The Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church

The Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church #

The Holy Catholic, and Apostolic Christian Church appeared on earth in the first century A.D. in Palestine, which was then part of the Roman Empire. After His Resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ informed His disciples of His imminent Ascension, commanded them not to despair but to wait and pray, and promised to send them the power of the Holy Spirit. On the fortieth day after the Resurrection, He ascended to His Father. On the fiftieth day,

“when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1–4)

Thus, the Christian Church was established. The apostles, through the laying on of hands, passed the grace of the Holy Spirit to their disciples—the presbyters—who in turn passed it down further and further, even unto our days. This very grace manifests itself in the Sacraments, performed by the Holy Spirit through priests and bishops. In our time, the full apostolic succession, uncorrupted both dogmatically and morally, has been preserved only among Orthodox Christians known as Old Ritualists (Old Believers).

At first, the Church was a small community. It began to expand and united the communities of different cities and countries into a single Universal Church. Christianity embodied the long-held expectation of all nations for the coming of the Savior, the God-Man who reconciled the Creator with our fallen world. The Christian faith spread beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire; the apostles and their successors carried the Gospel as far as India and China. According to tradition, the Apostle Andrew visited the hills of what would later become Kiev and prophesied the rise of a great Christian state upon those lands.

Despite differences in nations and cultures, the Church remained united. It was governed first by the Council of the Apostles and later by Councils of bishops and all the faithful. However, as the Savior Himself had warned, covetous deceivers—“wolves in sheep’s clothing”—soon crept into the Church. Heresies arose—destructive distortions of Christ’s faith that imperiled the soul.

In order to formulate dogmas (the unchanging foundations of doctrine) and to resist those who were “faithful in appearance only,” Christians began convening Ecumenical Councils of the entire clergy. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Ecumenical Councils established the fundamental tenets of Christianity. At the First and Second Councils (Nicaea, 325 A.D., and Constantinople, 381 A.D.), the Creed was composed:

“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and all that is visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten of the Father, begotten before all ages. Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, but not created, one in essence with the Father, who wrought all things. For us men and for our salvation, came He down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Ghost, and of the Virgin Mary became man. Who was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried, and arose on the third day, after the scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; And he shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom has no end.

And in the Holy Ghost, the true and life-giving Lord, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who spake by the prophets. And in One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism unto remission of sins. I await the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.

The Creed is immutable. Whoever removes or adds even a single word is cut off from the Church, which is the true Body of Christ. By altering the Creed, the Roman Catholics (in the 11th century) and the Nikonian Reformers in Russia (in the 17th century) fell away from the fullness of Truth.

Beginning in the fourth century, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire. Later, the empire was divided into the Western (Rome) and Eastern (Constantinople) halves. Religious division followed the political one. The contradictions between Eastern and Western Christians had already begun in the 5th and 6th centuries, when Western Christians introduced doctrines into their faith that had not existed in the early Apostolic Church: the claims of the Roman Patriarch to primacy over all Orthodox Churches, additions to the Creed, the doctrine of papal infallibility, a rigid separation between the higher clergy and the laity, and mandatory clerical celibacy. In 1054, the Great Schism occurred: the West and the East severed their liturgical communion and became eternal opponents.

In the 16th century, the Protestants broke away from the Catholics, going even further in rejecting Sacred Tradition and distorting Christian doctrine.

Christianity came to Rus’ in 988, when Prince Vladimir baptized the Russian state. The faith took deep root in Russian soil very quickly, for the Russian people had spiritually matured to become a nation of Grace, the last guardian of the true Christian faith, as Metropolitan Hilarion of Kiev (11th century) wrote.

