The "Devious Ecumenist Church" and the "Church of the Harlot"

  
The following is excerpted from “The Epoch of Apostasy” by Fr. Boris Molchanov (ROCOR). It seems this material was printed, in slightly differing versions, in Harbin in 1938, Jordanville in 1960, and Chernigov in 1992. It has been kindly translated by Seraphim Larin.

"The characteristic approach of the "Devious Church" – which differs from that of the ancient heretical communities – will be to obscure in every possible way, whatever differences it has with the True Church, while gradually injecting its false teachings, into the vitals of the true Orthodox Teachings. In order to accomplish this it will use the most hypocritical means. Thus, it will be extremely difficult for the faithful to determine where the truth lies. It will be necessary to pay special attention to the Word of God and to the Holy Tradition of the Church. 

In conjunction with this “church of the devious”, another “church” will materialize, which may even not change the creed; yet resulting from the government’s persecution of religion, it will enter into a clandestine union with the theomachist authorities. By this some of its “church” activities will be legalized. As Saint John the Theologian writes: “And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy… And on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the earth… And when I saw her I marveled with great amazement”. (Rev. 17:3-6). And how could the Holy Foreseer not be amazed when instead of seeing the first Christian Church – instead of a “Woman clothed with the Sun”, instead of the “Pure Virgin” and “Christ’s Bride”, which ran away from the beast into the wilderness - (in order to save Herself from the persecuting authorities, by accepting a position of "illegality" in the catacombs) – but rather, the Holy Apostle foresaw – the “great harlot”, sitting on the beast (see Revelations 12:17-18). 

This woman sitting on the beast or the Church’s falling away from the “marital” union with Christ - while entering into an unlawful and adulterous union with Antichrist, or with his forerunners, is likened in the Holy Gospels to a violation of marital fidelity. Thus that part of the Church which has betrayed Christ in order to enter into a clandestine agreement with the Beast, is named "the Harlot" in the writings of the Holy Gospels. 

The appearance of the “Harlot Church” on the world stage can be seen as the fulfillment of the epoch of apostasy, which is manifested in the Antichrist’s world arena. Concerning the “Harlot Church”, there will be only one way out for the faithful. They will flee into the “wilderness” i.e. cross over into a covert and illegal situation, while making no attempts to secure their rights from the existing authorities. The Harlot Church will personally lead a merciless persecution against the remnants of the remaining faithful, who have preserved their fidelity to Christ’s Orthodox Church. 

At the beginning, the most expedient method of persecution, which will be applied against the remnant is slander. This will spread widely in society - with the aim of undermining their prestige and nullifying their benevolent influence. This will lead to false accusations being brought against them before the judicial and administrative institutions, thus creating grounds for punishment… “I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Rev. 17:6). 

During the epoch of the Antichrist all religions will unite or intermix into one religion - in order to worship the Man-god, thus there surely is occurring a preparation for Antichrist in our epoch of Apostasy. This is occurring through the gradual unification of all Christian Faiths into one “Devious Church”. At the same time, efforts will be applied to destroy Christ’s True Church. We can see all this in our time even. Today, the most horrific counterfeiting of the Church is being enacted by the presentation of an abstract Christianity. The majority, sadly, see Christ’s significance only in His Teachings. They forget that “Christ didn’t incarnate simply to inform people of some new truths. No, He came so as to establish a completely new life for humanity - in the Church. According to the teaching of the Creator Himself, the Church differs essentially from all other united societies” (Archbishop Hilarion Troitsky. “There is no Christianity without a Church”, pages 17-18). Our Lord Jesus Christ gave us not only His Teachings, but the essential grace-filled strength to fulfill them. The latter is communicated to the faithful only through the Holy Mysteries of the Church and by living our lives according to the Church’s decrees. God’s grace or the power of the Holy Spirit is what establishes God’s Kingdom in the heart of a man. Thus it is only in the Church, and not in some abstract Christianity, that the unity of mankind with God is established and supported, and in God we possess a close unity with one another. In speaking of the union of people, the Apostle Paul always speaks of the Holy Spirit as being the source of this unity which is preserved in the Church. “In this way, the Holy Spirit that dwells in the Church gives every member the power to become a new creation”. A churchless Christianity like: “Universal Christian student Society”, “Ecumenical Movement” and other different Christian sects – “all this is nothing but a debasement and distortion of Christ’s idea of the Church, which destroys...” ... “There is no Christianity, no Christ, no grace, no Truth, no life, no salvation – there is nothing without the Church, and all of this is present in the One Church” (Archbishop Hilarion Troitsky. Pages 64, 68). 

With the creation of the “Devious Church” which aims to unify all who claim to believe in Christ - based on some abstract Christianity, we also have the creation of a “Harlot Church” in the image of the Soviet Church, which has entered into a working union with the “Red Beast” which is bloated with the “names of blasphemy”. 

The Soviet Church is a sedulous servant of the theomachist Soviet government. It is totally under its domination and control, beginning with the top echelon and extending down to the lower levels. Thus, as pertaining to the persecution of the faith and the true Church, the responsibility for all the criminal acts of the Soviet authority falls on the Moscow Patriarchate - for it has voluntary participated in the criminal activities of this authority. 

