The split of the Russian Orthodox Church: why and why

Traditions that are deeply intertwined in the life of the people are being eradicated especially hard. The Russian people took a very tense view of the split in the Russian Orthodox Church. And if not for the political will of the leaders of the time, we would now be baptized with two fingers. For the sake of formal, it would seem, trifles, high-ranking people went to their deaths. So the lives of Theodosius Morozov and Evdokia Urusov were paid. Some people still do not accept Nikon's changes, which caused a split in the Orthodox Church. Such people lead a special way of life and are called Old Believers. What did the religious leader Nikon decide to change?

The split of the Russian Orthodox Church was created in the minds of its ideologists long before it actually happened. By the end of the 17th century the Russian state had become stronger, the horrors of the Time of Troubles began to be forgotten. In the 15th century, Constantinople fell. Elder Philotheus turned out to be a prophet. He wrote that Moscow should become the "third Rome". It would seem that the prophecy was coming true. The minds of the highest religious figures captivated the idea of theocracy. In imitation of Byzantium, they wanted to make it so that the state was subordinate to the Church. However, in Russia this, as always, was not without extremes. If in Byzantium formally the state did not depend on the Church, in Russia Nikon was granted the title of "great sovereign", which had previously been given only to the kings. The Patriarch tried to create a model peculiar to Catholicism, in which the religious leader would have more significance than the secular one. In Byzantium, power simply expressed its subordination to the interests of faith and its ideals.

At a time when only the split of the Russian church was outlined, religion was in very great force. The services in the churches were very lavish and solemn. However, Nikon conceived a lot to change in services and prayers after the pattern of the Eastern Churches. The problem was that the experts were people of different convictions. Therefore, as a result, very serious discrepancies about how to pray and correct old books are obtained. The second problem was that not ancient Greek books were used, but rather new ones.

The most significant changes were in the ritual. In Russia people are accustomed to a double-digit sign, which symbolically portrayed the human and divine nature of Christ. The three-fingered sign was as old, but more characteristic of worship in the Eastern Churches. It testified to the importance of the Trinity. Before the reform, it was considered simply an option, after the reform became mandatory for all.

However, Nikon did not limit himself to this change. Earlier the procession was carried out according to the sun, and after the reform the norm became the opposite, that is, it was necessary to walk against the sun. The number of prosphoras on which the liturgy was served changed: instead of seven, five were used. Changed the text of the Creed. Some words were excluded from there, because in the Greek version they were absent.

Some compare Nikon, which provoked the split of the Russian Orthodox Church, with Peter the Great. Only Peter took for the sample all the western, and Nikon - all Greek. However, the common feature of both historical figures was uncompromising. However, the split of the Russian Orthodox Church, like any revolution, destroyed his father. Patriarch Nikon was accused of cruelty and arbitrariness, deprived of dignity, and after even sent into exile. However, the reforms themselves were approved in 1666-1667, when it was decided to deprive Nikon of his rank.

People who abandoned the reform began to withdraw from their persecutors and live in isolated communities, not allowing marriages with the "Niconians". They lived in the material plan very well, because they were against bad habits and entertainment. They are the most orthodox of all Orthodox Christians. Protest against the reforms was expressed not only by the laity, but also by the whole monastery - Solovetsky. The monastery as a result was taken with the help of a traitor, and the rebels for the most part physically destroyed.

The Old Believers became persecuted, and very cruelly. If an army was sent to their communities, people often closed in churches - and the case ended in self-immolation. Many, so as not to betray faith, drowned. Some starved themselves to death, considering themselves not suicides, but martyrs. The scope of the persecution resembled the Western Inquisition.

Was it worth suffering for the immutability of the rite? The point was not only in form, but in essence. Raskolniki defended the peculiar way of religious development of Russia, and therefore, at least, are worthy of respect.