In the 15th century, the Greek Orthodox entered into the Union of Florence with the Catholics, submitting to the authority of the Pope of Rome and Catholic dogmas. In Rus’, this was perceived as apostasy. This gave rise to the idea that Holy Rus’ was the last guardian of the true Faith on earth, the final bulwark before the coming of the Antichrist. Philotheus of Pskov (16th century) wrote the famous words: Two Romes (Rome and Constantinople) have fallen into heresy, Moscow is the Third Rome, and there shall be no Fourth. That is, when piety and Orthodoxy in Rus’ are exhausted, the end of the world will come. These words became a permanent part of the Russian worldview and are still used today, often devoid of their original meaning. Many forget that the Third Rome is not an assertion of universal dominance but a spiritual responsibility for the entire world. This responsibility must be manifested in the strength and purity of faith in every Russian, in constant prayer and fasting, in preaching, and in virtue.

From the 16th century, the process of apostasy began in Rus’. Tsar Ivan the Terrible sought to subject Christ’s Church to his authority and even killed the holy Metropolitan Philip of Moscow. The end of the Third Rome came in the 17th century, when Tsar Alexei the Meek and Patriarch Nikon decided to conform Russian Orthodox doctrine and worship to the Catholicized Greek models in order to extend their influence over the peoples of the former Byzantine Empire. However, Russian Christians were convinced that the Greeks (and with them, all the peoples of the former Orthodox Byzantium) had fallen into error in the faith, and that aligning with them would mean apostasy for the Russian Church.

The reforms of 1653–1667 struck at ancient Orthodoxy, corrupting the foundations of the faith zealously preserved in Rus’. The reformers distorted the rites and dogmas, renounced the apostolic two-fingered sign of the cross, altered the Creed (as the Catholics had done), mutilated much of Sacred Tradition, abolished conciliar governance of the Church, and introduced elements of Catholic worship. Although Nikon sought to subordinate the state to himself in the Catholic manner, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich deposed him and established royal dominion over the newly created church—the Nikonian church—which bore only an external resemblance and shared common roots with the True Ancient Orthodox (Old-Rite) Church. The Nikonian church lost the saving grace.

As in Europe at that time, the sovereign turned the church into an ideological tool of the state apparatus. The New-Rite Nikonian church lost its independence and conciliarity. Tsar Peter Alexeyevich (Peter I) completed the secularization of Russia, turning the official Church into a government department—“the Department of Orthodox Confession”—headed by a secular official. He forbade the election of a patriarch, forced the Church to contribute to the treasury, construct state factories, and serve as an instrument of ideological indoctrination through specially censored collections of sermons. Under Peter I, the Synodal Church became part of the state mechanism, and in this capacity, it remains to this day.

During the Schism, true Orthodox Christians were called Old Believers and “schismatics” and were accused of betraying the state. They were tortured and executed not merely as heretics but as political criminals. The leaders of the Old Believers—Bishop Pavel of Kolomna, Protopriest Avvakum, Deacon Theodore, and others—did not incite the people to rebellion but pointed out that the newly created state Church was deprived of divine grace, that the Third Rome had fallen, and that the coming of the Antichrist was near. The Old Believers called on the Nikonian Church to repent and return to the apostolic tradition and urged the sovereign to cease supporting such a Church.

The true Orthodox Church is the Old-Rite Church, which preserves the fullness and purity of the apostolic faith in the modern fallen world. All other Churches and religious movements are either heresies that have separated from Orthodoxy or anti-Christian sects. The only path to salvation is through the Ancient Orthodox Church, through sincere faith in Christ.

Persecuted and executed, the keepers of the ancient piety fled to the remote northern territories, Siberia, the Far East, and even Alaska. Under Peter I, whom many Orthodox considered to be the Antichrist for his aggressive destruction of true faith, Old Believer emigration to Europe and Turkey began.

From the reign of Alexei the Meek to Peter I, Russia rapidly embraced Europeanization, straying ever further along the godless paths of the West and away from the Truth. The true Rus’ remained in the Ancient Orthodox faith.

There were also divisions within the Old Faith. Many distorted doctrine and turned into priestless (bezpopovtsy) sects, teaching that the end of the world had already come, that the Antichrist had ascended the throne, and that true priesthood no longer existed.

