Christianity and

the Attitude to
the West
in Russia
Dr. Vladimir Nikiforov

The lecture was delivered at the Russian Department

of the University of Durham 24 Feb 2015

Introduction: Stalin on an icon?

The first image of Stalin on an icon

was discovered in 2008 in a church of
Moscow Patriarchate in Petersburg.
Stalin is depicted on the icon of Bl.
Matrona of Moscow (1985 - 1952). As
the legend goes (and the official
Church denies) Stalin asked Bl.
Matronas advice in the autumn of
1941 when Moscow was besieged by
the Nazi troops. She predicted him
the victory. Another version of the
same icon was found in 2010 in a
church in Moscow. Both incidents
stirred a furore in the media. The
icons were hidden / removed and the
priests responsible were disciplined
by the Church authorities.
http://anthropologie.kunstkamera.ru/files/pdf/012online/12_online_kormina.pdf
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/___

This image is painted according to the canon, there is at least one more icon
painted according to the same prototype.

http://internetsobor.org/politika/tcerkov-i-mir/politika/pravoslavnaia-staliniana

http://maxpark.com/user/249508481/content/2006898

Holy Martyr*
Joseph Stalin

God-given Leader of the Russian People,

when they had fallen into lawlessness,
he received his power and authority from above,
like the new Joseph the Wise.
He kept the true faith in his innermost being,
he protected the Orthodox Realm
from Jewish destruction**
and glorified it in the whole world.
He slayed its enemies with his sword
and ruled the nations with the iron sceptre.
May your fiery spirit rise now
together with God-appointed tsars
and victorious Archangels.
By the Power of God
destroy the godless oppression
so that our souls be saved.

* According to one conspiracy theory Stalin was killed by the Kremlin doctors.
** Trotsky and some other Bolshevik opponents of Stalin were Jewish by blood.

The text quoted on the icon shows much

similarity with the service to the Great
Joseph [Stalin] the Martyr published on the
website Moscow is the Third Rome
http://www.ic-xc-nika.ru/texts/books/Sborniki/Stalin_Iosif_Vissarionovich/Iosif_Velikii_SBORNIK.html

All those facts and many others indicate that

there is some grass-root veneration of Stalin
as a saint in the Orthodox Church. It is kept
secret because the official Church together
with the media are trying (and able) to
suppress it.
All my life I felt that Stalin was the
father of nations and in a way my
father too I do not listen to those
poodles of democracy who are
barking at the dead lion. I listen to my
heart and I commemorate Joseph
Vissarionovich [Stalin] at all my
services when I consider it proper.
Abbot Evstafij Zhakov
http://rusk.ru/newsdata.php?idar=179888

STALIN ON ICONS?
WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM?

THE BIBLICAL PARADIGM:

DEITY RULER- PEOPLE

Ruler as the son of the tribal god

Mesha Stella (mid-9th century BC, now in Louvre, Paris)
I [am] Mesha, son of [god] Chemosh*, king of
Moab
Chemosh said to me, "Go, take Nebo from Israel!

So I went by night and fought against it from the

break of dawn until noon, taking it and slaying all,
seven thousand men, boys, women, girls and
maidservants, for I had devoted them to
destruction for [the god] Ashtar-Chemosh.
And I took from there the sacred vessels from the
sanctuary of Yahweh and laid them before
Chemosh.
*[kim]

Yahweh, the God of Israel, promises conquest to his client

Yahweh declared to my Lord,
'Take your seat at my right hand,
till I have made your enemies your footstool.'
Yahweh will stretch out the sceptre of your power;
you will rule your foes all around you.
[]
Hanunu of Gaza, shown on his
knees in front of Tiglath-pileser III,
formally submits to the king of
Assyria. Stone relief from the wall
decoration of Tiglath-pileser's
palace at Kalhu. British Museum,
WA 118933; photo by Karen
Radner.

At your right hand, Lord,

he shatters kings when his anger breaks out.
He judges nations, heaping up corpses,
he breaks heads over the whole wide world.
From the Biblical Book of Psalms (110.1-2, 5-6)

A king of Israel was called the anointed one,

Mashiah [Messiah] in Hebrew, [Christos ] in the Greek translation.

