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278 The doctrines of the Molokani are more sober and practical, more positive and rational, while those of the Doukhobortsi have a strong tinge of mysticism and naturalism.

The broad principles which guide both these bodies of sectaries may be readily discerned, but the exact nature of their opinions, especially as regards the Doukhobortsi, is more difficult to comprehend. They are, for the most part, peasants, with little or no education, and in their own minds, doubtless, their belief does not assume the form of a complete or perfectly defined system of theology.

The Milk Drinkers base all religion upon the Bible. The Champions of the Spirit treat the Inspired Sook with less respect, and look beyond its teachings; they aver that Christ preferred the spoken to the written word, and that every man is a gospel unto himself; "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Cor. iii. 6), and they consequently pay less attention to the strict construction of the Scriptures; most of the Christian traditions and dogmas they either reject entirely or understand in a symbolic sense; they also reject a priesthood, but they go beyond the Milk Drinkers in ascribing divine powers to their leader, whom they acclaim as Christ. They seem to have vaguely forestalled Hegel's method of interpreting the sacred mysteries, and do not consider the incarnation as an isolated, solitary fact in human history, but as an ever-recurring miracle in the life of every Christian; in each one Christ lives, teaches, suffers, and is resuscitated, and the consequences which they drew from this allegorical method of explanation