Nikon's church reform briefly causes the progress of the results. Schism in the Russian Orthodox Church

In the middle of the 17th century, events occurred that caused deep upheavals in the spiritual and social life of Muscovite Russia. Echoes of that long-standing historical drama have survived to this day in the form of the existence of two branches of the Orthodox Church: the Nikonian and the Old Believers. The split was caused by church reform, which is inextricably linked with the personality of Patriarch Nikon.

According to V. O. Klyuchevsky, among the historical figures of the 17th century it is difficult to find a person larger and more original than Nikon. He was a tall bogatyr with a large head framed by black hair. In the world of the future patriarch, the name was Nikita. He was born in 1605 into a peasant family. His mother soon died, and his father brought his stepmother into the house, who disliked his stepson. She beat, starved and humiliated Nikita. Therefore, the boy tried to spend as much time as possible outside the home. He became friends with the daughter of a priest from the neighboring village of Kolychevo, thanks to whom he learned to read and write. Passion for books led Nikita to the monastery of Macarius Zheltovodsky. Here he read church books and studied the science of monastic services. But at the age of 17, at the request of his father, he was forced to return home, as he was the heir to a peasant economy. However, Nikita chose a different path in life. In 1625, after the death of his father, he married the daughter of a village priest, Nastasya, whom he had known since childhood, and over time he headed the parish in Kolychevo.

The family life of the young priest was tragic. Suddenly, one after another, his three young sons died. Shocked by grief, Nikita and Nastasya decided to leave the world. He went to the White Sea, where he received monastic tonsure and the name Nikon. At that time, the future patriarch was a little over 30 years old. Soon Nikon became abbot of the Kozheezersky monastery. Being in Moscow on monastic business, he, according to the custom of that time, came to bow to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. This meeting, which took place in 1646, made a very strong impression on the 17-year-old pious king. He brought Nikon closer to him, trusting him with “false and responsible positions in the church hierarchy. In 1652 he was elevated to the rank of patriarch with unprecedented honors and powers. In the spring of 1654, the sovereign and the patriarch convened a church council, which was attended by 5 metropolitans, 5 bishops and archbishops, and archimandrites and abbots, 13 archpriests. The council began with a speech by Nikon, who pointed out the malfunction of church books and the need to correct them. It was decided to correct them by referring to the ancient and Greek books.

To an unbeliever, the changes associated with the implementation of church reform may seem insignificant. But many people of the 17th century considered them blasphemy. Defending their traditions and rituals, adherents of the old faith were ready to go to the stake, accepting martyrdom. What were these changes?

The sign of the cross is revered as a magical symbol of the Christian faith. In ancient Russian finger-composition, two overshadowing fingers denoted the dual unity of Christ as God and man. Nikonianism adopted for the overshadowing of the cross the symbol of the Trinity - a three-finger addition. In accordance with the same principle, a double hallelujah - a doxology pronounced twice in honor of Christ - the God-man "hallelujah, hallelujah" was changed to a three-lip hallelujah. The spelling of Christ's name has changed. Instead of writing "Jesus", the spelling "Jesus" was introduced. Since ancient times, the eight-pointed form of the cross has been adopted in Russia, symbolizing the “passion of the Lord” (four ends of the cross of the crucifix itself, plus the ends of the crossbars: the upper one with the title of Christ and the lower one with the foot). Nikon, without forbidding the eight-pointed cross, introduced the main form - the four-pointed cross.

In addition, there were a number of other innovations. Previously, in some sacred ceremonies (for example, the enclosing of a baptized child around a font, a wedding around a lectern), walking went “along the salt”, that is, along the sun, from north to east, now from south to east. Service on seven prosphora changed to five. It was forbidden to make earthly bows, they were replaced by waist ones. Soon it was ordered to withdraw from use the icons of old Russian letters. Ancient church singing in unison began to be replaced by polyphony. The construction of original hipped temples stopped.

And yet the ceremonial side was of a secondary nature. The true causes of church reform must be sought deeper. It was primarily caused by the strengthening of the autocracy. This process was closely connected with the unification of all aspects of public life. The introduction of uniformity in church rites was one of the manifestations of this trend. It was symbolic that the Council, which marked the beginning of church reform, took place in the same year as the Pereyaslavl Rada. The inclusion of Ukraine into the Russian state required the elimination of differences between Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox in church affairs. Finally, the “Moscow-Third Rome” ideology was of great importance. Moscow's claims to the role of the successor of the Byzantine Empire were obliged to adhere to the Greek tradition. But by the middle of the 17th century, the differences with it were very noticeable. This was pointed out by the highest hierarchs of the Eastern Christian Church who were in Moscow at that time. And in 1652, the news came that on Athos the elders had declared heretical and burned Moscow church books. Thus, Nikon's reform was caused not only by religious, but also by political reasons.

