Filippians or Philippians () was a ''soglasiye'' (
confession
A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of people – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that ...
, literally, "agreement") of the
Bespopovtsy
Bespopovtsy ( rus, беспоповцы, p=bʲɪspɐˈpoftsɨ, t=priestless ones), often called Priestless Old Believers in English, are one of the two major groups of Old Believers. Unlike the Popovtsy ("priested"), the Bespopovtsy reject pries ...
(the "priestless") strain of
Old Believers
Old Believers or Old Ritualists ( Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...
. They detached themselves from
Pomortsy
The Pomorian Old Orthodox Church (), also known as the Pomorian Church, Danilovtsy, Danilov's confession, or simply as Pomorians, is a branch of the priestless faction of the Old Believers, born of a schism within the Russian Orthodox Church at th ...
under the leadership of a "teacher" Filipp at the beginning of the 18th century. Because of the repressions of the government, they started practicing
self-immolation
Self-immolation is the act of setting oneself on fire. It is mostly done for political or religious reasons, often as a form of protest or in acts of martyrdom, and known for its disturbing and violent nature.
Etymology
The English word ' ...
as a means for the "preservation of the faith". In the second half of the 18th century, their
fanaticism
Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm. The political theorist Zachary R. Goldsmith provides a "cluster account" of the concept of fanaticism, identifying ten main attributes that, in various com ...
decreased, and several other confessions were spun off:
Aaronovtsy (Aaron's Confession),
Shepherd's Confession (пастухово согласие), and many others.
Old Believer movement
Christian denominations established in the 18th century
{{Orthodoxy-stub