Russian Orthodox Church In Animal Farm

The tsarist government collapsed soon after and the church reestablished the patriarchate and elected Tikhon. The Soviet government separated church from the state resulting in mass casualties for

It was a vell written book that was easy to follow. I would recommend this book for anyone who is curious as to the Orthodox way of thinking, and for anyone who may need an easier read on this topic. With that suggestion, I also suggest that you find someone who comes from an Eastern Orthodox background to further clarify question that arise as you read. Also they may interpret some of the ideas in a way that is worded better than the author chose to address them. I would also be mindful that there is very little to no comparison of the Eastern Orthodox thinking to Protestant faith and Catholic faith, so having prior knowledge of each type of Christian faith, I feel, is important in trying to get a better idea of the differences. I did enjoy this book very much and have gained a newfound understanding and respect for the way Eastern Orthodox views Christianity and the responsibilities of

They also did other jobs such as protected the Tsar’ family and intercepted mail to make sure it was safe. Undercover agents were placed everywhere to protect the Tsar. The Orthodox Church was another way the government tried to improve the resentment within the country. The Orthodox Church was a major influence over the Russian people so the government turned it into a government department in the 1900’s to get more power and was run by a lay official appointed by the Tsar. Making the Orthodox Church a government department meant that the opinions within the church were expressed in favour of the Tsar and so the church in fact played a big role in the Russification of the empire as the government caused it to be this way. However this made Russia even more difficult to govern as people thought the priests were ‘no better than the peasants around him, he was paid by the state and was inferior to the middle and upper classes.’ He was seen as ‘a government agent and a hypocritical tool of the possessing classes.’ This made Russia difficult to govern as no one paid an interest in what the church had to say any more. The Okhrana tried to stop this opposition towards the government and the church but were very inefficient and did nothing to stop the assassination of

Many things reflect Russia’s diverse culture but two main things are art and the church.

To Modernization of Russia began when Catherine the Great and Peter the Great came power in the 17th century. Peter The Great had the responsible and Peter the Great had developed a civil service which helped and had

Fr. Justin Havens gave a lecture about the history, principles and practices of the Orthodox church and emphasized that Christ should be the focus of our education, and our every thought and action. He described how religion is primarily about making ourselves better and orthodox focuses on becoming like the best human, nonetheless divine being in existence, Jesus Christ. His attributes, perfections, motivations, teachings, lifestyle and everything about Him is the epitome of goodness. Thus the succession in church leadership, from Jesus, to Peter, throughout the generations to various bishops is described as one of the key reasons why orthodox Christianity is perceived as God’s ordained church on the earth as well as the amazing durability of the religion as approximately 160,000 Orthodox followers were slaughtered, significantly reducing the religion’s population. However, as Fr. Havens

The Russian’s ruler on the other hand, was called a tsar, and held absolute power. While Spain’s Catholic church was extremely powerful, Russia’s Orthodox church was

Peter the Great believed in monarchical absolutism which conflicted with the semi-autonomous position of the church. In 1700 Peter saw a chance for seamless reform when the Patriarch of Moscow died. He wisely decided not to appoint a new and for twenty one years the position of Patriarch remained unfilled. In 1721 he created the Holy Synod which was overseen by the imperial high commissioner, this effectively made the church a department of the state. Peter also followed the advice of Archbishop Feofan Prokopovich who introduced a western theological doctrine. The impact of these changes would fundamentally alter the power structure of the church for the next two hundred years.

Openly religious people were not allowed to join the Communist party of the Soviet Union, but in the late 1980's new political and social freedoms resulted in many church buildings being returned to the church to be restored. A turning point in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church came in 1988- the millennial anniversary of Kevian Rus' baptism. Throughout the summer of 1988 government-supported celebrations took place in many cities including Moscow. Because of this, many older churches and monasteries reopened. The ban on religious propaganda on state television was finally lifted which meant that people could see live broadcasts of church servives on television for the first time in the history of the Soviet

The first figure Moses represented was the church and religion. In this case Moses was the church in Stalinist Russia since that was the main target of the story to begin with. Orwell had inserted Moses because Russia did have religious problems during the time of the war. People didn’t want churches for a little while because they were said to be taking to much power over the people who followed their

In Russia religion's influence was much different. There wasn't much influence at all in the period of 1815 to 1919. Czar Alexander proposed the Holy Alliance under which monarchs would pledge themselves to rule according to Christian teachings; here alot of them didn't have any sincerity, especially Alexander. Religion also intensified things as in France, Russia decided to intervene when the Greeks revolted against the Turks, claiming the need to protect fellow Christians from the Muslims. Russia has been Communist for a very long time already, and as such they are atheistic and they also persecuted organized religion as a rival for the people's loyalty. But since the collapse of Communist for reasons other than religion, it has allowed churches to practice freely, like the Russian Orthodox, have shown a surprising amount of popular support.

First of all, the class structure was one of the main causes of the revolution in Russia. In the early 1900s, about “90% of Russia’s population were serfs, peasant-slaves” (youtube doc.). They were owned by less than “7% of Russia’s population, the nobles” (youtube doc.). The nobles treated them like currency, even using them for gambling. These nobles were overprivileged and live in the complete opposite way of how serfs lived, dirt poor, illiterate, and virtually without rights. Meanwhile, less than “2% of the population were clergymen of the Eastern Orthodox church” (youtube doc.). They too lived considerably worse than the nobles. The clergy

brotherhood that the members of the Church had toward each other. It was not, to be sure, an arbitrary communism and bears no relation to communists of today, but the

This oneness with each other and with nature created strong communal bonds within Russia. In 988 Prince Vladimir of Kiev was baptized and he decreed that the Kievan land would adopt Eastern Christianity.(Massie, 23) Although the Russians people changed religions they carried on their core beliefs they went from viewing the Mother Earth as the source of life to venerating Mary as the Virgin of Motherhood. The reason Vladimir decided to convert to Christianity was because of the immense beauty his men saw when they visited the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia, This desire for beauty was translated into beautiful Russian art and music. The Orthodox liturgy continually inspired poetry, music and art, for, unlike the Catholic liturgy in the West, it was from the beginning the possession of the whole Christian people, who worshiped together in their native Slavic tongue. (Massie, 28) An example of this is the Icon of the Virgin of Vladimir from the early 12th century, and icon that depicts Mary holding Jesus as a baby.(Massie 43)

The reporter asked one of the leaders of the church of Moscow if Russia was pressuring them in any of their actions against the church of Kiev. The leader said that Ukrainian orthodox church is autonomous. He stated that “[The Ukrainian Orthodox church of Moscow] is absolutely independent in all areas of the church … No one in Russia is giving me