For his part, Nikon pursued his own goals during the reform. Being an extremely powerful and ambitious person, he sought to establish the idea of ​​the superiority of church power over secular power. During his patriarchate, Nikon wielded enormous power. He not only single-handedly ruled the church, but also actively intervened in state affairs. The young tsar allowed the patriarch to be titled "Great Sovereign" and entrusted him with the administration of the country during his absence from Moscow. The rise of the patriarch caused dissatisfaction among the boyar elite, which intensified due to the arrogant behavior of Nikon. The patriarch imposed his will and dared to contradict the tsar himself. In the current situation, all that was needed was an excuse to eliminate the recent royal favorite. Soon such a reason was found. In 1658, a conflict arose between Alexei Mikhailovich and Nikon, which led to a break in relations. In 1666, the Church Council deprived Nikon of his patriarchal rank, after which he was exiled to the Ferapont Monastery. The once powerful head of the church died in 1681, returning from exile, and at the direction of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich was buried as befits a patriarch.

The removal of Nikon from the patriarchate did not mean the abolition of his reform. The Council of 1666 recognized the reform as the work of the tsar, the state and the church. Adherents of the old faith were anathematized, they were severely persecuted. It is not surprising that the schismatics took part in many anti-government demonstrations in the second half of the 17th-18th centuries. Streltsy riots, peasant wars, etc.

The church schism became one of the main events for Russia in the 17th century. This process seriously influenced the subsequent formation of the worldview of the Russian people. As the main reason for the church schism, scientists name the political situation that took shape in the 17th century. And church disagreements are attributed to a number of secondary reasons.

Tsar Michael, the founder of the Romanov dynasty, and his son Alexei were engaged in the restoration of the country's economy, which was devastated during the Time of Troubles. State power was strengthened, the first manufactories appeared, and foreign trade was restored. In the same period, the legislative registration of serfdom took place.

Despite the fact that at the beginning the Romanovs pursued a rather cautious policy, already the plans of Alexei, nicknamed the Quietest, included the unification of the Orthodox peoples living in the Balkans and the territory of Eastern Europe. This is what led the patriarch and the tsar to a rather difficult ideological problem. According to tradition in Russia, they were baptized with two fingers. And the vast majority of Orthodox peoples, according to Greek innovations, three. There were only two possible options: to obey the canon, or to impose their own traditions on others. Alexei and Patriarch Nikon began to act according to the second option. A single ideology was necessary due to the ongoing centralization of power and the concept of the "Third Rome" at that time. All this became a prerequisite for the reform, which split Russian society for a very long time. A large number of discrepancies in church books, different interpretations of rituals - all this needed to be brought to uniformity. It is worth noting that the need to correct church books was discussed along with church and secular authorities.

The name of Patriarch Nikon and the church schism are closely connected. Nikon possessed not only intelligence, but also a love of luxury and power. He became the head of the church only after the personal request of the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

The church reform of 1652 marked the beginning of a schism in the church. All proposed changes were approved at the church council of 1654 (for example, tripartite). However, a too abrupt transition to new customs led to the emergence of a considerable number of opponents of innovations. Opposition also formed at court. The patriarch, who overestimated his influence on the tsar, fell into disgrace in 1658. Nikon's departure was demonstrative.

Having retained his wealth and honors, Nikon nevertheless was deprived of any power. In 1666, at the Council, with the participation of the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria, the hood was removed from Nikon. After that, the former patriarch was exiled to White Lake, to the Ferapontov Monastery. I must say that there Nikon led a far from poor life. The deposition of Nikon was an important stage in the church schism of the 17th century.

The same council of 1666 once again approved all the changes introduced, declaring them to be the work of the church. All those who did not obey were declared heretics. During the church schism in Russia, another significant event took place - the Solovetsky uprising of 1667-76. All the rebels were eventually either exiled or executed. In conclusion, it should be noted that after Nikon, not a single patriarch laid claim to supreme power in the country.

