Old Believers and Old Believers differences. Old Believers - who are they? Old Believers and Old Believers: the difference. Old and new faith

What are the differences between Orthodoxy and Old Believers?

The priest Afanasy Gumerov, a resident of the Sretensky Monastery, answers:

Old Believers arose in the middle of the 17th century in response to the unification of worship and church texts undertaken in 1653-56 by Patriarch Nikon. Having adopted Christianity through Byzantium, Russia received divine services and statutory texts from the Church of Constantinople. For 6.5 centuries, there have been many discrepancies in the texts and differences of a ritual nature. Newly printed Greek books were taken as the basis for the new Slavonic text. Then variants and parallels according to the manuscripts were given. As for the rite, the changes really affected only some minor elements: the two-fingered sign of the cross was replaced by a three-fingered one, instead of “Jesus” they began to write “Jesus”, walking towards the sun, and not “salting”, along with the eight-pointed cross they began to recognize the four-pointed. We can agree that these steps were taken without sufficient preparation and the necessary flexibility, sometimes even abruptly. However, it must be resolutely said that there was nothing heretical in these church events to raise a terrible accusation of the loss of grace on the Church. It is impossible to evade fundamental questions: did Archpriest Avvakum and his followers believe that the changes made made it impossible for people to be saved in the Church. If he thought so, then he suffered from ritualism - a serious spiritual illness that blinded and destroyed the Jewish leaders in the time of the Savior. If he did not think so, then why did he cause a schism in the Church, which the holy fathers always considered a grave sin. There were very difficult periods in the history of the Byzantine Church. Sometimes the patriarchal throne was occupied by heretics (the monothelite Sergius, the iconoclast Anastasius, and others). With the support of some emperors, this sometimes continued for many years, but the fighters for Orthodoxy did not think of causing a split. Having a deep church consciousness, they knew well that this always turns into a tragedy. St. John Chrysostom says that to break the unity and fullness of the Church is not lesser evil than create heresy.

A living tree must bear fruit. Since the purpose of the Church is to lead her children to salvation, then it is necessary to evaluate by those spiritual gifts that the members of the church community have acquired. The host of saints is the fruit of the Church. Holiness clearly proves that the life of the Church is gracious, that the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit is active in it. Lamps cannot be hidden under a bushel. Orthodox, Old Believers and even non-church people know our saints. Why are there no such saints in the Old Believers as Tikhon of Zadonsk, Mitrofan of Voronezh, Seraphim of Sarov, John of Kronstadt, the great Optina elders, Xenia of Petersburg and Matrona of Moscow and many other wondrous saints of God?

At the end, I would like to give an example. I have long known an Orthodox woman who was born in an Old Believer family. Many years ago, she began to visit Orthodox churches. Her sister (already deceased) remained a non-church person: she did not pray either in the Old Believer church or in the Orthodox one. When she fell seriously ill (liver cancer) and wished to confess and take communion before her death, her sister Marina literally carried her into the Old Believer church in her arms. Looked at the lists. Irina was not listed in them. They categorically refused to confess and take communion. The sisters returned home. There was no longer an opportunity to lead to an Orthodox church. Marina went alone. The first person she turned to was Father Konstantin (I have known this priest for several years). He was busy, but left his business and went. Only on the way Marina decided to tell the priest that she was taking him to her sister, who was baptized in the Old Believers. Without any hesitation, he continued on his way, confessed and communed the dying Irina.

