During the Church Schism of the 17th century, the following key events can be distinguished:

1652 - Nikon's church reform

1654, 1656 - church councils, excommunication and exile of opponents of the reform

1658 - gap between Nikon and Alexei Mikhailovich

1666 - church council with the participation ecumenical patriarchs. The deprivation of Nikon of the patriarchal dignity, the curse of the schismatics.

1667-1676 - Solovetsky uprising.

Separation from the Russian Orthodox Church of part of the believers who did not recognize church reform Patriarch Nikon (1653 - 1656); religious and social movement that arose in Russia in the 17th century. (See the scheme "Church Schism") In 1653, wishing to strengthen the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Nikon set about implementing a church reform designed to eliminate discrepancies in books and rituals that had accumulated over many centuries, and to unify the theological system throughout Russia. Some of the clergy, led by archpriests Avvakum and Daniel, suggested that the reform be based on ancient Russian theological books. Nikon, on the other hand, decided to use Greek samples, which, in his opinion, would facilitate the unification under the auspices of the Moscow Patriarchate of all Orthodox churches Europe and Asia, and thereby increase his influence on the king. The patriarch was supported by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and Nikon began to reform. The Printing House began issuing revised and newly translated books. Instead of the old Russian, Greek ritualism was introduced: the two-finger was replaced by the three-finger, the four-pointed cross instead of the eight-pointed was declared a symbol of faith, and so on. The innovations were secured by the Council of the Russian Clergy in 1654, and in 1655 they were approved by the Patriarch of Constantinople on behalf of all the Eastern Orthodox Churches. However, the reform, carried out hastily and forcibly, without preparing the Russian society for it, caused a strong confrontation among the Russian clergy and believers. In 1656, the defenders of the old rites, whose recognized leader was Archpriest Avvakum, were excommunicated from the church. But this measure did not help. There was a current of Old Believers who created their own church organizations. The schism acquired a massive character after the decision of the Church Council of 1666-1667. about executions and exiles of ideologues and opponents of the reform. The Old Believers, fleeing persecution, went to the distant forests of the Volga region, the European north, to Siberia, where they founded schismatic communities - sketes. The response to the persecution was also the actions of mass self-immolation, posting (starvation). The movement of the Old Believers also acquired a social character. The old faith became a sign in the struggle against the strengthening of serfdom. The most powerful protest against church reform manifested itself in the Solovetsky uprising. The rich and famous Solovetsky Monastery openly refused to recognize all the innovations introduced by Nikon, to obey the decisions of the Council. An army was sent to Solovki, but the monks shut themselves up in the monastery and put up armed resistance. The siege of the monastery began, which lasted about eight years (1668 - 1676). The monks' stand for the old faith served as an example for many. After the suppression of the Solovetsky uprising, the persecution of schismatics intensified. In 1682 Habakkuk and many of his supporters were burned. In 1684, a decree followed, according to which the Old Believers were to be tortured, and in case of not subjugation, they were to be burned. However, these repressive measures did not liquidate the movement of supporters of the old faith; their number in the 17th century constantly grew, many of them left the borders of Russia. In the XVIII century. there has been a weakening of the persecution of schismatics by the government and the official church. At the same time, several independent trends emerged in the Old Believers.

In the future, Alexei Mikhailovich saw the unification of Orthodox peoples of Eastern Europe and the Balkans. But, as mentioned above, in Ukraine they were baptized with three fingers, in the Muscovite state - with two. Consequently, the tsar faced the problem of an ideological plan - to impose his own rites on the entire Orthodox world (which had long since accepted the innovations of the Greeks) or to obey the dominant three-fingered sign. The Tsar and Nikon went the second way.

As a result, the root cause of Nikon's church reform, which split Russian society, was political - the power-hungry desire of Nikon and Alexei Mikhailovich for the idea of ​​​​a world Orthodox kingdom based on the theory of "Moscow - the third Rome", which received a rebirth in this era. In addition, the eastern hierarchs (i.e., representatives of the higher clergy), who frequented Moscow, constantly cultivated in the minds of the tsar, the patriarch and their entourage the idea of ​​the future supremacy of Rus' over the entire Orthodox world. The seeds fell on fertile ground.