Concerning the Moscow Patriarchate: 

a) In all ways it abetts the infiltration of Communist agents into church organizations, even – if necessary, assuming the holy post of a clergyman and occupying high posts within the Church. As Doctor Macintyre states in the Norwegian newspaper “Aftenposten” No. 338, 1959  - he regards “Metropolitan Nicholas Krutitsky” – one of the senior administrators of the Russian Orthodox Church – to be a proven and prominent agent of the Soviet Red Police. The Communist Party in the USSR, commandeers its members for theological courses and gives them the training to fulfill the duties of a priest, who with time, will become bishops and at the same time, agents of the secret police” (“Church Life” No. 1-2, 1960). 

b) They don’t protest against the Soviet banning of religious education and upbringing of children, and the forcible poisoning of them with atheism, thereby abetting the satanic plan of abolishing faith and the Church in Russia with the approaching demise of the older generation of believers. 

c) They perform blasphemous acts: calling upon God to bless Christ’s persecutors, they carry out church prayers for the repose “with the Saints” of those who are explicit godless atheists who have been anathematized by the All Russian Council of 1917-18, they distort the texts of the church service to “All Saints of Russia”, they blaspheme against the deeds of the Martyrs who belonged to the True Church of Christ - presenting them not as victims of the Soviet persecutions, but rather as criminals who were justly punished by the authorities. 

d) In their capacity as members of the Red Police, they help the Soviet authorities to seek out and persecute the members of the True (catacomb) Church, who have not accepted Metropolitan Sergius’ Declaration of 1927 (which dictated that it is essential to collaborate with the godless regime), and who have remained faithful to the covenant of the reposed Patriarch Tikhon. In collaborating with the persecutors of Christ, the Soviet Church accepts the responsibility for all of the sufferings and blood of the Confessors and Martyrs - who died for their holy faith. 

e) They disseminate lies throughout the whole world concerning the supposed freedom of religion in the USSR, while endlessly praising the Soviet government – thanking it for satisfying all of the Church’s needs. These lies were supported with the offering of expensive gifts at times. The Moscow Patriarchate has led the Eastern Patriarchates into fallacy, commending themselves on their influence on them in their journal (see G.M.P. No.5 1959). 

f) They render valuable political service to the Soviet authorities by participating in the universal “battle for the world”, and through this, they are abetting the spread of Communism throughout the entire globe - abetting the triumph of world Apostasy. 

Comparing the spiritual condition of the people in the USSR with the spiritual condition of the people in the free Western world – we find that despite all the cruel persecutions of the faithful which are occurring in Soviet Russia and despite the full freedom of religion which is found in the West, the spiritual preeminence belongs to the former. There, behind the Iron Curtain among the bloody terror, the confession of Christ is growing! On the blood and bones of the Martyrs the True, Grace-filled Orthodox Church is standing - mighty in spirit! This Church which has refused to accept a legalized existence from the Soviet Beast - has sentenced herself into the “wilderness” – into the “catacombs”. 

The situation is completely different in the West, where people are fully and solely immersed in their material interests. This is leading people unto a total indifference towards faith and submerging them into spiritual blindness. This doesn’t allow them to see the tortuous path, which leads towards the Antichrist. God’s grace is departing from the bustling and materialistic masses and thus they will fall.

Having revealed the grave signs of our contemporary Apostasy, which will lead unto the arrival of the Antichrist, we must refrain from attempting to determine the exact time of his appearance… 

The current epoch of Apostasy, appears for us as a last warning of that grave calamity, which may very soon envelop the entire world."

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Fr. Boris Molchanov elsewhere writes (when critiquing the views of another writer):

 “In his work, the author presents two images of the Church in the USSR. One is the image of the persecuted, illegal ‘Tikhonite’ Church, which chose to flee into the catacombs in order to preserve Her internal freedom. The other image, is that of the ‘Sergianist’ Church (which continues under Patriarch Alexis). This 2nd church purchased Her external freedom at the cost of being fully and inwardly enslaved to the godless government - while also openly collaborating with it. However, despite these complete differences, the author attempts to merge the two churches into one:
“Captive Church”.

How can it be possible to unite those whose blood cries out to the heavens to this day, with those, who not only didn’t stand up in the defense of the Martyrs, but who blasphemed against their Martyric Confession, calling them criminals, who were justly punished by the Soviet authorities? What is there in common with those who continue to languish in “bitter labor”, slowly dying from hunger and torture in prison for God’s truth, for preserving the inward freedom of the Church, and those, who enjoy all the benefits of Soviet legality and who receive high awards and wear medals with defiled images of Lenin next to their Panagia?

The author’s effort is wasted in attempting to artificially merge them into one and the same Church, and nurture the hope that in the future, they will “blend into one stream of the Holy Church”. Truth and untruth can never “blend”. We can only pray and hope for one thing: the tearful repentance of the fallen part of the Church, and Her request to be once again accepted into the bosom of the True Holy Russian Church”.