Holy Synod
The Holy Synod, the supreme governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church, appears in Resurrection as a state-aligned institution that enforces religious conformity through administrative coercion rather than spiritual guidance. Its function is to defend the established church by external, often violent, means, a role that Tolstoy presents as fundamentally contradictory to the teachings of Christ. The Synod's activities are shown to be inseparable from the machinery of imperial power, using persecution and exile to suppress any deviation from official doctrine, thereby revealing the deep corruption at the heart of institutional religion.
Structure and Role
The Holy Synod is managed by officials like Toporoff, a man described as "quite destitute of the fundamental religious feeling that recognises the equality and brotherhood of men." Toporoff's primary concern is not the spiritual welfare of the people but the preservation of the church's institutional power. He believes that the common people are "creatures entirely different from himself" who need superstition to be kept in check, a view that justifies his use of state authority to suppress sectarians and other dissenters. The Synod's power is exercised through a bureaucracy that mirrors the state's, with officials who are "clean, polite, severely correct and distinguished in dress and in speech," a stark contrast to the suffering they inflict.
Persecution of Dissenters
The novel illustrates the Synod's repressive function through the case of the sectarians, a group of Christians who have "fallen away from the Greek Orthodox Church." Despite being acquitted by a court, they are exiled to the Caucasus and separated from their families on the grounds that their marriages are illegal. Toporoff, when confronted by Nekhludoff, initially confirms this cruel decision but then, fearing the case might reach the Emperor or the foreign press, abruptly reverses it, promising to "give orders that these measures should be revoked and the people reinstated in their homes." This arbitrary exercise of power, which can ruin lives on a whim, demonstrates that the Synod's actions are driven by political expediency rather than justice or mercy. The case of a peasant who began reading the Gospels to his neighbors and was subsequently prosecuted for "blaming the Greek orthodox religion in the presence of the common people" further underscores the Synod's role in suppressing any independent interpretation of scripture.
Hypocrisy of Ritual
The Synod's authority is also manifested in the empty rituals performed within the prison church. The service, intended for the "comfort and the teaching of these strayed brothers," is a grotesque parody of Christian worship. The priest, in a "strange and very inconvenient garb, made of gold cloth," performs a series of mechanical actions—cutting bread, intoning prayers, and waving a cloth—that are supposed to transform bread and wine into the flesh and blood of God. The congregation, including the inspector, warders, and prisoners, participates in this "blasphemy and a supreme mockery of that same Christ in whose name it was being done." The priest himself does not believe in the transformation, but performs the rites because they provide him with an income. The deacon believes even more firmly, having "forgotten the substance of the dogmas of this faith" and knowing only the fixed prices for his services. This scene reveals the Synod's religion as a hollow shell, a tool for social control that has lost all connection to the radical message of the Gospels.
Connection to State Power
The Holy Synod is portrayed as an integral part of the oppressive state apparatus. Its officials, like Toporoff, are careerists who use their positions to maintain the status quo. The Synod's persecution of sectarians is directly linked to the broader system of judicial and police repression that Nekhludoff encounters throughout the novel. The institution's power is ultimately derived from the Tsar, and its function is to keep the people in a state of passive obedience. Tolstoy's critique is not merely of the Synod's corruption but of the very idea of a state-sponsored church, which he sees as a betrayal of Christ's teachings. The novel suggests that true faith cannot be enforced by law or administered by a bureaucracy; it must be a matter of individual conscience and direct, loving relationship with God and one's fellow human beings.