As a result, the "ecclesiastical" reasons for the reform (bringing into uniformity the practice of religious worship) occupied a secondary position.

The reasons for the reform were undoubtedly objective. The process of centralization of the Russian state - as one of the centralization processes in history - inevitably required the development of a single ideology capable of rallying the broad masses of the population around the center.

Essence

Church schism and its consequences. The growing Russian autocracy, especially in the era of the formation of absolutism, demanded further subordination of the church to the state. By the middle of the XVII century. it turned out that in the Russian liturgical books, which were copied from century to century, many typos, distortions, and changes had accumulated. The same thing happened in church rites. In Moscow, there were two different opinions on the issue of correcting church books. Supporters of one, to which the government was also attached, considered it necessary to correct the books according to the Greek originals. They were opposed by "zealots of ancient piety." The circle of zealots was headed by Stefan Vonifatiev, the tsar's confessor. The work of carrying out church reform was entrusted to Nikon. Power-hungry, with a strong will and vigorous energy, the new patriarch soon dealt the first blow to "ancient piety." By his decree, the correction of liturgical books began to be made according to Greek originals. Some rituals were also unified: two-fingered sign of the cross it was replaced by three fingers, the structure of the church service changed, etc. Initially, opposition to Nikon arose in the spiritual circles of the capital, mainly from the side of "zealots of piety." Archpriests Avvakum and Daniel wrote objections to the king. Not having reached the goal, they began to spread their views among the lower and middle strata of the rural and urban population. Church Cathedral 1666-1667 declared a curse on all opponents of the reform, brought them to trial by the "city authorities", who were to be guided by the article of the Code of 1649, which provided for the burning at the stake of anyone "who lays blasphemy on the Lord God." In different parts of the country, bonfires blazed, on which zealots of antiquity died. After the council of 1666-1667. disputes between supporters and opponents of the reform gradually acquired a social connotation and marked the beginning of a split in the Russian Orthodox Church, the emergence of religious opposition (Old Believers or Old Believers). Old Believers - complex movement, both in composition of participants and in substance. The general slogan was a return to antiquity, a protest against all innovations. Sometimes in the actions of the Old Believers, who evaded the census and the performance of duties in favor of the feudal state, one can unravel social motives. An example of the development of a religious struggle into a social one is the Solovetsky uprising of 1668-1676. The uprising began as a purely religious one. The local monks refused to accept the newly printed "Nikonian" books. The monastery council of 1674 issued a decree: "to stand and fight against the state people" to death. Only with the help of a defector monk, who showed the besiegers a secret passage, the archers managed to break into the monastery and break the resistance of the rebels. Of the 500 defenders of the monastery, only 50 survived. The crisis of the church also manifested itself in the case of Patriarch Nikon. Implementing the reform, Nikon defended the ideas of Caesaropapism, i.e. superiority of spiritual authority over secular. As a result of Nikon's power-hungry habits, in 1658 there was a gap between the tsar and the patriarch. If the reform of the church carried out by the patriarch met the interests of the Russian autocracy, then Nikon's theocracy clearly contradicted the tendencies of growing absolutism. When Nikon was informed of the tsar's anger at him, he publicly resigned from his rank in the Assumption Cathedral and left for the Resurrection Monastery.

Consequences

The result of the split was a certain confusion in the people's worldview. The Old Believers perceived history as "eternity in the present", that is, as a stream of time in which everyone has his own clearly marked place and is responsible for everything he has done. The idea of ​​the Last Judgment for the Old Believers had not a mythological, but a deeply moral meaning. For the New Believers, the idea of ​​the Last Judgment ceased to be taken into account in historical forecasts and became the subject of rhetorical exercises. The attitude of the New Believers was less connected with eternity, more with earthly needs. They were emancipated to a certain extent, they accepted the motive of the transience of time, they had more material practicality, a desire to cope with time in order to achieve quick practical results.

In the struggle against the Old Believers, the official church was forced to turn to the state for assistance, willy-nilly taking steps towards subordination to secular power. Alexey Mikhailovich took advantage of this, and his son Peter finally dealt with the independence of the Orthodox Church. Petrovsky absolutism was built on the fact that he freed state power from all religious and moral norms.