Peace to this house!!! Thoughts were mixed up from what has been going on in my head for a long time, so I began to write with meaning, so that they would understand, but everything was mixed upside down. I know for sure a lot of those who are wealthy (rich in money and their quantity) and live in the world with their families, they are all grateful to the Lord and do as their ancestors bequeathed. When they have problems, they give up all their affairs and keep fasting, all the problems go away on their own, after that they continue to live the same life that they lived. I know many people who did not honor the faith of their ancestors, they are not here and not there, but when trouble came and they began to do fasts as they should, prayers also helped them, after which most returned to their former atheism, and not to the previous level returned, I don’t know more than one who can dispute this, but you. The Almighty forces guide each of you, but not everyone goes the right way or to the end as expected. Knowledge and technology are given to make life easier for you, but the fact is that people do not use it correctly, mostly atheists, who sooner or later turn earthly paradise into a hellish land. I'm not going to poke your finger at these places, you already know them well, try to clear them today, the anti-God state in which all the savings will not be able to do this. As it was from time immemorial, the Right People presikal and cleaned with their deeds, so it remained, but there are few of them left on earth and they leave these places far away. At the expense of your church, it has not been God's for a long time, the places where the Lord still remains of their few. I will explain how to find it and how to distinguish it from places that are not true. First, any temple for people where the power of the Lord is, it is not built randomly. The Temple of the Heavens of the Lord is built only by people who are clean and after a long fast, during the construction they should not have any evil deeds, and even more so of a different religion. So the hand-paintings in it and those who have the right to write as well as the construction of the temple after a long fast are not illuminated pictures. Which of you will show such a temple? Some idol worshipers today. Icons from the shop are just pieces of paper with pictures, and only the anti-God will intoxicate you with the fact that it is enough to baptize. You are all funny today. The Old Believers have clean prayer houses, the Holy Spirit is present in them. Not one hears what the Elders say. The population has no mind in this day. Christians have long since departed from the Lord. Today most non-atheists are not the Children of God. They cut themselves off from doing the right thing. Some Slaves are with the Slaves today. They turned themselves from the children of the Lord into Slaves. You all have jobs, slaves. It's not about talent. Not one does not want to work, but to work in a queue. Laugh at you or you will laugh yourself. Pray Ask the King of the Lord to come, I can't come I'm in chains. I speak on his behalf. To the Glory of the Heavens of God. The Lord is with us.

Old Believers are often called Old Believers (schismatics) or vice versa. It doesn't occur to many people that we are talking about completely different directions. "Old Believers and Old Believers: what is the difference between these people?" the uninformed ask.

How did the confusion come about?

Old Believers and Old Believers have a different worldview. The confusion in terminology was created by not very educated media workers, who made these words synonymous. Their misuse was also facilitated by the fact that the schismatics were forced to flee to Belovodie and Primorye after Nikon's reforms. The Old Believers gave the Old Believers shelter and helped to hide from persecution. These people were connected not by a common faith, but by belonging to the same ethnic group.

Old Believers and Old Believers: differences

To understand what is the difference between these people, first you need to understand what worldview the representatives of one and the second direction belong to. Old Believers are called Russian Christians who refused to accept the reforms of Patriarch Nikon. People who did not want to obey the new rules were called schismatics. They were persecuted and oppressed in every possible way. Many families were forced to flee abroad. Modern descendants of the Old Believers can be found even in Brazil. Only in the twentieth century, "apostates" began to be treated more condescendingly. In 1905, Nicholas II signed a decree according to which the politically incorrect word "schismatic" was replaced by the more neutral "Old Believer".

The unwillingness of a part of the Orthodox population of the country to accept Nikon's innovations was associated with significant changes in the conduct of rituals. These changes, according to the schismatics, defiled the truth:

• In Old Believer books, the name of the Savior is written with one letter “and”, that is, Jesus. After the reforms, the name received a modern spelling.
• Before Nikon's innovations, it was supposed to be baptized with two fingers. According to the new canon, the banner of the cross was applied with three fingers.

• The reforming patriarch decreed that it was only possible to walk around the church in a counterclockwise direction.
• Under Nikon, liturgical books were rewritten. Differences appeared not only in the conduct of worship services. Some terms were replaced: the word "orthodox" was replaced by "Orthodox". There were other significant changes as well.

Old Believers are called adherents of the pre-Christian worldview. These people believe in the Slavic Vedas. Followers of tradition should not be considered backward, ignorant people. Their worldview is much larger than that of Christians. The Old Believers are closer to nature and better understand its laws.

Schismatics, like any Christians, share the Creator and what he created. The pre-Christian tradition makes man related to nature, makes him return to it. Connection with the natural environment is necessary for self-knowledge and finding one's place in this world. The Vedas are often called not religion, but ancient wise knowledge. According to the Old Believer chronology, at present the inhabitants of the planet are going through an era called the night of Svarog. This is one of the most difficult periods in the history of mankind, characterized by all sorts of disasters and crises. From the point of view of the Slavic Vedas, everything that is happening in the world today is quite understandable and should not cause surprise or bewilderment.

The knowledge we gained in school does not always find its application in life. Giving ready-made material, the teacher can not always answer the student's question. For example: "Old Believers and Old Believers: what's the difference?". These terms are not synonymous. Knowledge of native history will help to avoid misunderstandings.

