DOMINANT CHURCH AND OLD BELIEVERS IN THE 18-EARLY 20 CENTURY: THE PROBLEM OF DEMARCATION (BASED ON OLONETSKAYA DIOCESE)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the accounting system of the Old Believers, which existed in the Russian North in XVIII-early XX century. Created for the purpose of the repressive policy of the state, methods to identify the Old Believers were far from perfect. In reality existed, but remained out of reach for the statistics specific group of believers who are committed as the Old Believers, and the dominant church. On the one hand, often remain fixed in the cases of individuals including Old Believers are not committed to the ancient piety. On the other hand, corruption is allowed to avoid recording the number of conservatives in those who wish to evade the government's account. The author concludes that clear criteria for the identification of the Old Believers, in principle, could not be created. Under the name of «Old Believers» act, opposed the government and supported by the traditional foundations the various degrees of radical religious movements.