Prophet Samuel anointing David to make him king. From the synagogue of Dura Europos, Syria, 3rd c. CE

God fathers the newly anointed king [Messiah]

and gives him the authority over the whole world
Princes plot together against Yahweh and his anointed,
Yahweh makes a mockery of them
In his rage he strikes them with terror. [He said:]
I myself have anointed my king on Zion my holy mountain
You are my son, today have I fathered you.
Ask of me, and I shall give you the nations as your birthright,
the whole wide world as your possession.
With an iron sceptre you will break them,
shatter them like so many pots.
So now, you kings, be submissive to Yahweh;
with trembling kiss his feet.
From the Biblical Book of Psalms (2. 2, 4-9)

Yahweh gives superiority to his people, Israel,

over other peoples (nations)
Clap your hands, all peoples, acclaim God with shouts of joy.
For Yahweh is awesome Elyon [the Overlord of the divine world],
and the great king over all the earth.
He brings peoples under our yoke
and nations under our feet.
God reigns over the nations, seated on his holy throne.
The leaders of the nations rally to the people of the God of Abraham.
The shields of the earth [i.e. the nations tribal gods] belong to God,
who is exalted on high.
From the Biblical Book of Psalms (47. 1-4, 8-9), prob. 10 c. BC

Enemies to conquer
and subdue: the
nations

the God of Israel

The King, the Son of Yahweh,

the Annointed One

We, the privileged People

of Yahweh

Enemies to subdue:
the nations

Emperor Basil II
(r. 9761025)

THE BIBLICAL PARADIGM

IN BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Genius of emperor
Domitian with the divine
attributes, aegis (the
skin with the head of a
Gorgon) and the horn
of plenty. 1-2 c. AD

According to the original Christian belief Jesus of

Nazareth was in fact the Anointed One (Khristos,
the Christ) of Israel, its ultimate King.
The collective body of Christians, ecclesia, the
Church, was supposed to be the new Israel. Its
constitutive principle was faith in Jesus Christ as the
divine Lord who is given full authority to rule the
heavens and the earth.
The (pagan) Roman Emperor did not belong to the
Church and his authority was recognised by
Christians only if it did not contradict their faith. That
was contrary to the imperial state religion that
prescribed to treat the Emperor as a divine figure.

After the Emperor became Christian and Christianity

became the religion of the Roman empire the Biblical
paradigm of the sacred Leader was reinterpreted in
the new context now including Christ.
Christ has become the Ruler of Cosmos combining
both human and divine nature in his Person.
He is also Pantocrator the "Ruler of All" This title
means that God actually d o e s everything (as
opposed to God c a n d o everything).

Christ the Pantocrator. The asymmetry of the face points to the human
and divine nature in his person

6th c. From Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai

If Christ is the Pantocrator who actually r u l e s t h e u n i v e r s e then

the authority of the Emperor could only be delegated by him.
Emperor Nicephorus III and Empress Maria of Alania. 1074-81, Bibliothque nationale de France.

Enemies to conquer
and subdue:
heretics, infidels

Pantocrator Christ,
divine by nature,
The Ruler of the
Universe

The Emperor, divine by grace,

The ruler of the world

We, the Christian people,

The Orthodox Church

Enemies to subdue:
heretics, infidels

Christianity reaches
Slavic people

Christianity reaches the

Slavic people
In 862 Emperor Michael III
sent missionaries to
evangelize his Slavic
subjects. Cyril, with his
brother Methodius, got
the task of translating the
Bible and the liturgy into
the language now known
as Old Church Slavonic.
He had to begin by
inventing the alphabet for
Slavonic languages.

The availability of the Christian literature in the vernacular turned out to be a mixed
blessing. The texts for translations were chosen normally from the libraries of the
Greek monasteries, which did not have a profane literature. The rich libraries of
Constantinople were hardly known to the Russians. The circle of available
literature was therefore limited: more than half of all known Russian manuscripts
are Scriptural or liturgical texts. That may explain the absence of rational scientific
investigation in theology almost up to the 19th century. Russia, in fact, did not
receive together with Greek Christianity the classical culture of Greece (Fedotov,
pp. 38 39). This cultural accident made the key texts of Christianity immediately
available to even simple people without any sophisticated interpretations.

