The Russians' Secret - Book Review (Part 3 of 6)

Russian Orthodox Saints and Sources 

In relation to the authors contentious thesis regarding the conversion of Rus' (discussed in Part 2 of this series), it is ironic that the book contains so many positive references to canonized Orthodox saints, although the authors almost never identify them as such. The Russians' Secret (hereafter TRS) begins with the early mission among the Slavs in 862 by Cyril (826-869) and Methodius (815-885), both Byzantine Orthodox Saints. With the help of Clement of Ohrid, a Bulgarian Orthodox saint, they created the alphabet now used by several hundred million Slavs. The authors observed, 

Without a doubt, two Greek Christians, John Chrysostom and Basil of Caesarea had much to do with the Russian’ feeling for the poor. The writings of both men, translated to Slavonic soon after the time of Cyril and Methodius, got widely circulated in Russia (p. 21). 

The uninformed reader would have no idea that these Christians are all canonized saints of the Orthodox Church. 

Martyrs and Passion-Bearers Saints Boris and Gleb

After Prince Vladimir accepted Orthodoxy as the official religion of Kievan Rus' was the murder of his younger sons, Boris and Gleb, in 1015-1019. Pacifism being so important to the Anabaptist/Quaker traditions, the authors call special attention to Boris and Gleb: “The fact that Christ never fought back deeply impressed Russian believers,” (p. 24) and “the murder of the two boys and their nonresistant response shook Russia to its foundations” (p. 26). To clarify, Boris and Gleb were not merely “Russian believers” but the first saints canonized in Kievan Rus' after the Orthodox Christianization of the country, being known as Strastoterptsy (Passion-Bearers) precisely because they did not resist evil. While the authors note the execution of Tsar Nicholas II (r. 1894-1917) and his family, it is not with the same admiration they expressed for Boris and Gleb earlier in the book, even though the Royal Family, like Boris and Gleb, are also canonized as Passion-Bearers. In TRS, “Christian” is always in quotation marks when referring to Orthodox emperors, Tsar Nicholas being the last Russian emperor.

The Jesus Prayer

Summarized in chapter 6 of TRS is the Russian adoption of the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” TRS provides examples taken from Isaac, “a Greek Christian in Jerusalem,” John, “a Greek celibate of Sinai,” Kallistos, “a cook's helper in Greece,” Barsanofius, “another Greek Christian,” Gregory, “a member of a Greek community at Sinai,” and Niceforus, “a Greek teacher of the later Byzantine period” (pp. 33-35). Not only does the Jesus Prayer belong to the early tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy, TRS readers should also be informed that all of the previous passages come from Greek Orthodox Christians, taken from the Dobrotoliubie (Philokalia) translated by St. Paisius Velichkovsky (1722-1794), who is remembered for initiating the late 18th century revival of monasticism in Russia. 

The authors also cite the Ladder of Divine Ascent by St. John Climacus (c. 579-649) and they observe that Russian Christians read Slavonic translations of St. Ephraim of Syria, both fundamental Orthodox spiritual texts. Ambiguously referring to “Russian believers [who] wrote about the Jesus Prayer,” (p. 36) TRS reproduces quotations from the following Russian Orthodox saints: St. Basil of Poiana Marului (1692-1767), St. Seraphim of Sarov (1754-1833), St. Paisius Yaroslavov (d. 1501), St. Nicholas Svyatosha (~1080-1143), and St. Nil Sorsky (1443-1508). In the same chapter appears a brief section on St. Tikhon of Zadonsk (1724-1783), the authors relying upon Nadejda Gorodetzky's Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk: Inspirer of Dostoevsky (1976). TRS also borrows from St. Ignatius Brianchaninov (1807-1867), author of On the Jesus Prayer, and The Way of the Pilgrim, a 19th century Russian Orthodox classic and one of the most famous books on the Jesus Prayer. All of these are not merely “men who wrote about Christ awareness and prayer,” (p. 41) as the authors vaguely refer to them, but also renowned saints who belonged to the Orthodox Church. 

St. Seraphim of Sarov

St. Seraphim of Sarov was not only a “Russian believer” who “wrote about the Jesus Prayer” (as he is remembered in TRS; p. 36),  but he is also one of the most venerated Russian saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1777, at the age of 19, he became a novice of the Sarov monastery. He made his monastic vows in 1786 and was given the name of Seraphim. In 1793, he was ordained as a hieromonk and became the spiritual leader of the Diveyevo Convent, now known as the Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent. 

Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1754-1833)

One day, while chopping firewood, Seraphim was attacked by a band of robbers who beat him mercilessly with the handle of his own axe. He never resisted, and was left for dead. The robbers found only an icon of the Theotokos in his hut. Seraphim had a hunched back for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, at the thieves' trial he pleaded to the judge for mercy on their behalf. Later Seraphim  retreated to a log cabin in the woods and led a solitary lifestyle as a hermit for 25 years. 

In 1815, in obedience to a vision of the Virgin Mary, Seraphim began admitting pilgrims to his hermitage as a confessor. He soon became exceedingly popular due to his reputation for spiritual gifts of healing powers and clairvoyance. Hundreds of pilgrims visited him every day. St. Seraphim taught that the purpose of the Christian life was to receive the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this is the most famous quote of the great Russian Saint: “Acquire the Spirit of Peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved.” In consideration of TRS authors' focus on voluntary poverty and nonviolence, it seems St. Seraphim would be a worthwhile addition to the book. 

More Russian Orthodox Saints and Sources

In a chapter on the Atonement entitled “Christ Victorious,” quotations are taken from The Russian Religious Mind by G.A. Fedotov (1886-1951), a Russian historian and philosopher who fled Soviet Russia and emigrated to the U.S. where he taught at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary. Borrowing from Fedotov's work, the authors quote St. Theodosius of Kiev (1009-1074), the founder of Russian monasticism, St. Hilarion, the metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus' from 1051-1052 or 1054, St. Kirill of Turov (1130-1182), a bishop and theologian of Kievan Rus', St. Vladimir II Monomakh, the Grand Prince of the Medieval Rus' from 1113 to 1125, Fyodor Tyutchev (1803-1873), a Russian poet and diplomat, Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), the famous Russian novelist, and other Russian Orthodox Christians. All of these TRS figures were full-fledged members of the Russian Orthodox “state church” (as the authors refer to it), but they would not have their readers know that. As noted above, in a rare exception to the rule the authors do acknowledge that the Orthodox Church canonized St. Basil the Fool for Christ (1468-1552 or 1557). 

An Alleged Quote of Aleksei Khomiakov

Ivan Prokhanov (1869-1935), a Baptist and founder of the Evangelical Christians in Russia, had close connections with the Mennonites of Russia, particularly because of shared nonresistant convictions. TRS authors note his meeting with a Tolstovets (a disciple of Leo Tolstoy), after which Ivan better understood “what Aleksey Khomyakov wrote about,” that is, (allegedly quoting Khomiakov): 

The church is a collection of men (all without distinction of clergy and laymen), who have become bound together by love. . . . It is not a matter of which church, who’s church, or whether the church has the correct authority. (p. 146)

The excerpt attributed to Khomiakov is significant because it is one of the few ecclesiological declarations in TRS, and on its surface it challenges Orthodox ecclesiology. The quotation continues: “Rather we must know where the church is. The church is in the heart and in the community of the humble poor” (p. 146). But Aleksei Khomiakov (1804-1860) was a Russian Orthodox theologian known for his works on ecclesiology. For the passage above the authors cite a secondary source: Nicholas Zernov's Three Russian Prophets (1973). However, the passage attributed to Khomiakov by way of Zernov cannot be found in that book. Neither is the passage found in Khomiakov's most famous essay The Church is One. Even Zernov points out that Khomiakov's ecclesiology expressed “the traditional teaching of Eastern Orthodoxy” (Nicholas Zernov, Three Russian Prophets: Khomiakov, Dostoevsky, Soloviev [Gulf Breeze, FL: Academic International Press, 1973], 60; see also 60-63 for additional excerpts from Khomiakov on ecclesiology).

Aleksey Khomyakov (1804-1860)

Both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were criticized by Khomiakov as defective forms of Christianity inherited by the West from Rome. Khomiakov's ecclesiology was clearly at odds with TRS' radical dissident movements opposed to the Orthodox Church. Moreover, given the fact that Tolstoy himself criticized the ecclesiology of Khomiakov, the TRS authors' connection of Tolstoy and Khomiakov vis-à-vis Ivan Prokhanov is all the more problematic and ironic. To associate Khomiakov with the Tolstoyan and Evangelical Christians is disingenuous for these reasons, all the more so if Khomiakov didn't even make the statement.