but did it, and the other said that he would do it, but did not do it. . Confession of the Orthodox Creed is a seal of the Gospel. The symbol must be accomplished in life, become reality. For one person it is completely unrealistic in life, although this person pronounces it every day in prayer; for another, faith appears in the life of his love for the Lord Jesus Christ, for the Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit, and it is reflected on his face, in his words and all his actions. Who is closer to the Kingdom of God? The answer is clear. Of course, the second, non-Orthodox in name, but Orthodox in spirit and truth, taught by the Spirit himself.
Orthodox people, by self-confession, by self-affirmation, must understand that Orthodoxy is by no means a privilege or a reason to condemn others, and not pride. Orthodoxy, on the contrary, is humility, it is a confession of the fullness of Truth, both truth and love. Orthodoxy must win only with its radiance, like the Lord Himself, and not with a cannon - steel or verbal, it doesn’t matter. Orthodoxy does not shine in an Orthodox society, in one that is proud of its Orthodoxy. It shines in those who are humble in their Orthodoxy, who understand the purity of faith not only with their little mind, but with their spirit, their whole life.
The beauty of Orthodoxy was given for the salvation of people, but the Orthodox began to turn it for condemnation, for the destruction of people. We can say that there are no completely Orthodox people on earth, but that the so-called Orthodox themselves and those who do not consider themselves Orthodox, but believe in the Church of Christ and live their lives in Christ, are partly Orthodox. Orthodoxy is sunlight lying on the earth. It shines for everyone, but not everyone is illuminated by it, for some are in the basement, some have closed their windows, some have closed their eyes...
But the question involuntarily arises: aren’t these thoughts, at least to the smallest extent, a rejection of the purity of the Orthodox faith, of that purity for which so much blood and jealousy was shed by the holy fathers?
Oh no, this is not only not a rejection of the purity of Orthodoxy, but it is a defense and confession of precisely that.
Let’s take, for example, the veneration of saints and prayers to them. The sectarian - unreasonably, not according to the spirit - denies this branch of the life of the spirit. We affirm its spiritual reality in Christ. Can a person who does not recognize this reality be saved? Scary question. What should serve as an aid in salvation, as one of its means, can be considered a pretext for condemning anyone who refused this help or chose another means?
What do saints seek - glorification of themselves, or of God? Of course, God. And every true glorification of the saints is, first of all, the glorification of God: “Wonderful is God in His saints...” (Ps. 67:36). This means that if we glorify God “directly” and glorify truly, unfeignedly, the saints and angels, of course, rejoice, rejoice, spiritually kiss such a glorifier. On the contrary, if a person sings greatness and akathists to the saints, but in his life does not have love for their spirit - the spirit of Christ's purity and truth and love, is not this person more a desecrator of the saints than a glorifier of them? Thanks to him, perhaps, many stopped glorifying the saints, seduced by such results of his glorifications... Oh, how inert and rude the carnal wisdom of man is, how the purest Spirit of the Lord is crucified in people!
The institutions of the Orthodox Church are a school of spirit, the most convenient if one goes through it in the spirit. Everything in the Orthodox Church should enliven and spiritualize. It is a person's fault if he becomes grounded. We, Orthodox pastors, are teachers in Christ. There is One Teacher - the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one - outside of Him - can be a teacher. We teach only how to obey the One Teacher. We are not teachers in our own name, but in the name of Christ. But now we see that someone learned to be a disciple of Christ without us. What? Will we rebel against him, as the apostles wanted to rebel against those who “do not walk with them” (Luke 9:49), but received a worthy rebuke from the Teacher, suitable for us, Orthodox shepherds?
We should rejoice that man, through the power of the Almighty Spirit, who “breathes where he will” (John 3:8), has miraculously transformed his life and is bearing fruit to God. The path of the Spirit in this person is not clear to us? But are we appointed to judge the ways of the Spirit, if the fruits of the Spirit are clear to our eyes? It is commanded to know from the fruits. The fruits are clearly defined by the apostle (1 Cor 13:4-8).
The only sin that is unforgivable is against the Holy Spirit, against love for Him. He who loves untruth, who praises sin, who delights in malice, is guilty of this sin, but he who does not mentally recognize or mentally does not recognize, that is, seeing with his soul or not seeing with his soul, this or that truth. If I am spiritually colorblind and do not see this or that color in the nature of the spiritual world, but I see other colors the same way as everyone else, am I really an outcast? I should rather be the subject of special care, special compassion. A sectarian who believes in the Holy Trinity, in the need for spiritual birth, in the need for a conscious attitude towards baptism, in the need for believers not to be ashamed of their faith among the indifferent, but to confess it before everyone, believes every word of the Holy Scriptures and, out of zeal for this faith, considers everything superfluous other manifestations of revelations of the Holy Spirit in the Church over 1900 years (revelations that do not contradict, but clarify what is hidden in the Gospel) - should this sectarian really be viciously persecuted by us, the Orthodox? What then will our Orthodoxy be?
But we must not angrily, irritably and rudely persecute and condemn not only sectarians, these brothers of our faith in the One Savior and Redeemer of the world. We do not dare to condemn any people angrily or irritably. We can notice a mistake, a weakness, if we ourselves are pure, but with sympathy. We must mercilessly only expel the coarse spirit of this world from our hearts. And then our Orthodoxy will shine. For it is impossible to justify a means by an end. You cannot defend Orthodoxy in a pagan or Jewish way. The purity of the Evangelical Spirit - Holy Orthodoxy - must be defended evangelically, dispassionately, wisely, with great love for that soul for which the Theanthropic blood was shed.
Throwing stones is very easy. And our old man is only looking for permitted excuses for the stone. The excuse of zeal for faith is the most convenient. A great shrine is being protected - the purity of faith and spirit! It is here, at the defense of the shrine, that a person must put on the shrine, gird his loins with fasting and almsgiving of the spirit. This will be the Orthodoxy of his Life.
We must openly acknowledge the undoubted fact that among all the confessions of faith in the true Incarnation of God, accomplished on earth in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega of salvation, among all those who call upon His Holy Name there are spiritually born people. And among the Orthodox, and among the Roman Catholics, and among Protestants of different directions and shades. The opposite fact is that among the first, and second, and third, there are people who were not born in the spirit in Christ, who did not hate evil, who did not love God with all their hearts and all their minds.
All those whom the Orthodox Church accepts without baptism are all Christians - brothers of the Orthodox in Christ, and the attitude towards them should be especially brotherly and loving. We say special, because a person should have a brotherly attitude towards all people. How can an Orthodox convert someone to faith if he does not have love for that person? How will this person recognize that faith of love if he does not see love in those who preach it?
Pride is abominable before God, and we Orthodox Christians are now admonished not only for the sins of our flesh, but also for the sins of our spirit. “You say: I am rich... (read: Orthodox! - A.I.), - but you are pitiful and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev 3:17), says the Lord to the proud, unloving Orthodox man.
Will that blessed time come when true Orthodoxy will shine in those who bear His name?! Meekness, mercy, purity, unfeigned love in Christ will shine for every person, for every creature. Today the Orthodox faith shines in the martyrdom of the Russian people. But even in some sectarians - martyrs and confessors, as well as in Catholics, expelled and tortured for the faith of Christ - Orthodoxy glorified, true, unhypocritical, much more pure and holy than in thousands of lukewarm, fearful, having only a name, “as if they were alive.” "(Rev 3:1), but in fact dead followers of our pure dogmatic teaching.
Our Orthodoxy here is only a reflection, only an echo of heavenly Orthodoxy, its eternal truth, eternal perfections. Dogmatically, it is purely reflected in the teaching of the Orthodox Church, but it is spirit and life and has as its fruit only life. Orthodoxy is a good fruit, and a tree must be judged only by its fruits, by the results of its flowering. Let the color be ugly, let the leaves be prickly and dry, let the tree be stunted and unsightly, even if it is broken... But if the fruit is sweet, pure and nutritious, then the tree is Orthodox in its fruitfulness. And, on the contrary, even if the flowers and leaves are lush, even if the tree is huge and wonderful, but if the fruit is inedible, bitter, poisonous or insignificant, then nothing will reveal the truth of Orthodoxy of this seemingly outstanding tree. And it will be a pity if it begins to distinguish itself and exalt itself above other trees.
But what practically does the spirit of sectarianism consist of, against which we must arm ourselves with prayer and sobriety? This spirit is the spirit of mental (not spiritual) jealousy. This is the rationalization of faith, maintaining the purity of faith and the loss of depth. This is the damage to love. Some Orthodox Christians defend their Orthodoxy in a sectarian way, wielding texts of Scripture or canons like sticks, scolding sectarians, or their own Orthodox Christians (examples of ancient and new schisms), defending their faith without hope in God, without love for man. Conversely, some sectarians manifest an Orthodox spirit in relation to this or that issue. For example, with regard to the lack of understanding of communion with the Heavenly Church (saints), all sectarians will “not recognize” this communion, and not wanting to partake of his experience of the Spirit, will proudly reject this communion, but one sectarian will denounce the Orthodox for their “idolatry”, another - “he will give judgment to God,” and only humbly pray for the enlightenment of the Orthodox brothers with the light of truth. Both will be outside the experience of Orthodox communion with the Heavenly Church, but one will be non-Orthodox (the first), the other will be Orthodox, and despite his non-Orthodox confession of faith, perhaps he will turn out to be more Orthodox before God than another Orthodox who communicates with saints purely outwardly - ritually, but not acting in life according to the commandments of the Gospel, not striving in the heart for the spirit of the saints.
Everyone is to blame. “There is none righteous, not one” (Rom. 3:10) - this must be understood. And not to judge each other, but to help each other, to learn the truth from each other. How many partitions will fall then!
If the Lord limited Himself to those laws of salvation that are understandable to our human mind, we would all have to perish. To the immense happiness of man, this is not so. The laws of God's salvation are broader than our understanding, or rather, deeper. For the Savior is the Lord, and we are people, an insignificant and accursed creature before God. And “all our righteousness is like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6)… All of our Orthodoxy is truly “like filthy rags”... And the consciousness of this only reveals, only emphasizes the immeasurable truth, depth and greatness of Orthodoxy.
Whips
A sect that arose in the times of Peter the Great, did not recognize the church and all its rituals. The Khlysty believed that this world consists of two parts: a) spiritual, divine and b) sinful, bodily. Man is a spirit trapped in a dirty, sinful body. And you can help this spirit by diligently torturing the disgusting flesh. The Khlysty preached strict sexual abstinence (except for the purposes of childbearing, and even then it was better without it), fasting and humility.
At night, they gathered in communities and held prayer services in “boats”: they walked, huddled close to each other, in a circle, sang their spiritual songs, whirled and beat themselves with whips until they lost consciousness, so that the flesh would not prevent the spirit from soaring higher. Many brought themselves to ecstasy and hallucinations with such exercises, during which they were able to communicate with angels, the Mother of God, and even with the Creator himself and receive a couple of valuable soul-saving advice.
Alternative view
Proof that the Russian Orthodox Church is a sect of Judaism:
First, the generally accepted concept of a sect:
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Sect - Wikipedia:
Sect (Middle-century Latin secta - school, teaching, from Latin sequor - follow) - a concept (term) that is used to designate a religious group that has separated from the main religious trend and is opposed to it, or to indicate an organized tradition, having its own founder and special teaching.
The Bible, the Old Testament, also known as the Pentateuch, is the JUDIAN Torah.
Here is the link:
https://toldot.ru/urava/ask/urava_2292.html
The Old Testament is included in the Orthodox canon. All Jewish prophets are saints in Orthodoxy (ROC).
The Russian Orthodox Church professes Christianity.
