Chlysten

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Ecstatic dance of the Chlysten. Fig. 19th century

The Chlysten (Russian: Хлысты, Chlysty , also called Geißler, or people of God ) were a religious community in Russia from the 17th to the 20th century. It lived ascetic with ecstatic elements and was a secret society .

Because of their beliefs and teaching, the Chlysten were persecuted by the Russian Orthodox Church and the state.

The name Chlüstowschtschina was probably coined by the opponents of the community. They gave themselves the name Christovshchina in reference to Christ, who plays a central role in their faith.

The Chlysten, who are mainly widespread in Russia , started from the idea that everyone can become Christ. Their spiritual leaders and prophets called them Christs or Mothers of God. The houses in which they lived and taught were called houses of worship. Rasputin is said to have been a member of this religious community.

Karl Konrad Grass names four different possible traditions from which the sect could be derived:

  • Derivation from occidental sectarianism
  • Slavic-Finnish paganism
  • Russian Christianity
  • Bogomils

He comes to the conclusion that the Chlystowschtschina represented the last existing ecstatic-ascetic offshoot of the early church Gnosticism .

Legend

The traditions of the Chlysten, which are recorded in the form of poems, stories and songs, can be traced back to the 14th century. At that time, "Christ Averian" lived, who was slain by the Mummy Tatars on the Kulikow field . Tradition also tells of a "Christ Ivan Jemeljanow" from the 16th century, who lived in the time of Tsar Ivan the Terrible (1533–1584) and met with him. At this meeting, Ivan Jemeljanow is said to have replied to the tsar's question whether he was a prophet: “I am the Son of God I-oânn. You are earthly tsar, but I am more heavenly ” The two so-called Christ incarnations, although venerated by the Chlysten, are not regarded as the founders of their community.

Danilo Philipov

The Chlysten considered Danilo Philipow, a soldier who had run away from military service, Bespopowze and a student of Kapitons, also known as "renamed", to be the founders . This is said to be the incarnate god of hosts who came down from heaven, which happened in 1645 on Mount Gorodina. He descended in fiery clouds and in a fiery chariot, surrounded by angels, archangels, cherubim and seraphim, and while the heavenly forces rose again, only the "true God of hosts", Philipov, remained visible. He is called "God of hosts" because he was filled with the spirit of God to the greatest possible extent.

He first taught his "true faith" in the city of Kostroma , which later became an important center of the group. In his teaching, Danilo Philipow proclaimed four necessary tools for the salvation of the soul: 1) The Golden Book, 2) The Book of Life, 3) The Book of Doves and 4) The Holy Spirit.

His activities drew the attention of the Patriarch Nikon , who finally captured him after thirty years of persecution near Nizhny Novgorod and imprisoned him in the dungeon of the Bogojawlénski Monastery (Monastery of the Apparitions). According to tradition, a fog hung over the earth while he was in monastery. After his release, Danilo Philipow went to Kostroma again, where, instead of the doctrine of books, he preached an oral teaching "brought from heaven" and the revelation of the Spirit in the form of twelve commandments. These commandments are very similar to the Ten Commandments of Moses. Tradition goes on to say that 15 years after his "becoming god" he fathered his son Ivan Timofejewitsch Suslow. He was the father of him in a “spiritual way”, which means that he converted him to his teaching at the age of 33 by “giving him the Godhead” and thus becoming Christ. On January 1, 1700, Danilo Philipow is said to have gone to heaven with his body in the presence of all the assembled Chlysten.

Ivan Timofeevich Suslow

Danilo Philipov's spiritual son Ivan Timofejewitsch Suslow spread the teachings of his spiritual father in the areas of his homeland after his conversion. When Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich found out about Suslov's activities, he and 40 of his supporters had him arrested, interrogated, tortured and thrown at the stake. The legend of the Chlysten says that even the fire of the pyre did not touch him and that a short time later he appeared to his followers and continued teaching. He is said to have miraculously survived another arrest and torture unharmed and then taught in Moscow for over 30 years.

