Spiritual Christianity (Russian: духовное
христианство) refers to "folk
Protestants" (narody protestanty), non-Orthodox
indigenous to the Russian Empire that emerged
from among the Orthodox, and from the Bezpopovtsy
Raskolniks.
Origins may be due to Protestant movements
imported to Russia by missionaries, mixed
with folk traditions, resulting in tribes
of believers collectively called sektanty
(sects), and many labeled by Russian Orthodox
Church for their particular heresy — not
fasting, meeting on Saturday, rejecting the
spirit, castration, self-flagellation, etc.These
heterodox (non-Orthodox) groups "rejected
ritual and outward observances, believing
instead in the direct revelation of God to
the inner man".
Adherents are called Spiritual Christians
(Russian: духовные христиане)
or, less accurately, malakan in the Former
Soviet Union, and "Molokans" in the United
States, often confused with "Doukhobors" in
Canada.
(Molokane proper comprised the largest and
most organized of many Spiritual Christian
groups in the Russian Empire).
== History ==
Historian Pavel Milyukov traced the origins
of Spiritual Christianity to the Doukhobors,
who were first recorded in the 1800s but originated
earlier.
Milyukov believed the movement reflected developments
among Russian peasants similar to those underlying
the German Peasants' War in the German Reformation
of the 1500s.
Many Spiritual Christians embraced egalitarian
and pacifist beliefs, considered politically
radical views by the Imperial government.
The Russian government deported some groups
to internal exile in Central Asia.
Others escaped suppression to emigrate to
North America in a diaspora.
== Beliefs ==
Spiritual Christians believe that the validity
of an individual's observance of God's Law
was suppressed and prohibited as Israel became
politicized; they believe that Jesus Christ
promoted the New Covenant of Jeremiah by sacrificing
his life to initiate the Messianic Era.
The religion of the Spiritual Christians encourages
individual spiritual interpretation and substitute
observances of Biblical Law, with individual
approaches to be understood and respected
by all.
Spiritual Christians have taken an inclusive
approach to Christianity; they embrace all
relevant aspects of the collective human experience
which can be related to timeless Biblical
themes.
Rejecting bureaucratic church hierarchy, they
considered their religious organization as
a homogeneous community, without division
into laymen and clergy with respect to all
but practical understanding of the Biblical
tradition.
Because of their rejection of hierarchy and
authority, the Imperial government considered
them suspect.
In the modern era, some Spiritual Christian
churches hardened their own doctrine and practices,
reducing the flexibility first found in this
sect.
== Spiritual Christian sects ==
Among the sects considered to practice Spiritual
Christianity are the Doukhobors, Dukh-i-zhizniki,
Molokans, Pryguny (Jumpers), Khlysts, Skoptsy,
Ikonobortsy (Icon-fighters, "Iconoclasts"
and Zhidovstvuyushchiye (Жидовствующие:
Judaizers).
These sects often have radically different
notions of "spirituality" and practices.
Their common denominator is that they sought
God in "Spirit and Truth" (Gospel of John
4:24) rather than in the Church of official
Orthodoxy or ancient rites of Popovtsy.
Their saying was "The church is not within
logs, but within ribs".
The movement was popular with intellectuals
such as Tolstoy.
Nikolai Leskov was also drawn to Spiritual
Christianity after visiting Protestant Europe
in 1875.Separate from Spiritual Christianity
were other strands of Russian sektanstvo ("sectarianism"
in the sense "splitting into sects" rather
than "sectarian bigotry") including the Popovtsy
and "Evangelical Christianity".
== See also ==
Quakers, adopting a similar doctrine of divine
revelation via inward light
== Sources ==
Camfield, Graham P. (October 1990).
"The Pavlovtsy of Khar'kov Province, 1886-1905:
Harmless Sectarians or Dangerous Rebels?".
The Slavonic and East European Review.
Modern Humanities Research Association and
University College London, School of Slavonic
and East European Studies.
68 (4): 692–717.
JSTOR 4210447.
Berdyaev, Nikolai (1999) [1916].
translated by S. Janos.
"Духовное христианство
и сектантство в России"
[Spiritual Christianity and Sectarianism in
Russia].
Russkaya Mysl (Русская мысль,
"Russian Thought") – via berdyaev.com.
== References ==
== External links ==
Doukhobor Genealogy Website
Taxonomy of three Spiritual Christian groups:
Molokane, Pryguny and Dukh-i-zhizniki — books,
fellowship, holidays, prophets and songs,
Molokane website