For 300 years, the authorities brutally persecuted the Old Believers. They were burned alive in log enclosures, had their tongues cut out, and their hands chopped off to prevent them from praying and preaching. It was not until 1905 that Old Believers were granted freedom of speech and religious assembly. A period of mass church construction, printing of books, and the return of entire families from exile began. With this revival, Russia’s economy flourished, as Old Believers proved to be talented and honest workers and organizers. By 1917, approximately one-third of all Russian capital belonged to Old Believers.

The Soviet regime sought to subjugate the Church to communist ideology. However, the Old Believers refused to cooperate with the atheist authorities, continuing to pray and preach in secret, despite the constant danger of imprisonment or execution on charges of “counter-revolutionary activity.”

After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, a revival of the Old Faith began in Russia. Churches were once again being built, and both old and new books were published. An increasing number of new converts from among the unbelievers and from other religions began entering the Church. However, it cannot be said with certainty that the faith is truly being revived, for the Russian people have been infected with a craving for carnal and emotional pleasures, spiritually impoverished under the pressure of Western globalist godlessness, propagated through mass media. It is difficult to speak of self-denial, humility, self-sacrifice, and union with Christ in an age dominated by television and the internet, which manipulate individuals and accustom them to living for pleasure and for themselves alone.

Fundamental Tenets of Ancient Orthodoxy #

  • Faith in One God. God reveals Himself in Three Persons (the Holy Trinity): God the Father (the Creator), God the Son (Who unites the earthly world with the Father), and God the Holy Spirit (the life-giving Principle). There are no other gods. The only mediator between God and man is the God-Man Jesus Christ, in whom the Second Person of the Holy Trinity—God the Son—was incarnated.

  • The world was created more than 7,000 years ago by the Almighty Lord in six days. On the sixth day, man was formed from the dust of the earth.

  • All people on the planet are descendants of Adam and Eve. The first ancestors lived in the Garden of Eden; they were immortal and not subject to illness, as were all living beings in that world. Adam and Eve conversed with the Lord directly—this was true, complete life. However, they committed the sin of apostasy by violating God’s sole command—not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The sin of the first ancestors altered the nature of man and the rest of the living world. Death, disease, pain, and decay appeared… And after the death of the body, the human soul, no matter how righteous, could not enter the Kingdom of Heaven or unite with the Lord.

  • To destroy original sin, the Creator sent His Only-Begotten Son, Who was incarnate in a human body, becoming the God-Man Jesus Christ. By His crucifixion and resurrection, the Savior destroyed the sin of the first ancestors and granted every believer in Him—every member of His Body, the Church—the opportunity for salvation: eternal life in paradise with God.

  • Man has a dual nature: he possesses a mortal body and an immortal soul. The body and soul are at war: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” (Galatians 5:17) The body seeks to satisfy physical and emotional needs, while the soul longs for union with its Creator, for man is “the image and likeness of God.” (Genesis 1:26)

  • After the body’s death, every soul goes before the Lord for judgment. The Lord assigns the souls of the faithful and righteous to His Kingdom, while the souls of sinners are sent to hell. True life begins only after the death of the physical body. Earthly life is merely preparation for this true life—a test. Christians do not believe in the reincarnation of souls into other bodies, the suspension of souls in an “alternate dimension” (such as “spirits of ancestors” or “ghosts”), or purgatory.

  • World history has a beginning (the creation of Adam) and an end (the Second Coming of Christ). When the Savior returns in His divine glory, He will destroy all the forces of evil and death in the world. He will hold the Last Judgment, where all people—from Adam to the last person on earth—will stand before Him in resurrected bodies. The souls of the unrepentant sinners will be cast into eternal hell. A new material world, free of decay, destruction, and death, will be created for the righteous—a world as it was before the fall of Adam and Eve. And that world shall have no end.

  • But before the Second Coming of the Savior, there will be a dreadful period of worldwide reign by the Antichrist. The Antichrist will be a man who rises to power as the head of a unified global state and will direct all the forces of the world against the remnants of the Third Rome—the last community of faithful Christians. The current world situation suggests the imminent arrival of the Antichrist.

