Talk:Belokrinitskoe Soglasie

The Belokrinitskoe Soglasie being a heresy or sect?

Labelling a certain church or religious movement heretical is mostly a rather controversial thing to do. Some may think the teachings a church or movement holds are a heresy, some others may not. Who has got the unquestionable authority to decide on what is a heresy and what isn't? It's obvious that one is dealing with a very delicate matter.

I for one am opposed to categories having anything to do with heresies, because one is bound to make subjective and arguable evaluations with which others are bound to disagree. In fact, I think that such categories are irrelevant.

When it comes to the Old Believers of the Belokrinitskoe Soglasie, one should first aquire some more theological knowledge before starting labelling. At this moment, the Belokrinitskoe Soglasie is not treated as heretic (let alone as a sect!) by any one. This church is recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and by the Russian government.

I very much want to point out that a term like "heresy" is not of a historical, but of a theological nature. No one treats the theological postulates of the Belokrinitskoe Soglasie as heretical, neither is this church regarded a "sect" nowadays. So treating the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church as heretic or as a sect is not at all NPOV - to say the least. --Vasilij 18:34, 16 June 2006 (UTC)