EUGENE CLAY (Chicago, IL, U.S.A.) The Theological Origins of the Christ-Faith [Khristovshchina]* By the end of the seventeenth century, a mysterious religious movement had arisen on the Upper Volga and established itself in Moscow. The adepts of this religion, which they called the khristovshchina or the khristovoverie' (both terms can be translated "the faith of Christ" or "Christ-Faith") consci- entiously attended the services of the official Orthodox church. However, they also held their own clandestine assemblies on the eve of feast days. There, they engaged in an ecstatic form of worship which included extended periods of chanting the Jesus prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner) and singing. Believing that they could invoke the Spirit of God to descend upon them through their prayers, they awaited the Spirit to take possession of their prophets who, under God's power, danced and prophesied. Women, as well as men, occupied an honored place in the movement as teachers and prophetesses. Controlled by the Holy Spirit, the leaders in the Christ-Faith were believed to be divinely inspired or even divine; some of them claimed to be "like Christ" and perhaps even his latest incarnation. Moreover, they demanded a strict ascetic and moral life from their followers who were to abstain from sex, alcohol, sin and swearing. Despite their pecu- liarities, the members of the Christ-Faith were, to all appearances, perfectly Orthodox; and, although they refused to attend weddings and baptisms, they regularly confessed to and received communion from official Russian Or- thodox priests.2 *I would like to thank Jeffrey Brooks and Agn6s Kefeli for their helpful comments on this article. This research was assisted by grants from the International Research and Ex- changes Board, the Joint Committee on Soviet Studies of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies with funds provided by the De- partment of State. 1. "Delo o bogoprotivnykh sborishchakh i deistviiakh," ed. l[larion] Chistovich, Chtteiia v Imperatorskom obshchtstve istorii i drevnostei rossiiskikh pri Moskovskom mivtrsitttt (1887), bk. 2, sec. 1, p. 6 [hereafter cited as ChOIDR]; Aleksandr Il'ich Klibanov, The History of Religious Sectarianism in Russia (1860s-1917), tr. Ethel Dunn, ed. Stephen Dunn (New York and London: Pergamon Press, 1982), 50; cf. V. V. Nechaev, "Dela sledstvennykh o raskol'nikakh komissii v XVIII veke," Opisanit dokurnentov i bu- mag khraniashchikhsia y moskovskom arkhive ministersva iuslitsii, 21 vols. (Moscow and St. Petersburg, 1869-1921), 2 (1887): 130, where the accused heretic Nikita Ryb- nikov called his beliefs "the Lord's faith" Gospodskaia vera]. 2. For an analysis of an early description of this religious movement and its cult, see J. Eugene Clay, "God's People in the Seventeenth Century: The Uglich Affair of 1717," Cahitrs du nwndt Russt tt Sovittiqut 26, no. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1985): 69-124.