ISAURIAN

The portrait, drawn by Natasha Koff

1. The original conceptions of professor N. E. Alyoshin in the spheres of theology, church law, church history are published in the book “Leon the Isaurian” (1-st edition in Rus. – Krasnodar, 2001; 2-nd reprint edition – Krasnodar, 2008). The main idea of the book is depicted further.

2. N. E. Alyoshin stands fast on the Biblical position, that the ancient Christianity was brought to Northern Black Sea coast areas, which were the part of the Pontus Kingdom, by the straight participants of the Pentecostal events in Jerusalem (Acts, 2:9).

3. In 737 A.D. Emperor Leon the Isaurian created the Gothenland Metropoly of 7 bishoprics (Doros – the modern Crimea; Hotzir, or Khasar – the steppes regions from Crimea to Kiev, Moscow and Volga; Ityl – the Volga region; Tamatarkha – the Kerch and Taman peninsulas; Onogur – the today Krasnodar Territory; Reteg – today Kabarda and Chechnya; Hun – today Daghestan; Khoresm – the delta of Amu Darya river, modern Usbekistan).

4. In 756 A.D. Constantine V – the 2-nd Emperor of the Isaurian Dynasty – separated the 8-th bishopric of the named Metropoly – Zih bishopric (the mountain parts of the today Krasnodar Territory, Adyg Republic, and the Caucasus Black Sea coast). It was done according to the decision of the 7-th Ecumenical Council (the iconoclastic one) of 754 A.D.

5. Therefore, the uniconic Evangelical Christian congregations of the Caucasus, including those of the Krasnodar Territory, are the autochthonous ones, descending straightly from the ancient apostolic uniconic Christianity via the medieval iconoclastic Isaurian Gothenland Metropoly and Zih bishopric. All other branches of Christianity are the recent innovations to the named territory.

6. One of the grandfathers of N. E. Alyoshin was the leader of such an autochthonous iconoclastic Christian congregation. As a martyr he was murdered in the Stalin’s death camp. 

At the personal exhibition of N. Koff in Bogomolov Library in Moscow, 15 - 30 November 2014.
Extreme left on the wall is the portrait of N. E. Alyoshin - the "Isaurian".