The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2028 page)

Russian Orthodox Church
.

The
Orthodox
Patriarchate
of Moscow. Although Christianity spread into Russia early (1st cent.), it was insignificant until the 10th cent.
St Vladimir
of Kiev proclaimed Greek Christianity the faith of his realm in 988, and
baptism
was ordered. In the 14th cent., leadership moved from Kiev to Moscow, and independence from
Greek Orthodoxy
was established.
Monasticism
played a key role during the Mongol invasion and rule (13th–15th cents.) especially notable being St
Sergius
of Radonezh, whose Monastery of the Holy Trinity became particularly famous. After the fall of Constantinople (1453) and the defeat of the Mongols (1480), the powerful Russian state under Ivan IV (‘the Terrible’) enhanced Moscow's claim to be the ‘Third Rome’. A close alliance (eventually subservience) between Church and State ensued, reinforced by the
Possessors
controversy.
In 1727, Peter the Great abolished the patriarchate, (established in 1589) and set up a Holy Synod of twelve members nominated by the Tsar, so that the church became a department of state. Its institutional subservience was counteracted by the religious renewal initiated by a monk, Paissy, who emphasized continual prayer and obedience to a
staretz
(elder). In the period of the startsi, St Seraphim of Sarov (1759–1833) was especially revered.
The Patriarchate of Moscow was re-established in 1917 by a Council which met between the February and October Revolutions: however, after the October Revolution, the Church's status in the USSR became very precarious. After an easier period during the Second World War, in which the church was encouraged to promote the patriotic efforts of the people, a determined programme of closing churches and seminaries followed under Khruschev between 1959 and 1964. The church had been guaranteed its freedom to worship by art. 124 of the Constitution of 1936, but activities and ‘propaganda’ outside regular worship were forbidden.
Glasnost
and
perestroika
led to a remarkable resurgence of Christian confidence, allied to the role of other Christian churches (notably the
Roman Catholic
) in overthrowing Communist regimes in E. Europe.
The largest body of Russian Orthodox in America, the ‘Orthodox Church in America’ was declared autocephalous and independent of Moscow in 1970. There is also an independent ‘Paris jurisdiction’ in W. Europe, under the direct control of the
Oecumenical
Patriarch.

 
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see
DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH
.

 
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(Jap., ‘drifting’). The process of rebirth or re-appearance (
sa
s
ra
). Ruten-no-go is the
karma
which brings about rebirth.

 
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Ruth, Book of
.

One of the Five Scrolls of the Hebrew
Bible
. Ruth tells the story of the Moabite Ruth who stays with Naomi, her Israelite mother-in-law, and subsequently meets the prosperous farmer Boaz, a kinsman of her former husband. They make a marriage of redemption and become the ancestors of King David.

 
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(in distinction from Great Russians, those based on Moscow). Catholic Slavs. They come from SW Russia, Poland, the old Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, but are dispersed now throughout the world, especially in the USA.

 
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