In the 17th century, Patriarch Nikon carried out reforms that were caused by the need to bring the liturgical practice of the Russian Church to a single model. Part of the clergy, along with the laity, rejected these changes, declaring that they would not deviate from the old rites. They called Nikon's reform a "corruption of the faith" and declared that they would preserve the old statutes and traditions in worship. It is difficult for an uninitiated person to distinguish an Orthodox from an Old Believer, since the difference between representatives of the “old” and “new” faiths is not so great.

Definition

Old Believers – Christians who have departed from the Orthodox Church due to their disagreement with the reforms carried out by Patriarch Nikon.

Orthodox Christians – believers who recognize the dogmas of the Orthodox Church.

Comparison

Old Believers are more detached from the world than Orthodox Christians. In everyday life, they have preserved ancient traditions, which, in essence, have become a certain ritual. The life of Orthodox Christians is deprived of many religious rites that weigh it down. The main thing that should never be forgotten is prayer before every deed, as well as keeping the Commandments.

In the Orthodox Church, the sign of the cross is made with three fingers. It means the unity of the Holy Trinity. At the same time, the little finger and ring finger are pressed together to the palm and symbolize faith in the divine-human nature of Christ. The Old Believers put their middle and index fingers together, confessing the dual nature of the Savior. The thumb, ring finger and little finger are pressed to the palm, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity.

The sign of the cross of Orthodox Christians

It is customary for the Old Believers to proclaim "Alleluia" twice and add "Glory to Thee, God." So, they say, the ancient church proclaimed. Orthodox "Alleluia" proclaim three times. The word itself means "praise God". The triple pronunciation, from the point of view of the Orthodox, glorifies the Most Holy Trinity.

In many Old Believer movements, it is customary to wear clothes in the Old Russian style to participate in worship. This is a shirt or blouse for men, a sundress and a large scarf for women. Men tend to grow beards. Orthodox Christians have a special style of dress only for the priesthood. Lay people come to the temple in modest, not defiant, but ordinary secular clothes, women - with their heads covered. By the way, in modern Old Believer parishes there are no strict requirements for the clothes of those who pray.

During the service, the Old Believers do not keep their hands at their sides, like the Orthodox, but crossed on their chests. And for some, and for others, this is a sign of special humility before God. All actions during the service believing Old Believers perform synchronously. If you need to bow, then everyone present in the temple does it at the same time.

The Old Believers recognize only the eight-pointed cross. It is this form of it that they consider perfect. Orthodox, besides this, are also four-pointed and six-pointed.

During worship, the Old Believers make prostrations. The Orthodox during the service accepted belt. Earthly ones are performed only in special cases. Moreover, on Sunday and holidays, as well as Holy Pentecost, prostrations are strictly prohibited.

The Old Believers write the name of Christ as Jesus, and the Orthodox - And and sus. The uppermost inscriptions on the cross also differ. For the Old Believers, this is TsR SLVA (King of Glory) and IC XC (Jesus Christ). On the Orthodox eight-pointed cross is written INCI (Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews) and IIS XC (And and sus Christ). On the pectoral eight-pointed cross of the Old Believers there is no image of the crucifixion.

As a rule, eight-pointed crosses with gable roof, the so-called stuffed cabbage, is a symbol of Russian antiquity. The Orthodox do not accept crosses covered with a roof.

Findings site

1. Adherents of the old faith in everyday life are more detached from the world than Orthodox Christians.
2. The Old Believers make a two-fingered sign of the cross, the Orthodox - a three-fingered sign.
3. During prayer, the Old Believers adopted a double proclamation of "Hallelujah", among the Orthodox - three times.
4. During worship, the Old Believers keep their arms crossed on their chests, the Orthodox - lowered at the seams.
5. All actions during the service of the Old Believers are performed synchronously.
6. As a rule, Old Believers wear clothes in the old Russian style to participate in the divine service. The Orthodox have a special type of clothing only for the priesthood.
7. During worship, the Old Believers bow to the ground, the Orthodox - waist.
8. The Old Believers recognize only the eight-pointed cross, the Orthodox - eight-, six- and four-pointed.
9. The spelling of the name of Christ is different for Orthodox and Old Believers, as well as the inscription of letters above the eight-pointed cross.
10. On the pectoral crosses of the Old Believers (eight-pointed inside the four-pointed) there is no image of the crucifix.

More than three centuries have passed since the church schism of the 17th century, and most still do not know how the Old Believers differ from Orthodox Christians.

