The Secularization of the Orthodox Church versus the Russian Revolution

Abstract

The author explores the genesis of Russian revolutions from the standpoint of religious studies. He discusses the issue of secularization of the Orthodox Church. He shows that the unique religious group - the Christianity imbued with Gnostic and Manichaean elements - has survived the process. The article explores the influence of the Eastern Slavs’ theological, cosmological, anthropological and eschatological dualism on the course of revolution carried out under Promethean slogans. It explains the devastating nature of the October Revolution and the rule of terror on the basis of the idea of anti-world dualism - the idea which actively shaped the outlook of the Russian world.