Molokane

The Molokans (Russian for "dairy-eater") are a Russian Christian sect that evolved from Eastern Orthodoxy in the East Slavic lands. Their traditions, especially dairy consumption during Christian fasts, did not conform to those of the Russian Orthodox Church so they were regarded as heretics. Members identify themselves as Spiritual Christians. Specific beliefs and practices varied sharply among the various sects of Molokans. Some built chapels for worship, kept the sacraments, and revered saints and icons. Others, such as the iconoclastic Ikonobortsy, discarded orthodoxy in favor of an individual approach to scripture. In general, they rejected the institutionalized formalism of Orthodoxy in an attempt to reestablish a form of Christianity patterned on its presumed original form by emphasizing spirituality and spiritual practices. The Molokans have been compared to Protestants because they reject an Orthodox priesthood and the veneration of icons, have their own presbyters, use the Bible as their primary guidebook, and interpret the sacraments spiritually, rather than literally. There are a few hundred fasting days, especially the Lenten fast, when drinking milk was prohibited by the Orthodox church. One theory holds that drinking milk during these fasts was first practiced by the Nestorian Church in the 11th century to accommodate the conversion of some 200,000 Turkic Christians, who lived on meat and milk, to Nestorian Christianity. It was decreed that the converts should abstain from meat eating on fast days, and rather than drinking soured (fermented) milk they should consume sweet (fresh) milk while fasting. Arriving in the Rus' lands with the 13th century Mongolian invasion of Batu and Möngke, the practice was adopted by other Christian pastoral communities on the Eurasian plains. Another theory posits that between 1118-1120 CE, King David the IV converted and assimilated 40,000 Cuman-Kipchak tribal families because he was at war with the Muslim Seljuk Turks to the South and wanted to reform his army. Each Kipchak family was required to provide one soldier with a horse and weapons. Milk consumption during fast days was, presumably, permitted by David, the most successful Georgian ruler in history. Judaizers preceded the modern day Molokans. They are sometimes also called Molokans, they constituted an independent movement. Their leader was tortured to death in a monastery prison. The Molokans known today by that name split off in the late 18th century from the Doukhobors (Russian pacifists who similarly rejected orthodox liturgy and the priesthood) because they thought that the Doukhobors had neglected the Bible, believing instead that God places the Word directly in their hearts. The Molokans preferred to base their practices on the written Bible. The founder of the Molokans, Semyon Matveevich Uklein (1733-1809), was a son-in-law of the Doukhobor leader Ilarion Poberokhin (1720-1792). Because of the intervention of Count Nikolay Zubov in 1795, Molokans were tolerated during the long reign of Catherine the Great but constrained by strict rules intended to curtail the growth of the Molokan community growth. Those who ignored the restrictions were punished for heresy. Prohibited from winning converts, the Molokans were constrained to choose marriage partners within the confines of their subgroup, an accommodation that enchances the odds of transmitting genetic disorders to the next generation.