Molokan
The
Molokans () are a "Biblically-centered" sectarian religious movement, among Russian peasants (
serfs), who broke away from the
Russian Orthodox Church in the
1550s. Molokans denied the
Czar's
divine right to rule and rejected the
icons, Orthodox fasts,
military service, the eating of
unclean foods, and other practices, including water
baptism. They also rejected the traditional beliefs (held by
Catholic,
Protestant, and
Orthodox Christians) in the
Trinity, the veneration of
religious icons, worship in
cathedrals, the adherence toward saintly holidays, and the decisions of
Synods and
Ecumenical Councils.
During the reign of
Ivan the Terrible (1547-1584 A.D.), Matthew Simon Dalmatov, the first martyr of the Molokan faith, began to evangelize his family, his master, and local village members in and around the city of
Tambov. Dalmatov carried this sectarian belief into
Moscow, where a group of sojourners from northern Russia (near the Finnish border), which were
Mordvins, heard his message of spirit and truth and embraced it. Dalmatov was later martyred by Orthodox priests in a monastery prison by being placed upon a device in which two large wooden wheels with iron spikes would spin in opposite directions thereby pulling the individual's body apart from the inside out.
The name "Molokan" was used for the first time in the
1670s, in reference to the people who ignored the 200 fasting days, drinking
milk (
moloko = "milk" in Russian). Molokans themselves did not completely reject the name—even adding words like "drinking of the spiritual milk of
God" (according to I Peter 2:2, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation").
Heretics were punished in
Czarist Russia. Beatings, torture, kidnapping, imprisonment, banishment, dismembering, killing, and other forms of cruel punishment were inflicted upon these called "
Spiritual Christians". In the
1800s, the government's policy was to send the
heretics away from the center of the country into
Ukraine, central
Asia, and
Siberia. In 1833, there was a reported outpouring of the
Holy Spirit upon a number of Molokans in the
Transcaucasus region. This created a
schism between
Constants and the newly evolved
Jumpers and Leapers. With what the Molokans believed to be an additional manifestation of the Holy Spirit, this new smaller sect began a revival with intense zeal and reported miracles that purportedly rivaled that of Christ's Apostles. Condemnation from the Constant sect lead to betrayals and imprisonment for many of the Jumpers and Leapers, now called
New Israelites by their anointed leader
Maxim Rudometkin. The famous writer
Leo Tolstoy visited Russia's second most sacred religious site,
Solovetsky Monastery (near the White Sea), in 1869 where he found the prison conditions to be repulsive. After having spoken to
Maxim Rudometkin, Tolstoy found no basis for his 9+ year imprisonment, and so by favor of the
Grand Duke, had him reassigned closer to his home at the Sudzal Monastery prison where he remained another 9 years. From then on, Tolstoy grew fond of the Molokans and secretly conversed with many of them regarding Spiritual matters.
At the end of the 19th century, there were about 2,000,000 Molokans in Russia. Before World War I there was a well-known colony of Molokans that had been exiled to central Asia (an area long within Russian hegemony) living closely with Armenians, Lebanese and others at the foot of
Mt. Ararat in Kars,
Anatolia. As a 12 year old boy, Efim G. Klubnikin became known as a "seer", or prophet, depending on one's viewpoint. As a young boy, he was divinely inspired to Prophesy about a coming time that would be unbearable and the time to leave Russia is now. For "Soon the doors will close and leaving Russian would be impossible." He "foreknew" that when he would be an adult that the
Ottoman Turks were heading for Armenia and Ararat, and he was able to provide leadership in getting the Molokan community and others out of harm's way. Only about 2,000 Molokans (mostly of the Jumpers and Leapers Sect) left for the
United States and settled in the
Los Angeles area and some other parts of the West Coast and Canada. The Klubnikins continued to be involved in cattle and groceries, as they probably had done in the area of Tambov prior to exile. Others received a land grant from the
Mexican government and settled in the
Guadalupe Valley in
Baja California,
Mexico. An even smaller number of Constant Molokans fled Russia and settled mainly in the
San Francisco, California and
Sacramento, California. Presently there are about 20,000 people who "ethnically identify themselves as Molokans." There are also approximately 200 Molokan churches, 150 of them in Russia. Approximately 25,000 Molokans reside in the
United States, of which only about 5,000 "ethnically identify themselves as Molokans;" most of which, reside in
California,
Arizona,
Oregon,
Washington, and
Wyoming. Molokans can be found in
Russia,
Turkey,
Mexico,
Armenia,
Brazil,
Azerbaijan,
Australia,
Uruguay,
Mongolia, northwest
China, and in the
United States. Not long ago the
Smithsonian Folklife Festival featured Molokans as one of their peoples.
Omitted Facts: Unlike their Doukhobor neighbors, Molokans were actually ostracized from Russian society in 1400's for their refusal to bear arms and for their refusal to assist in any form of military service. Armenian Molokan converts attribute their roots to the missionary work of
Efim G. Klubnikin with the Shakarian family, as detailed in the book, "
The Happiest People on Earth" by Demos Shakarian.
In 1914, a Molokan prophetess proclaimed the coming of a great war (WWI). In service unto God, they proclaimed this coming war on the front steps of the Phoenix City Hall. Misunderstood and mocked, most people ignored their plea. When World War I finally arrived, they refused to register for the draft and as a result, many were jailed, and a handful were placed in prison and treated inhumanly by American soldiers...sadly, one died during confinement.
Molokans adhere to the Old Testament
kosher Food Laws and do not eat pork, shellfish, or other "unclean" foods. They also do not drink
alcohol, smoke, take drugs, gamble, steal, file lawsuits, serve on juries, or partake in pornography. Church services are conducted in the
Russian language, men and women sit apart, and services are usually quite active--comparable to
Pentacostal activities. Molokan families encourage
endogamy in order to maintain a clean, untainted genealogy.
*
Christian anarchism*
Peace church*
List of pacifist faiths*
Simple living*
Molokan Home Page*
Origin and Meaning of Molokan Surnames*
Mexico's Russian Colony*
Russians in Mexico*
Molokans Living in Flats*
Molokan Church Services
