Amelie Lanier, The Russian Orthodoxy
Beitræge

The Cyrillic script and the Old Church Slavonic language

 
2005

The roots of the Russian orthodoxy lie outside Russia, in the Balkans. The Cyrillic Script wasn’t created by Cyril, and Cyril’s original name was Konstantin. The ”Apostles of the Slavs“ , the brothers Cyril and Method (Michael) came from Thessalonica, a town then on the borderline between Slavs (...)


The beginnings of the Russian church

 
2005

Christianity came to the Russians through Kiev, perhaps the oldest city of Europe, ”the mother of all cities“ . The ”Baptism of the Rus“ , that is the mass conversion to Christianity by the inhabitants of the first Russian empire, the Kievian Rus, is linked to the name of the Kievian Grand Duke (...)


State and Church

 
2005

For someone not experienced in religious affairs, more so for an atheist, it is very difficult to understand the differences between the Orthodox and the Roman church, the antagonism and even at times bitter infighting between them. It is evident that mostly it has been a struggle for power and (...)


Greeks and Russians

 
2005

When the Kievian Rus converted to Christianity Constantinople won a powerful ally. This alliance strengthened the Byzantine Empire and helped it survive for some more centuries by pacifying its northern border. To the Rus it gave unity and, for the first time, a real identity. Till then they (...)


The Russian Orthodox cross

 
2005

The origins of the Russian Orthodox Church’s symbol, that is the Cross that today is the Russian orthodox church’s cross, are difficult to trace. First, the Russian Orthodox cross doesn’t stem from Byzantium but from Rome. While the Greek cross is even both in vertical and in horizontal extension, (...)


The Icons

 
2005

The Russian art of icon painting has survived from the medieval ecclesiastic art. It still uses the technique established in the Byzantine Empire. Wooden boards are prepared with a grounding. The paint that is used is tempera paint, based on raw eggs. Tempera is a mixture of oil, water, glue (...)


The “Raskol”

 
2005

The strive for unity both by worldly and ecclesiastical powers led to the big schism within the Russian orthodox church, the ’Raskol’ in 1652. After Russia had managed its big crisis in the Times of Turmoil which almost led to its decomposition, and had elected and inthroned a new tsar, the (...)