The state persecuted the Old Believers. Repressions against them expanded after the death of Alexei, during the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich and Princess Sophia. In 1681, any distribution of ancient books and writings of the Old Believers was prohibited. In 1682, on the orders of Tsar Fedor, the most prominent leader of the schism, Avvakum, was burned. Under Sophia, a law was issued that finally banned any activity of schismatics. They showed exceptional spiritual steadfastness, responded to repressions with actions of mass self-immolation, when people burned whole clans and communities.

The remaining Old Believers brought a kind of stream into Russian spiritual and cultural thought, did a lot to preserve antiquity. They were more literate than the Nikonians. The Old Believers continued the ancient Russian spiritual tradition, which prescribes a constant search for truth and a tense moral tone. The schism hit this tradition when, after the fall of the prestige of the official church, secular authorities took control of the education system. There has been a change in the main goals of education: instead of a person - a carrier of a higher spiritual principle, they began to train a person who performs a narrow circle of certain functions.

The church schism became one of the main events for Russia in the 17th century. This process seriously influenced the subsequent formation of the worldview of the Russian people. As main reason Scholars call the church schism the political situation that took shape in the 17th century. And church disagreements are attributed to a number of secondary reasons.

Tsar Michael, the founder of the Romanov dynasty, and his son Alexei were engaged in the restoration of the country's economy, which was devastated during the Time of Troubles. strengthened government, the first manufactories appeared, foreign trade was restored. In the same period, the legislative registration of serfdom took place.

Despite the fact that at the beginning the Romanovs pursued a rather cautious policy, already the plans of Alexei, nicknamed the Quietest, included the unification of the Orthodox peoples living in the Balkans and the territory of Eastern Europe. This is what led the patriarch and the tsar to a rather difficult ideological problem. According to tradition in Russia, they were baptized with two fingers. And the vast majority of Orthodox peoples, according to Greek innovations, three. There were only two possible options: to obey the canon, or to impose their own traditions on others. Alexei and Patriarch Nikon began to act according to the second option. A single ideology was necessary due to the ongoing centralization of power and the concept of the "Third Rome" at that time. All this became a prerequisite for the reform, which split Russian society for a very long time. A large number of discrepancies in church books, different interpretations of rituals - all this needed to be brought to uniformity. It is worth noting that the need to correct church books was discussed along with church and secular authorities.

The name of Patriarch Nikon and the church schism are closely connected. Nikon possessed not only intelligence, but also a love of luxury and power. He became the head of the church only after the personal request of the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

The church reform of 1652 marked the beginning of a schism in the church. All proposed changes were approved at the church council of 1654 (for example, tripartite). However, a too abrupt transition to new customs led to the emergence of a considerable number of opponents of innovations. Opposition also formed at court. The patriarch, who overestimated his influence on the tsar, fell into disgrace in 1658. Nikon's departure was demonstrative.

Having retained his wealth and honors, Nikon nevertheless was deprived of any power. In 1666, at the Council, with the participation of the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria, the hood was removed from Nikon. After that, the former patriarch was exiled to White Lake, to the Ferapontov Monastery. I must say that there Nikon led a far from poor life. The deposition of Nikon was an important stage in the church schism of the 17th century.

The same council of 1666 once again approved all the changes introduced, declaring them to be the work of the church. All those who did not obey were declared heretics. During the church schism in Russia, another significant event took place - the Solovetsky uprising of 1667-76. All the rebels were eventually either exiled or executed. In conclusion, it should be noted that after Nikon, not a single patriarch laid claim to supreme power in the country.

The split of the Russian Orthodox Church

Church schism - in the 1650s - 1660s. a split in the Russian Orthodox Church, due to the reform of Patriarch Nikon, which consisted in liturgical and ritual innovations, which were aimed at making changes to liturgical books and rites in order to unify them with modern Greek ones.

background

One of the most profound socio-cultural upheavals in the state was the church schism. In the early 50s of the 17th century, a circle of “zealots of piety” formed among the higher clergy in Moscow, whose members wanted to eliminate various church disorders and unify worship throughout the vast territory of the state. The first step has already been taken: the Church Council of 1651, under pressure from the sovereign, introduced a unanimous church singing. Now it was necessary to make a choice what to follow in church transformations: one's own Russian tradition or someone else's.