Terminology

The distinction between the concepts of "Old Believers" and "Orthodox Church" is rather conditional. The Old Believers themselves admit that it is their faith that is Orthodox, and the Russian Orthodox Church is called New Believers or Nikonians.

In the Old Believer literature of the 17th - the first half of the 19th century, the term "Old Believer" was not used.

The Old Believers called themselves differently. Old Believers, Old Orthodox Christians ... The terms "orthodox" and "true Orthodoxy" were also used.

In the writings of the Old Believers of the 19th century, the term "truly Orthodox Church" was often used. The term "Old Believers" became widespread only towards the end of the 19th century. At the same time, the Old Believers of various accords mutually denied each other’s Orthodoxy and, strictly speaking, for them the term “Old Believers” united religious communities, devoid of ecclesiastical and religious unity, on a secondary ritual basis.

fingers

It is well known that during the schism the two-fingered sign of the cross was changed to a three-fingered one. Two fingers - a symbol of the two Hypostases of the Savior (true God and true man), three fingers - a symbol of the Holy Trinity.

The sign of the three fingers was accepted by the Ecumenical Orthodox Church, which by that time consisted of a dozen independent Autocephalous Churches, after the preserved bodies of the martyrs-confessors of Christianity of the first centuries with folded fingers of the three-fingered sign of the Cross were found in the Roman catacombs. Examples of finding the relics of the saints of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra are similar.

Consensus and talk

The Old Believers are far from homogeneous. There are several dozen agreements and even more Old Believer interpretations. There is even a saying: "Whatever a man is good, whatever a woman, then consent." There are three main "wings" of the Old Believers: priests, bespopovtsy and co-religionists.

Jesus

During the Nikon reform, the tradition of writing the name "Jesus" was changed. The double sound “and” began to convey the duration, the “stretching” sound of the first sound, which in Greek is denoted by a special sign, which has no analogy in the Slavic language, therefore the pronunciation of “Jesus” is more consistent with the universal practice of sounding the Savior. However, the Old Believer version is closer to the Greek source.

Differences in the Creed

In the course of the “book right” of the Nikon reform, changes were made to the Creed: the union-opposition “a” was removed in the words about the Son of God “born, not created.”

From the semantic opposition of properties, a simple enumeration was thus obtained: "born, not created."

The Old Believers sharply opposed arbitrariness in the presentation of dogmas and were ready to go to suffering and death “for a single az” (that is, for one letter “a”).

In total, about 10 changes were made to the Creed, which was the main dogmatic difference between the Old Believers and the Nikonians.

Towards the sun

By the middle of the 17th century, a universal custom was established in the Russian Church to make a salting procession. The church reform of Patriarch Nikon unified all rituals according to Greek models, but the innovations were not accepted by the Old Believers. As a result, the New Believers make a movement during the processions of the salting, and the Old Believers make the processions of the salting.

Ties and sleeves

In some Old Believer churches, in memory of the executions during the Schism, it is forbidden to come to the service with rolled up sleeves and with ties. Popular rumor associates rolled up sleeves with executioners, and ties with gallows. However, this is only one of the explanations. In general, it is customary for Old Believers to wear special prayer clothes to services (with long sleeve), and you can’t tie a tie on a blouse.

Question of the cross

The Old Believers recognize only the eight-pointed cross, while after Nikon's reform in Orthodoxy, four and six-pointed crosses were recognized as equal. On the tablet of the crucifixion, the Old Believers usually write not I.N.Ts.I., but “King of Glory”. On pectoral crosses, the Old Believers do not have an image of Christ, since it is believed that this is a personal cross of a person.

Severe and demanding Aliluyah

In the course of Nikon's reforms, the purely (that is, double) pronunciation of "alleluia" was replaced by a treble (that is, triple). Instead of "Alleluia, alleluia, glory to you God" they began to say "Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to You, God."

According to the New Believers, the triple pronunciation of alleluia symbolizes the dogma of the Holy Trinity.

However, the Old Believers argue that the pure pronunciation along with “glory to Thee, God” is already a glorification of the Trinity, since the words “glory to Thee, God” are one of the translations into Slavic of the Hebrew word Alleluia (“praise God”).

Honors in the service

At services in Old Believer churches, a strict system of bows has been developed; it is forbidden to replace bows with bows. There are four types of bows: “normal” - a bow to the chest or to the navel; "medium" - in the belt; a small prostration - “throwing” (not from the verb “to throw”, but from the Greek “metanoia” = repentance); great bow to the earth (proskineza).