Prokofi Danilowitsch Lupkin

His successor was the Nizhny Novgorod Strelitze Prokofi Danilowitsch Lupkin, who lived in one of the Moscow "churches" and was married to Strelitz's daughter Akulina Ivanovna, who came from the same place. Her son Spiridion Prokofievich Lupkin was considered a great prophet. The actual, historically tangible history of the sect begins with them.

history

Lupkin (around 1665–1732), who had been converted to the sect by his wife Akulina Ivanovna, came to Moscow from Nizhny Novgorod at the beginning of the 18th century, but no later than 1714. The Russian researchers disagree about the exact date. Lupkin often visited the Voskressensky Monastery, which was called New Jerusalem. On June 13, 1716, Chlysten, Lupkin among them, was arrested in the village of Kharitonova at Uleuma 21. His wife Akulina Ivanovna held the rank of Mother of God in the sect, which had largely consisted of priests and nuns who had been released from ordination, but later had to surrender this rank to Agafja Karpovna, who had been called Anastasija since the ordination, and was only from then on an "ointment wearer".

According to Grass, Agafja Karpovna was not only considered the mother of God of the Ivanovsky monastery, but also of all the Chlysten in Moscow and elsewhere. In January 1733 Akulina Lupkina, Spiridon Lupkin and Agafja Karpovna were arrested along with 75 other Chlysten during the Radenje (religious dance). In the attic space above Karpovna's monastery cell, beds were found in which allegedly fornication had taken place, and in fact she had even given birth there. On October 11, 1733, the three “leaders” of the sect were sentenced to death, which, as was customary, was signed by the members of the secular commission, but not by the bishops. Agafia Karpovna was robbed of ordination and beheaded after the death sentence was confirmed by Empress Anna Ivanovna. Akulina Lupkina was punished with a knuckle and exiled to the Uspensky monastery in the town of Dalmatow (then Tobolsk Eparchy, now Perm) for monastic detention, isolation and hard work. Spiridon Lupkin was also scourged and sentenced to exile in Okhotsk in Siberia, but remained in St. Petersburg prison until 1737 and was only then sent to Yekaterinburg, where he remained until 1744. In January 1744 he traveled to Moscow equipped with a passport to petition Empress Elisabeth. On April 4, 1744, he appeared in the Moscow Chancellery of St. Synod and then fled. Nothing more is known about him.

Teaching

The doctrine of the Chlysts said that Christ could be born or begotten in every human being. In her idea of ​​Christ, she deviated from the doctrine of the great church, starting from the view that Jesus of Nazareth was an ordinary person until he was 33 years old, to whom the Spirit of God descended upon the baptism of the Jordan made into Christ. As such, for the Chlystes he is the heavenly Lord above all. The main concern of the Chlysts was the question of how man could be saved. Her answer was that receiving the Spirit of God on the one hand and being prepared to suffer and asceticism on the other hand could make a person Christ. Basically, one can say that the chlystic doctrine is generally based on the Christian doctrine, although these are modified in many points. It is not clear whether this comes from occidental sectarianism, Slavic-Finnish paganism, Russian-Orthodox Christianity or the Bogomils. Grass discusses this topic in detail in § 8 of his work.

According to Grass, the teaching of the people of God can be divided into:

Christology

The most important characteristic of chlystic christology was that every leader of the people of God saw himself as the incarnation of Jesus Christ and was to be regarded as called by God. This presupposed the belief that Christ could incarnate in several persons at the same time. Grass names messianic sufferings as a decisive characteristic of the dignity of such a "Christ". This could mean an ascetic lifestyle, but also the suffering from imprisonment and the death penalty, from which every Clyste was threatened.

The most important of these "Christs" were initially Prokofi Lupkin and Andrejan Petrow. They were followed by many more, of which Vasili Radayev deserves special mention, as his teachings decisively changed the history and cult of this religious community, as can be seen later on, for example, from the Utitsky brothers. Grigori Rasputin was also a member of the Chlysten. That he was the leader of a denomination cannot be fully proven, but his teachings are very similar to those of Radayev, Semyon Utizki or Osip Potapkin.

Mariology

The so-called “Mothers of God” were considered to be the most important female leaders of the Chlysten. They were understood to be the embodiment of the mother of Jesus. Grass emphasizes that where such a "Mother of God" was not available, this was viewed by the Chlysten as a defect. In practical life, these “Mothers of God” were often not just a supplement to the “Christs”, but sometimes took the lead, especially when a “Christ” was missing. At the beginning there was probably the idea that the chlystic “Mother of God” had to give birth to a “Christ”, which is not to be understood literally, but means that she converted someone to the chlystic faith. According to Grass, this has become less and less important over time. Incidentally, the true Mother of God Mary was venerated by the Chlysts and their “Mothers of God” as well as by the Orthodox Christians.

