Editing Molokans (section)

===17th–18th centuries AD===
The first recorded use of the term "Molokan" appears in the 1670s, in reference to a group of people who had the practice of not fasting as well as eating dairy products during the 200 fasting days stipulated by the Orthodox Church. In Russian, {{lang|ru-latn|Moloko}} means "milk", and thus this came to be the name for these particular Christians. Nonetheless, these were "Spiritual Christians" who were not directly related to the group later known as "Molokans".

The "Molokans" that are known today by that name, split in 1779 and 1780 from the [[Doukhobors]] because they thought that the Doukhobors neglected the Bible; in their belief, God had placed the Word directly into their hearts. The Molokans, however, held the written Bible in the highest regard. The founder of the Molokans, [[Semyon Matveevich Uklein]] (1733-1809), was a son-in-law of the Doukhobor leader [[Ilarion Poberokhin]] (1720-1792) as explained by O. Beznosova: "Soon (approximately in 1779-1780) a group broke away from Pobirohin's disciples. It was led by his son-in-law Semyon Uklein, who did not share the mystical spirit and self-deification of the former leader and defended the need for reliance on the Gospel texts in the organization of church life (Margaritov, 1914). This group (called "Molokans") became a "rational" direction of Spiritual Christianity, as opposed to the "mystics" - "christoverchestvo" adherents, "Doukhobors" and "[[skoptsy]]"."
<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=((Beznosova, O.)) |journal=Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences |title=The Perception in the Religious Space: The Assessment of the Impact of Western Reformation Ideas to Religious Movements of Russian-Ukrainian Steppe Borderlands in XVIII – The Early XIX Centuries |volume=236 |pages=320–326 |date=December 2016 |issn=1877-0428 |doi=10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.12.037 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Uklein's Molokans from Tambov energetically proselytized in settlements along the [[Volga River]] and Russia's south-eastern frontier, spreading the Molokan faith in the provinces of [[Orenburg]], [[Saratov]], and [[Astrakhan]]; Uklein would further continue organizing congregations until his death in 1809.