This choice was made in the context of the internal church conflict already emerging in the late 1640s, caused by the struggle of Patriarch Joseph with the growing Ukrainian and Greek borrowings initiated by the sovereign's entourage.

Church schism - causes, consequences

The Church, having strengthened its positions after the Time of Troubles, tried to take a dominant position in political system states. The desire of Patriarch Nikon to strengthen his power positions, to concentrate in his hands not only church, but also secular power. But in the conditions of strengthening autocracy, this caused a conflict between church and secular authorities. The defeat of the church in this clash paved the way for its transformation into an appendage of state power.

The innovations in church rituals begun in 1652 by Patriarch Nikon, the correction of Orthodox books according to the model and likeness of the Greek, led to a split in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Main dates

The main reason for the split was the reforms of Patriarch Nikon (1633–1656).
Nikon (worldly name - Nikita Minov) enjoyed unlimited influence on Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
1649 - Appointment of Nikon as Metropolitan of Novgorod
1652 - Election of Nikon as patriarch
1653 - Church reform
As a result of the reform:
– Correction of church books in accordance with the "Greek" canons;
– Changing the rites of the Russian Orthodox Church;
- The introduction of triplets during the sign of the cross.
1654 - The reform of the patriarch was approved at the church council
1656 - Excommunication of opponents of the reform
1658 - Nikon's renunciation of the patriarchate
1666 - The deposition of Nikon at the church council
1667–1676 - The uprising of the monks of the Solovetsky Monastery.
The rejection of the reforms led to a division into supporters of reforms (Nikonians) and opponents (schismatics or Old Believers), as a result, the emergence of many movements and churches.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon

Election of Metropolitan Nikon as Patriarch

1652 - after the death of Joseph, the Kremlin clergy and the tsar wanted the Metropolitan Nikon of Novgorod to take his place: the character and views of Nikon seemed to belong to a man who was able to lead the church-ceremonial reform conceived by the sovereign and his confessor. But Nikon gave his consent to become patriarch only after Alexei Mikhailovich's long persuasion and on the condition that there were no restrictions on his patriarchal power. And such restrictions were created by the Monastic order.

Nikon had a great influence on the young sovereign, who considered the patriarch his closest friend and assistant. Departing from the capital, the tsar transferred control not to the boyar commission, as was customary before, but to the care of Nikon. He was allowed to be called not only the patriarch, but also the "sovereign of all Rus'." Having taken such an extraordinary position in power, Nikon began to abuse it, seize foreign lands for his monasteries, humiliate the boyars, and severely crack down on the clergy. He was occupied not so much with reform as with the establishment of a strong patriarchal authority, the model for which was the authority of the Pope.

Nikon reform

1653 - Nikon began to implement the reform, which he intended to carry out, focusing on Greek samples as more ancient. In fact, he reproduced contemporary Greek models and copied the Ukrainian reform of Petro Mohyla. The transformations of the Church had a foreign policy connotation: the new role of Russia and the Russian Church on the world stage. Counting on the accession of the Kyiv Metropolis, the Russian authorities thought about creating a single Church. This required the similarity of church practice between Kiev and Moscow, while they had to be guided by the Greek tradition. Of course, Patriarch Nikon did not need differences, but uniformity with the Kyiv Metropolis, which should become part of the Moscow Patriarchate. He tried in every possible way to develop the ideas of Orthodox universalism.

Church Cathedral. 1654. The beginning of the split. A.Kivshenko

Innovations

But many of Nikon's supporters, being not against the reform as such, preferred its other development - based on ancient Russian, and not on Greek and Ukrainian church traditions. As a result of the reform, the traditional Russian two-fingered consecration of oneself with a cross was replaced by a three-fingered one, the spelling "Isus" was changed to "Jesus", the exclamation "Hallelujah!" proclaimed three times, not twice. Other words and turns of speech were introduced in prayers, psalms and Creeds, some changes were made in the order of worship. The correction of liturgical books was carried out by reference workers at the Printing Yard on Greek and Ukrainian books. The Church Council of 1656 decided to publish the corrected Trebnik and the Service Book, the most important liturgical books for every priest.

