Abstract
The author shows that the Russian Orthodox Church throughout the centuries has combatted superstition on theo logical grounds. Nonetheless, many Orthodox parishoners, and to some extent the clergy themselves, manifest elements of superstition. In the popular mind, and to most Soviet scholars, Baptism takes a more consistently conscious and rational approach to religious faith. Baptism, too, is firmly against superstition, but many Baptists are superstitious. Even non-believing members of the Soviet intelligentsia are not immune. The author analyzes the nature of superstition both in theory and in fact (on the basis of field work).