The 17th century was a turning point for Russia. It is noteworthy not only for political, but also for church reforms. As a result of this, "bright Russia" was a thing of the past, and it was replaced by a completely different power, in which there was no longer a unity of worldview and people's behavior.

The spiritual basis of the state was the church. Back in the 15th and 16th centuries, there were conflicts between the non-possessors and the Josephites. In the 17th century, intellectual differences continued and resulted in a split in the Russian Orthodox Church. This was due to a number of reasons.

Origins of the split

During the Time of Troubles, the church was unable to play the role of a "spiritual doctor" and guardian of the moral health of the Russian people. Therefore, after the end of the Time of Troubles, church reform became an urgent problem. The priests were in charge of it. These are Archpriest Ivan Neronov, Stefan Vonifatiev - the confessor of the young Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Archpriest Avvakum.

These people acted in two directions. The first is oral sermons and work among the flock, that is, the closing of taverns, the organization of orphanages and the creation of almshouses. The second is the correction of rites and liturgical books.

The question of polyphony. In church churches, in order to save time, simultaneous services were practiced for various holidays and saints. For centuries, this has not caused criticism from anyone. But after the troubled times, people began to look at polyphony differently. He was named among the main reasons for the spiritual degradation of society. This negative needed to be corrected, and it was corrected. Triumphed in all churches unanimity.

But the conflict situation after that did not come to naught, but only escalated. The essence of the problem lay in the difference between the Moscow and Greek rites. And it concerned, first of all, Composition. The Greeks were baptized with three fingers, and the Great Russians with two. This difference resulted in a dispute about historical correctness.

The question was raised about the legitimacy of the Russian church rite. It included: two-fingered, divine service on seven prosphora, an eight-pointed cross, salting walking (according to the sun), a special hallelujah, etc. Some clergy began to assert that the liturgical books were distorted as a result of ignorant scribes.

Subsequently, the most authoritative historian of the Russian Orthodox Church, Yevgeny Evsigneevich Golubinsky (1834-1912), proved that the Russians did not distort the rite at all. Under Prince Vladimir in Kyiv, they were baptized with two fingers. That is, exactly the same as in Moscow until the middle of the XVII century.

The thing was that when Russia adopted Christianity, then in Byzantium there were two charters: Jerusalem and studio. In ritual terms, they disagreed. The Eastern Slavs accepted and observed the Jerusalem Charter. As for the Greeks and other Orthodox peoples, as well as the Little Russians, they observed the Studian Rule.

However, it should be noted here that the rites are not dogmas at all. Those are holy and indestructible, and the rites can change. And in Russia this happened several times, and there were no shocks. For example, in 1551, under Metropolitan Cyprian, the Stoglavy Cathedral obliged the inhabitants of Pskov, who practiced three-fingered, to return to two-fingered. This did not result in any conflicts.

But you need to understand that the middle of the 17th century was radically different from the middle of the 16th. People who went through the oprichnina and the Time of Troubles became different. The country faced three choices. Habakkuk's path is isolationism. Nikon's path is the creation of a theocratic Orthodox empire. The path of Peter - joining the European powers with the subordination of the church to the state.

The accession of Ukraine to Russia aggravated the problem. Now I had to think about the uniformity of the church rite. Kyiv monks appeared in Moscow. The most notable of them was Epiphanius Slavinetsky. The Ukrainian guests began to insist on correcting church books and services in accordance with their ideas.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon
The split of the Russian Orthodox Church is inextricably linked with these two people

Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich

The fundamental role in the split of the Russian Orthodox Church was played by Patriarch Nikon (1605-1681) and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1629-1676). As for Nikon, he was an extremely vain and power-hungry person. He came from Mordovian peasants, and in the world he bore the name of Nikita Minich. He made a dizzying career, and became famous for his strong temper and excessive severity. It was more characteristic of a secular ruler than a church hierarch.

Nikon was not satisfied with the huge influence on the king and the boyars. He was guided by the principle that "God's is higher than the king's." Therefore, he swung at undivided dominance and power equal to that of the king. The situation favored him. Patriarch Joseph died in 1652. The question arose about the election of a new patriarch, because without the patriarchal blessing it was impossible to hold any state and church events in Moscow.

Sovereign Alexei Mikhailovich was an extremely pious and pious person, so he was primarily interested in the speedy election of a new patriarch. In this post, he just wanted to see the Novgorod Metropolitan Nikon, since he highly valued and respected him.

The desire of the king was supported by many boyars, as well as the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch. All this was well known to Nikon, but he strove for absolute power, and therefore resorted to pressure.

