"Цена вопроса - жизнь вечная": конструирование моральной личности и механизмы компромисса в общине трезвенников Братца Иоанна Чурикова

Abstract

In this paper I address the process of moral building in the community of the Spiritual Christians-teetotalers (Trezvenniki) of Brother Ioann Churikov, also known as the Churikovites. The paper is based on my fieldwork in 2019-2023 through participant observation, interviewing and online ethnography. The process of moral building begins at the moment of conversion and proceeds throughout the life of the adept. The theology of Sobriety includes, on one hand, a strict adherence to a set of rules and, on the other, it is seen as a teaching that brings spiritual and material benefits. I also discuss two levels of regulations the teetotalers are expected to observe. These levels differ in strictness, due to the mechanisms of compromise allowing the Churikovites to advance in their faith gradually and consciously. The main focus of the article is the mechanisms and affordances that enable the teetotalers to return to the community even when the vows of the Sobriety are broken.