On Nachotnichestvo #
A nachotnik is a man well-versed in sacred texts. Every Christian ought to be a nachotnik— that is, one who knows his confession, is capable of defending his belief, and therefore must be well-read, first of all in the Holy Scriptures, and then in all other ecclesiastical writings.
— Fyodor Yefimovich Melnikov
“Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15)—so speaks the holy Apostle Peter in his First Catholic Epistle. Even in the dawning days of Christianity, the apostles, its first preachers, foresaw the need for Christ’s followers to defend their faith. Note well—defend it regardless of one’s social standing, level of education, or gift of speech. Rather, according to each one’s ability and God-given talent, as it is written: “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6). One man bears witness to God through patience in temptation; another through confession of faith; yet another even lays down his life for the sake of affirming the truth of his belief in Christ. Some Christians, for their holy way of life, are granted by the Lord the blessings of a strong family and faithful friends—that is, earthly good things. And there are those too who bear witness to Christianity by the power of their reason, their persuasiveness, their charisma, and their learning.
Examples of such preaching are found everywhere throughout the four Gospels—for how else did our Lord Jesus Christ proclaim salvation? From the Scriptures. And in the Acts of the Apostles we read the speech of the Apostle Paul to the Gentiles, exhorting them to repentance.
A striking example of such preaching of the faith is found in the Old Testament prophets—who were often driven out by the impious and sometimes even cruelly put to death, as was Isaiah.
In like manner, many Christian missionaries throughout post-New Testament history acted thus—and in particular, the Old Believer nachotniki, who shall be the subject of this humble work.
Thus, nachotnichestvo is a category unique to Old Believer culture—but the root of it, its very foundation and meaning, is thoroughly evangelical, catholic, and apostolic: to bear the light of Christ into the world, to proclaim His faith, His redeeming mission, His Church as preserved in Holy Tradition, and the Mysteries which He gave to Christians.
Let us now examine how scholars of Russian Orthodox Old Believer studies understand this phenomenon of nachotnichestvo. The most precise and authoritative definition was given by Fyodor Yefimovich Melnikov—his definition serves as the epigraph to this very essay. Yet no less true are the characterizations offered by contemporary Old Rite historians, writers, theologians, and cultural scholars. Thus, Vladimir Shamarin, a religious writer and Old Believer activist from St. Petersburg, gives this definition:
“By Old Believer nachotnichestvo we should understand a deep, often word-for-word knowledge of apologetic literature—primarily the traditional pre-Nikonian writings—and the ability to freely quote them on the issues under discussion.”
Writer Dmitry Urushev also interprets the term rightly:
“The very word derives from reading and points to the fact that a nachotnik gained his knowledge through reading books, through self-education. A nachotnik was expected not only to read books but to memorize them and interpret them correctly. This was necessary so that he might enlighten others and defend Old Belief in religious disputes.”
We must not overlook the words of Old Believer cultural scholar Kirill Kozhurin. In his excellent textbook The Culture of Russian Old Belief, 17th–20th centuries, he writes:
“Most Old Believer nachotniki were men who had not received any formal theological education, but by natural aptitude and a thirst for learning, through self-education, mastered the sacred texts and acquired skill in both oral and written discourse.”
We, for our part, shall add that nachotnichestvo is an intellectual and psycho-emotional form of preaching. It is precisely psycho-emotional, for every sincere Christian sermon is a fusion of living faith and the art of oratory—as was exemplified for us by the preachers of early Christianity. The speech of a nachotnik-preacher must be persuasive. Beyond logic and argument, a certain measure of emotion must be infused into one’s words to lend them conviction: the preacher burns with his faith, lives by it; he and his sermon are one indivisible whole, and the light of Christ illumines the preacher, who no longer needs preparation for his discourse or homily. In addition, valuable companions in public Christian work are a strong voice, a resonant timbre, and clear diction. And it is a sin for any nachotnik, preacher, theologian, or polemicist to neglect the chief condition of his vocation: the awareness of his own sins, repentance, humility, and love for his neighbor; to avoid the pursuit of glory, attention, and vanity—that is, to forget the striving to live according to the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Old Believers, as bearers of the saving faith of Christ, of the fullness of the Church’s sacraments and the purity of doctrine, have preserved within themselves through nachotnichestvo the original apostolic spirit of preaching their religious convictions. The nearly four-hundred-year history of the Old Belief stands as testimony to this. “The history of the Old Belief offers a vivid example of a uniquely Russian school of thought that persisted on Russian soil despite all administrative and punitive measures and humbly carried out its great and holy task.”
