JesusA (imported) wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2001 4:32 pm Skoptsy book review, pt. 1<p>Castration and the Heavenly Kingdom, by Laura Engelstein. Cornell University Press, 1999. xviii,283 pp. <p>The end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th were marked by strong religious fervor and by the creation or expansion of new versions of Christianity in both the United States and Russia. <p>In the United States, there were revival meetings and new revelations leading up to and following the war for independence. There was an attempt to find the literal meaning of the Bible within the newly created freedom of faith from state control provided the First Amendment. In Russia, there was reaction to the rigidity of the Orthodox faith through new revelations and a return to the literal word of the Bible. In the U.S., this was the time of foundation and spread of the Mormons, the rapid spread of the Baptists (who were no longer oppressed by the official churches of the colonies), and the flourishing of a great many smaller groups such as the Shakers. In Russia, it was a time for the flourishing of the Dukhobors, Baptists, Molokans, Skoptsy, and many others. <p>Many of these groups, such as the Shakers and the Skoptsy, renounced meat, alcohol, tobacco, profanity, and all or most sexual activity. Many of them performed ecstatic worship in separate groups of men and women with chanting and clapping. They were able to "get drunk, without drinking." All set themselves apart from the established churches of their lands. <p>Laura Engelstein has attempted to pull together a political history of the Skoptsy as told both by them and by their Orthodox, and later Communist, oppressors. A great deal of attention is paid to the life and writings of Nikifor Latyshev (1863-1939), a Skoptsy who was castrated at the age of twelve by his father. Less attention is paid to Skoptsy theology or to their other religious practices. A few interesting comparisons are made with the Shakers, who were contemporary in origin and shared many traits, including asceticism and a horror of procreation. <p>In both countries, the religious fervor lead to a rereading of the basic text of Christianity, in the United States with an emphasis on the Old Testament, and in Russia with an emphasis on the New.

JesusA (imported) wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2001 4:32 pm Skoptsy book review, pt. 1<p>Castration and the Heavenly Kingdom, by Laura Engelstein. Cornell University Press, 1999. xviii,283 pp. <p>The end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th were marked by strong religious fervor and by the creation or expansion of new versions of Christianity in both the United States and Russia. <p>In the United States, there were revival meetings and new revelations leading up to and following the war for independence. There was an attempt to find the literal meaning of the Bible within the newly created freedom of faith from state control provided the First Amendment. In Russia, there was reaction to the rigidity of the Orthodox faith through new revelations and a return to the literal word of the Bible. In the U.S., this was the time of foundation and spread of the Mormons, the rapid spread of the Baptists (who were no longer oppressed by the official churches of the colonies), and the flourishing of a great many smaller groups such as the Shakers. In Russia, it was a time for the flourishing of the Dukhobors, Baptists, Molokans, Skoptsy, and many others. <p>Many of these groups, such as the Shakers and the Skoptsy, renounced meat, alcohol, tobacco, profanity, and all or most sexual activity. Many of them performed ecstatic worship in separate groups of men and women with chanting and clapping. They were able to "get drunk, without drinking." All set themselves apart from the established churches of their lands. <p>Laura Engelstein has attempted to pull together a political history of the Skoptsy as told both by them and by their Orthodox, and later Communist, oppressors. A great deal of attention is paid to the life and writings of Nikifor Latyshev (1863-1939), a Skoptsy who was castrated at the age of twelve by his father. Less attention is paid to Skoptsy theology or to their other religious practices. A few interesting comparisons are made with the Shakers, who were contemporary in origin and shared many traits, including asceticism and a horror of procreation. <p>In both countries, the religious fervor lead to a rereading of the basic text of Christianity, in the United States with an emphasis on the Old Testament, and in Russia with an emphasis on the New.

JesusA (imported) wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2001 4:32 pm Skoptsy book review, pt. 1<p>Castration and the Heavenly Kingdom, by Laura Engelstein. Cornell University Press, 1999. xviii,283 pp. <p>The end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th were marked by strong religious fervor and by the creation or expansion of new versions of Christianity in both the United States and Russia. <p>In the United States, there were revival meetings and new revelations leading up to and following the war for independence. There was an attempt to find the literal meaning of the Bible within the newly created freedom of faith from state control provided the First Amendment. In Russia, there was reaction to the rigidity of the Orthodox faith through new revelations and a return to the literal word of the Bible. In the U.S., this was the time of foundation and spread of the Mormons, the rapid spread of the Baptists (who were no longer oppressed by the official churches of the colonies), and the flourishing of a great many smaller groups such as the Shakers. In Russia, it was a time for the flourishing of the Dukhobors, Baptists, Molokans, Skoptsy, and many others. <p>Many of these groups, such as the Shakers and the Skoptsy, renounced meat, alcohol, tobacco, profanity, and all or most sexual activity. Many of them performed ecstatic worship in separate groups of men and women with chanting and clapping. They were able to "get drunk, without drinking." All set themselves apart from the established churches of their lands. <p>Laura Engelstein has attempted to pull together a political history of the Skoptsy as told both by them and by their Orthodox, and later Communist, oppressors. A great deal of attention is paid to the life and writings of Nikifor Latyshev (1863-1939), a Skoptsy who was castrated at the age of twelve by his father. Less attention is paid to Skoptsy theology or to their other religious practices. A few interesting comparisons are made with the Shakers, who were contemporary in origin and shared many traits, including asceticism and a horror of procreation. <p>In both countries, the religious fervor lead to a rereading of the basic text of Christianity, in the United States with an emphasis on the Old Testament, and in Russia with an emphasis on the New.

JesusA (imported) wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2001 4:32 pm Skoptsy book review, pt. 1<p>Castration and the Heavenly Kingdom, by Laura Engelstein. Cornell University Press, 1999. xviii,283 pp. <p>The end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th were marked by strong religious fervor and by the creation or expansion of new versions of Christianity in both the United States and Russia. <p>In the United States, there were revival meetings and new revelations leading up to and following the war for independence. There was an attempt to find the literal meaning of the Bible within the newly created freedom of faith from state control provided the First Amendment. In Russia, there was reaction to the rigidity of the Orthodox faith through new revelations and a return to the literal word of the Bible. In the U.S., this was the time of foundation and spread of the Mormons, the rapid spread of the Baptists (who were no longer oppressed by the official churches of the colonies), and the flourishing of a great many smaller groups such as the Shakers. In Russia, it was a time for the flourishing of the Dukhobors, Baptists, Molokans, Skoptsy, and many others. <p>Many of these groups, such as the Shakers and the Skoptsy, renounced meat, alcohol, tobacco, profanity, and all or most sexual activity. Many of them performed ecstatic worship in separate groups of men and women with chanting and clapping. They were able to "get drunk, without drinking." All set themselves apart from the established churches of their lands. <p>Laura Engelstein has attempted to pull together a political history of the Skoptsy as told both by them and by their Orthodox, and later Communist, oppressors. A great deal of attention is paid to the life and writings of Nikifor Latyshev (1863-1939), a Skoptsy who was castrated at the age of twelve by his father. Less attention is paid to Skoptsy theology or to their other religious practices. A few interesting comparisons are made with the Shakers, who were contemporary in origin and shared many traits, including asceticism and a horror of procreation. <p>In both countries, the religious fervor lead to a rereading of the basic text of Christianity, in the United States with an emphasis on the Old Testament, and in Russia with an emphasis on the New.