Abrahamic religions and Christianity are also an Abrahamic religion - named after the Jewish patriarch Abraham.
In Russian Orthodox Churches they sing “Hallelujah” after each phrase.
And Hallelujah in Hebrew “Glory be to God Yahweh, that is, Jehovah”
Hallelujah
Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia:
Hallelujah (Old Russian alilu ꙗ, Alilugi ꙗ, Alelugi ꙗ from Hebrew הַלְלוּיָה] הללויה], in transcription - “Halelu-Ya'kh”; Old Greek ἀλληλού ϊα; lat. alleluia) - prayerful word of praise, addressed to God, used in Judaism (in the daily synagogue service and recorded in the Jewish prayer book - siddur, which included from the Holy Scripture - from the Book of Psalms / Tehillim, chapter 106, etc.) and in a number of Christian denominations. Literal translation of the Hebrew word Hebrew. הַלְלוּיָה] הללויה] - “Praise Yah (Yahweh, Jehovah).”
Here is a picture of Jehovah on the synagogue:
Daily worship in the Russian Orthodox Church consists of the following parts: Midnight, Matins, frequent reading, liturgy (mass), Vespers and Compline. Small services are also performed: christenings, prayer services, weddings, memorial services, funeral services for the dead, etc. Let us dwell on this service in detail:
The Midnight Office usually begins for all services: a prayer to the Holy Spirit (“Heavenly King…”), the Trisagion, a prayer to the Holy Trinity and the Gospel prayer “Our Father...” After such a brief beginning, the Old Testament Psalter is read:
Psalms of David No. 50 (“Bless Zion according to your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem... then they will lay bulls on your altar” - this is how this psalm ends) and No. 118, then the creed, repetition of the “beginning”, troparia in honor of a holiday or saint and several prayers; then reading Psalms No. 120 (“He who guards Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps”) and No. 133 (“The Lord (i.e., Yahweh in the original Hebrew text) will bless you from Zion”). Next is the repetition of the “beginning”, the troparion of the holiday or saint, prayer and, finally, a small final part called “dismissal”.
MORNING. “Beginning” - usual, psalms No. 19 (“May the name of the God of Jacob protect you; may he send you help from the Sanctuary and from Zion may he strengthen you”) and No. 20, repetition of the “beginning”, troparia in honor of the Cross and the Mother of God, then psalms No. 3, 37, 62, 87, 102, 142 (the so-called six psalm), litany and five verses - six to eight words each - in honor of the Israeli god on texts from the Old Testament; The last verse emphasizes the idea that this god has placed a stone at the head of the building (i.e., “the people of Israel”) and everyone must stumble over it and recognize it as the cornerstone in the world building. At this point in Matins, three-quarters of the entire Psalter is read over the seven days of the week, and the rest is read on the same days at Vespers. In other words, every week an Orthodox Christian has the opportunity to listen to all 150 Psalms of David! Then follow two troparions, Psalm No. 50 and then a canon - a miniature service in the service dedicated to a specific (according to the schedule for the year) holiday or saint. On another day, up to four canons can be read. The canon consists of 9 songs - 10-15 words each, accompanied by several troparions (up to four). Let's look at their contents:
The first song is always dedicated to the victorious exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The Israelis and the praying Orthodox Christians who count themselves among them rejoice daily and rejoice at the complete death of the Egyptian firstborns of people and livestock, the death of the Egyptian army along with the pharaoh in the depths of the Red Sea, praising for these atrocities the Israeli god, who for Christians is the universal god: “Like on dry land Israel traveled... seeing Pharaoh and being drowned!”
The second song, sung only during Lent, expresses laudatory thoughts about the Mosaic Law, about Deuteronomy.
The third canto tells us about the so-called Jewish miracle: the ability of Jewish women to give birth to children (the future great Jews) without the participation of men. In particular, a certain Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, is glorified, one of the first to give birth to a great Jew without the participation of a man.
The fourth song glorifies the prophecies of the Jewish prophet Habakkuk.
The fifth contains the prophecies of the Jewish prophet Isaiah.
In the sixth, praying Russian Orthodox Christians call to save them, just as the Israeli god once saved a certain Jew Jonah from the belly of a whale.
The seventh song glorifies three Jewish youths who were once thrown into a fiery furnace in Babylon, but the same Israeli god
The seventh song glorifies three Jewish youths who were once thrown into a fiery furnace in Babylon, but the same Israeli god saved them from inevitable death by sending down dew from the sky, which instantly extinguished the fire.
The eighth song glorifies “the God of Israel, ... who created heaven and earth.”
In the ninth song, the Jewish Mary, the last of the chosen Jews, is sung, who gave birth to the son Jesus “inexpressibly,” that is, without knowing a man. Before this song there are verses from the Gospel of Luke with praise to the God of Israel for the fact that he finally “received Israel”, showed mercy to him in accordance with the promise to Abraham and his descendants: the Jewish Mary finally became pregnant for the birth of the so-awaited the Messiah to all the Jewish people.
After the canon there are again the chants of psalms No. 148 and No. 149, several troparions (stichera) in honor of a holiday or saint, then a magnificence - 175 words of a compilation of Old and New Testament texts, another troparion, two litanies and a dismissal. Calculations show that 69% of Matins are occupied with purely Old Testament texts, the rest with a compilation of Old and New Testaments.
WATCH. After Matins, the so-called hours are read: there are four of them. According to the explanations of the Orthodox Church, at the 1st hour the trial of Christ by Pilate is remembered; on the 3rd - the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles; on the 6th - the suffering of Christ on the cross; on the 9th - the death of Christ on the cross. However, oddly enough, all four hours consist only of Old Testament psalms and tiny troparions in honor of a holiday or saint. At the time of the composition of the Psalms of David, as is known, neither Christ, nor Pilate, nor the apostles existed, and it is not clear how the Old Testament texts could remind the listeners of the hours about Pilate or the Apostle Paul. But closer to the point:
The 1st hour consists of psalms No. 5, 89, 100, two or three troparions of compilative prayer;
3rd hour - psalms No. 16, 24, 50 plus the end of the first hour with your prayer;
6th hour - psalms No. 53, 54, 90 plus the end of the 1st hour with your prayer;
9th hour - psalms No. 83, 84, 85 plus the end of the 1st hour with your prayer.
Thus, 75% of each hour is occupied by pure Old Testament texts, and the rest is compilations.
LITURGY or LUNCH . The main service of the day begins with the litany, followed by psalms No. 102 and 145, then a compilation of 35 words, the New Testament “Blessed are the poor in spirit...”, troparia, prochemaea for every day, then the Apostle, i.e. an excerpt from the New Testament Acts of the Apostles and excerpt from the Gospel; here begins the commemoration of the living and the dead, the exit of ministers from the altar to the pulpit with gifts, the calling of the Holy Spirit to transform the offered gifts (bread and wine) into the body and blood of Christ - a simplified procedure for the Jewish bloody human sacrifice on the so-called copper sea in the Temple of Jerusalem and vacation Even without taking into account the prayers and psalms at the preschomedia (the secret service at the altar immediately before the liturgy), as well as without taking into account the internal Old Testament prayers of the priest during the liturgy and at this service, 35% is occupied by Old Testament texts, and the rest is a compilation from the Old and New Testaments.
VESPERS . It begins with Psalm No. 103, then the litany follows, after which the daily quota of psalms begun at Matins is completed. Then the psalms that are constant at Vespers: No. 140, 141, 129. During breaks, troparia are sung. At the end of the troparia, there are prochemaea (verses of 5-10 words) from the Old Testament texts and parimia - excerpts from the Old Testament, mainly the Pentateuch, the prophets of Israel and the books of the Kingdoms. Then again the troparia, the gospel prayer of Simeon the God-Receiver “Now we are being forgiven...”, ending with a doxology addressed to the Jews: “... and the glory of your people, Israel.” This prayer is sung with a “great voice,” that is, loudly, on high notes, so that even in Palestine one can hear how the Russians glorify the people of Israel. Then again the troparion in accordance with the Orthodox calendar and dismissal. A calculation shows that 75% of Vespers is occupied by Old Testament texts, and the rest by compilations from both Testaments.
COMPINE. It begins with psalms No. 4, 6, 12, 24, 30, 90. Then the choir sings “For God is with us...” - Old Testament verses ending with the cry of the Jewish psalmist: “God is with us, understand the Gentiles (i.e., the goyim) and submit…” Then the troparion, creed, “Our Father...” and prayer. Next are psalms No. 50, 101 and again a prayer composed by the Jewish king Manasiah: “To the Lord (Yahweh) Almighty, God our father” of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and their righteous seed... righteous before you are only Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their seed.” . So, this is already the outright racism of “God’s chosen ones,” reinforced in the humiliated recognition by the Russian people that they are humiliating themselves before the seed of Israel. After - “Our Father...”, troparion, short prayer, again psalms No. 69, 142, doxology in honor of the God of Israel, again prayer and dismissal. In total, 70% of Compline is occupied by Old Testament texts, and the rest by compilative texts.
The static part, as we have seen, only up to 15% is made up of New Testament, i.e. directly Christian texts, the remaining 85% are purely Jewish texts - the same ones that are read in synagogues.
Therefore, the usual daily service is 85% synagogue !
On November 13, 1991, Abram Moiseevich Ridiger, better known as Alexy II, said the following before the rabbis of New York City:
- “Shalom to you brothers. In the name of the God of love and peace, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...
- Christians separate from Jews because they are not completely Christians. And Jews separate from Christians because they are not fully Jews. For the fullness of Christianity embraces Judaism, and the fullness of Judaism is Christianity.
“The unity of Judaism and Christianity has a real basis of spiritual and natural kinship
and positive religious interests. We are united with the Jews, without abandoning Christianity,
not in spite of Christianity, but in the name and power of Christianity"
— Alexy II.
Bible, Exodus 9:13 - Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews
And, moreover, this sect of Judaism - the Russian Orthodox Church - is not Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is the original faith in Rus', which existed during the period of dual faith in Rus' before Nikon’s reforms.
The name Orthodox itself was assigned by Christian hierarchs in the 11th century (1054 AD) during a split into the Western and Eastern churches. The Western Christian Church, centered in Rome, began to be called Catholic i.e. Ecumenical, and the Eastern Greek-Byzantine Church with its center in Constantinople (Constantinople) - Orthodox i.e. Faithful. And in Rus', the Orthodox adopted the name of the Orthodox Church, because... Christian teaching was forcibly spread among the Orthodox Slavic peoples.
There is an error in the very phrase “Christian Orthodoxy.” Correctly, the Russian Orthodox Church should sound like “Orthodox Autocephalous Church of the Byzantine sense.”
Orthodoxy is not a religion, not Christianity, but FAITH!
Modern scientists, historians and theologians of the Russian Orthodox Church argue that Rus' became Orthodox only thanks to the baptism of Rus' and the spread of Byzantine Christianity among the dark, wild, mired in paganism of the Slavs.
This formulation is very convenient for distorting history and belittling the significance of the most ancient culture of all Slavic peoples.
The word “Orthodoxy” is not in the Bible. It is a fact
It is not found in other, non-Slavic languages either.
But Wiki, like the priests, insist that Orthodoxy = ὀρθοδοξία = Orthodoxy.
Let's try to figure out what Orthodoxy and Orthodoxy are!
For example, translated into English, Orthodoxy is identified with the Eastern Orthodox Church!
By the way, there are a whole lot of these so-called Orthodoxies! Let's say there is the Orthodox Catholic Church. Is this some type of Orthodox Catholic Church?
How do you like the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church)
Here is another striking example: Russian Orthodox Church is the Russian Orthodox Church, but Orthodox Judaism is no longer, as you might think, Orthodox Judaism, but Orthodox Judaism, as it should be!