Among the different sections of the population were those who refused to recognize the reform: it could mean that the Russian Orthodox custom, which their ancestors adhered to from ancient times, was vicious. With the great adherence of the Orthodox to the ritual side of the faith, it was precisely its change that was perceived very painfully. After all, as contemporaries believed, only the exact performance of the rite made it possible to create contact with sacred forces. “I will die for a single “az”!” (that is, for changing at least one letter in the sacred texts), exclaimed the ideological leader of the adherents of the old order, the Old Believers, and former member mug "zealots of piety".

Old Believers

The Old Believers initially fiercely resisted the reform. In defense of the old faith boyar wives and E. Urusova. The Solovetsky Monastery, which did not recognize the reform, for more than 8 years (1668 - 1676) resisted the tsarist troops besieging it and was taken only as a result of betrayal. Because of the innovations, a split appeared not only in the Church, but also in society, it was accompanied by strife, executions and suicides, and a sharp polemical struggle. The Old Believers formed a special type of religious culture with a sacred attitude to the written word, with fidelity to antiquity and an unfriendly attitude towards everything worldly, with faith in the near end of the world and with a hostile attitude towards power - both secular and ecclesiastical.

At the end of the 17th century, the Old Believers were divided into two main currents - bespopovtsy and priests. Bespopovtsy, not finding as a result the possibility of establishing their own bishopric, could not supply priests. As a result, based on the ancient canonical rules on the permissibility of sacraments in extreme situations by the laity, they began to reject the need for priests and the entire church hierarchy and began to choose spiritual mentors from their midst. Over time, many Old Believer rumors (trends) were formed. Some of which, in anticipation of the imminent end of the world, subjected themselves to "fiery baptism", i.e., self-immolation. They realized that if their community was captured by the sovereign's troops, they would be burned at the stake as heretics. In the event of the approach of troops, they preferred to burn out in advance, without deviating from the faith in anything, and thereby save their souls.

The gap between Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich

Deprivation of Nikon's patriarchal rank

1658 - Patriarch Nikon, as a result of a quarrel with the sovereign, announced that he would no longer act as head of the church, took off his patriarchal vestments and retired to his beloved New Jerusalem Monastery. He believed that requests from the palace for his speedy return would not be long in coming. However, this did not happen: even if the conscientious tsar regretted what had happened, his entourage no longer wanted to put up with such a comprehensive and aggressive patriarchal power, which, according to Nikon, was higher than the royal one, “like the sky is higher than the earth.” Whose power in reality turned out to be more significant, further events demonstrated.

Alexei Mikhailovich, who accepted the ideas of Orthodox universalism, could no longer defrock the patriarch (as was done all the time in the Russian Local Church). Orientation to the Greek rules put him before the need to convene an ecumenical Church Council. Proceeding from the steady recognition of the falling away from the true faith of the Roman see, the ecumenical council was to consist of Orthodox patriarchs. All of them took part in the meeting in one way or another. 1666 - such a council condemned Nikon and deprived him of his patriarchal rank. Nikon was exiled to the Ferapontov Monastery, and later transferred to more severe conditions on Solovki.

At the same time, the council approved the church reform and ordered the persecution of the Old Believers. Archpriest Avvakum was deprived of the priesthood, cursed, and sent to Siberia, where his tongue was cut off. There he wrote many works, from here he sent messages throughout the state. 1682 - he was executed.

But Nikon's aspirations to make the clergy beyond the jurisdiction of secular authorities found sympathy with many hierarchs. At the Church Council of 1667, they managed to achieve the destruction of the Monastic order.

separation from the Russian Orthodox Church of part of the believers who did not recognize the church reform of Patriarch Nikon (1653-1656); religious and social movement that arose in Russia in the 17th century. (See the diagram "Church Schism")

In 1653, wishing to strengthen the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Nikon set about implementing a church reform designed to eliminate discrepancies in books and rituals that had accumulated over many centuries, and to unify the theological system throughout Russia. Some of the clergy, led by archpriests Avvakum and Daniel, suggested that the reform be based on ancient Russian theological books. Nikon, on the other hand, decided to use Greek samples, which, in his opinion, would facilitate the unification of all Orthodox churches in Europe and Asia under the auspices of the Moscow Patriarchate and thereby increase his influence on the tsar. The patriarch was supported by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and Nikon began to reform. The Printing House began issuing revised and newly translated books. Instead of the old Russian, Greek ritualism was introduced: the two-finger was replaced by the three-finger, the four-pointed cross instead of the eight-pointed was declared a symbol of faith, and so on. The innovations were secured by the Council of the Russian Clergy in 1654, and in 1655 they were approved by the Patriarch of Constantinople on behalf of all the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

