The Spirit of Russian Orthodoxy

Abstract

RUSSIAN Orthodoxy and Eastern Christianity in general are characterized by two particular features: strict devotion to Church tradition and the use of the national language in the liturgy-a fact which, from the earliest times, permitted each people to develop its own form of Orthodoxy. However, since Orthodoxy considers itself a universal teaching, its theological essence remains the same and unchanged in each country. Dogmas, canonical structure, faithfulness to fundamental Christian traditions, and the recognition of the authority of the Church are the fundamental precepts of Orthodoxy in all Eastern Christian lands, and adherence to these precepts has continued unchanged over the centuries. But the fact that, throughout its history, Orthodoxy has been opposed to the language uniformity found in Roman Catholicism, has permitted each Orthodox country to develop unique features. The use of native tongues in the liturgy, sermons, holy books, and education brought out these national features, which history in turn deepened and strengthened. It is not surprising, then, to find certain traits in Russian Orthodoxy which cannot be found in any other Orthodox countries. In order to understand the present situation of Russian Christianity and its characteristics, one should bear in mind that Christianity appeared in Russia only in the tenth century. It encountered at first strong opposition from paganism, but by the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries a specifically Russian style of Church life had taken shape, characterized mainly by the rigorous enforcement of fasting, meek submission to God's