For this reason liturgy and not

teaching became the centre of
Russian Christianity. Jesus was
known primarily as the Lord of
common worship, the Pantocrator,
the Monarch of the heavenly court
surrounded by angels and saints,
his courtiers. His monarchical
heavenly glory overshadows his
sufferings which remain
peripheral and are interpreted in
the abstract way.
Pantocrator from the St Sophia
Cathedral, Kiev, 11 c.

The decline of Byzantine empire led to the quest for

independence in Moskovy
From the letter of Patriarch of
Constantinople to Grand Duke of
Moskovy Vasily I (1393)
My son, you are wrong in saying we
have a church, but not an emperor.
It is not possible for Christians to have a
church (ecclesia) and not to have an
empire (basileia). Church and empire
have a great unity and community; nor is
it possible for them to be separated from
one another.

The opposition of West/East (incl. Russia) emerges.

Council of Florence 1438-1445
The Council of Florence
successfully negotiated
reunification of the Eastern
Churches with the Church of
Rome. A promise of the
Western military assistance
to Byzantium against the
Ottoman Turks was given
(and hardly materialized).

Grand Duke Vasily II of

Moscow rejected the result
of the Council of Florence,
and convened the local
bishops who pronounced
the Council heretical and
declared independence
from their mother Church ,
Constantinople which now
fell under the rule of
heretics.

After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the end of the Byzantine
Empire it was obvious to Byzantine theologians together with their
Russian followers that Orthodox Christianity was deficient without an
Orthodox Emperor, , the centre of the Orthodox world.
By 1500s Russia remained the only significant Orthodox country in the
world that remained politically independent.

In 1480 Grand Duke Ivan III ended Moscows

allegiance to the Gold Horde.

By 1500s
- The Western Christianity (the first Rome)
fell into the Catholic heresy
but Moscow Dukedom stood fast in its
traditional Orthodox faith.
- Constantinople (the second Rome) fell to
the Turks (Muslims)
but Moscow Dukedom liberated itself from
the Tatars (Muslims).
Moscow Dukedom remained the only
politically independent Orthodox country in
the world.

All Christian tsardoms are

now reduced to your
tsardom, you are the only
tsar of Christians in the
whole world... Two Romes
have fallen, the third one
stands firm, the fourth one
will never be.
Monk Filofej, writing to Grand
Duke Vasily III of Moskovy in
1511.

Ivan IV The Terrible (1530-1584) was enthroned as tsar,

the successor to the Byzantine Emperor
By choosing to be born during
his reign Christ glorified Cesar
August and extended his reign
over Rome onto the whole
universe...
Ivan IV, from a letter to Prince Polubesnkij

Ivan IV The Terrible (1530-1584) was

enthroned as tsar, the successor to the
Byzantine Emperor

During the inauguration ritual

(1547) the sacrament of
confirmation was administered to
the tsar for the second time. That
turned the tsar into a person with a
unique status. He received a
special charisma of power and
could also exercise certain
sacramental rights reserved for
ordained priests only.
In Russia that charisma was
understood as a sacred gift of
Christs kingship. The monarch
became the Christ of today, the
successor of Christ the
Pantocrator, the living image of
God.

Enemies to conquer:
heretics (Rome),
infidels (Muslims)

Pantocrator Christ,
The Ruler of the
Universe

The Russian Tsar,

the Christ of today

We, the new People of God,

Orthodox Christians

Peter the Great, the Russian Emperor , is called Christ

After Peter the Great had

won the battle of Poltava,
defeating the Swedish army
a special liturgical feast was
established (1709).

Peter the Great, the Russian Emperor, is called Christ in

the service on the anniversary of the battle of Poltava.
The Lord showed us his mercy on
the fields of Poltava
when He came from above and
defeated our strong enemies.
He showed mercy to his Christ,
Peter,
and with the Cross He protected his
own dwelling
entrusted to Peter.
Later Catherine the Great, The
Empress, also was called Christ in
correspondence.