However, the reform, carried out hastily and forcibly, without preparing the Russian society for it, caused a strong confrontation among the Russian clergy and believers. In 1656, the defenders of the old rites, whose recognized leader was Archpriest Avvakum, were excommunicated from the church. But this measure did not help. There was a current of Old Believers who created their own church organizations. The schism acquired a massive character after the decision of the Church Council of 1666-1667. about executions and exiles of ideologues and opponents of the reform. The Old Believers, fleeing persecution, went to the distant forests of the Volga region, the European north, to Siberia, where they founded schismatic communities - sketes. The response to the persecution was also the actions of mass self-immolation, posting (starvation).

The movement of the Old Believers also acquired a social character. The old faith became a sign in the struggle against the strengthening of serfdom.

The most powerful protest against church reform manifested itself in the Solovetsky uprising. The rich and famous Solovetsky Monastery openly refused to recognize all the innovations introduced by Nikon, to obey the decisions of the Council. An army was sent to Solovki, but the monks shut themselves up in the monastery and put up armed resistance. The siege of the monastery began, which lasted about eight years (1668 - 1676). The monks' stand for the old faith served as an example for many.

After the suppression of the Solovetsky uprising, the persecution of schismatics intensified. In 1682 Habakkuk and many of his supporters were burned. In 1684, a decree followed, according to which the Old Believers were to be tortured, and in case of not subjugation, they were to be burned. However, these repressive measures did not liquidate the movement of supporters of the old faith; their number in the 17th century constantly grew, many of them left the borders of Russia. In the XVIII century. there has been a weakening of the persecution of schismatics by the government and the official church. At the same time, several independent trends emerged in the Old Believers.

Church schism - Nikon's reforms in action

Nothing strikes like a miracle, except for the naivete with which it is taken for granted.

Mark Twain

The church schism in Russia is associated with the name of Patriarch Nikon, who in the 50s and 60s of the 17th century staged a grandiose reform of the Russian church. The changes affected literally all church structures. The need for such changes was due to the religious backwardness of Russia, as well as significant misprints in religious texts. The implementation of the reform led to a split not only in the church, but also in society. People openly opposed the new trends in religion, actively expressing their position with uprisings and popular unrest. In today's article, we will talk about the reform of Patriarch Nikon, as one of the most important events of the 17th century, which had a huge impact not only for the church, but for the whole of Russia.

Prerequisites for the reform

According to the assurances of many historians who study the 17th century, a unique situation developed in Russia at that time, when the religious rites in the country were very different from the global ones, including from the Greek rites, from where Christianity came to Rus'. In addition, it is often said that religious texts, as well as icons, were distorted. Therefore, the following phenomena can be singled out as the main reasons for the church schism in Russia:

• Books that have been hand-copied for centuries have had misprints and distortions.
• Difference from world religious rites. In particular, in Russia until the 17th century everyone was baptized with two fingers, and in other countries with three.
• conducting church ceremonies. The ceremonies were conducted according to the principle of "polyphony", which was expressed in the fact that at the same time the service was conducted by the priest, and the clerk, and the singers, and the parishioners. As a result, polyphony was formed, in which it was difficult to make out something.

The Russian tsar was one of the first to point out these problems, proposing to take measures to restore order in religion.

Patriarch Nikon

Tsar Alexei Romanov, who wanted to reform the Russian church, decided to appoint Nikon to the post of Patriarch of the country. It was this man who was instructed to carry out reform in Russia. The choice was, to put it mildly, rather strange, since the new patriarch had no experience in holding such events, and also did not enjoy respect among other priests.

Patriarch Nikon was known to the world under the name Nikita Minov. He was born and raised in a simple peasant family. From an early age, he paid great attention to his religious education, studying prayers, stories and rituals. At the age of 19, Nikita became a priest in his native village. At the age of thirty, the future patriarch moved to the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow. It was here that he met the young Russian tsar Alexey Romanov. The views of the two people were quite similar, which determined the fate of Nikita Minov.