The day has come for the procedure of appointment to the patriarchs. The Emperor was also present. But at the very last moment, Nikon announced that he refused to accept the signs of patriarchal dignity. This caused a stir in everyone present. The tsar himself knelt down and, with tears in his eyes, began to ask the wayward clergyman not to renounce his priesthood.

Then Nikon set conditions. He demanded that they honor him as a father and archpastor and let him arrange the Church at his own discretion. The king gave his word and consent. All the boyars supported him. Only then did the newly-made patriarch pick up the symbol of patriarchal power - the staff of the Russian Metropolitan Peter, who lived in Moscow the very first.

Alexei Mikhailovich fulfilled all his promises, and Nikon had enormous power in his hands. In 1652, he even received the title of "Great Sovereign". The new patriarch began to rule harshly. This forced the king in letters to ask him to be softer and more tolerant of people.

Church reform and its main cause

With the coming to power of a new Orthodox ruler in the church rite, at first everything remained as before. Vladyka himself was baptized with two fingers and was a supporter of unanimity. But he began to talk frequently with Epiphanius Slavinetsky. After a very short time, he managed to convince Nikon that it was still necessary to change the church rite.

In Great Lent 1653, a special "memory" was published, in which it was attributed to the flock to accept three fingers. Supporters of Neronov and Vonifatiev opposed this and were exiled. The rest were warned that if they were baptized with two fingers during prayers, they would be betrayed by the church curse. In 1556, the church council officially confirmed this order. After this, the paths of the patriarch and his former associates diverged completely and irrevocably.

This is how the Russian Orthodox Church split. Supporters of the "ancient piety" found themselves in opposition to the official church policy, while the church reform itself was entrusted to the Ukrainian by nationality Epiphanius Slavinetsky and the Greek Arseniy.

Why did Nikon go on about the Ukrainian monks? But much more interesting, why did the tsar, the cathedral and many parishioners also support the innovations? The answers to these questions are relatively simple.

The Old Believers, as the opponents of innovations began to be called, advocated the superiority of local Orthodoxy. It developed and prevailed in North-Eastern Russia over the traditions of universal Greek Orthodoxy. In fact, "ancient piety" was a platform for narrow Moscow nationalism.

Among the Old Believers, the opinion dominated that the Orthodoxy of the Serbs, Greeks and Ukrainians was inferior. These peoples were seen as victims of delusion. And God punished them for this, giving them under the power of the Gentiles.

But such a worldview did not arouse sympathy in anyone and discouraged any desire to unite with Moscow. That is why Nikon and Alexei Mikhailovich, in an effort to expand their power, sided with the Greek version of Orthodoxy. That is, Russian Orthodoxy took on a universal character, which contributed to the expansion of state borders and the strengthening of power.

The decline of the career of Patriarch Nikon

The exorbitant lust for power of the Orthodox Bishop was the cause of his fall. Nikon had many enemies among the boyars. They tried with all their might to set the king against him. In the end, they succeeded. And it all started with little things.

In 1658, during one of the feasts, the tsar's devious man hit a patriarchal man with a stick, paving the way for the tsar through a crowd of people. The one who received the blow was indignant and called himself "the patriarchal boyar son." But then he received another blow with a stick on his forehead.

Nikon was informed about what had happened, and he became indignant. He wrote an angry letter to the tsar, in which he demanded a thorough investigation of this incident and the punishment of the guilty boyar. However, no one started an investigation, and the culprit was never punished. It became clear to everyone that the attitude of the king towards the lord had changed for the worse.

Then the patriarch decided to resort to a proven method. After mass in the Assumption Cathedral, he took off his patriarchal robes and announced that he was leaving the patriarchal place and leaving for a permanent life in the Resurrection Monastery. It was located near Moscow and was called New Jerusalem. The people tried to dissuade the lord, but he was adamant. Then the horses were unharnessed from the carriage, but Nikon did not change his decision and left Moscow on foot.

New Jerusalem Monastery
In it, Patriarch Nikon spent several years before the patriarchal court, at which he was deposed

The throne of the patriarch remained empty. Vladyka believed that the sovereign would be frightened, but he did not appear in New Jerusalem. On the contrary, Aleksey Mikhailovich tried to get the wayward lord to give up his patriarchal power and return all the regalia so that he could legally elect a new spiritual leader. And Nikon told everyone that he could return to the patriarchal throne at any moment. This confrontation continued for several years.