So what, then, are the roots of Old Believer nachotnichestvo in particular? Let us endeavor to understand.
For centuries, Synodal propaganda was aimed at creating a negative image of the Old Belief in the eyes of Russian society. Along with slanderous historical accusations, charges of nonexistent heresies, fanaticism, and hostility, the Old Believers were also branded as ignorant, mentally backward, incapable of learning, and lacking even elementary historical and theological knowledge. Academic theologians and missionaries sincerely believed: if only the Old Believers would sit down and study the abridged Synodal catechism, the Old Belief would disappear of its own accord. Yet such views of the Old Believers always remained mere fantasies in the minds of certain representatives of the pre-revolutionary New Rite Church and had nothing in common with reality. “These homespun scholars—merchant clerks and simple peasant men in bast shoes—could easily out-argue a graduate of the theological academy,” and they proved themselves to be talented masters of debate, orators, and publicists.
The Old Believer milieu—whether or not the Synodal polemicists wished to admit it—has always produced some of the most intelligent and educated individuals, whose intellectual labors were directed toward defending the dogmas of the Old Faith, the historical position of the Old Believers, and their cultural-confessional identity. The very first Old Believer preachers were deeply learned in the sacred books and knew how to use that learning skillfully in polemical combat. The protopope Avvakum would readily cite passages from Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers in support of his position. No less masterfully would he draw parallels, when analyzing a situation, with various historical events known to him. In his writings, he constructed a clear logic and strategy of defense. The same may be said of Ioann Neronov, Nikita Dobrynin, the deacon Feodor, and the monk Epiphanius. Avvakum had both the strength of spirit and sharpness of intellect to speak out with his famed oration at the Council of 1666–1667 and to put to shame the questionable foreign patriarchs. With this speech, Avvakum as it were sets the tone for all future Old Believer nachotnichestvo:
“The Lord opened my sinful lips, and I put them to shame, saying: O universal teachers! Rome fell long ago, and the Poles perished with it. To the end they remained enemies of Orthodox Christians. And as for you—your Orthodoxy is mottled and mixed. From the violence of the Turkish Mahomet, you have become feeble. So henceforth, come to us to learn! With us, by God’s grace, is sovereignty, unblemished Orthodoxy, and a Church without rebellion.”6
This “formula of faith” was borne through the centuries by Old Believer theologians and apologists.
The brilliant theologian and liturgist protopope Nikita Dobrynin with dignity held his ground during the public disputation in the Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. All the arguments advanced against the first Old Believers were torn to shreds. No public debate ever yielded the desired result. For the Old Believers held in their hands the entire historical and dogmatic-canonical heritage of Orthodoxy. For the authorities, only one option remained: to compel belief by force. The fate of the first Old Believer apologists was one of martyrdom. Nearly all of them paid with their lives for their faith and their enlightenment.
Nachotnichestvo is a distinct stratum of Old Believer scholarship and culture. Its essence lies in the defense of the Old Faith before the theologians of the official Church. Old Believer nachotnichestvo acquired its uniquely characteristic traits by the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Fyodor Yefimovich Melnikov writes:
“Thus, within the Old Believer milieu, there arose a special type of nachotnik-interlocutor—fighters against the missionaries. It was a dangerous struggle, and nearly all nachotniki of this type spent time under the rod and in prisons. This type of nachotnik was formed long before the granting of religious freedom. All nachotniki of this kind are worthy of having their names recorded in the pages of history.”
Fyodor Yefimovich Melnikov, more than anyone, most precisely expressed the essence of Old Believer nachotnichestvo, missionary work, and the entire apologetic spirit of the Old Faith. His literary legacy deserves a dedicated monograph, and within the pages of this modest study, we cannot hope to encompass all the great names of the Old Believer apologists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. That would require volumes—and this subject still awaits its researchers.
This is no surprise, for there were Old Believer apologists, theologians, and nachotniki in nearly every sizable Old Believer parish. This work recounts those figures within the Old Belief who laid the foundation of the tradition and shaped the very essence of Old Believer nachotnichestvo. And the works that flowed from the pens of this intellectual Old Believer elite remain relevant to this day.