Patriarch Nikon, as many historians note, was distinguished not so much by his knowledge, but by cruelty and dominance. He literally raved about the idea of ​​obtaining unlimited power, which was, for example, Patriarch Filaret. Trying to prove his importance for the state and for the Russian tsar, Nikon manifests himself in every possible way, including not only in the religious field. For example, in 1650 he actively participated in the suppression of the uprising, being the main initiator of the brutal reprisal against all the rebels.

Lust for power, cruelty, literacy - all this was combined into a patriarchy. These were exactly the qualities that were needed to carry out the reform. Russian church.

Implementation of the reform

The reform of Patriarch Nikon began to be implemented in 1653-1655. This reform carried in itself fundamental changes in religion, which were expressed in the following:

• Baptism with three fingers instead of two.
• Bows should be made to the waist, and not to the ground, as it was before.
• Religious books and icons have been changed.
• The concept of "Orthodoxy" was introduced.
• Changed the name of God, in accordance with the global spelling. Now instead of "Jesus" it was written "Jesus".
• Replacement of the Christian cross. Patriarch Nikon proposed replacing it with a four-pointed cross.
• Changing the rites of the church service. Now the procession took place not clockwise, as it was before, but counterclockwise.

All this is described in detail in the Church Catechism. Surprisingly, if we consider Russian history textbooks, especially school textbooks, the reform of Patriarch Nikon comes down to only the first and second points of the above. Rare textbooks say in the third paragraph. The rest is not even mentioned. As a result, one gets the impression that the Russian patriarch did not carry out any cardinal reformatory activity, but this was not so... The reforms were cardinal. They crossed out everything that was before. It is no coincidence that these reforms are also called the church schism of the Russian church. The very word "split" indicates a fundamental change.

Let's look at the individual provisions of the reform in more detail. This will allow you to correctly understand the essence of the phenomena of those days.

The Scriptures Predetermined the Church Schism in Russia

Patriarch Nikon, arguing for his reform, said that church texts in Russia have many typos that should be eliminated. It was said that one should turn to Greek sources in order to understand the original meaning of religion. In fact, it was not implemented quite like that...

In the 10th century, when Russia adopted Christianity, there were 2 statutes in Greece:

• Studio. The main charter of the Christian church. For many years it was considered the main one in the Greek Church, therefore it was the Studium charter that came to Rus'. For 7 centuries, the Russian Church in all religious matters was guided by this charter.
• Jerusalem. It is more modern, aimed at the unity of all religions and the commonality of their interests. The charter, starting from the 12th century, becomes the main one in Greece, it also becomes the main one in other Christian countries.

The process of rewriting Russian texts is also indicative. It was planned to take Greek sources and, on their basis, bring religious scriptures into line. For this, in 1653 Arseny Sukhanov was sent to Greece. The expedition lasted almost two years. He arrived in Moscow on February 22, 1655. He brought with him as many as 7 manuscripts. In fact, this violated the church council of 1653-55. Most of the priests then spoke in favor of the idea of ​​​​supporting Nikon's reform only on the grounds that the rewriting of texts had to come exclusively from Greek manuscript sources.

Arseniy Sukhanov brought only seven sources, thus making it impossible to rewrite texts based on primary sources. Patriarch Nikon's next step was so cynical that it led to mass uprisings. The Moscow Patriarch stated that if there are no handwritten sources, then the rewriting of Russian texts will be carried out according to modern Greek and Roman books. At that time, all these books were printed in Paris (Catholic state).

ancient religion

For a very long time, the reforms of Patriarch Nikon were justified by the fact that he made the Orthodox Church enlightened. As a rule, there is nothing behind such formulations, since the vast majority of people can hardly imagine what is the fundamental difference between orthodox and enlightened beliefs. What's the real difference? To begin with, let's deal with the terminology and define the meaning of the concept of "orthodox".

Orthodox (orthodox) came from the Greek language and means: orthos - correct, doha - opinion. It turns out that an orthodox person, in the true sense of the word, is a person with a correct opinion.

