Questions about Old Believers
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What caused the Old Believers to split from the Russian Orthodox Church?
The split was caused by liturgical reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1653 and 1656, which changed ritual practices such as the manner of crossing oneself, the direction of the procession around the church, and the wording of key prayers. The old rite and its followers were formally condemned as heretical by a church council in 1667. Those who refused to accept the reforms became known as Old Believers.
How many Old Believers are there today?
The Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church claimed 2 million Old Believers of all accords worldwide as of 2018. A 2017 estimate placed the number of people in Russia maintaining some ties to the faith at between 800,000 and 1,300,000. Communities exist in Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, and the United States, among other countries.
What is the difference between priestly and priestless Old Believers?
Priestly Old Believers, the popovtsy, accept ordained clergy from the state church who renounce the Nikonian reforms, allowing them to maintain the full liturgy and sacraments. Priestless Old Believers, the bezpopovtsy, consider all post-reform ordinations invalid and conduct communities without clergy, retaining only Baptism and Penance as sacraments that laypeople may perform.
Who were the key founders of the Old Believer movement?
Archpriest Avvakum and Archimandrite Spiridon were among the most influential early figures. Spiridon formulated the theological case against the reforms, and Avvakum became the movement's most celebrated martyr, burnt at the stake in Pustozersk on the 14th of April 1682. Boyarina Feodosia Morozova funded a network of scholars who preserved the anti-reform writings and was eventually starved to death in prison in 1675. Andrei Denisov led the Vyg community from 1702 and authored some 120 works establishing the priestless tradition.
What role did apocalyptic belief play in the Old Believer movement?
Old Believers from the beginning understood Nikon's reform as the Great Apostasy preceding the Last Judgment, with the Antichrist already at work in the Russian church and state. This belief drove mass self-immolations, with perhaps 20,000 dying in the generation after 1667. The apocalyptic strain persisted for centuries; as late as the 1980s, residents of an Old Believer settlement in Canada were reportedly engaged in daily speculation about the identity of the Antichrist.
What traditional practices do Old Believers maintain that distinguish them from other Orthodox Christians?
Old Believers cross themselves with two fingers rather than three, use the eight-pointed cross exclusively, recite the Alleluia twice rather than three times, and process clockwise around the church. They preserve the Znamenny chant, prohibit men from shaving their beards, avoid tobacco, and in many communities avoid food imported during Peter the Great's reign such as potatoes, tea, and coffee. They spell Christ's name in Russian as Isus rather than Iisus.