An article that is sometimes posted by errant but well-meaning Church members on facebook and other media is that of
Mark J. Stoddard, "Did
Jesus Visit Russia After His Resurrection?" Meridian Magazine, January
6, 2016
My friend, Allen Hansen, who served his LDS mission in Russia,
offered the following criticisms, showing the shortcomings of this piece:
Let's look at what Nesterov
himself said about the painting:
"Now, my dear friend, let me
tell you about my new painting, which is nearly finished, and which I am
showing to my acquaintances (Chaliapin has seen it and heartily approved). The
painting will likely be titled "Holy Rus'" (Mystery Play). Among the
wintery northern [Russian] landscape lies a monastery. From across the land,
old and young are marching-wandering towards it. Here are all kinds of
"cripples," people searching for their God, seekers of an ideal, our
"Holy Rus'" is full of them. Coming to meet the crowd standing at the
monastery gates, is a bright, blessed, and kindly Christ, with Saints Nicholas,
Sergius, and George (the saints beloved by the people). Here, in short, is the
theme of my painting, which I rather like, in which the landscape is full of
life, but which I need to complete properly."
Here are four decisive points
against this claim.
1. The painting caused a minor
scandal in its day as it depicted Christ visiting *contemporary* Russians,
simple people, without the mediation of the Orthodox church. They are all
wearing late 19th century clothing. As Nesterov's own words show, this painting
was allegorical, not historical. Nesterov drew a companion piece that includes
such contemporaries as Tolstoy meeting Christ.
2. Stoddard is getting all this
through the translator, filtered through his own ignorance. So much is garbled.
I find it highly unlikely, for example, that any Russian Orthodox priest would
be unable to recognise the iconography of Saints Nicholas, George, and Sergey
Radonezhsky, but think them to be Peter, James and John.
3. The only kind of Russian
folklore that has Christ appear is individually to saints or remarkable
individuals. These are decidedly ahistorical. Even the apocryphal chronicles do
not mention something like this, which they would certainly have done to
bolster their kingdom's legitimacy like they did with the claim that St. Andrew
dedicated the land in Kyiv to Christ.
4. Krest'yanin (pl. krest'yane)
did not mean peasant until the end of the 14th century. This reflects a similar
semantic shift in other parts of Europe. Prior to this, krest'yanin simply
meant Christian, and distinguished between the inhabitants of Christian lands
and pagan ones. It is zero evidence of the claim in the article.