This means that Orthodoxy is not Orthodoxy! Orthodoxy is “orthodoxy.”
And then everything falls into place!
Orthodoxy: Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia.
Orthodoxy (tracing paper from the Greek ὀρθοδοξία - literally “correct judgment”, “correct teaching” or “correct glorification”[1]) is a direction in Christianity that took shape in the east of the Roman Empire during the 1st millennium from the Nativity of Christ, under the leadership and under the main the role of the see of the bishop of Constantinople - New Rome.
Orthodoxy (tracing paper from Greek ὀρθοδοξία - literally “correct judgment”, “correct teaching” or “correct glorification”
Tracing paper (linguistics)
Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
Tracing paper (from the French calque - copy)
“Tracing paper” is a copy, i.e. IDENTICAL
Orthodoxy (tracing paper from Greek ὀρθοδοξία - literally “correct judgment”, “correct teaching” or “correct glorification”
Is the Orthodox Catholic Church also the Orthodox Catholic Church?
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
Well, so is Orthodox Judaism, so is Islam...
Are they all Orthodox?
:)))
This is what happens when you lie)))
The Greek-Catholic Orthodox (Right Faithful) Church (now the Russian Orthodox Church) began to be called Orthodox Slavic only on September 8, 1943 (approved by Stalin’s decree in 1945).
The name Russian Orthodox Church was adopted as official only in the fall of 1943. The Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) was registered as a religious organization on February 27, 2003. And before that, the name of the Christian church in Russia, before its abolition by the communists, sounded as follows: “Greek-Catholic Church” (Universal Church of the Greek Rite). After Nikon’s reform and the replacement of the word “orthodox” with the word “Orthodox” in the liturgical books, in 1700 new words were added to the name of the official church: “Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church.” And the name of the official church, known today, “Russian Orthodox Church”, appeared by decree of Stalin in 1943 and was approved at a local council held by officers of the NKVD of the USSR.
I advise you to carefully read the preamble to the federal law on freedom of conscience and on religious associations, adopted on September 26, 1997. Please note the following points in the preamble:
“Recognizing the special role of Orthodoxy in Russia...
and further respecting Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and other religions..."
Thus, the concepts of Orthodoxy and Christianity are not identical and carry completely different concepts and meanings.
Byzantine monk Belisarius 532 AD. Long before the baptism of Rus', this is what he wrote in his Chronicles about the Slavs and their ritual of visiting the bathhouse: “Orthodox Slovenians and Rusyns are wild people, and their life is wild and godless, men and girls lock themselves together in a hot, heated hut and wear out their bodies... »
We will not pay attention to the fact that for the monk Belisarius the usual visit to the bathhouse by the Slavs seemed something wild and incomprehensible; this is quite natural. Something else is important for us. Pay attention to how he called the Slavs: Orthodox Slovenes and Rusyns.
For this one phrase alone we must express our gratitude to him. Since with this phrase the Byzantine monk Belisarius confirms that the Slavs were Orthodox many thousands of years before their conversion to the Judeo-Christian faith.
Chetyi Menaion 1714 Read the last 2 lines
https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/ruwiki/1037244
Christians became Orthodox in the 17th century during the reform of Patriarch Nikon (before Nikon there was still dual faith - Orthodoxy and Orthodoxy), who ordered changes to be made in the chronicles. When the Church split in 1054, the western one began to be called “Roman Catholic, Ecumenical” with its center in Rome, and the eastern “Greco-Facolic, Orthodox (Orthodox)” with its center in Constantinople (Constantinople). (“orthodoxy” - “orthodoxy” in Greek).
Before the revolution of 1917, the Orthodox Catholic Greek-Russian Church. Afterwards it began to be divided into Old Church and Renovationist.
The name Russian Orthodox Church was adopted in the fall of 1943, which was joined by renovationists who self-liquidated in 1946.
After 2000 years of Christianity, it is natural to ask the question: “Has it solved at least one global problem for humanity?”
No, but it has also given rise to many sects and warring peoples.
So why are we being dragged with Christianity into the 21st century?
Today, a whole army of well-fed, shiny “spiritual shepherds”, dressed in gold-embroidered clothes, calls on hungry, sick people to humble themselves, fast, pray, believe and wait for the “kingdom of heaven.” Here and now they live in satiety and contentment, and they lie to us in order to enslave us for their own sake.
An alien religion is hostile.
“Orthodox” are all Israelis, although most often they don’t even suspect it. For the “Orthodox” the holy land is not Rus', not the homeland, but Israel.”
Stoleshnikov
In fact, true Orthodoxy is not a religious cult. It was a teaching about how the world around us works and how to interact with it correctly. This was not “prejudice,” as they tried to convince many people during the USSR, when the existence of God was denied. This was not a backward and primitive cult of “idolaters,” as the modern Russian Orthodox Church is trying to convince us.
This was real reliable knowledge about the world around us - VEDIC RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Author: Svetlana Lisichkina
Heresy of the Judaizers
One of the most serious Protestant sects that fought with Russian Orthodoxy at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. The founder of the heresy is considered to be the semi-mythical Novgorodian “Jew Skhariya” (aka “Taman prince Zachariah”). The Judaizers considered it important to observe many of the canons of the Old Testament (that is, the actual Jewish religious requirements), and also accused the church of lawlessness, love of money, servility to the authorities, etc.
Among the secret Judaizers were many high-ranking secular and church leaders. In many ways, the heresy of the Judaizers is similar to European Protestant teachings, which is not surprising, since mostly educated people who were well acquainted with the religious life of Europe became sectarians. They also fought against the Judaizers using completely European methods - hastily created services with inquisitorial powers and bonfires.
"Black International" and its war against the USSRPart I.
“The sleep of reason gives birth to monsters” (F. Goya) The main plot of the book concerns the “black international” not only as an ultra-right political movement, but also as an international institution of carefully disguised revanchism of past failures of fascist ideas. Today Russia is entering a turning point in its history. The country faces two fundamentally important tasks, on the solution of which the fate of our Fatherland for the coming decades depends. It is necessary to withstand the colossal foreign policy onslaught, which, contrary to the hopes of some short-sighted analysts, with the advent of the Donald Trump administration in 2021 not only did not weaken, but, on the contrary, radically intensified. At the same time, Russia must make a rapid economic, technological and, no less important, social leap forward - a vital leap into the future for the country, which will allow the country in the 21st century. take its rightful place among the leading states of the world. The fourth term of Vladimir Putin's presidency is key to responding to both of these challenges. There is a third, implicit, but equally serious problem - the political illiteracy of the population, which helps to easily implement the most unthinkable plans of the black international.
At a turning point in our history, a variety of groups within society and the political elite are actively promoting their “scenarios for the future.” Television broadcasts, bookstore shelves, academic journals and popular online publications are overflowing with analytics, journalism and propaganda devoted to one single question - where will Russia move, what historical choice should our country make.
Obviously, the President, who has already done a lot in almost two decades at the head of Russia, understands the severity of the situation. Now he has to steer the ship of Russian statehood into the future, navigating it between the Scylla of “liberal defeatism” and the Charybdis of “dense security”, not by chance mentioned in the inaugural speech. It is necessary to simultaneously ensure the continuity of the system and give dynamism to the country, to prepare new administrative and political personnel who will be able to preserve, continue and increase Putin’s foreign and domestic political achievements. It is unlikely that it will be possible to repeat the experiment with “tandemocracy”, which was relatively successfully carried out in 2008-2012. Neither the international situation nor the scale of the tasks facing the country contribute to this. Today we need to search for more complex, bold and effective solutions that can ensure long-term and crisis-free development of Russian society, the political system and the national economy. Of course, there are enough forces in the world who want to prevent this.
Some of them are well known to us, this is the so-called. “Orangeists” are the widest spectrum of pro-American radical “globalists”, separatists of all stripes and oppositionists, “liberals” and from “Navalny”, libertarians to pro-Ukrainian neo-Nazis. Thousands of revealing materials have been published about them, the biographies of all the leaders of these groups are well known, the connections of such “oppositionists” with foreign countries and foreign intelligence services are no secret to anyone. And they don’t hide too much. Therefore, to a large extent, the threat posed by such people has been neutralized: Russian society and authorities have been warned and have no illusions about these forces, which almost openly proclaim their hatred of the country and demand immediate capitulation to Washington.
But there are also more insidious opponents.
In 2014, the so-called “Crimean majority” is a broad association of political groups, public organizations and ordinary citizens of various political beliefs, united by a common idea of the need to actively resist the nationalist coup in Ukraine, as well as support the people of Crimea in their desire to return to Russia, despite aggressive opposition to this from the USA and part of European countries. This new political majority, whose recognized political leader was the current head of state, included, in addition to the moderate left, right and center, the so-called. “radical patriots”, who would be more correctly called “pseudo-patriots”. The basis of the black international has always been radical patriots and fanatics.
Being long-term critics of the West, preachers of the “special path of Russia” and adherents of the “strong hand”, in the years following the reunification with Crimea, they became part of the establishment: they occupied the main state information platforms, received full ownership of their own think tanks and institutes, and settled on financial flows , intended for civil society organizations, have flooded the educational sphere and even penetrated into government, occupying positions in public councils and advisory groups under various ministries and departments. These pseudo-patriots are well recognized and enjoy considerable authority even among quite respectable and decent genuine patriots of our country, who only occasionally and kindly reproach them for the harshness of their assessments and the radicalism of their judgments. Sadly, today the black international has taken a very strong position in the information field.
But is it all so harmless?
In fact, false patriots are much more dangerous enemies than the most notorious Russophobes - the “Orangeists”, who demand more and more sanctions against Russia in the American Congress and applaud every anti-Russian provocation of the neo-Nazis who seized power in Ukraine.
Their biographies and true views are often hidden from the general public and they, despite numerous speeches, rarely openly articulate their goals to the end. Pseudo-patriots, self-proclaimed “ultra-statists” and other representatives of the black international tend to hide behind general phrases and gain popularity by fiercely criticizing pro-American liberals, whose hostility to Russia is already obvious to everyone. In reality, these political hypocrites only use patriotic rhetoric in order to infect Russian society and state power with their true ideas: neo-fascism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, neo-feudalism and even medieval violence - all shades of black. Far-right radicals, sometimes even dressing up as patriots of the USSR, are trying with all their might to throw our country back into the new Middle Ages and destroy all the undoubted achievements achieved by Russia in the first two decades of the 21st century. Such pseudo-patriots are purposefully and persistently pushing Russia towards a completely false, artificial choice between “liberal” capitulation to Western pressure and parafascist authoritarianism. As if we have no other choice, as if Russia cannot be both strong and free, as all the honest patriots of our country want it to be.
Neo-fascists under the guise of “statists” can talk about their admiration for the Russian Empire or the USSR, but they are not interested in the real and inspiring past of our country - the history of development and progress, the struggle for freedom and justice. In Muscovite Rus' they admire the terror of the oprichnina, and not the courage of the militia of Minin and Pozharsky, in the Russian Empire - serfdom, and not the spirit of the Enlightenment, in the Soviet Union - Beria's dungeons, and not social elevators and a breakthrough into space. In Russian history, they are only interested in the dark and bloody pages that exist in the past of any nation, but which should not dictate our future.
The task of the book that the reader holds in his hands is to tell the truth about far-right authoritarians and crypto-fascists, who today are increasingly making friends with the authorities and trying to steer the ship of Russian statehood into the abyss of horror, terror and regression. We hope that our book will allow an honest, thoughtful reader who sincerely loves his Fatherland and wants freedom and prosperity for Russia to see the true faces of self-proclaimed “friends.”