The situation was absolutely unacceptable, and Alexei Mikhailovich turned to the ecumenical patriarchs. However, their arrival had to wait a long time. Only in 1666 two of the four patriarchs arrived in the capital. These are Alexandrian and Antioch, but they had powers from their other two counterparts.

Nikon really did not want to appear before the patriarchal court. But still he was forced to do it. As a result, the wayward lord was deprived of his high rank. But the long conflict did not change the situation with the schism of the Russian Orthodox Church. The same council of 1666-1667 officially approved all the church reforms that were carried out under the leadership of Nikon. True, he himself turned into a simple monk. They exiled him to a distant northern monastery, from where the man of God watched the triumph of his policy.

One of the most significant events for Russia in the 17th century was the church schism. He had a great influence on the further formation of the worldview of the Russian people. According to scientists, the reason for the split was the political situation at that time. And church disagreements were of secondary importance. The Russian government had to overcome more than one crisis.
The founder of the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail, together with his son tried to restore the country after the hard times experienced. Power gradually strengthened, foreign trade revived. At this time, serfdom was legislated. Despite government control in many areas, the conflict in the attitude of the people towards the church was aggravated. Traditionally in Russia they were baptized with two fingers, and many Orthodox, according to Greek innovations - with three. Alexei Romanov planned to unite the peoples of Orthodoxy in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. And this led the patriarch and the ruler to an ideological problem. Thus, it was necessary either to succumb to the canon, or to draw others into their own traditions. Tsar Alexei and Patriarch Nikon liked the second method.
The career of Patriarch Nikon grew very quickly. In a fairly short period of time, the son of a villager, being a simple novice, turned into the rector of the local monastery. He became a friend of Tsar Alexei and he made him archimandrite of the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow. Then he spent two years as Metropolitan of Novgorod, and soon he was elected Patriarch of Moscow.
Nikon directed all his efforts in order to remake the Russian Church into a worldwide Orthodox center. A single ideology was necessary for the centralization of power. This was the reason for a series of reforms. They gave a split in society for a long time. Nikon's reforms concerned the unification of rituals. First of all, he wanted to establish the same church service in all churches. He was fully guided by the example of the rites and rules of the Greek Church. Such innovations caused a lot of discontent among the people. All these events became the reasons for the church schism of the 17th century.
The reform was carried out through violence. Nikon was quite straightforward. Because of his character, he was soon deprived of the patriarchate. But by this point, he managed to bring in his mood of cruelty. Old church books, according to which services were held, were taken away and burned. The monks who tried to hide them far in the taiga or tundra were persecuted. They also could not decide on which course to make the Crusade - behind the sun or against it. Opposition has emerged in many places in Russia. The most famous adherent of the old foundation was Archpriest Avvakum. Gross innovations were protested by many spheres of the population. After all, the essence of understanding Christianity in Russia, before the arrival of Nikon and the implementation of his reforms, was that people cannot be forced to believe by force.
Great power gained popular protest at the time when the Solovetsky uprising happened. The monastery was rich in supplies and had fairly strong walls. This attracted the haters of reforms, and they gathered here from all over Russia. But among the 600 people who were kept in the fortress for eight years, there was still a traitor. This soul-seller let the regiments of the king through a secret passage. In a fierce battle, only 50 people remained defending the fortress.
The church schism took place at a time when the country was developing approaches to relations with Europe. The reform assumed a negative attitude towards national customs and organization of life. The state assisted in the fight against the old rites. The son of Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter, finally crushed the independence of the Orthodox Church. He gave the authorities freedom from all church norms.
When Tsar Alexei died, the Old Believers began to be persecuted even more. Repression expanded against them. In 1681, ancient books and writings were categorically banned. And a year later, on the orders of Fyodor Alekseevich, they burned the leader of the schism, Avvakum. They also created a new law. He did not allow any activity of the members of the split process. But they showed stamina and endurance to suppress the causes that caused the split, and in response to the repression, they carried out actions of mass self-immolation.
Thus, people who remained faithful to the old rites contributed to the Russian spiritual culture. They have made great efforts to preserve the antiquity. The spiritual traditions of ancient Russia were continued, the latter consisted in a constant search for the truth. The reasons that provoked the split dealt a blow to these customs. Since with the fall of the authority of the official church, the government has established absolute control over education. According to his system, they did not bring up the spiritual traits of a person, but prepared people who performed a narrow circle of certain functions. In response to the discontent of the people, changes arose, introduced by Peter I at the beginning of the 18th century.

