Prophecies of the Fall of Bishops and Tribulations of the Church #
New Ritualist: If, as you say, the absence of bishops in the Church was permitted by God to show its strength, unbreakability, and invincibility, then there should be some prophecy or foretelling about this, since all important events have prophecies. Yet, I see no hint of this either in the Old or New Testament. If there is, please show me.
Old Ritualist: Indeed, for every significant and notable event occurring in the Church, there are prophecies or predictions. However, it’s worth noting that prophecies generally appear obscure and indefinite to the carnal mind, and thus, those who are not right-minded may misinterpret or disregard them. Even about Christ, though there were prophecies, the Jews did not believe them, striving instead to distort and interpret them in opposition. Likewise, prophecies exist concerning events in the Church, but for unbelievers, they hold neither significance nor strength; only believers find them compelling and powerful. Although prophecies may seem lacking in clarity and specificity, there are, in fact, very clear and specific prophecies regarding the bishops’ fall into heresy and the Church’s temporary period without them—so clear, in fact, that it seems no event or occurrence in the Church was foretold with such clarity and precision.
In the book of the “Apocalypse,” which prophetically lays out the entire fate of the Church through various symbols and images, chapter 6 reads: “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind” (Rev. 6:12-13). In the threefold commentary on “Apocalypse,” it explains that “the stars falling to the earth” indicates that the teachers of God’s Church will fall from true doctrine, while the moon becoming as blood signifies that the Church of God will be temporarily darkened by heretical false teaching. The sun becoming dark refers to Christ, of whom gloomy false doctrines will be preached (Ancient Writings on the Apocalypse, ch. 18). In the book On Faith, chapter 21, it states that the stars falling from heaven represent, according to the interpretation of the saints, the notable spiritual leaders of the Church, who are seen as the heavens on earth (p. 187). Similarly, in the book of Kyrill of Jerusalem, the fallen stars are interpreted as hierarchs who deviate into error (ch. 15, 4th letter of Meletius, pp. 451-452).
The renowned Church teacher Blessed Jerome interprets the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah as follows (chapter 4, verses 5-6):
“Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem, and say, ‘Blow ye the trumpet in the land; cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defended cities. Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.’” (Interpretation): Let this be heard in Judah, let it be heard in Jerusalem, where there is the confession of faith, where Christ’s peace dwells, and to whom through Isaiah it is said, “O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; lift up thy voice with strength, thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem” (Is. 40:9); let him cry aloud and command: let us go to the fortified cities. The heretics’ wars rise up; let us be protected by the strongholds of Christ! Raise the banner of the cross on a high place, on the height of the Church; take heart, O fearful ones, do not stand still, but run to the help of Christ. He says, “I bring disaster from the north and great destruction,” referring to the true Nebuchadnezzar (that is, the devil), whom I permit to act in this world so that your strength and victory may be tested.
(Chapter 4, verse 7): “The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the nations is on his way; he has gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.” (Interpretation): This is, as we said, the true Nebuchadnezzar, whom the Blessed Apostle Peter also speaks of, saying, “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). He goes forth from the depths where he is bound and prays not to be cast out. The destroyer of nations, mentioned here, refers to the one who rules over all his enemies (Ps. 9:26) and who boasts before the Lord, “I walked throughout the whole earth” (Job 2:2). For who escapes the poison of the devil except the Only One who can say, “the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30)? He often lays the whole earth waste, causing those who leave the Church to wage war against her. Of them, the evangelist John says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us” (1 John 2:19). The cities of the land of Judah are laid waste, while heretical gatherings flourish. Thus, if anyone proves to be a supporter and instigator of false doctrines, it can be said of him, “the lion has come up from his thicket, the destroyer of the nations is on his way,” and so on.
(Chapter 4, verse 8): “For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl; for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us.” (Interpretation): We can avoid the fiercest beast, the devil, only by repenting and turning to the Lord not only in mind but also in deeds. For as long as he ravages the Church and the land of Judah and destroys Jerusalem, it is evident that the anger of God continues upon us.
(Chapter 4, verse 9): “And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.” (Interpretation): When the destroyer lays waste to the Lord’s Church, and God’s wrath remains upon us, then all human assistance is useless. The heart of the king, who should hold God’s heart in his hands, will perish, as will the heart of the princes who once seemed wise. God will turn the wisdom of the world into foolishness because they did not know Him through it (1 Cor. 1). Even the priests, who should have been teaching the law of the Lord and protecting the people from the lion’s rage, will be struck with some madness, becoming as though possessed. And the prophets will be bewildered, or will go mad. For who will not lose heart and go mad when they see their former kings, princes, priests, and prophets in the clutches of the lion?