This book is also a warning to the authorities, because cynical pseudo-pariots and their narrow-minded followers serve external interests, the goal of which is to turn President Putin into a Eurasian Milosevic-Hussein-Gaddafi, and to turn the modern Russia he built into a rogue country, a giant Yugoslavia-Iraq-Libya, which will never again be able to resist American claims to world hegemony. This book is about traitors disguised as patriots who want the black sun of fascism to rise over our Motherland - instead of freedom, justice and true greatness.
Russian crypto-fascists do not act alone. Just like the Orangemen, they are tightly woven into a vast international network - the black international. In the same way, they regularly gather at conferences, exchange experiences, and publish their manuals on wrestling. Pamphlets by the main ideologists of European fascism were translated into Russian and were widely circulated in narrow circles.
This first book will tell about the history of the pro-fascist international political movement (the so-called “black international”) - a pseudo-patriotic political movement and about those who, talking about their endless love for Russia, have been collaborating with foreign countries for decades, or even directly at the direction of enemy intelligence, they worked to destroy the Soviet Union. By demonstrating the true history of these movements, we will show the reader the political genesis and origin of the ideas of a good half of today’s pseudo-patriots who have become familiar in the Russian media and political space. On the pages of our book you will meet fascist neo-Eurasian occultists, revanchist monarchists, and radical nationalists who climbed to the highest levels of Soviet power.
Isn’t there a bitter irony in the fact that these forces and their heirs - the black international, having a hand in the destruction of the USSR and ensuring that Russia returned to the borders of the 17th century, present themselves today as the main Russian patriots? Is it possible to believe that people who betrayed their people during the Great Patriotic War and served Western intelligence services for decades, religious sectarians and outright obscurantists who hated high Russian culture, suddenly became patriots? We will consider not only the origin of the ideas of these traitors and their struggle against the USSR in the twentieth century, but also show how they became legalized in modern Russia and began to seize the media space and penetrate into power.
Many true patriots, undoubtedly, may be amazed that those people whom they still respect and listen to, who are accustomed to being considered guardians of Russia, are in fact traitors, tracing their political - and sometimes family - lineage from staunch enemies of Russia, haters everything sublime and noble that is in our history. But the truth is more valuable, and the future of Russia is more important than illusions.
When reading our research, you may even get the impression that pseudo-patriots of all stripes have completely entangled the Russian intellectual class and a significant part of the ruling elite with their networks, and our future now entirely belongs to them. But that's not true!
After all, the absolute majority of our compatriots agree that today it is not enough to be called an honest patriot and a good citizen, it is important to be one and actually serve your Motherland, its freedom and progress. And we don’t need “pseudo-patriots” with their flowery rhetoric - in this way the black international is pushing Russia into ancient times. We need sincere, fiery, but thoughtful and rational, new - progressive patriotism, which can consolidate the Russian state and civil society on a platform of development and ensure our movement forward, to new victories and accomplishments.
All the facts that can be read about in this book can be easily verified, and numerous links and photographic materials will allow the interested reader to continue the fascinating investigation into the nooks and crannies of the neo-fascist underground, which today is striving to become the Russian intellectual mainstream.
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Skoptsy
They were considered a “most harmful” sect, and, I must say, not without reason. The Skoptsy agreed with the church that lust is a mortal sin, but, unlike official Orthodoxy, they preferred to resolve the issue radically: by removing external sexual characteristics in both men and women. At the same time, as we understand, childbearing functions were not lost, and the “immaculate wives of the eunuchs” periodically brought babies miraculously.
HOW TO RECOGNIZE AN “ORTHODOX” SECT? 11 questions to yourself
Before entering into confidential contact with the leader and followers of any religious group - be it a monastery, parish, brotherhood, sisterhood, missionary community, etc., it is advisable to answer the following questions: 1. What is the history of this group and its jurisdiction? Don’t they say here: “All other monasteries (parishes, communities) are no good, you don’t trust them, but with us everything is as it should be!” Such phrases are a sure sign of a sectarian spirit.
2. Do the leader and members of the group have a delusion of persecution (“everyone is against us”) or dividing the world into “us” and “them”? Is a leader considered “persecuted” and “misunderstood” by others in the Orthodox world? Are outsiders viewed as “enemies”?
3. Is communication limited to those outside the group? Do they use the expressions “stupid”, “redneck”, “plebeian”, “worldly” and so on in relation to critics?
4. Have there been any occasions when group members have been asked to do something obviously illegal, immoral or humiliating? The trick here is that a person who has adopted a sectarian worldview can justify anything by “obedience,” or vice versa, by a sense of his own superiority.
5. Haven’t you heard statements like: “We don’t need bishops (or priests) or it’s not a decree”, “there are no more real bishops left”?
6. Are there any attempts to undermine the reputation of recognized authorities of the Church or sow doubts about their competence?
7. Even if the group is clearly living poorly, it is useful to find out whether new converts are being persuaded to donate (money, property, power of attorney for a loan). This question does not interfere with finding out even if you have entered a monastery: usually, before taking monastic vows, a novice is not required to part with personal savings, either for the benefit of the monastery or for the benefit of his family. A similar question is whether guests and relatives of community members are given special honors in order to lure large donations from them?
8. Are intimidation and accusations used to attract people into the group (“if you don’t accept monasticism, you will go to hell!”) or to keep them in it (“if you leave, you will die, you will return to your previous sin”)? Are they lying about those who left the group? It is known, for example, that a certain person left the community of his own free will, and the leaders stubbornly insist that he was “kicked out” as a libertine or a madman, or a disobedient person, instead of simply saying that the person did not have a calling to monasticism.
9. If you are a layman and go to church, should you get permission (blessing) from a priest from the community to change jobs, buy a car, etc.? Under normal circumstances, you should still have the final say in such matters; they should not be decided by a priest, no matter how wise and pious he may be. Of course, every Christian can - and should - ask for prayerful help and advice in his everyday affairs, but the imposition of his own will by a priest and the suppression of someone else’s is unacceptable.
10. If you notice that a community leader is distorting facts, does he justify this by saying that the group supposedly serves a “higher purpose”? In other words, is achieving the goal justified by any means necessary?
11. Are there any signs of megalomania on the part of management? In other words, do they not consider themselves and their group to be some kind of mentors, deliverers or saviors of the entire Church?
If the answer to at least one of these questions is positive, it is better to leave such a group: obedience has meaning and value only when it is voluntary and not forced, caused by fear, guilt or emotional blackmail.
Recently, many pseudo-patriotic organizations have appeared that entice believers with them, speculating on “correct” slogans. However, in the end, all their calls come down to the struggle against the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church. And what is especially sad is that some, usually young priests, are involved in this, with “Komsomol fervor” trying to literally drive unchurched people into the Church. Moreover, to the “church” that they invented for themselves.
It is clear that the reformers of the Church “want what is best” and the majority are sincere in their desire to “cleanse” the Orthodox Church from many abuses, which, unfortunately, are actually present in our parish practice. But at the same time they forget the main thing: the path of the Church cannot be identical to the path of social reforms, because in the end it is not we who will save the Church, but she who will save us.
Continuing the topic, read:
Bishop of Saratov and Volsk LONGIN: SECT AS A DIAGNOSIS OF THE TIME
Molokans
One of the most widespread sects, existing since the 18th century, somehow surviving Soviet times and surviving to this day. The name comes from the concept of “spiritual milk”, which should feed Christian souls.
The Molokans sincerely despised the Russian Orthodox Church, considering it a servant of the devil and secular authorities; they did not obey their superiors, did not venerate icons and relics, and wanted only one thing: to be left alone.
Being serfs, they ran away from their masters, and when recruited, they deserted. They headed to Siberia, where they set up settlements for themselves away from the authorities, both secular and ecclesiastical. They prayed as best they could, tried to comply with the requirements of the Old Testament (for example, did not eat pork), loved to work and were in many ways similar to the Old Believers.
But their refusal to pay taxes and obey their superiors made the Molokans the worst enemies of the empire, which persecuted them from the 18th to the 21st centuries more diligently than the Skoptsy or Khlysty.
Comments
+1 Svetlana 11/18/2010 5:48 pm Hello everyone! The site hasn’t loaded for 8 days... And now I’m so glad to be with you again!!!
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+1 Tatyana 11/19/2010 16:04 Kopylova’s songs make me want to howl.
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+1 Tatyana 11/19/2010 16:54 Svetlana! You are welcome! I also wanted to complain about the clever technology in the hands of a savage (I mean myself), but I had to run away. Shine on.
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+2 Yuri 11/21/2010 18:38 What is this. My hair stood on end, and not only on my head. Such passions are not for the weak
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+1 Tatyana 11/21/2010 20:37 Hang in there Yuri! Oh, how I understand you.
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0 Vladimir 11/21/2010 21:10 gee
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+1 Valeria 11/21/2010 22:22 The article once again reminds us that we need to be vigilant in communicating with the Russian Orthodox Church. They have very deeply thought out all the actions to intoxicate people, then it can be very difficult and even impossible to convince the “lost sheep”, I know first-hand. Believers walk around like zombies, whispering “spells” against “demons” under their breath and it is impossible to talk to them; everything that does not fit the church template is called “sin” and “from the unclean.” And I liked the song, a promising future awaits writers according to the canons of Christianity. In short, paradise is definitely not shining for Pushkin, he wrote heartfelt poems about love
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+1 Yuri 11/22/2010 20:11 We must not forget that there is a lot of storage. sects have appeared to suit every taste. And they all claim to be true, since they are not visible to the naked eye.
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0 Yuri 11/26/2010 21:45 I quote Tatyana:
Hang in there Yuri! Oh, how I understand you.
Thank you for your understanding, it’s difficult to introduce you, but we have an office in the city.
registered about 9 different sects or churches, how to say it correctly? Report to moderator
+2 #10 Svyatogor 01/02/2011 01:55 there are errors in the article: of all the “paid” sacraments, baptism, wedding and consecration are (and even then not everywhere, much depends on the priest). Repentance, as well as the sacraments of unction (confirmation) and communion are free! And I repeat once again, everything depends on the morality of the SPECIFIC clergyman; unfortunately, among priests there are very often “administrators”, i.e. people without faith who came to church for a good, well-fed life... There are no ascetics who truly love their neighbors and “enemies” now, well, I personally don’t know such people...
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0 #11 Yuri 01/02/2011 21:30 I quote Svyatogor:
There are mistakes in the article: of all the sacraments, baptism, wedding and consecration are “paid” (and even then not everywhere, much depends on the priest). Repentance, as well as the sacraments of unction (confirmation) and communion are free! And I repeat once again, everything depends on the morality of the SPECIFIC clergyman; unfortunately, among priests there are very often “administrators”, i.e. people without faith who came to church for a good, well-fed life... There are no ascetics who truly love their neighbors and “enemies” now, well, I personally don’t know such people...
What kind of ascetics are they who love both their neighbors and their enemies?
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+2 #12 Svetozara Art 01/03/2011 13:23 I agree. The Russian Orthodox Church is a terrible sect, its actions are terrible, and its end will be disgusting, and its lies will become obvious, like death in the toilet of Alexy II. On Kuraev's blog they write: zoyae wrote: Aug 7, 2009 10:24 (UTC) Re: Causes of death of Alexy II Father Andrey already answered this question. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy died after slipping in the toilet. Hit my head on some object. https://diak-kuraev.livejournal.com/31284 .html?thread=3918900 The current pope is also running for president. And about the “flies” that are entangled in this web, a statement seen on the Internet is very suitable: “Once people have internalized a wrong opinion, once they recognize it as an undoubted truth, then it is no longer possible to reason with them, just as it is impossible to write legibly on soiled paper.” .