Patriarch Nikon decided to change the ancient church tradition and began to introduce new rites, liturgical texts and other innovations into the Russian Church without the approval of the council. He ascended the Moscow patriarchal throne in 1652. Even before being elevated to the patriarchate, he became close to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Together they decided to remake the Russian Church in a new way: to introduce into it such rites, rituals, books, so that in everything it would resemble the Greek Church of their time, which had long ceased to be completely pious.

In his entourage, Patriarch Nikon introduced a certain Arseniy the Greek, a well-known adventurer, a man of very dubious faith. He received his upbringing from the Jesuits, upon arrival in the East he converted to Islam, then again joined Orthodoxy, and then deviated into Catholicism. When he appeared in Moscow, he was sent to the Solovetsky Monastery as a dangerous heretic. From there, Nikon took him to him and made him the main assistant in church affairs. This caused a murmur among the Russian people. But they were afraid to openly object to Nikon, since the tsar granted him unlimited rights in the affairs of the church.

Relying on friendship and royal power, Nikon set about the church reform decisively and boldly. He began by strengthening his own power. Nikon had a cruel and stubborn character, kept himself proud and inaccessible, calling himself, following the example of the Pope, "extreme saint", was titled "great sovereign" and was one of the richest people in Russia. He treated the bishops arrogantly, did not want to call them his brothers, humiliated and persecuted the rest of the clergy in every possible way. Historian V. O. Klyuchevsky called Nikon a church dictator.

The reform began with the book right. In the old days there were no printing houses, books were copied in monasteries and at episcopal courts by special masters. This skill, like icon painting, was considered sacred and was performed diligently and with reverence. The Russian people loved the book and knew how to take care of it as a shrine. The slightest mistake in the book, oversight or mistake was considered a great sin. The pious people watched carefully so that no mistakes crept in. The scribes usually ended the manuscript with a humble appeal to the reader to identify the errors and correct them. And for this, the scribes sincerely thanked the "people's editors" in a Christian way. That is why the numerous manuscripts of the old time that have survived to us are distinguished by the purity and beauty of writing, the correctness and accuracy of the text. It is difficult to find blots or strikethroughs in ancient manuscripts. There were fewer typos in them than in modern books of typos. Significant errors noted in previous books were eliminated even before Nikon, when the Printing House began to operate in Moscow. The correction of the books was carried out with great care and discretion.

It became different under Patriarch Nikon. At the council of 1654, it was decided to correct the liturgical books in ancient Greek and ancient Slavic, but in fact the correction was made according to new Greek books printed in the Jesuit printing houses of Venice and Paris. Even the Greeks themselves spoke of these books as distorted and erroneous.

Other ecclesiastical innovations followed the change in the books. The most notable of these were the following:

- instead of the two-fingered sign of the cross, which was adopted in Russia from the Byzantine Orthodox Church along with Christianity and which is part of the Holy Apostolic tradition, the three-fingered sign was introduced;
- in old books, in accordance with the spirit of the Slavic language, the name of the Savior "Jesus" was always written and pronounced; in the new books, this name was changed to the Greek "Jesus";
- in old books it is established during baptism, weddings and consecration of the temple to make a walk around the sun as a sign that we are following the Sun-Christ. In the new books, circumambulation against the sun is introduced;
- in old books in the creed (8th member) it reads: “And in the Holy Spirit, the True and Life-Giving Lord”; after corrections, the word "True" was excluded;
instead of the august, i.e., double alleluia, which the Russian Church has been creating since ancient times, the trilabial (i.e., triple) alleluia was introduced;
- The Divine Liturgy in Ancient Russia was performed on seven prosphora; new "spravschiki" introduced five prosphora, i.e., two prosphora were excluded.

Nikon and his assistants boldly encroached on changing the church institutions, customs, and even the apostolic traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, adopted at the Baptism of Russia. These changes in church laws, traditions and rituals could not but cause a sharp rebuff from the Russian people, who sacredly kept the ancient holy books and traditions. In addition to the destruction of books and church customs, sharp resistance among the people was caused by those violent measures with the help of which Nikon and the tsar who supported him planted these innovations. Russian people were subjected to cruel persecutions and executions, whose conscience could not agree with church innovations. Fearing to lose the purity of their faith, some preferred to die rather than betray their father's piety, while others left their native places.