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Unity in Faith?: Edinoverie, Russian Orthodoxy, and Old Belief, 1800-1918

by James White

  • Paperback
  • 286 pages
  • Publisher: Indiana University Press
  • 15.3 x 22.9 x 1.7 cm

£17.69

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For students of Russian history and theology.

Unpacks how the state managed religious diversity.

Deepens your understanding of church-state history.

An insightful historical study examining the complex relationship between the Russian Empire and religious minorities.

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Established in 1800, edinoverie (translated as "unity in faith") was intended to draw back those who had broken with the Russian Orthodox Church over ritual reforms in the 17th century. Called Old Believers, they had been persecuted as heretics. In time, the Russian state began tolerating Old Believers in order to lure them out of hiding and make use of their financial resources as a means of controlling and developing Russia's vast and heterogeneous empire. However, the Russian Empire was also an Orthodox state, and conversion from Orthodoxy constituted a criminal act. So, which was better for ensuring the stability of the Russian Empire: managing heterogeneity through religious toleration, or enforcing homogeneity through missionary campaigns? Edinoverie remained contested and controversial throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, as it was distrusted by both the Orthodox Church and the Old Believers themselves. The state reinforced this ambivalence, using edinoverie as a means by which to monitor Old Believer communities and employing it as a carrot to the stick of prison, exile, and the deprivation of rights. In Unity in Faith?, James White's study of edinoverie offers an unparalleled perspective of the complex triangular relationship between the state, the Orthodox Church, and religious minorities in imperial Russia.

  • Title

    Unity in Faith?: Edinoverie, Russian Orthodoxy, and Old Belief, 1800-1918

  • Author

    James White

  • Book Format

    Paperback

  • Publisher

    Indiana University Press

  • Published

    November 2020

  • Weight

    423g

  • Page Count

    286

  • Dimensions

    15.3 x 22.9 x 1.7 cm

  • ISBN

    9780253049728

  • ISBN-10

    0253049725

  • Eden Code

    5138861

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