Abstract
ABSTRACT This contribution examines the Russian Orthodox Church’s controversial case against the popular lay preachers of scripture and sobriety, Ivan Koloskov and Dmitrii Grigor’ev, in the early years of legal religious toleration. Accused of heresy and excommunicated in 1910, the ‘Moscow brattsy’ were arrested and tried as ‘fanatical and immoral’ sectarians. In attempting to prove the brattsy’s alleged deviance to a sceptical public, clergy and missionaries resorted to morally and ethically questionable tactics including false accusations and the fabrication of evidence. While offering a window onto the fraught relations between clergy and laity as Russia entered a modern era of religious pluralism, tenuous democratic practices, and mass media, the case raises issues relevant to the contemporary Russian Orthodox Church, especially its ongoing mission to promote a single community of faith and tradition in a diverse and increasingly ‘mediatised’ public sphere.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
