Even the Enemies of the Old Believer Church Testify to Its Orthodoxy #
New Ritualist: Everyone praises themselves. You say that you Old Believers uphold the Orthodox faith, that the ship of your church is whole and undamaged. But everyone says the same about themselves. Our Orthodox Church regards you as schismatics and second-order heretics because you do not listen to it.
Old Ritualist: Indeed, if we were the only ones testifying on our behalf, our testimony might be subject to doubt. But in this matter—that the Old Believer Church has no heresies—our enemies themselves bear witness, not just us. They, despite all their malice and implacable hatred toward it, have not pointed out, and could not point out, any heresy within it. Moreover, even without any coercion or request on our part, they affirm and demonstrate that Old Believers neither had nor have the slightest heresy. For example, the Russian Church itself permitted and even blessed its children, the Edinoverie faithful, to use all the books, rituals, church traditions, and beliefs upheld by the Old Believer Church—the very things that distinguish it from the New Believers. Thus, the New Ritualist Church itself, by its actions, proves that Old Believers possess no heresy in their rituals. About the two-finger sign of the cross, the Synod itself says it is quite honorable (Exhortation, p. 54) and that the Old Believers do not attach any false beliefs to it (Preface to the Psalter).
But perhaps the Old Believers, while not erring in church traditions, might err in matters of faith, Gospel truths, or the holy synodal rules? No. They do not err in these matters either; and again, this is testified to by your New Ritualist Church itself. Here is what is said in the Exhortation to the Old Believers, published with the blessing of the Synod itself:
“Tell us, you who are called Old Believers!” the Holy Church of Christ asks. “Tell us, why do you separate from us? You believe in the one God, glorified in the Holy Trinity, just as we do; you confess our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, just as we do; you regard the Holy Gospel and the holy ecumenical and local councils as the rule of faith and a godly life, just as we do; you anticipate the resurrection of the dead, just as we do; you hold that there will be reward for the good and punishment for the wicked, just as we do. And in these matters lies the entire essence of faith” (Exhortation, pp. 35–36).
This is what your Church said about the Old Believers a hundred years after the Church’s division under Nikon. But did the Old Believer Church change its Christian faith in subsequent times? No, it did not. A hundred and twenty years after the issuance of this Exhortation, specifically in 1885, a council of New Believer archpastors literally repeated these very words on behalf of the Church (see Acts of the Kazan Council).
Thus, by the testimony of your own New Ritualist Church, the Old Believers never and in no way held any heresies; both in the essence of faith and in all church traditions, they are fully Orthodox, meaning the ship of the Old Believer Church is strong, whole, and entirely undamaged. Needless to say, by remaining in such a Church, one can fully attain eternal blessedness.
If the Old Believers hold the Orthodox faith, it naturally follows that they listen to the Church of Christ, for she commanded only such a faith to be held. And if they do not listen, it is not to the Church of Christ but to heretics or a heretical church. This is affirmed by your own archpastors. Archbishop Nikifor of Astrakhan says: “You (Old Believers) believe and obey the Church, which teaches you the dogmas of the holy faith and the laws of Almighty God, without which no one can be saved; but you do not wish to obey or believe those who, with common consent, show you certain traditions, such as the manner of folding fingers, the chanting of Alleluia, and other minor things. To whom, then, do you in this matter show faith? To Makarios (Metropolitan of Moscow) and his council (the Stoglavy Council)” (Book of Nikifor of Astrakhan, Answers to 15 Questions, p. 324).
This is brief, clear, and fair. The Old Believers listen to, believe in, and obey the Church in all things, without which no one can be saved. They refuse to obey or believe only in minor matters: in the manner of folding fingers, in the chanting of Alleluia, and so forth—not of the ancient Church, but of your post-Nikonian New Ritualist Church. To the ancient, pre-Nikon holy Church, they also submit, believing in and obeying Metropolitan Makarios of Moscow and the Stoglavy Council as representatives and true expressers of the Orthodox Church’s teachings. Such testimony about the Old Believers is given by the archpastors of your Church.
Priestless Believer: You have proven very well that the Church is not merely walls and roofs but faith and life, and that Church is true—like a strong ship—that upholds the Orthodox faith. You have made your case splendidly, and you have entirely justified us. We, the Priestless, hold the true faith and church traditions; therefore, we are fully in the right, and the ship of our Church is strong and intact.
Old Ritualist: The teaching of the holy fathers about the Church as faith and life does not justify you in the least. Your Priestless community holds an entirely distorted and incorrect doctrine on many essential matters of faith. For instance, your views on worship, sacraments, priesthood, and many other matters are based not on the teaching of Christ but on the teaching of Antichrist. If one asks you, for example, why you do not have the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ—about which the Savior Himself said, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (John 6:53, reading 23)—you typically reply that the Antichrist has arranged things such that there is no sacrament of Communion, and therefore, one can be saved without it. This means that the teaching of your community is based not on Christ but on the Antichrist. If there were no Antichrist, your Priestless community would not exist, and you would have no justification; your entire justification depends on the Antichrist. That is why your teachers make every effort to find Antichrist, in some form or other: some of them claim that the Antichrist is the pastors of the New Ritualist Church, others say that the name Jesus is the Antichrist, while others assert that the Antichrist is apostasy into heresy, and so on. You have invented so many Antichrists to justify your miserable condition without hierarchy, sacraments, and worship. But the cause of your pitiful state is not the Antichrist; it is yourselves and your own pride. You refuse to observe the rules requiring the acceptance of clergymen coming from heresy in their ranks—this is the true reason for your unfortunate condition.
By shifting your own fault onto the Antichrist, you have adopted views about him that are entirely contrary to the teachings of the holy fathers. The holy fathers teach that the Antichrist will be a man, born of Jewish descent, and will rule for only three and a half years (Book of Faith, ch. 30; Commentary on the Apostle, p. 549). But you teach that the Antichrist is not a person, but rather an apostasy or a multitude of people holding erroneous beliefs. I am not even mentioning the many other mistakes and errors of your community.
Thus, your Orthodox faith and the teachings of the holy fathers are distorted, which makes the ship of your church appear riddled with holes.