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0 #13 Yuri 01/03/2011 14:56 I quote Svetozar Art:
Agree. The Russian Orthodox Church is a terrible sect, its actions are terrible, and its end will be disgusting, and its lies will become obvious, like death in the toilet of Alexy II. On Kuraev's blog they write: zoyae wrote: Aug 7, 2009 10:24 (UTC) Re: Causes of death of Alexy II Father Andrey already answered this question. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy died after slipping in the toilet. Hit my head on some object. https://diak-kuraev.livejournal.com/31284 .html?thread=3918900 The current pope is also running for president. And about the “flies” that are entangled in this web, a statement seen on the Internet is very suitable: “Once people have internalized a wrong opinion, once they recognize it as an undoubted truth, then it is no longer possible to reason with them, just as it is impossible to write legibly on soiled paper.” .
I didn’t know that I was running for president.
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+2 #14 Briling 01/03/2011 16:35 my thoughts about one of the main reasons for the failures of our country over the centuries completely coincide with the author of the article. I've been interested in history for a long time. from school age. if you learn to read between the lines, you can see the truth even in official academic publications. The baptism of Rus' was the starting point in the transformation of our people into slaves. After all, it’s no secret that in order to subjugate a person, you need to destroy his faith and erase the memory of his ancestors. then he becomes an orphan without roots. but since a person without faith will turn into a completely uncontrollable animal, then he needs to be given a surrogate. This is what Christianity does in our country.
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0 #15 karnaukh 01/07/2012 22:57 Friends! This is not self-promotion, but finally read it yourself, thoughtfully, soon there will be NO opportunity to communicate and download! https://www.onlinedisk.ru/file/797059/ The Russian Orthodox Church since the time of the Byzantine Empire - looking from it to Rus', until the Byzantine Empire collapsed, patriarchs to Rus' were simply appointed by the Jewish high priests from Constantinople. The Gospel was written by order of the Emperor of Byzantium by the Jew Paul, and in theory there should have been Christians - Paulicans, who in those days would have paid for the spread of these psychotronic weapons - religions? Even the Khazars slaughtered our Fathers only for gold, they helped Vladimir slaughter his squad and 9 million of the adult population out of 12 in Kievan Rus alone. Don’t be mistaken, the Khazars are NOT Tatars and Bshkirs, then there is another ROD - the Bulgars) or any other ROD of Rus'! The pagans never violated inter-tribal oaths, while Khan Svyatoslav and Khan Asparukh were alive, no one interfered with the Volgokamics. But Khazaraim is an early clique of Jews, before crossing by force and cunning with captive or stolen women of our clans - the clans of the Rus and Bulgars. From then on he was still black and disgusting, he looked little like Humans. For example, after the Flood, the Khazaraim searched for Humans for 40 years - they lived from them or ate (see the Humer tablet). And now their blessed ones in the past have settled for themselves for the happiness of their Children, “choose”. True history is not modern inventions, modern academics who grew up on nonsense. Still haven't read TarKhraT!!! He will answer any question, if you don’t understand, ask! Glory to the Grandfathers!!! TarKhRAT “Burping of Grandfather Veles”: part 1 https://www.onlinedisk.ru/file/797611/ part 2 https://www.onlinedisk.ru/file/796700/ fonts https://www.onlinedisk.ru/file/ 799233/ Rosich Kievsky.zip https://www.onlinedisk.ru/file/800859/
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0 #16 karnaukh 01/08/2012 13:09 EXTRACTS. DISTRIBUTED IN THE JEWISH ACADEMY OF THE RUSSIA AND ITS REGIONAL DIVISIONS THE WORD OF REBBE BERL LAZARA Established in 1991 another turmoil WE, the scattered people, scattered throughout Rus', privatized resources and concentrated in the capital, in federal structures, and became the “indigenous” population of this barbaric country, pushing the aborigines into reservations - regions. The victory of the “indigenous” population led to a sharp increase in the life expectancy of “WWII veterans” and “siege survivors” from our midst, as well as the birth rate under maternity capital. At the same time, we, with the support and funding from the state budget, continued the centuries-old struggle against obscurantism - the beliefs of the aborigines, banning the Solar solar symbols of their Ancestors, declaring paganism - CONSCIENCE in Labor - outlawed. We threw this country into a global financial whirlpool controlled by our high priests, such as financial injections of the “indigenous” population of the Russian Federation. to the “historical homeland of Israel” increased to such an extent that Kobzon was able to buy a place for himself for 3 million euros only in the lower tier of the cemetery and not from stone, which ended, but from limestone, on which first Moses and then Yeshua urinated. The irreversibility of the triumph of the Covenants and Laws of the “indigenous” population for the aborigines was the privatization of the “Central Bank of the Russian Federation” and the removal of bins and the printing press to England, as well as accession to the WTO, an organization that for decades carried out a trade blockade of Russia from outside, in our interests . Aggression of aborigines towards the “indigenous” population of the Russian Federation. is incomprehensible, but it is not time yet, until the month of May, to stop it by force! For some reason, the aborigines of the Judeo-Christian Sulman perceived extremely negatively the ascension above themselves of the people chosen by their lord - you and me, enshrined in both the Bible and the Koran. Where possible, it is time to remind the slaves that the Aboriginal Religion and its brand - the “bible” - is the property of Israel, like the crucified fellow, as recorded by our fathers in their scripture, on which they swore when they were baptized - a commitment to become like us: “The Gospel. From John the holy gospel. Chapter 18. p.20. Jesus answered him: I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where the Jews always meet.” When you consider it necessary, instruct the slaves, for they have forgotten that when they were baptized, they swore an oath to Yeshua, our brother: “The first letter to Timothy of the Holy Apostle Paul. Chapter 6 1 Slaves who are under the yoke must consider their masters worthy of all honor.” In every possible way, verbally oppressing and supporting those natives who, in accordance with the “Old Testament. Being. Chapter 26 p.33. And he named him: Shiva. Therefore, the name of that city is Beersheba [Birsheba] to this day” they walk the right, tolerant Hindu path, they will have state protection and food. Those who disobey will be reduced to the status of animals and those accused of being sterilized. The juvenile system will give us the opportunity to control Aboriginal children from the moment of birth until they reach working age, who object to explain from the scripture: “The Gospel. From Matthew the Holy Gospel. Chapter 10. p.37. whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Hiding, however, from the aboriginal parents our ultimate goal: "The Gospel. From Mark the holy gospel. Chapter 13 p.12. Brother will betray brother to death, and father will betray his children; and children will rise up against their parents and kill them.” Very soon our Lord will give us the opportunity to openly declare to the aborigines in the words of scripture: “The Gospel. Epistle to the Romans of St. Apostle Paul. Chapter 6: clause 3. Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Which, if done correctly, will finally break the will of the aborigines and they will be forced to recognize our natural superiority and chosenness, as well as the one god of our forefather Sabaoth, whom our servants glorify hidden in their churches and mosques. Let us rejoice about the approaching day of Passover and fear the words of our Lord Sabaoth - father god of Christians and Muslims and other peoples. Old Testament. Exodus. Chapter 12. paragraph 43. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat it; clause 44. and every slave bought with money, when you have circumcised him, may eat of it; Old Testament. First Book of Ezra. Chapter 9 p.14. Will we really break Your commandments again and enter into kinship with these disgusting peoples? This may not have happened yet, but there will be nothing to object to when it happens. PR-VO
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Balers
A sect that existed in the 18th–19th centuries. The balers were confident that only those who had suffered martyrdom would enter the Kingdom of God. Therefore, the balers brutally killed (baled) any relatives and fellow believers who fell ill with a serious illness. And sometimes they could exterminate a completely healthy person, who did not even belong to their sect, solely out of special love and respect for him.
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It's time to figure it out: What is a sect?
Today there are such a large number of different Christian denominations that people are confused when it comes to choosing a church: a person does not know how to choose the right church and not end up in a sect. But what is a sect?
This question will be answered differently in countries where there is a state church (Orthodox or Catholic) and in those where there is no state church (Protestant countries). Although in all countries the word “sect” has a negative connotation.
The word "sect" (from Latin secta
) originally meant: “
separate part
” (words with the same root: section, sector). Later it began to refer only to religious groups.
In Protestant countries, believers were previously faced with a variety of confessions, and their classifications were proposed by theologians of those countries earlier. We will consider the most generally accepted: “church, denomination, sect and cult.” Later we will consider the classification proposed by Russian theologians.
The church is the dominant religious organization in a particular country. Characteristics: 1. has a close connection with the state and secular authorities. 2. achieves total coverage of all citizens of its country; the replenishment of new members occurs due to the natural reproduction of the country's population. 3. does not change its doctrines, which have become centuries-old traditions.
4. exercises a religious monopoly in an attempt to suppress religious rivalry. 5. employs specially trained clergy full-time. 6. has a complex hierarchical bureaucratic organization. 7. creates various groups within the church (monastic orders, monasteries).
Refers to: Catholics, Orthodox.
Denomination is a religious organization; appears when the church loses its monopoly in society. Characteristics: 1. is in relatively good relations with the state and secular authorities. 2. Membership replenishment occurs due to birth rates and evangelism. 3. may change its doctrines slightly and admits to some theological disagreements and disputes. 4. Be friendly to other denominations. 5. employs specially trained clergy full-time. 6. has a complex hierarchical bureaucratic organization.
They include: Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, etc.
What is common between the church and the denomination: the basic tenets of the Christian faith are the same.
A cult is a religious organization or group that most often splits off from a denomination in the hope of finding a real religion.
The difference from a church and a denomination is as follows: 1. does not have government support. 2. Replenishment of members occurs mainly only through evangelism. 3. does not change its doctrines, does not allow disagreements. 4. has a negative attitude towards other faiths, as heretics.
5., 6 may vary from sect to sect.
Specific characteristics of the sect:1. has its own prophet, who was given a special revelation from God (Joseph Smith - among Mormons, Ellen White - among Adventists). 2. believes that a correct understanding of the Bible is impossible without studying the works of this prophet. The works of the prophet complement or even replace the Bible. 3. teaches that it is the only church chosen by God, and salvation is possible only for its members. 4. warns that those who leave her will be punished by God.
The main differences between the teachings of the sect: 1. they deny that Jesus is God and man at the same time. Some reject the humanity of Jesus Christ, arguing that He had a “spiritual” body rather than a physical one. Others deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, claiming that He was a mere mortal man. They deny His virgin birth, sinless life, His substitutionary sacrifice for our sins, His resurrection and ascension into Heaven. 2. deny that salvation is the gift of God ( “For by grace you have been saved, through faith; and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not by works, so that no one can boast.”
-Ephesians 2:8-9); arguing that salvation must be earned by certain deeds: distributing literature, keeping the Sabbath, reading the Bible, etc. Includes: Momons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists, Christian Science, etc.
A cult is a religious group, very similar to a sect, but it does not call for a return to real religion, but more often for something new, completely forgotten or lost, for example: a lost scripture, a new prophecy. Differences from a sect: 1. the presence of a living leader, who supposedly has a direct connection with God (after the death of the leader, the cult usually disintegrates). 2. encourages its members to leave their families and transfer all their property to the community.
They include: Moonies, Raelians, members of the New Time (age) movement, members of schools based on Eastern methods of developing their abilities, etc. In Russia, where the Orthodox Church holds a dominant position, the classification of confessions was made by its protege - A.L. Dvorkin - in the following form: the denomination was given the name “classical sect”, the sect – “totalitarian sect”, the cult – “destructive sect”, i.e. all confessions that do not belong to the Orthodox Church were declared sects.