Historical guide

Here, the correct opinion does not mean the modern sense (when people who do everything for the sake of the state are called so). So they called people who for centuries carried ancient science and ancient knowledge. A striking example is the Jewish school. Everyone knows perfectly well that today there are Jews, and there are Orthodox Jews. They believe in the same thing, they have a common religion, common views, beliefs. The difference is that Orthodox Jews brought their true faith in its ancient, true meaning. And everyone admits it.

From this point of view, it is much easier to evaluate the actions of Patriarch Nikon. His attempts to destroy the orthodox church, which is what he planned to do and successfully did, lie in the destruction of the ancient religion. And by by and large that was done:

• All ancient religious texts were rewritten. They did not stand on ceremony with old books; as a rule, they were destroyed. This process outlived the patriarch himself for many years. For example, Siberian legends are indicative, which say that under Peter 1 a huge amount of orthodox literature was burned. After burning, more than 650 kg of copper fasteners were removed from the fires!
• The icons were repainted in accordance with the new religious requirements and in accordance with the reform.
• The principles of religion are changed, sometimes even without the necessary justification. For example, Nikon's idea that the procession should go counterclockwise, against the movement of the sun, is absolutely incomprehensible. This caused a lot of resentment as people began to count new religion the religion of darkness.
• Change of concepts. The term "Orthodoxy" appeared for the first time. Until the 17th century, this term was not used, but such concepts as "orthodox", " true faith”, “immaculate faith”, “Christian faith”, “God's faith”. Various terms, but not "Orthodoxy".

Therefore, we can say that the orthodox religion is as close as possible to the ancient postulates. That is why any attempt to radically change these views leads to mass indignation, as well as to what is commonly called heresy today. It was heresy that many people called the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in the 17th century. That is why the church split, because the "orthodox" priests and religious people called what was happening a heresy, and saw how fundamental the difference between the old and the new religion was.

The reaction of the people to the church schism

The reaction to Nikon's reform is extremely indicative, emphasizing that the changes were much deeper than it is customary to talk about. It is known for certain that after the start of the implementation of the reform, mass popular uprisings swept across the country, directed against changes in the church way of life. Some people openly expressed their dissatisfaction, others simply left this country, not wanting to remain in this heresy. People went to the forests, to distant settlements, to other countries. They were caught, brought back, they left again - and so many times. Indicative is the reaction of the state, which actually staged the Inquisition. Not only books were burning, but also people. Nikon, who was particularly cruel, personally welcomed all the reprisals against the rebels. Thousands of people died opposing the reformist ideas of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The reaction of the people and the state to the reform is indicative. We can say that mass unrest began. And now answer the simple question, are such uprisings and reprisals possible in the case of simple superficial changes? To answer this question, it is necessary to transfer the events of those days to today's reality. Let's imagine that today the Patriarch of Moscow says that now it is necessary to be baptized, for example, with four fingers, to make bows with a nod of the head, and books should be changed in accordance with ancient scriptures. How will people perceive this? Most likely, it is neutral, and with some propaganda, even positive.

Another situation. Suppose that the Moscow Patriarch today will oblige everyone to be baptized with four fingers, use nods instead of bows, wear a Catholic cross instead of an Orthodox one, turn in all the books of the icon so that they can be rewritten and redrawn, the name of God will now be, for example, "Jesus", and the procession will go for example an arc. This nature of the reform will certainly lead to an uprising of religious people. Everything changes, crosses out the whole age-old religious history. This is exactly what Nikon's reform did. Therefore, a church schism occurred in the 17th century, since the contradictions between the Old Believers and Nikon were insoluble.

What did the reform lead to?

Nikon's reform should be assessed from the point of view of the realities of that day. Of course, the patriarch destroyed the ancient religion of Rus', but he did what the tsar wanted from him - bringing the Russian church into line with international religion. And there were both pros and cons:

• Pros. The Russian religion has ceased to be isolated, and has become more like Greek and Roman. This made it possible to create great religious ties with other states.
• Minuses. Religion in Russia at the time of the 17th century was most oriented towards original Christianity. It was here that there were ancient icons, ancient books and ancient rituals. All this was destroyed for the sake of integration with other states, in modern terms.

Nikon's reforms cannot be regarded as the total destruction of everything (although this is what most authors are doing, including the principle of "everything is lost"). We can only say with certainty that the Moscow Patriarch made significant changes to the ancient religion and deprived Christians of a significant part of their cultural and religious heritage.