Important people were particularly Agafja Karpovna, Anna Lasarewna, Uljana Vasiljewna, and in connection with Rasputin, Olga Lochtina .

Eschatology

Grass sees the idea of ​​reincarnation or transmigration of souls in the teachings of the Chlysten at best hinted at, contrary to the representation in Russian literature, which he clearly questions. This also includes the idea that with the Chlysts a sinful human soul is reborn several times as an animal before it reincarnates in a human body, as can be found in Hinduism and Buddhism . Grass explains that the idea of ​​reincarnation cannot be found in any of the many Chlysten texts on the life of the soul after death. Strangely enough, the “Mother of God” Silantjewa has the opposite idea that the souls of animals are also born in the human body, but this could also be meant symbolically.

Grass defines the liberation of the soul from the body as the ultimate goal in life for the Chlysten. The main difference to the faith of the churches is shown in the idea that there is no resurrection of the body and no general judgment of the world, but only an end to the course of the world. In the doctrine of the Chlysts, this end represents the judgment of pious and godless souls. There is no indiscriminate resurrection of all souls.

Cult

ecstasy

The so-called seventh heaven was the so-called seventh heaven for the people of God. The spirit was considered the highest gift of Christ, and it was believed that he often descended in the form of a hawk, and more rarely in the form of a dove. To lure this spirit down, the Chlysts sang spiritual songs, including the “prayer of Jesus”. The most important cultic act for the purpose of touching the spirit was the religious dance, called "Radenje". The idea prevailed that the angels would also turn in a circle around God's throne in heaven and perform the Radenje. At the Radenje, the dancers wore white robes as a symbol of the purity of body and soul. The complete exhaustion as a result of the dance was accepted by the Clysten as a joyful "suffering", since the soul, while the body is dancing, comes into contact with the spirit of God and unites with God himself. The Chlyst, filled with the Spirit of God by means of the Radenje, is said to have been insensitive to cold and other external influences.

As for the tradition of sexual excesses during the Radenje, the "Swalny grech", this is very controversial. Grass strongly opposes that this was part of the cult. He dedicates a separate section to the topic, although he was not aware of Grigory Rasputin in this context, as Grass hardly ever made it to northern Russia on his travels, and the miracle monk was converted to the Chlysten just there, especially in the Verkhoturye monastery should be. In this regard, reference is primarily made to Edward Radsinski's book “The Rasputin Secret Files” (see Rasputin article).

asceticism

The name “Chlysten” is said to be derived from “scourges”, and in addition to the things mentioned such as fasting and freezing, hitting oneself with small whips is said to have played a role. However, according to Grass, the greatest value was placed on fasting. While no meat is eaten in the Orthodox monasteries, but more fish is eaten, the Chlysts also banned the consumption of fish. Another difference to the Christians was that with the people of God fasting was not only a partial abstinence from food, but a complete abstinence. As for drinks, alcohol was replaced by the little-known Russian drink called kvass and tea .

Sexual abstinence, which also counted as asceticism, was apparently in contradiction to the above-mentioned "Swalny grech". There was no shortage of speculation that Swalny was supposed to be a kind of outlet for repressed sexuality. Grass emphasizes, however, that sexual abstinence among the people of God was carried out with the greatest rigor and that even sexual intercourse between married people was regarded as a hideous sin.

It is also known as the feminine form of asceticism that women should not wear jewelry, and for both sexes the avoidance of so-called "tongue sins" - that is, not to speak shameful words.

Arcane discipline

In view of the persecution by the Orthodox Church, Arcane discipline was an important issue for the Chlysts, especially in their early days. From everyone who entered the community, not only asceticism and readiness for ecstasy were expected, but also the greatest discretion. Incidentally, this is considered to be the reason why it was so difficult to uncover Grigory Rasputin's relationships with the Chlysten. The person entering had to swear by the cross or the icon never to tell anything about his faith, not to reveal it to anyone, not even to his confessor, not during persecution and interrogation and not to any authorities. Sometimes this was compounded by a death threat.