A well-known lawyer and expert in the field of church-state relations, Vladimir Ryakhovsky, believes that the anti-sectarian “Center of St. Irenaeus of Lyons,” “if we evaluate it by the activities of Dvorkin and by the signs he himself identified of “destructive and totalitarian sects,” in essence, it is an extremely destructive sect, which, based on lies, promotes hostility towards a number of law-abiding people officially operating in our country religious associations"
.
Religious scholar and Indologist B.Z. Falikov points out that the list of “totalitarian sects” and “destructive cults” “includes almost all known new religious movements.” According to the religious scholar, the true intention of the fighters against sects is not at all to care “for the spiritual and mental health of the population, but to rid traditional religions, which have become heavy under the weight of years and have lost their missionary agility, from successful competitors.”
.
According to Falikov: “The anti-sectarian movement is an instrument of the struggle for a spiritual monopoly, and is by no means a means of eradicating spiritual danger. Time will tell how effective this tool is. In my opinion, not very much. In religion, as in love, you cannot be nice by force. And will the hothouse conditions that would-be defenders dream of creating for them benefit traditional religions? They definitely won’t add missionary fervor.”
Materials taken from Wikipedia and English-language sites.
Subbotniks
A sect that caused a lot of headaches for both Orthodox hierarchs and Jewish rabbis. Since the times of Catherine, every now and then it suddenly occurred to various groups of people to read the Bible and find out that Jews are the chosen ones of God, who, by and large, did not care about all other nations, but was ready to hang over the Tabernacle of the Covenant for days in order to properly explain to his favorites how to properly go to the toilet and brush your teeth.
And since Jews are pleasing to God, it was necessary to become Jews, right? Subbotniks (who also called themselves foundlings, adopted children, Judaizers, new Jews, etc.) observed all Jewish traditions, sent scouts to synagogues to strictly observe all rituals, and sometimes even reproached Jews for poor knowledge of their tradition.
The Jews, who never had a burning desire to make everyone around them Jews and who already had a lot of problems with the secular and ecclesiastical authorities of Russia, ardently and sincerely wished the subbotniks to fall into fiery hell.
Some of the subbotniks managed to get to Palestine - however, for the most part they were slaughtered by the Arabs and mowed down by the local unfriendly climatic conditions. The issue of subbotniks in Russia was finally resolved in the 70s of the 20th century, when the Soviet government sent them all to Israel, which, being in a state of permanent war with the surrounding Arab countries, expressed its readiness to accept even the Chukchi if they consider themselves Jews and wish defend the sanctity of the native land of Israel.
What is a sect
The definition of the concept is actually extremely innocent; translated from Latin it means “school” and “follow”, i.e. a certain teaching that a person follows. In ancient Greek, this concept also meant heresy. In the Orthodox Church, this means a religious group of people that has a teaching different from the established one. In a more modern sense, it means a separate group that has its own teachings and doctrine.
A sect is a community of people whose religious views differ from the official teachings of the Orthodox Church
If we objectively consider a sect, it appears as simply a group of religious people who have the same doctrine and follow a certain charter. Most often, the group is headed by one person or group of people who govern the community and interpret dogma for it.
They may be part of the official doctrine, for example, charismatics are part of Christianity, i.e. their views coincide with the main theological issues and doctrines of this denomination. Or they can stand apart from all views and religions, for example, the “White Brotherhood” or the “Church of Scientology,” which completely distorted all Christian dogmas and spread unconditional fictitious heresy among the people.
This is interesting:
- What is pantheism
- About paganism
- About superstitions in the church
The classification of sects divides them into:
- Pseudo-Christian - some have Christian dogmas in their teaching, but distort Scripture and place their own revelations above it (“Local Church”, “Jehovah’s Witnesses”, “Boston Movement”, etc.).
- Pseudo-Eastern - are built on some eastern traditions and claim to convey certain spiritual knowledge (Brahma-Kumaris, the cult of Sathya Sai Baba, etc.).
- Pseudoscientific - base teaching on pseudoscientific facts and statements that contradict the official scientific position (parapsychology, Scientology, etc.).
- Health cults - assert the priority of physical health over spiritual health (followers of Porfiry Ivanov, rebirthing, etc.).
- Occult - built on the dissemination of certain “secret knowledge” that gives power over people or the Universe (agni yoga, theosophy, astrology or magic, etc.).
- Neopagan - communities that seek to revive paganism and consist of elements of the occult and folklore (Veda, Vyatichi, etc.).
- Commercial - organizations that are built on the principle of a pyramid and whose ideology is based on commerce (Herbalife).
Important! Thus, a sect is a community of people whose religious views differ from the generally accepted and official teaching of the Orthodox Church.
Doukhobors
The sect, which believes both in Christ and in the transmigration of souls, considers any violence a crime. Soon after their appearance, the Doukhobors really liked Emperor Alexander the First, who saw in them “meek people of the true Christian spirit” and immediately populated Crimea with them.
On the lands taken from the Crimean Tatars, the Doukhobors peacefully grew rye and wheat under the protection of the bayonets of the regiments stationed here, and the Tatars were supposed to, looking at the Doukhobors, learn meekness from them. The Doukhobors were also settled in the Caucasus and the territory of modern Azerbaijan. They were parachuted into an area that received names like “Slavyanovka” or “Ivanushkovo”, and they worked regularly and multiplied there, without entering into conflicts with the population, but as if infecting them with their complaisance and submission to fate.
With the accession of Nicholas I, the sweet life of the Doukhobors ended. For refusing to perform military service, they were flogged, driven to military settlements, sent to Siberia, and the Orthodox Church was set against them. At the end of the 19th century, the Russian intelligentsia, with the active participation of Leo Tolstoy, raised funds and helped the majority of Russian Doukhobors move to Canada. Their descendants still live there.
American folk singer Pete Seeger dedicated his hit Do as the Doukhobors Do to them.
Orthodox Life
What religious groups can be called sects? How to classify them? How to build a debate with members of sects? These and other questions are answered by Bishop Anthony, Metropolitan of Boryspil and Brovary, Administrator of the Affairs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) of Boryspil and Brovary
"BLIND LEADERS OF THE BLIND"
– Vladyka, when we hear the word “sect” we imagine a certain group of religious fanatics, within which all sorts of horrors are happening. How true is this idea?
– This word is borrowed from the Latin language. Some scientists believe that this expression comes from the verb sequor, that is, “to follow”, “to follow someone”. Others point to the verb secare, that is, “to cut off,” “to separate.” In classical Latin, the word “sect” meant a way of thinking or a type of life, a doctrine, a group of people, a philosophical school or a political party. In ancient Rome, a sect meant a community of a group of people. Previously, this concept was not offensive or derogatory. Since the first centuries, Western church writers have used the word “sect” in relation to Christianity. In one of his writings, Tertullian wrote that Christianity is a “Divine sect,” that is, a society that is subordinate to God and lives according to His laws.
But subsequently the meaning of this word was significantly rethought. For example, in the Latin translation of the Bible, made by Blessed Jerome in the 4th century, sect means heresy and acquires a negative semantic connotation. Today, this word usually means a closed religious group that has separated from the main religious community. A sect, as a rule, strictly opposes itself to the dominant religion.
– How does the Orthodox Church build polemics with a certain sect?
– In our pastoral service, we strive to return people who have fallen under the harmful influence of heretics to the fullness of communion with God. First of all, we focus on those misconceptions that sectarians profess. They are, as Christ said, blind leaders of the blind; and if a blind man leads a blind man, then both will fall into a pit (Matthew 15:14). The Church seeks to show exactly how these “leaders” distort Divine Revelation.
– Why do sects flourish wildly?
– The main reason for the emergence of sects is religious ignorance. After the fall of state atheism, there was a very strong demand in society for new ideals. Many of our compatriots turned to religion with interest. But most of them had no knowledge of either the Gospel or the Church. Such people become easy prey for foreign “soul catchers”, since they are quite easily misled. By distorting the Word of God, neophytes are drawn into false religiosity. The process of spreading sects is also influenced by socio-economic reasons. Let us remember: when the entire post-Soviet space experienced a significant decline in living standards, “pastors” who promised people quick enrichment became especially popular. For a person experiencing financial difficulties and at the same time not having a strong worldview, such a “sermon” is very attractive.
THE DANGER OF QUASI-RELIGIONS
– Is it our fault that many fall into sectarian networks?
– We must honestly admit: for some people, the reason for joining a sect is dissatisfaction with how they were treated in the Orthodox church. Sometimes a person who is at the initial stage of becoming a church member, faced with the formal attitude of a pastor towards the performance of his duties, becomes disillusioned with Orthodoxy and goes, so to speak, into an “alternative” religiosity. However, we should not forget: any falling away from the true faith has deep spiritual reasons. As Saint Irenaeus of Lyons wrote, a characteristic feature of heretics is proud self-exaltation. Church writers have always emphasized that in sectarianism there is a special persistence in one’s error. The sectarian usually loses the ability to think critically and rigidly insists on the exclusivity of his choice. Therefore, special efforts are required to convince and open his eyes to his own delusion.
– You said that the process of spreading sectarianism is also influenced by socio-economic reasons. Is it possible to judge the state of society as a whole by the presence of individual sects?
- Partly yes. For example, in Soviet times, sectarianism was not widespread. This was connected, first of all, with the ideology of state atheism: even from school, he eradicated the slightest manifestation of religiosity. In addition, membership in a religious organization was perceived as unreliable. And this, too, was a tough barrier to the spread of sects. But in the 1990s, the situation changed dramatically: all prohibitions were lifted, and almost any religious organization was given the opportunity to preach freely. And in conditions of complete religious ignorance of people brought up in atheism, sects became widespread. Of course, this picture very accurately reflected the state of society.
– Many sects position themselves not as religious organizations, but as certain communities that promise a person prosperity and success in the business world. An example is Scientology. Is it really a harmless “commonwealth of business people”?
– Unfortunately, the facts indicate otherwise. The founder of Scientology, Ron Hubbard, created it precisely for the sake of material enrichment. According to religious scholars, this movement is at the intersection between religion, philosophy, psychotherapy and the occult. Scientologists do not have a clear doctrine of God as a Person; they are close to pantheism (polytheism), deny the Divinity and uniqueness of the saving mission of Jesus Christ. At the same time, they place special emphasis on the desire for earthly success, career growth and enrichment. Therefore, Scientology is called a commercial cult or quasi-religion.
– What to do if a person ends up in a sect?
– This is an extremely difficult question. The fact is that the sectarian becomes immune to any criticism of the organization he joined. All efforts to convince him usually lead to nothing. Polemics with such people are a special component of pastoral ministry. This requires not only thorough knowledge in the field of history and theology, but also special skills in the field of psychology and pedagogy. Different methods of conducting polemics can be applied to different sects. There are aggressive closed religious communities that cause serious harm to the human psyche. Let us at least remember the Japanese sect Aum Shinrikyo: its adherents organized terrorist attacks, justifying their actions with religious tenets. In Ukraine in the 1990s, there was the notorious White Brotherhood, whose members attempted mass suicide and caused serious harm to their mental health. As experts say, the process of psychological rehabilitation of such people usually lasted about two years.
If you notice that your loved ones have fallen under the influence of a suspicious religious organization, then it is better to seek help from specialists. There are anti-sectarian centers in our Church: they have databases on existing destructive sects and develop methods of polemics against them, as well as implement psychological rehabilitation programs. Therefore, it is better to seek advice from such centers.
– Which groups of people are most at risk of falling into a sect? Does it depend on financial status, gender or age?
