||Ras*kol"nik (?), n.; pl.
Raskolniki (#) or Raskolniks (#).
[Russ. raskol'nik dissenter, fr. raskol dissent.]
The name applied by the Russian government to any subject of the
Greek faith who dissents from the established church. The
Raskolniki embrace many sects, whose common characteristic is a
clinging to antique traditions, habits, and customs. The schism
originated in 1667 in an ecclesiastical dispute as to the correctness
of the translation of the religious books. The dissenters, who have
been continually persecuted, are believed to number about 20,000,000,
although the Holy Synod officially puts the number at about 2,000,000.
They are officially divided into three groups according to the degree
of their variance from orthodox beliefs and observances, as follows:
I. "Most obnoxious." the Judaizers; the
Molokane, who refuse to recognize civil authority or
to take oaths; the Dukhobortsy, or
Dukhobors, who are communistic, marry without
ceremony, and believe that Christ was human, but that his soul
reappears at intervals in living men; the Khlysty,
who countenance anthropolatory, are ascetics, practice continual self-
flagellation, and reject marriage; the Skoptsy, who
practice castration; and a section of the
Bezpopovtsy, or priestless sect, which disbelieve in
prayers for the Czar and in marriage. II. "Obnoxious:" the
Bezpopovtsy, who pray for the Czar and recognize
marriage. III. "Least obnoxious:" the Popovtsy, who
dissent from the orthodox church in minor points only.
||Ras*kol"nik (răs*kŏl"nĭk),
n. [Russ. raskolenik' schismatic, heretic.]
(Eccl.) One of the separatists or dissenters from the
established or Greek church in Russia. [Written also
rascolnik.]