In the history of Russian Old Faith is especially important the early stage of the activity of the first defenders of "old faith", when formation and formation of their world view occurred. The beginning of the activity of Old Faith ideologists and writers they are pertained to the year 1653 , when patriarch Nikon approached conducting of church reform on the unification of the bogosluzhebnykh books and rites on the Greek models. At first uzkotserkovnye the motion of the "adherents of drevlego piety" in the course of time developed into wide people protest. Significant role in the propagation of the ideology of Old Faith played the goal-directed propaganda of the leaders of staroveriya. As an example let us examine the archive of father superior Feoktist (mind in 1666 ).
In the winter of 1666 , on the edict from Moscow, in g. To khlynove (short heavy horse) were konfiskovany the papers of the former father superior of the Moscow Zlatoust monastery of Feoktist, who long time was the nearest associate of the first leader of the Old Faith opposition of Ivan (in inochestve of Grigoriy) Neronova. In the archive of father superior were stored 88 documents, which contain materials within the period from 1653 through 1665 .
The most extensive part of the archive composed the correspondence of the old believers between themselves, and also their letters, messages and chelobitnye, addressed to tsar ("pseudo-answer to the great sovereign on ten columns, yes in the same to stolpiku pseudo-answer to the proto-priest to Stephan [ To vonifat'evu ], yes to Gabriel to proto-priest to poluchetverte columns", "ten notebooks, and in them lists from the pseudo-answers to great sovereign" , etc.). Probably precisely in these documents old believers for the first time formed their objections to the reform and expressed thought about the offensive of the "reign of antichrist".
In the archive of Feoktist were also materials, connected with Pavel kolomenskiy - by only bishop, who did not sign the solution of cathedral of 1654 . In the inventory are noted several letters, which belonged father superior Feoktist himself (Otpiskya "to the great sovereign", "to Fedor Mikhaylovich [ To rtishchevu ]" and the like). Here are mentioned several chelobitnykh of the proto-priest of Avvakum.
The group of documents from the archive of Feoktist refers to patriarch Nikon's matter. These are the materials, which reveal patriarch and the close to it persons in yeretichestve, apostasy from the faith and encroachment of the tsarist authority ("painting, that in 169 year... of podal of pod"yak Fedor Trofimov").
Great significance gave Old Faith leaders to the study of dogmatic problems, which also was reflected in the archive of Feoktist ("nine tetratey, and in them it is written about the addition finger...", "eight tetratey, and in them pisano about the cross sign from Solovkov of the subdued monk...", "ten tetratey about holy true Duse, the meeting of Grigoriy neronov", "extraction about the unanimous singing", "extraction about the church to rank", etc.).
In the same years Old Faith bibliophiles carried out serious textological work through the collation of the new bogosluzhebnykh books with the old and accumulated accusatory material. Foundation for the future controversy with the missionaries of official church was created - were done extractions from the compositions of Cyril Trankvilion, Maxim the Greek, from the apocalypse, chronograph, "kronikov of Latin". The large group of documents related to the description of Arseni Sukhanov's journey to the orthodox east: "rotting with the Greeks about the faith", "about the ranks of Greek briefly", which by the most serious means influenced molding of the views of old believers.



The assembled by father superior Feoktist archive makes it possible to present entire variety and multiplaned character of the interests of Moscow bibliophiles, who stood at the sources of Old Faith motion. In this meeting was reflected entire spectrum of problems, aspirations and hopes of the first old believers, that received development during the subsequent years.
It is possible to name still several names of old believers, which had an effect on the formation of the Old Faith book- manuscript tradition: By Danil kostromskoy, Grigoriy neronov, Nikita Dobrynin et al. repertoire of reading the first Old Faith leaders testify about their goal-directed interest and to the specific literary and publicistic monuments. The practiced by old believers correspondence of the compositions interesting contributed to acquaintance their content of the wide circle of the readers and to the creation of steady public opinion. Under the effect of the first Old Faith writers was formed the unique "recommending list" of reading for all orthodox those desiring "to rescue" from the "nikonianskoy" infection.
Important role in the formation of Old Faith bookishness played the compositions of the deacon of Moscow Blagoveshchenskogo cathedral Fedor ivanova. Having decisively arisen to the side of the defenders of "old faith", deacon Fedor refused to serve according to the newly published books and during December 1665 it was arrested. It is later, after the numerous troubles (expression by them "pokorstva" - the new appearances in defense of staroveriya, public renunciation from the Old Faith errors " - flight, new arrest , etc.), in 1668 of diakon Fedor was subjected public" execution " - to cutting language and it was exiled into Pustozersk.
In the years of its life in Moscow, Fedor, together with other bibliophiles, gathered materials about the church reform, evidence from the books, which confirm "truth" of the old traditions, which were subsequently used by them for writing of a number of the dogmatics- polemical compositions, which entered the collection "khristianoopasnyy panel of faith against the heretical militia" and the books "answer of orthodox". In the compositions of this period Fedor lively otklikayetsya to the outstanding events of his time, and first of all - to the solutions of church cathedral of 1667 .
For deacon Fedor fixed interest in the sources, which he widely used for affirming its thoughts, is characteristic: however, the Serbian printed book, the "book is kharateynaya, to izhe of pisana... into the summer to 6932 (1424) years", "kharateynaya into fourth, pisano in it about by sedmi oecumenical cathedrals", "helmsman on the great paper", "the correct book [ i.e. the "rules of Nikon chernogorts ] great trying", "psalter with vossledovaniyem", contribution Dionysus (with the parallel Russian and Greek test). In the compositions of Fedor it is possible to find references to Hans of Zlatoust, Grigoriy bogoslov, Vasiliy velikiy, Dionysus Areopagita. Refers the deacon to old "chasoslovtsy", catechism, "narrative about Varlam and Joseph" (from the prologue") and other books, which with the subsequently most active means began to use and other Old Faith writers.