– There are several factors that become a prerequisite for joining a sect. First of all, single people become such victims. After all, a sect is, as a rule, a close-knit group with common group goals. Having become its member, a person forgets about loneliness and gains a sense of security. Also very often young men and women of adolescence end up there. With the help of such “soul catchers” they want to escape from too strong parental care and challenge their environment. A tendency towards sectarian religiosity is usually a symptom of family problems. The already mentioned White Brotherhood can be a good illustration here. As a rule, young people aged about 20, with a humanitarian mindset, joined it. It is clear that they sought to overcome the so-called parental programming and feel like free individuals.
YOU NEED TO HEAL WITH LOVE
– There are cases when a person, joining a sect, gets rid of sinful habits: smoking, drunkenness, fornication...
– Such evidence is often put forward as an important point in the defense of a sectarian organization. But this raises the question: what price will a person pay for easily getting rid of bad habits? In fact, instant “recovery” is a consequence of a treacherous invasion into a person’s inner world and a strong impact on his psyche. You can quickly quit smoking, but at the same time cause great harm to your health. The calling of the Church is not to promise instant “healing,” but to provide the means for gradual re-education and transformation. But sects promise the instant “disappearance” of all bad habits. And this should alert a person. After all, in order to defeat the sinful nature, you need to spend time and effort.
– What would you advise a family who is fighting for their member who has fallen into a sect, but so far these attempts have been unsuccessful?
– First of all, there is no need to become like sectarians. We should not put harsh pressure on a person, much less insult and humiliate him. Any spiritual problem can only be healed by love. The task of parents whose child has become a victim of sectarian propaganda is to show love and love again. Let him realize his own mistake. Those close to him should help him with this. It is very important that the father and mother notice changes in their child’s behavior in time. The sooner a problem is recognized, the more successfully it can be overcome. In any difficult situation, you need to ask God for help. The prayer of parents has special power. There are many cases where a mother’s prayer saved children from danger. Let us recall, for example, the life of St. Augustine: before becoming a Christian, he fell into the Manichaean sect. His mother (righteous Monica) did not stop praying for her son, and the prayer was heard: Augustine not only became a Christian, but also went down in history as one of the most authoritative theologians of the Western Church. Let this historical example inspire all today's mothers to special prayer for children who are in spiritual error.
Recorded
Archpriest Vladislav Sofiychuk
"Church Orthodox Newspaper"
Interlocutors
They believed that there was no God. That is, it does not exist anywhere except in a person. And Christ is a mystical key with which everyone can open their soul, and then God will enter it.
The Besedniks lived in large communes with common property, and male communities were always led by a woman, and female communities by a man, because they believed that “a woman’s soul needs a man’s supervision, and a man’s soul needs a woman’s.” The leaders of their communities and generally respected people, regardless of their gender, were awarded by the interlocutors with the titles “Christ”, “Savaoth”, “Mother of God”, “prophet” and “archangel”.
Therefore, it was common to meet “the Mother of God Micah Savvich” or “Christ Matryona Timofeevna” there. Despite such obvious blasphemy, the Besedniks were classified as “less harmful” sects - apparently because they treated the Russian Orthodox Church with great respect, regularly attended all services, fervently worshiped icons and generously donated to churches.
VGil journal
Is Orthodoxy not a synonym for Christianity? Is Orthodoxy a sect?
21.03.2013
Constants: 1. What religion (i.e. understanding of God) is the spiritual essence of the people. 2. What kind of people are - such are the rulers of this people. 3. What kind of power is the history of a given people.
If we take these constants as a basis, we get: the entire spiritual essence of the people is projected into state power. It is a fact. The spiritual essence of the people lies in the understanding of God - in religion. Whatever the religion, so are the people. This is the second fact. (Any substitution in this syllogism leads to a distortion of the truth.)
In reality, we all see: the church “forms” state power. And she entrusts herself to the authorities to “use” as a support. Power, of course, is supported. Without this support, state power will not last even a month. And now - the most important thing: what is the “support” of the state power called “United Russia”?
As everyone knows, the Russian Orthodox Church is just “one of ...” in Orthodoxy. (There are other church communities.) And Orthodoxy?.. What is it? I answer: Orthodoxy is a sect. Yes, yes - a sect! Sect - from Christianity. What kind of Christianity is this sect from?.. My answer: Well, it’s one! Sect - from the same one that is usually called Apostolic. (Apostolic, by the way, is not a proper name. Apostolic is an indication of the time when the light of the Carpenter’s teaching was carried by His disciples in the first communities - if anyone doesn’t know). So, the most important fact: Orthodoxy is not a synonym for Christianity. The so-called “Christianity” that we see outside the window is the brainchild of Constantine the Great, the Roman emperor. He is the “father” and “mother” of Roman Catholicism and its clone - Byzantine Orthodoxy.
The Apostle John, the beloved disciple of Christ, used the term “antichrist” in his epistles. And he pointed out two signs of such... So, the “two-headed” brainchild of Constantine the Great completely falls under these two signs (arguments are a different topic). Yes, this is exactly what was hidden most carefully for 17 centuries - since 325.
Isn’t it time to realize: Orthodoxy (and not just the Russian Orthodox Church) is a community (i.e., church) of antichrists in its essence! Maybe this is a trifle that in the heat of political fuss there is no desire to even think about. But it was precisely for this “trifle” that a man was hacked to death with an ax. Priest. Alexander Men... Then hexogen “happened”... Then polonium-210 “happened”! Yes, that fatal swing of the ax over the head of the priest as an “argument” - it was the execution of an innocent person out of “good intentions”, they say: it is better to let one innocent person die than to cause confusion in the minds of millions! Whoever it was who gave the order to the killer, he “saved” the Church of Antichrists from the Truth. So the killer, as he was ordered, stole the priest’s manuscript... But the person who ordered that murder forgot: MANUSCRIPTS DO NOT BURN!
Once I heard a counter-argument - the “cry of the soul”, a devout believer: Yes! Russians are not Christians. We are Orthodox! Alas, it seems that everything is heading to the point where the Russian Orthodox Church will loudly announce: “Russians are not Christians! Patriots are Orthodox!” And this is... Armageddon.
Let me draw a conclusion. Russia is convulsing because it faces God with its back. That’s right: it is not God who has turned away from Russia... It is Russia that stands with its back turned to Him. That's why we live like this.
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Tags: Orthodoxy, Christianity
Lyubushkino's consent
A sect of the Russian North that flourished in the 19th century, in which it was believed that the main thing was love. Yes, in all its expressions. Therefore, the sect was referred to in official documents as “the most shameless debauchees.” The only ones who were not allowed to have sex with each other, according to the rules of the sect, were married spouses, because “the love between them was so great that even the carnal here was harmful.” Therefore, “lyubushka’s” spouses sought carnal love on the side, and lived with each other in complete but pure spiritual unity.
Sect and Church, minority and majority
Yakov Krotov: This episode of the program is dedicated to quantity and quality in religious life, majority and minority as a criterion in determining the goodness and truth of a religion, Church, group, sect. In Russia, the word “sect” has been offensive before. According to the criminal legislation of the early 19th century, sects were divided into three categories: especially dangerous, moderately dangerous, but membership in all sects was punishable. By the way, Old Believers, eunuchs, and aspiring Protestants were also classified as sectarians. In our time, the situation is little better, but when the question arises of how a sect differs from the Church, many people do not answer it or, on the contrary, give too many answers.
The first answer that usually comes to mind: The Church is large, but the sect is small. This answer can even be found in Troeltsch's seminal 1912 monograph, where he explains that a sect is a movement that has separated from the majority. But Troeltsch emphasized that Christianity itself separated, and was originally a sect. And in the era of the Savior, His great contemporary Seneca calmly said that he belonged to the Stoic sect, and this was not humiliation or insult.
The root of the word “sect” comes from “sector”, that is, it is a part of the whole, a subsequent part. And only starting with the nationalization of Christianity, the word “sect” gradually began to mean something very despicable and illegal.
Let's start with a short interview with religious scholar Mikhail Sitnikov . How can quantity and quality determine where the Church is and where the sect is?
Mikhail Sitnikov: A sect is usually defined as something quantitatively smaller in number of followers than the Church. Actually, this is true to a certain extent: a sect, as a rule, is separated from a much larger denomination due to some doctrinal inconsistencies. But when believers leave for a sect, when they separate, there is something that seriously confuses them, namely, this number. Still, believers, despite their personal religiosity, somehow intuitively, instinctively strive to belong to a fairly large, solid, historically justified community of similar believers. That is, to some extent, this is an external form of some kind of solid, large-scale religiosity, which may even be eroded.
Mikhail Sitnikov
A sect, as a rule, unites people who make a conscious decision, but in contrast to this tendency to belong to a large number of fellow believers, like-minded people, here everything is based on personal religiosity, that is, a person is much more attentive to personal communication with God. This is quite clearly reflected, in particular, in Christianity, because very often some small Protestant groups or small churches are called sects. But the fact is that Protestants sincerely believe, they go to their meetings, go to their church not so much in order to be together with everyone, but in order to emphasize and formalize their personal religious experience. And the fact that, for example, we have a tendency to call all Protestants sectarians and give it some kind of negative connotation is, of course, very sad.
Yakov Krotov: Our guests are two more religious scholars - Ekaterina Elbakyan and Roman Lunkin .
This criterion of minority and majority: how reliable is it in judging whether a religious phenomenon is benign or not?
The criterion of the benignity or malignancy of a religious phenomenon is erroneous, since it already contains a value judgment
Ekaterina Elbakyan: I believe that the very criterion of benignity or malignancy of a religious phenomenon is erroneous, since it already contains some kind of value judgment, negative or positive - this is not so important. We, religious scholars, try to avoid this kind of assessment. The majority of the culture-forming faiths of a given country are one situation, and when we talk about a religious minority, it is clear that it is less incorporated into the sociocultural context, a significant minority of the country’s population lives by its norms, and it is clear that it has a smaller territory in a given country , tradition, shorter existence in time (although it is not a fact that in another country it does not have a longer existence). For example, we know that Baptists are a culture-forming denomination in the United States, and in Russia until recently it was called a Protestant sect of the second wave; in Soviet-era textbooks on atheism in the 70-80s of the twentieth century, this was so. So the criteria here are quite vague and relative.
I think that a person’s deep religiosity does not depend on the number of followers of the confession to which he belongs. Moreover, it is more emotionally charged and vivid precisely in religious minorities, and not in those religious organizations to which people belong due to family tradition. As soon as traditionalism and dry moral imperatives come to the fore, sincere, deep-seated religiosity immediately leaves and is replaced by these formal norms, when formalism defeats the substantive side of the world.
In the typology of religious organizations, the word “sect” exists, and it has absolutely no negative connotations. If we step back from everything else and speak from a purely academic point of view, one of the signs of a sect is more emotional worship, more emotional religiosity, non-anonymous membership, conscious joining of the sect and acceptance of the faith, and not simply because a small child was baptized, a parent takes the child with him to church, and he grows up in this tradition.
Yakov Krotov: Exact sciences do not depend on geography. Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, may he rest in heaven, lived in England, and he is a sectarian, because he represented a very small, closed group of Russian English Orthodox, which they go to by personal choice, and he preached more emotionally. And then he got on a plane, flew to Russia and ceased to be a sectarian. This is then some kind of unscientific term - “sect”.
Roman Lunkin
Roman Lunkin: Yes, this just shows the relativity of what is happening. And I agree with the respected religious scholar Sitnikov, first of all, that there are sincere believers both in a large tradition and in a small sect. And it often doesn’t depend on the quantity whether it can be called a sect. Rather, what is important here is what society thinks about sects and sectarianism as such, and what the sects themselves think about themselves. You rightly noted that ancient Greek philosophers also often classified themselves as sects, because sects were something like such a fashionable ideological trend, like now the followers of Navalny, Khodorkovsky, Nikita Mikhalkov or Prilepin - you can also say that people gather around them a certain kind of sect. These are all fashionable ideological trends.
