A History of Russian Christianity, Vol. I

Sound Bite

The events, people and politics that forged the earliest traditions of Russian Christianity are presented objectively and intensively, describing the rise and dominance of the Russian Orthodox Church, the many dissenters and sectarian groups that evolved over the centuries (and their persecution), the presence of Catholicism and the influx of Protestantism and Judaism and other religious denominations into Russia. Derived from primary resources in Church Slavonic and Russian languages, the history covers the higher levels of ecclesiastical activity including the involvement of tsars and princes, as well as saints and serfs, and monks and mystics.

About the Book

This 4-volume work draws on early records including medieval chronicles and Church documents to outline the main events, figures and eras of Russian Christianity. This first volume of the history of Russian Christianity deals with the period from Apostle Andrew to the death of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, just prior to the election of the first Russian Patriarch, a period of almost 1600 years. This intensive history of the Christianity of Russia follows the tradition of other detailed histories that have become a permanent fixture in the literary world, such as the 3-volume History of the Crusades by Steven Runciman, the 5-volume Christian Tradition of Jaroslav Pelikan; the 6-volume Penguin History of the Christian Church; and the 3-volume History of the Byzantine State by George Ostrogorski. This set will become a staple for students and scholars of Russian history and Russian Orthodoxy. The information provided is intensive and objective, dealing with the events, people and politics of the development and expansion of Christianity in Russia. The book covers the earliest of traditions, the rise and dominance of the Russian Orthodox Church, the many dissenters and sectarians that evolved over the centuries and their persecution, and the influx of Catholicism and Judaism and other minority religions into Russia. The history covers the higher levels of ecclesiastical activity including the involvement of tsars and princes, as well as saints and serfs, and monks and mystics.

Introduction

Beginning with the 16th century, or possibly slightly earlier, Russian Orthodoxy began to promote Apostle Andrew as the actual initial planter of Christian belief on Russian soil. Around that time, the notion began to be seriously accepted and from then on, when the need or occasion arose, Russian Orthodoxy would point to this with pride and conviction as though it were a fact not subject to debate. The Catholic legate of the 16th century, AntoniusPossevin, attempting to convince Tsar Ivan IV to unite with the Catholic Pope, called his attention to the example of Greek Orthodoxy which accepted Unia at the Council of Florence. The Tsar replied, We do not believe in the Greeks, but in Christ. We accepted the Christian faith at the very beginning of Christianity when Andrew, brother of Peter apostle, entered these regions on his journey to Rome. In this manner did we in Moscow accept the Christian faith at the same time as you did in Italy, and from that time and to the present we have observed it inviolate. Midway through the 17th century, the popular elder Arsenius Sukhanov, a monk of Troitse-Sergievski Monastery, was sent by Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovichto Greece to record how they performed rites. While there, he encountered heated arguments over certain church rituals because of the difference between theirs and those of Russia. When the Greeks pointed out to Sukhanov that the Russians had accepted the religion from them Greek Orthodoxy and consequently the Russian Orthodox faith should be in total compliance with their Greek faith, Sukhanov replied, In vain do you boast that we accepted from you the baptism; we accepted the baptism from Apostle Andrew when he, after the ascension of the Lord, arrived in Byzantium and from there traveled across the Black Sea to the Dnepr River, and followed the Dnepr up to Kiev; and then from Kiev even to the great Novgorod. While journeying, he disseminated his teaching regarding the faith of Christ and some he baptized. Just as you accepted the faith from Apostle Andrew, so did we. These two chronicles of the Moscovite period express the reason for the fabrication of this legend: in order to provide justification of the equality of the Russian Church to the Greek, thereby also refusing acknowledgment of the Greek having preeminence over the Russian. This would subsequently provide...

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Also see:A History of Russian Christianity,  Vol. IIA History of Russian Christianity,  Vol. IIIA History of Russian Christianity,  Vol. IV