  • The source of Christian doctrine is the Sacred Tradition of the Church—the teachings of the holy prophets and apostles, who have transmitted the divine revelations granted to them by the Lord, as well as the decrees of the Councils guided by the Holy Spirit and the spiritually beneficial instructions of the saints who pleased God through their faith and life. Sacred Tradition is transmitted partly by word of mouth and partly in written form.

  • The most important part of Sacred Tradition is the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments (the Bible). The heart of the Old Testament is the Ten Commandments:

The Ten Commandments #

“I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, nor any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, and showing mercy unto a thousand generations of them that love Me and keep My commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath [rest.—K.M.] of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, <…> nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”
(Exodus 20:11–17)

The Beatitudes #

In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ gave the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
(Matthew 5:3–12)

Christian Life #

A true Christian lives by the Church and for the Church. He is whole and undivided—there is no separation between his personal and external life. He always strives to act according to the commandments. There are certain rules for the Christian way of life:

  • Faith—“the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). The path to Christ begins with faith in Him and the overcoming of one’s sinful nature. To possess true faith means to see the Lord in one’s life as more real than everything around. Faith is given by God to those who seek it and to those who are worthy of it.

  • Hope—in heavenly salvation through the mercy of Christ, in His forgiveness and help.

  • Love, especially toward one’s neighbors. Love within marriage, love between parents and children, love in friendship—all are rooted in self-denial for the sake of the beloved. “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3). Above all earthly love, there must be love for the Lord.

  • Virtue—“Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26). One must do good for all people. Treat others as you would like to be treated. “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” (Mark 4:24). Never repay evil with evil.

  • Constant prayer, both communal (liturgical, within the Church) and personal. This includes both the daily observance of a set minimum of prayers (prayer rule) and the unceasing inward invocation of the Lord in the language of one’s mind and heart.

  • Observance of fasts, to subdue the flesh and subject it to the spirit.

  • Chastity, sobriety, striving for holiness, fear of sin and vice, and avoiding them with all one’s strength.

  • Regular study of Holy Scripture.

  • Preaching of the True Faith to unbelievers and heretics—through words, example, and deeds.

  • Regular participation in the Sacraments, the sacred rites that unite man with divine grace.

The Sacraments #

  • Communion. The partaking of the true Body and Blood of Christ under the form of bread and wine. The highest mystery on earth—union with the Savior Himself!

  • Baptism. Spiritual birth into the Church—the Body of Christ—through triple immersion in water in the name of the Holy Trinity. “The answer of a good conscience toward God.” (1 Peter 3:21).

  • Chrismation. The anointing with holy chrism, consecrated since the time of the Apostles, through which the newly baptized receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

  • Confession. The revealing of one’s sins before God and renouncing them. Through the priest, God can forgive the sins of the truly repentant.

  • Crowning (Marriage). The sanctification of the union between a man and a woman by the Holy Spirit, modeled after the spiritual union of the Savior with His Church.

  • Conciliar Anointing (Unction). The healing of spiritual and bodily ailments, as well as the remission of forgotten sins.

  • Holy Orders. The consecration of new bishops, priests, and deacons by a bishop. The clergy may be either married or monastic. A bishop is chosen only from among the monastics.

A Christian recognizes his responsibility before God not only for his own life and actions but also for the salvation of his children, relatives, friends, and all people. A Christian strives to be honest, diligent, compassionate, and open-hearted. He seeks to overcome all coldness in human relationships.

Our Hope #

Our hope is to live an honest and pure life with Christ, never bringing shame to His name, and to be found worthy of the Heavenly Kingdom after death. And while we are still on earth, our mission is to help our neighbors come to Christ.

The only Truth is the Lord Jesus Christ. And only sincere faith and the true Church—His Body—unite us with the Savior.

“Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” (Hebrews 3:6).

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