A more singular body is that of the Beliegolubi (White Doves), called
by their enemies Skoptsi (Eunuchs). These people "make themselves
eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake," and look on Peter the
Third, whom they take to be still alive, as their priest and king.
They profess to lead a life of absolute purity in the Lord; spotless,
they say, as the sacrificial doves! The White Doves are believed to
live like anchorites; all except a few of their prophets and leading
men. They drink no whisky and no wine. They think it a sin to indulge
in fish; their staple food is milk, with bread and walnut oil. White,
weak, and wasting, they appear in the shops and streets like ghosts.
The monks admit that they are free from most of the vices which
afflict mankind. It is affirmed of them that they neither game nor
quarrel; that they neither lie nor steal. The sect is secret; and any
profession of the faith would make a martyr of the man upon whom was
found the sign of his high calling. Seeming to be what other men are,
they often escape detection, not for years only, but for life; many of
them filling high places in the world; their tenets unknown to those
who are counted in the ranks of their nearest friends.
The White Doves have no visible church, no visible chief. Christ is
their king, and heaven their church. But the reign of Christ has not
yet come; nor will the Prince of Light appear until the earth is
worthy to receive Him. Two or three persons, gathered in His name, may
hope to find Him in the spirit; but not until three hundred thousand
saints confess His reign will He come to abide with them in visible
flesh. One day that sacred host will be complete; the old earth and
the old heaven will pass away, consumed like a scroll in the fire.
So far as I can see (for the Eunuchs print no books, and frame no
articles), their leading tenet, borrowed from the East, appears to be
that of a recurring Incarnation of the Word. Just as a pundit of
Benares teaches that Vishnu has been born into the world many times,
probably many hundred times, a White Dove holds that the Messiah is
for evermore being born again into the world which He has saved. Once
He came as a peasant's child in Galilee, when the soldiers and
high-priests rose on Him and slew Him. Once again He came as an
emperor's grandson in Russia, when the soldiers and high-priests rose
on Him again and slew Him. He did not die; for how could God be killed
by man? But He withdrew into the unseen until His hour should come.
Meantime he is with His Church, though not in His majestic and
potential shape, as hero, king, and God.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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