Vlad Naumescu is Professor of Anthropology at Central European University. He is author of Modes of Religiosity in Eastern Christianity: Religious Processes and Social Change in Ukraine.

"This is an excellent book, offering a powerful meditation on religious life in a dwindling Old Belief community in Romania. Naumescu shows what it means to live in the 'end times' for a community that has cultivated an apocalyptic ethos and is affected deeply by broader political economic transformations. In doing so, the book casts important light on the workings of hope, doubt, desperation, commitment, and ethics."—Mathijs Pelkmans, author of Fragile Conviction: Changing Ideological Landscapes in Urban Kyrgyzstan"A riveting exploration of some central topics in the anthropology of religion today. Naumescu's deft ethnography shows how ritual, history, and ethics entwine in the generation of radical hope amidst a fallen world."—Douglas Rogers, author of The Old Faith and the Russian Land: A Historical Ethnography of Ethics in the Russian Urals"From a small village in the Danube delta, Vlad Naumescu deftly juxtaposes Orthodox Old Believers' eventful history, running from Tsarist Russia through Romanian socialism and post-socialism, with their historicity, as characterized by stubborn continuity and expectation of imminent apocalypse. Subtle, sophisticated, and generous, this is an exemplary account of how anthropologists might study ethical engagement in religious communities."—Michael Lambek, author of Cohabiting with Spirits: The Biography of a Marriage in Mayotte

• AcknowledgmentsNote on Transliteration and NamesIntroduction1. Beginnings2. Challenges3. Exemplars4. Doubts5. PromisesConclusionReferencesIndex

Vlad Naumescu is Professor of Anthropology at Central European University. He is author of Modes of Religiosity in Eastern Christianity: Religious Processes and Social Change in Ukraine.

"This is an excellent book, offering a powerful meditation on religious life in a dwindling Old Belief community in Romania. Naumescu shows what it means to live in the 'end times' for a community that has cultivated an apocalyptic ethos and is affected deeply by broader political economic transformations. In doing so, the book casts important light on the workings of hope, doubt, desperation, commitment, and ethics."—Mathijs Pelkmans, author of Fragile Conviction: Changing Ideological Landscapes in Urban Kyrgyzstan"A riveting exploration of some central topics in the anthropology of religion today. Naumescu's deft ethnography shows how ritual, history, and ethics entwine in the generation of radical hope amidst a fallen world."—Douglas Rogers, author of The Old Faith and the Russian Land: A Historical Ethnography of Ethics in the Russian Urals"From a small village in the Danube delta, Vlad Naumescu deftly juxtaposes Orthodox Old Believers' eventful history, running from Tsarist Russia through Romanian socialism and post-socialism, with their historicity, as characterized by stubborn continuity and expectation of imminent apocalypse. Subtle, sophisticated, and generous, this is an exemplary account of how anthropologists might study ethical engagement in religious communities."—Michael Lambek, author of Cohabiting with Spirits: The Biography of a Marriage in Mayotte

• AcknowledgmentsNote on Transliteration and NamesIntroduction1. Beginnings2. Challenges3. Exemplars4. Doubts5. PromisesConclusionReferencesIndex

Vlad Naumescu is Professor of Anthropology at Central European University. He is author of Modes of Religiosity in Eastern Christianity: Religious Processes and Social Change in Ukraine.

"This is an excellent book, offering a powerful meditation on religious life in a dwindling Old Belief community in Romania. Naumescu shows what it means to live in the 'end times' for a community that has cultivated an apocalyptic ethos and is affected deeply by broader political economic transformations. In doing so, the book casts important light on the workings of hope, doubt, desperation, commitment, and ethics."—Mathijs Pelkmans, author of Fragile Conviction: Changing Ideological Landscapes in Urban Kyrgyzstan"A riveting exploration of some central topics in the anthropology of religion today. Naumescu's deft ethnography shows how ritual, history, and ethics entwine in the generation of radical hope amidst a fallen world."—Douglas Rogers, author of The Old Faith and the Russian Land: A Historical Ethnography of Ethics in the Russian Urals"From a small village in the Danube delta, Vlad Naumescu deftly juxtaposes Orthodox Old Believers' eventful history, running from Tsarist Russia through Romanian socialism and post-socialism, with their historicity, as characterized by stubborn continuity and expectation of imminent apocalypse. Subtle, sophisticated, and generous, this is an exemplary account of how anthropologists might study ethical engagement in religious communities."—Michael Lambek, author of Cohabiting with Spirits: The Biography of a Marriage in Mayotte

• AcknowledgmentsNote on Transliteration and NamesIntroduction1. Beginnings2. Challenges3. Exemplars4. Doubts5. PromisesConclusionReferencesIndex