Later, (Chapter 23, verses 1-4): “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.” This prophetic language applies both to pastors and to those in leadership. So, as we read about Jehoiachin, the penultimate king of Judah from the line of David: “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David” (Jer. 22:29-30). This prophecy, which ends all hope for the continuation of the kingdom of Judah, extends to the leaders of the Church, who, after the synagogue with its leaders was abandoned and condemned, is directed to the Apostles, of whom it is said: “And I will give you shepherds who will feed you, and you shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall any be missing” (Jer. 23:4). Here, the Apostles will shepherd the Church with confidence and without fear, and the remnant of Israel from all lands shall be saved and the flock shall increase. The Lord shall visit the wicked pastors—the scribes and Pharisees—according to their iniquitous ways. In an extended sense, this prophecy applies to unworthy Church leaders, implying that upon their abandonment and condemnation, the people will be saved, entrusted to others who are worthy, and the remnant shall be preserved. Shepherds destroy the sheep when they teach heresy; they harm and scatter them when they cause schisms; they drive them away when they unjustly excommunicate them from the Church; they fail to minister to those who are repentant. The Lord, however, will have mercy upon all such people, returning them to their former pastures and removing the wicked shepherds (Works of Blessed Jerome, vol. 6).
The prophecies we’ve read, along with Blessed Jerome’s famous interpretations and teachings, clearly indicate that disaster and great destruction shall come from the north, where Russia and Moscow are located. This devastation arises from the attacks of the devil, whom God allows to desolate the Church in order to test the strength and victory of the faithful. Kings, princes, priests, and prophets will find themselves under the power of the devil, falling into heresy and causing schisms. From this will arise great disaster and immense tribulation for the Church, making it appear as if it were a wasteland. However, complete destruction will not follow, due to the mercy of the Judge, and a remnant shall be saved, entrusted to other pastors who are worthy. All of this was fulfilled for the Old Believer Church when, during Nikon’s time, the tsar, princes, and ecclesiastical leaders—the bishops—and the prophets—the teachers of the Church—fell into heresy, causing schisms, wounding, scattering, and destroying the flock. The Church indeed appeared as if it were only a remnant, resembling a desert; yet it was not utterly destroyed. This remnant was saved and entrusted to others who were worthy when Metropolitan Ambrose joined the Old Believer Church, providing it with the necessary number of hierarchs.
This prophecy, clear as it is in itself, becomes even clearer in light of another equally explicit prophecy or foretelling, which we shall now present. In the book On Faith, chapter 30, it is written: “Saint John the Evangelist marked the end times in his epistle, saying, `Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come’” (1 John 2:18). Indeed, there are many precursors, but he himself is near, as indicated by his number, 666 (Rev. 13). The Antichrist’s number is that of a man. Who knows whether in the 1666th year, either his precursors or the Antichrist himself will appear? (pp. 269–270). Here, it is questioned or assumed that, in the 1666th year, there would be either the manifest precursors of the Antichrist or the Antichrist himself—one of the two. Indeed, in the year 1666, a council was held in Moscow, which approved various innovations, abolished the holy Stoglav Council, rejected ancient Church traditions, and cursed Orthodox Christians for adhering to these traditions. Thus, the manifest precursors of the Antichrist appeared, and they turned out to be the members of the council of 1666-1667.
To prevent us from mistaking these precursors of the Antichrist for the Antichrist himself, as the Priestless do in error, On Faith immediately clarifies: “But the Antichrist will be a man, the son of iniquity, born, as Hippolytus of Rome says, of a vile Jewish woman from the tribe of Dan. At first, he will appear humble, living a good life, performing miracles—though not true ones, but mere illusions—and he will act entirely through the power of the devil. Then he will rise and favor the Jews, elevating them. He will fiercely persecute the faithful and reign for seven years, or three and a half years according to some” (p. 270). These signs do not apply at all to the council of 1666-1667. It is stated that the Antichrist will be a man, not a council of many people, and he will be born of a Jewish woman, but the council was not born of anyone but was convened. Moreover, the members were not born of a Jewish woman. He will reign for three and a half or seven years, yet the council of 1666-1667 lasted only a little more than a year. The other signs do not fit this council either. Its members were merely the precursors of the Antichrist, for every heretic is a precursor of the Antichrist, and they were indeed heretics.
Let us read further in the book On Faith, where a prophecy about the events of the year 1666 is provided:
Furthermore, I shall not hesitate to recall that which St.@ John the Evangelist writes in the Apocalypse, in chapter 20, regarding the binding of Satan for a thousand years and then his release; the devil returns to his original beloved place, where he desired to ascend from heaven, and from that time, the West was struck with a grievous plague. There is more on this in chapter 21. After a thousand years, when the year 595 approached, the defection and deception of the so-called Uniates from the Holy Eastern Church toward the Western Church became manifest. Read more about this in chapters 23 and 24. And when the year 1666 has come, it is not unreasonable for us also to fear evil, lest we suffer some misfortune because of the fulfillment of previous scriptural testimonies; and should we not be prepared, in case anyone should live to see those times, to engage in battle with the devil himself? Therefore, we, all the Orthodox, ought to hold in memory the previous offenses and attend to this: that, after a thousand years from the Incarnation of the Word of God, Rome and all the Western lands fell away from the Eastern Church; in the year 595 after the thousand, the inhabitants of Little Russia defected to the Roman Church, giving the pope of Rome a deed of agreement: this was the second severance of Christians from the Eastern Church. Keeping in mind these writings, when 1666 years have passed, let us avoid any evil consequences from previous offenses by turning to repentance and drawing God’s mercy toward us (On Faith, ch. 30, pp. 271–272).