It's quite interesting how this turned into a sect with negative connotations in Russian history. Before the revolution, although Baptists were exiled to Siberia, there was no unambiguously negative perception of Russian sectarianism as a phenomenon. It was still a big tradition, and studies and books were written about it; it included Molokans, Doukhobors, Old Believers, Baptists, Evangelists, Pentecostals - this is all great Russian sectarianism, our tradition.
Yakov Krotov: And when Emperor Alexander I listened to the sermons of British Pietist preachers, it turned out that he turned out to be a sectarian?
There are sincere believers both in a large tradition and in a small sect
Roman Lunkin: He listened to sermons in the Western Christian tradition. From the point of view of Catholics, this is a sectarian tradition, but the pietist position is traditional in Germany, then, in the 19th century, it became traditional in the territory of the Russian Empire. This again is a question of how to relate to quantity. Recently, Vladimir Pozner stated that the Russian Orthodox Church is almost not included in this sociocultural space, and the Orthodox Church has 5% of believers. So what, consider the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate a sectarian organization in terms of numbers? This is a rather mechanistic approach that goes beyond the scope of religious studies and common sense in general.
The Orthodox Church or Catholics in Catholic countries, Lutherans, Catholics in Germany, that is, large churches, are always proud of the fact that they have many people who identify themselves with their faith, even if they do not go to church much. For them, this is an indicator of political significance. And if some sectarians say about sectarians that there are 1000 or 500 of them, then “this is a terrible thing,” “these are crazy people,” and usually everyone is afraid of them, and no one knows who these sectarians are. Sociological surveys show that this is a completely unaccountable fear, a phenomenon of a psychological nature.
Yakov Krotov: In the 70-80s, the Orthodox were a marked minority, and when I came to church and was baptized, it was psychologically quite important. A believer was looked at as a dissident: what brought you there, why are you not with the majority? But even when Lenin declared his party Bolshevik, it was never a majority until 1917; the majority were Mensheviks. Lenin had a clear rhetorical and propaganda calculation: people are drawn to the majority, they want conformity, they expect that others will cover for them if they are in the majority. In this sense, focusing on quantity turns out to be an important personal choice; a person sniffs in advance where there is more; he is looking not for truth, but for quantity. This is a very specific spirituality.
Ekaterina Elbakyan: This is conformal spirituality. Deep religiosity is cultivated from childhood. Even though I just talked about formal membership in the Church, it still seems to me that if a person was in the party and persecuted these unfortunate believers in the Soviet years, then he will not become a believer overnight. There are, of course, religious conversions, when a person gains some kind of religious experience, which does not even depend on his desire, and becomes a deeply religious believer, but this is still not a mass phenomenon, but isolated cases. A certain pattern, when the overwhelming majority of those who were at the helm during the party years suddenly became Orthodox, but at the same time they do not know church traditions, doctrinal canons, do not observe any norms, but they know that on Easter or Christmas they you have to be in the temple to formally show your religious feelings. And the rest of the time they do not lead a lifestyle in accordance with the norms of Christian morality.
The Soviet Union was a totalitarian atheist state. Then all the temples were opened. We hear statistics that the majority of us are believers, although I don’t agree with this, of course. And look, for example, how many drug addicts, alcoholics, abandoned children, divorces, corruption, murders, rapes and other things there were in the Soviet Union (although it was larger than the Russian Federation), and how many there are now, when the churches are open: please come to the Church and follow its scale of values. I foresee the answer that back then there was a totalitarian state that strictly controlled people. But we know that crime happens in a totalitarian state as well as in a democratic one, and it is no less. This confirms the pattern that people do not overnight become believers in the entire wide range of this word. There is external, feigned religiosity, and there is internal religiosity, and there is a big difference between them.
Ekaterina Elbakyan
In this sense, the triumphal march in the 90s, as Igor Yakovlevich Kantorov called it in his time, was the masses of religious minorities that found themselves on the territory of Russia (some were brought from the West, some from the East, some were formed here, having Russian soil) , and was connected precisely with the spiritual quest of people who were not satisfied with the proposed options for traditional religiosity. Although the word “traditional” is also very relative: what is the criterion here? Number of followers? Duration of existence? Cultural impact?
Yakov Krotov: Well, let’s say quantity. But what kind of triumphant procession of minorities is there if, as a result, the Moscow Patriarchate still finds itself in the majority?
Ekaterina Elbakyan: They appeared here, before that they were not there at all or they were deep underground.
Roman Lunkin: I would say that this is still not a religious revival, as officials called it then and still call it now. After all, this is a religious boom in the sense that people were interested in all kinds of religiosity, and in the early 90s some new religious movements came from the West, and Russian new religious movements arose, which we can be proud of, because they are very bright. This, for example, is the Orthodox Church of the Mother of God Sovereign, such Orthodox charismatics who venerate the Mother of God, led by the prophet of the Mother of God.
Yakov Krotov: But still, if we talk about quantitative dominance, the Moscow Patriarchate came out on top by the end of the 90s.
Roman Lunkin: I wouldn’t judge by quantity at all. Russian society, in terms of quantitative and sociological indicators, is similar to any European country with an average level of religiosity and secularism. In our country, the percentage of people who regularly go to church does not exceed 15. And in many regions of Russia the number of practicing believers, for example, among Protestants and Orthodox Christians, is the same.
Yakov Krotov: And the number of Orthodox churches is greater. In Moscow there is a program “200 churches”, and they are being built.
Roman Lunkin: I think there are no less houses of prayer, only they are in private homes. If quantified correctly, entirely new horizons of research will open up.
Yakov Krotov: But if the word “sect” is a dirty word in our country, perhaps we should erase it from science?
Roman Lunkin: A very good definition of the word “sect” was given by sociologist and political scientist Dmitry Furman: a sect is a movement that is in its infancy. From this point of view, for example, the Local Church of Ukraine is also a sect, but at the same time we don’t want to say anything bad about it.
Ekaterina Elbakyan: And early Christianity was originally called a sect in relation to Judaism.
Yakov Krotov: Troeltsch wrote that the Church and the sect often change places, pass into one another.
Roman Lunkin: Rather, the sect is gradually turning into a Church, although this is also not entirely true. I think that now the opposite process is happening: large traditional churches, to one degree or another, are forced to become sects, as it were, in order to attract young people through conformity. To be civically active, they must grow into network structures, societies, dividing into these small sects. Troeltsch said that the process goes from sect to Church, but with us it goes from Church to sect. And for what? For the sake of civic activism, in order to expand the mission, make it more fashionable, postmodern. Now Metropolitan Hilarion and Patriarch Kirill are turning to the Council of Europe and the OSCE for protection. Literally ten years have passed and the situation has changed dramatically.
Church and sect often change places, go from one to another
Yakov Krotov: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church in size is not the Church of the majority, even in Ukraine, but from a canonical point of view, from the point of view of church law, after the Moscow Patriarchate unilaterally stopped commemorating Constantinople, it turns out to be a minority in world Orthodoxy. You can inflate the statistics and say that there are 200 million Orthodox Christians in the Moscow Patriarchate, but we remember well that 30 years ago there were 500 thousand: that’s roughly what remains. This means that this is not decided by voting. Then, maybe, just not use the term “sect”, but say “denomination”, “Church”, if we are talking about Christianity?
Ekaterina Elbakyan: You can simply replace this word with the term “religious minority”, but of course it is not in the legislation, and at the moment it is not academic, it is used rather in journalistic discourse. This can apply to any religious organization, which we avoid calling a sect, which has not yet become a denomination, much less a Church, regardless of even its self-name, but which has certain characteristics. After all, a sect is not only a minority of people, it is also a number of qualitative characteristics.
Yakov Krotov: Which can be found in large organizations.
Ekaterina Elbakyan: That’s the point, so the criteria here are very relative.
Roman Lunkin: You need to realize that the word “sect” is scary, and this word in the public space is used in a completely non-scientific sense, but simply to create a political image of an enemy or a political image of some church, and no one is going to understand what is happening. A sect is a label.
Yakov Krotov: That is, this is not science, not religious studies, but agitation and propaganda.
Ekaterina Elbakyan: Of course.
Roman Lunkin: And most religious scholars who work with believers avoid the word “sect” because for them it is offensive, they immediately feel that they are sitting underground, cutting someone there, drinking blood...
Ekaterina Elbakyan: ...they take away apartments, they don’t allow you to go to the doctor...
Roman Lunkin: In Soviet times, they wrote the same thing about all the “mad believers,” and this is now being applied to modern times.
Yakov Krotov: That is, we are organizing a society that will abstain from using the word “sect.”
Ekaterina Elbakyan: From neutral, as it was, it acquired a negative connotation.
Roman Lunkin: And anyone who wants to swear will use the word “sect”, and no one will stop him.
Yakov Krotov: The word “sect” means “part,” and the same German sociologist Troeltsch was right when he said that one of the signs of sectarianism: people are confident that they, the minority, will be saved, and the majority will perish. But there are also large religions that are convinced that they will be saved, and the rest of humanity will perish. And then it is the same aggressiveness, the same fight against God as in the smallest movement: after all, the Holy Scripture says that God wants everyone to be saved. And everyone who tries to set anyone back from salvation thereby finds himself among the people who do not follow God’s will. Everyone will be saved, and it is better to take this into account.
Paniashkovites
“And this is how stupid people get!” - wrote an official who, at the end of the 19th century, dealt with the new sect of Paniashkovites, followers of the self-proclaimed prophet Paniashka (aka schema-monk Alexei Gavrilov). The Paniashkovites believed that a person who is pure from God is polluted by an unclean spirit that enters him (this is written in detail in the Gospel).
Therefore, a person begins to stink from the inside. And in order to preserve God-given purity, after every prayer and after every meal you need to fart loudly - to expel the unclean spirit from yourself. If the spirit is not expelled, then the body must be flogged with rods or a whip until the required action is performed and the spirit is expelled.
Sectarianism was practically exterminated only with the emergence of the USSR - a state of atheists who, having expelled the Orthodox Church from the big arena, simultaneously destroyed all its heretical branches. Religious consciousness was declared harmful stupidity, prayers were replaced by party meetings, and services were replaced by political information. Without the nourishing soil of faith under their feet, heresies have faded away, but today they are experiencing a small renaissance along with the strengthening of the role of religion in society.
Church attitude
Orthodox people believe that they have the fullness of the truth, but they do not always follow it. They often harshly criticize and despise people who attend, for example, a Baptist church.
But is this right? If a Baptist loves the Lord fiercely and is meek in disposition, mortifying his flesh for the sake of Christ, how can one treat him with contempt? This person is worthy of respect, because he strives for the same Lord as an Orthodox monk who lives in asceticism for the sake of mortification of the flesh. The Spirit of God breathes wherever it wants, and it is a terrible mistake to hate your neighbor for having different views. This applies, of course, only to Christian branches, Protestantism in particular.
It is very important for Christians to know the teachings of the Church and Scripture in order to resist heresy
Sectarians who belong to pseudoscientific, heretical teachings deserve only pity . How should an Orthodox person treat them? With pity and love, strive to tell him about the truth and attract him into the Bosom of the Church, but do not listen to his teaching and do not give in to the temptation to attend a meeting or other dangerous involvement in a sect. One should be wary of such gatherings, reading heretical literature or watching videos. If a sect operates on the territory of a parish, then the parishioner is obliged to report this to the local parish, but independently avoid attending heretical meetings and destroy all materials that it distributes.