Enemies to conquer:
those who threaten
the Empire

Jesus Christ,
Pantocrator

The Russian Emperor,

the Christ of today

Enemies to conquer:

We, the new People of God, those who threaten

the People of Russia
the Empire

Religion in the Soviet Union

Comrade Lenin is
cleansing the planet
from filth

In 1931 the main Moscow church of Christ the Saviour was destroyed.

By 1940 very few churches in the USSR remained open and large
number of clergy were imprisoned.
25 regions of the Russian
Federation did not have
churches open for worship,
the rest 20 regions have no
more than 5 opened churches
each. In Ukraine 6 regions did
not have opened churches and
three regions had one each.
Since 1926 the Church the
Patriarchal See of Moscow
remained vacant .

When the war with Hitler began in 1941 the church in the occupied
territories often collaborated with the Nazi occupants.

Metropolitan of Belorus Panteleimon (Rozhnovskij) in the company of

senior army officers and officials of the Nazi party.
- (. 625, .1, . 7)

In 1943 Stalin invited the key bishops of the Russian Orthodox

Church to Kremlin and offered the Church a new status. Churches
were opened, most of the clergy were released from Gulag, and
the Patriarch of Moscow was finally elected.

The Patriarch Alexis calls Stalin God-chosen Leader

God placed at the head of our

country a genius Leader chosen
by Him, Joseph Stalin, who had
been leading our Motherland
until now and who would lead it
to the unprecedented glory in the
future. Patriarch Alexis, 12 May 1945.

Holy Martyr Joseph Stalin

God-given Leader of the Russian People,
when they had fallen into lawlessness,
he received his power and authority from above,
like the new Joseph the Wise.
He kept the true faith in his innermost being,
he protected the Orthodox Realm
from Jewish destruction
and glorified it in the whole world.
He slayed its enemies with his sword
and ruled the nations with the iron sceptre.
May your fiery spirit rise now
together with God-appointed tsars
and victorious Archangels.
By the Power of God
destroy the godless oppression
so that our souls be saved.

Enemies to conquer:
those who threaten
the USSR

The God-appointed Leader

Enemies to conquer:

We, the new People of God, those who threaten

the People of Russia
the USSR

1917

1991

The End of the Soviet Union (1991)

The Soviet and the post-Soviet culture formed a bizarre hybrid.

Hero, Leader, God by Alexander Kosolapov (2007)

Lenin

Micky Mouse

Jesus

Democratically elected leader

No enemies!

No enemies!

We, the free People of Russia

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is built anew (opened 2000)

President Putin and Patriarch Kirill

The increasing influence of the Church and its close ties with
the state were severely criticised by the opposition to the
regime. The punk-rock group Pussy Riot planned an act of
protest, punk prayer service, in the main church of the
country, The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. They hoped
that the scandalous character of their demonstration would
ignite mass protests against both Putin and the Patriarch.

Pussy Riot in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (2012)

Pussy Riot in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (2012)

Virgin Mary, Mother of God, banish Putin

Banish Putin, Banish Putin!
Congregations genuflect
Black robes brag, golden epaulettes
Freedom's phantom's gone to heaven
Gay Pride's chained and in detention
The head of the KGB, their chief saint
Leads protesters to prison under escort
Don't upset His Saintship, ladies
Stick to making love and babies
Crap, crap, this godliness crap!
Crap, crap, this holiness crap!

Virgin Mary, Mother of God

Become a feminist, we pray thee
Become a feminist, we pray thee
Bless our festering bastard-boss
Let black cars parade the Cross
The Missionary's in class for cash
Meet him there, and pay his stash
Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin
Better believe in God, you vermin!
Fight for rights, forget the rite
Join our protest, Holy Virgin

Pussy Riot were convicted to two years in prison for hooliganism.

They were released through amnesty after 21 months.

The reaction to the act of Pussy Riot

Opinion polls showed that
42% believed Pussy Riot insulted the Orthodox Church
29% saw it as a case of general hooliganism
19% saw it as a political protest against Putin.
86% favoured some form of punishment, ranging from prison to
forced labour or fines
5% said they should not have been punished
(1600 respondents surveyed in 45 cities nationwide)

Contrary to their expectations the act of Pussy Riot caused the

unprecedented consolidation of the people around the Church
even if only few practice religion regularly in Russia.