This is a clear testimony that in the year 1666 there would be shocking and grievous events in the Church, similar to those that occurred at the time of the Roman Church’s apostasy and during the Union in Little Russia. The Church, after that time, would suffer similar dreadful calamities, endure and bear the same great evil as it did in those times, only to an even greater degree, such that Christians would be forced to battle almost as if with the devil himself. What kind of events occurred during the Western Church’s apostasy and during the Union in Little Russia, and what evil did the Orthodox Church suffer and how did it endure? These events are described in chapters 21, 23, and 24 of the same book On Faith, which are referenced in the prophecy above. In the first of these, it is stated that when the Western Church fell, a majority of bishops fell into heresy, as if stars fell from the sky; in the latter chapters, it is described that during the Union in Little Russia, nearly all bishops not only defected but also incited severe persecution against Orthodox Christians, ultimately striving to leave the Church of Christ entirely without bishops. This effort succeeded to such an extent that the author of On Faith later expressed it thus:
It is no small miracle in the exaltation of the sacred episcopal ordination; our holy Church was left without its metropolitan and Orthodox bishops, whom Jesus Christ Himself called the eyes of the body, leaving her blind, like a body without eyes. But through the restoration of this sacred ordination, she saw once more, and by the grace of Christ, she perceives, just as when Patriarch Theophanes of Jerusalem ordained bishops in Little Russia. Truly, this is a glorious miracle, equal in every way to the miracles of our baptism; for, in that time, Vladimir was enlightened, and he brought the entire Russian land to the knowledge of the true God and to baptism. Now, the Church has been enlightened again through the soul-saving teaching and the operation of the sacred mysteries, holding in the true knowledge of God all the baptized in the Russian land (On Faith, ch. 23, p. 213).
And in chapter 30 of the same book, as we have seen, it is stated that the Church will be in a similar state after 1666, only to an even greater degree.
What could be stronger and clearer than these prophecies? Both the time and place, year and country, circumstances causing the Church’s sufferings, and the rank that fell from it are specified. It is stated plainly that in the year 1666, in the North, where Russia and Moscow are located, a dreadful calamity and great affliction will occur for the Church of Christ: the Church’s teachers, metropolitans, and bishops will fall into heresy and thus be under the control of the spiritual lion, making the Church appear almost bloodstained or blinded, even desolate, such that all will be struck with horror and amazement. However, all this will only last for a time, not forever; the faithful will not be completely annihilated, a remnant will be saved, and the Church, after the trial has passed, will regain its former splendor, and Christians will be entrusted by God to other shepherds who are worthy. All of this will happen to test the Church’s strength and invincibility, to manifest the power and victory of the faithful.
That these prophecies indeed came true and were fulfilled for the Old Believer Church with remarkable accuracy is evident without further explanation.
Let me briefly summarize what has been said throughout this discourse. We have proven that bishops can err and go astray, first, because they are rational beings with free will; second, because God does not forcibly prevent anyone from falling into heresy by His grace, allowing even the holy apostles to fall into disbelief in Christ’s resurrection; third, because neither Christ, nor the apostles, nor the holy fathers attributed infallibility to any person, but instead taught that all could err and be led astray.
It was also shown that the Old Believer Church, even when left without a bishop, did not cease to be an Orthodox Church because it preserved and maintains the true faith, and such a church is considered widowed, not heretical; it was shown that a church can be in widowhood, whereas the one that does not widow but even boasts, “I sit as a queen and am no widow” (Rev. 18:7), it is frightening to even consider what it might be; furthermore, it was shown that the Old Believers rightly believe in the Church professed in the Creed, that the Church is likened to a ship, and that this ship is solid and unsinkable among the Old Believers. It was shown that the Church can endure severe and seemingly extraordinary sufferings, with half its crew overboard and the ship itself sometimes sinking into the abyss, covered by waves of passions, sometimes vanishing like the moon, even being sealed as if in a tomb or cut down to the root like a tree, only to be restored to its former state; and it was also demonstrated that there are prophecies in Scripture and the holy fathers about the fall of bishops and the tribulation of the Church without them.
Many more proofs could be presented on this issue, but what has already been given is sufficient.