244 ANDREW J. SHIPMAN MEMORIAL 



is very devout; (2) Feodocei (Theodosians), who founded 

 hospitals and laid emphasis on good works; (3) Besbrachniki 

 (free lovers), who repudiated marriage, somewhat like the 

 Oneida community in New York; (4) Stranniki (wander- 

 ers), a peripatetic sect, who went over the country, declaring 

 their doctrines; (5) Molchalniki (mutes), who seldom spoke, 

 believing evil came through the tongue and idle conversation ; 

 and (6) Niemoliaki (non-praying), who taught that as God 

 knows all things it is useless to pray to Him, as He knows 

 what one needs. These various divisions of the Priestless 

 are again divided into smaller ones, like many of the strange 

 sects in England and America, so that it is almost impossible 

 to follow them. Often they indulge in the wildest immorality, 

 justifying it under the cover of some distorted text of Scrip- 

 ture or some phrase of the ancient Church service. 



II. — Sectarians 



The various bodies which make up the Sektanstvo have 

 seceded from the national Russian Church quite independently 

 of the schism at the time of Nikon and the reform in the 

 Church books. They correspond more closely with the vari- 

 ous sects arising from Protestantism, and are founded upon 

 some distorted idea of the Church, or a rule of life or doc- 

 trines of the Faith. Some of them are older than the schism, 

 but most of them are later in point of time. The principal 

 ones comprise between one and two millions and may be sub- 

 divided or classified as follows: (i) Khlysti (Flagellants), 

 who believe in severe penances, reject the Church, its sacra- 

 ments and usages. They are also called the Ludi Boshi, or 

 "God's People," and also the "Farmazoni" (Freemasons), on 

 account of the secret initiations they have. They hold secret 

 meetings in which they sing wild, stirring hymns, dress in 

 white, and jump, dance, or whirl, much like the negro revivals 

 in the Southern States. 



(2) Skoptsi (Eunuchs), who not only teach absolute celi- 

 bacy, but mutilate themselves so as to be sexless. They boast 

 that they are pure like the saints and walk untainted through 

 this world of sin, and take the literal view of Matt., xix, 12. 

 Women are also mutilated, particularly after they have borne 