See also

literature

  • John Eugene Clay: Russian peasant religion and its repression. The Christ-faith (Khristovshchina) and the origins of the "flagellant" myth, 1666-1837 . Dissertation. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 1989.
  • Olga Dekhtevich: The Historiography of the Khlyst Movement in Russia in the Second Half of the 19th and 20th Centuries . In: Religion, ritual and mythology. Aspects of identity formation in Europe . Pisa 2006, ISBN 88-8492-404-9 , pp. 115-126 .
  • Olga Dekhtevich: The Daily Life of the Khlyst Sect in Church Historiography from the 19th to the Beginning of the 20th Century. In: Joaquim Carvalho (Ed.): Religion and power in Europe. Conflict and convergence . Pisa University Press, Edizioni Plus. Pisa 2007, ISBN 978-88-8492-464-3 , pp. 149-163. (English) ( online in Google Book Search)
  • Karl RH Frick : The enlightened. Part 2. Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1978, ISBN 3-201-01062-6 , pp. 450-460.
  • Karl Konrad Grass : The Russian sects . tape 1 : The people of God or Chlüsten together with Skakunen, Maljowanzü, Panijaschkowzu and others . Leipzig 1966 ( online in the Internet archive - reprint by Dorpat 1907). (Note: In the individual references, referred to as grass with indication of the page number.)
  • Martin Kähler : Dogmatic Time Issues. Old and new remarks on the science of Christian teaching . Volume 1. 2., significantly increased edition. Leipzig 1906. ( Review in Theological Literature Newspaper 1908 with detailed descriptions)
  • Heinz Ohme: Khlysty. In: Religion Past and Present. Volume 7, Brill, Leiden 2010, ISBN 978-90-04-14691-4 .
  • Agnieszka Zaganczyk-Neufeld: Religious Sects as Deviant Communities - the Chlysty in Russia until 1905 [Religious Sects as Deviant Communities - the Khlysts in Russia until 1905] . In: Year books for the history of Eastern Europe, vol. 66, 2018, issue 3, pp. 391–417

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Grass, p. 648.
  2. ↑ Grass, p. 3 f.
  3. ↑ Grass, pp. 4-7.
  4. ^ Grass, p. 7.
  5. ↑ Lichtfreund, p. 53.
  6. ^ Grass, p. 9.
  7. ^ Grass, pp. 9-10.
  8. ^ Grass, p. 257 ff.
  9. ↑ Grass, p. 12 f.
  10. ^ Grass, p. 13.
  11. ↑ Grass, p. 18 ff.
  12. ↑ Grass, p. 19 f.
  13. ^ Grass, p. 25.
  14. ↑ Lichtfreund, p. 53.
  15. ^ Grass, p. 51.
  16. ↑ Grass, p. 48 f.
  17. ↑ Grass, p. 51 f.
  18. ↑ Grass, p. 52 f.
  19. ^ Grass, pp. 260-261 ff.
  20. ↑ Grass S. 252-264.
  21. ↑ a b Grass p. 259.
  22. ↑ Grass S. 217-231.
  23. ↑ cf. Grass pp. 241-244, 677-678.
  24. ^ Karl RH Frick: Light and Darkness. Gnostic-theosophical and Masonic-occult secret societies up to the turn of the 20th century. Volume 2, Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-86539-044-7 , pp. 458-459.
  25. ↑ cf. Grass p. 224.
  26. ↑ cf. in Grass pp. 680-682.
  27. ↑ Grass pp. 210, 258.
  28. ^ Grass p. 258.
  29. ^ Grass p. 261.
  30. ^ Grass pp. 358-362.
  31. ↑ cf. at Grass p. 264.
  32. ^ Grass p. 304.
  33. ^ Grass, p. 384.
  34. ↑ Grass, p. 275 ff.
  35. ^ Grass, p. 274.
  36. ↑ Grass S. 434-447.
  37. ^ Grass p. 309.
  38. ↑ Grass p. 309ff.
  39. ^ Grass p. 310.
  40. ↑ a b Grass p. 311.
  41. ↑ Grass p. 313ff.
  42. ^ Grass p. 313.
  43. ^ Grass p. 317.
  44. ^ Grass p. 320, fn. 1
  45. ^ Grass p. 333.
  46. ^ Grass pp. 334-335.
  47. ^ Grass pp. 335-336.