22 April 2012 about 65,000 people gathered by the Cathedral of Christ

the Saviour asking in prayer to protect the holiness and reputation of
the Church from blasphemy and sacrilege.

Anti-pussying in Krasnodar. The posters read: No to sacrilege,

Hands off from our sanctuaries, We are for purity of souls

In the aftermath of Pussy Riot Putins popularity reached 80%

Tanya Arkhipova is a member of Putins fans club

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/feb/27/vladimir-putin-teenage-fan-club-russia-president-young-devotees-in-pictures

Madonna supporting Pussy Riot at the

European show at the Stade Charles
Ehrmann in Nice (2012)

The support of Pussy Riot by

the West convinced many in
Russia that the group was
serving the interests of Russias
enemies.
It also demonstrated the radical
difference between Russia and
the West in terms of their value
systems.
The West was considered as an
immoral, godless society
promoting homosexuality,
feminism and sacrilege contrary
to the Christian values of the
Russian people.

The Patriarch articulates the cultural opposition to the West

It is quite obvious that the
Western civilization, the
modern Western culture, have
lost their connection to religion
and the Western world can no
longer be called Christian
world. In practice the values of
religion are absent in the public
space. The laws are introduced
that contradict Gods
commandments and the
traditional morality.
Patriarch Kirill speaking to President
Mehmet Grmez of the Directorate
General for Religious Affairs (Turkey), 11
Dec 2014

Enemies: the godless

West and its agents
inside

Enemies: the godless

West and its agents
inside

The Leader elected by the

people and blessed by God

We, the new People of God,

the People of Russia

Cultural Values: Russia in

comparison to other countries
The World Values Survey (WVS) is a
global research project that
explores peoples values and beliefs,
how they change over time and
what social and political impact they
have. It is carried out by a
worldwide network of social
scientists who, since 1981, have
conducted representative national
surveys in almost 100 countries.
The results are presented as
cultural maps of the world

Traditional vs. Secular-Rational Values

TRADITIONAL VALUES EMPHASIZE THE FOLLOWING:

God is very important in respondents life
It is more important for a child to learn obedience and
religious faith than independence and determination.
Abortion is never justifiable
Respondent has strong sense of national pride
Respondent favours more respect for authority
(SECULAR-RATIONAL VALUES EMPHASIZE THE
OPPOSITE)

Survival vs. Self-Expression Values

SURVIVAL VALUES EMPHASIZE THE FOLLOWING:
Respondent gives priority to economic and physical
security over self-expression and quality-of-life
Respondent describes self as not very happy
Respondent has not signed and would not sign a
petition.
Homosexuality is never justifiable
You have to be very careful about trusting people
(SELF-EXPRESSION VALUES EMPHASIZE THE
OPPOSITE)

Russia
1.0

Russia -1.8

Russia
0.5
(1996: 1.0)

Russia -1.4 (1996: -1.8)

Russia
0.5
(2008: 0.5)

Russia -1.25 (2008: -1.4)

A world in flames
As late as 2008, Fareed Zakaria declared in his much-cited book, The Post-American
World, that the world is going Americas way, with countries becoming more open,
market-friendly and democratic.
One event after another in recent months has cruelly exposed such facile narratives.
China, though market-friendly, looks further from democracy than before. The
experiment with free-market capitalism in Russia has entrenched a kleptocratic regime
with a messianic belief in Russian supremacism. Authoritarian leaders, anti-democratic
backlashes and right-wing extremism define the politics of even such ostensibly
democratic countries as India, Israel, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey.
Herzen, a believer in cultural pluralism, asked a question that rarely occurs to todays
westernisers: Why should a nation that has developed in its own way, under
completely different conditions from those of the west European states, with different
elements in its life, live through the European past when it knows perfectly well what
that past leads to?
Pankaj Mishra. The western model is broken. Guardian, 14 October 2014
Pankaj Mishras latest book is From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of
Asia.