A brief story of the Old Believers. Kozhurin K.

Who are the Old Believers? Why did they so stubbornly rejected church reform, which began in the middle of the 17th century by Patriarch Nikon? What stood behind this reform and what changes were made by Nikon to the Russian Church? The new book of the St. Petersburg writer, philosopher and historian Kirill Kozhurin answers these and many other questions.

Despite the prohibitions and persecution, who practically did not stop since Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, many Russian people continued to adhere to the old faith, and this is There was the most convinced part of the Russian people - the “last believers”, as the philosopher V.V. Rozanov called them. In conditions of constant persecution of the Old Believers, it was especially important to create a spiritual life, to be organized, close -knit, to have their pastors, leaders, to participate in church sacraments, to eat and grow spiritually. We needed spiritual centers, which usually became Old Believer settlements, mainly monasteries and monasteries. It was in them that the sprouts of ancient Russian culture were carefully preserved and received a creative continuation of the tradition of book descriptions, icon painting, ancient marked singing, many folk crafts.