Filippians or Philippians was a soglasiye (confession

Confession

This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...

, literally, "agreement") of the Bespopovtsy

Bespopovtsy

Bespopovtsy is one of the two major strains of Old Believers, the one that rejects priests and a number of church rites, such as the Eucharist...

 (the "priestless") strain of Old Believers

Old Believers

In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...

. They detached themselves from Pomortsy under the leadership of a "teacher" Filipp at the beginning of the 18th century. Because of the repressions of the government, they started practicing self-immolation

Self-immolation

Self-immolation refers to setting oneself on fire, often as a form of protest or for the purposes of martyrdom or suicide. It has centuries-long traditions in some cultures, while in modern times it has become a type of radical political protest...

 as a means for the "preservation of the faith". In the second half of the 18th century their fanaticism

Fanaticism

Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby...

 decreased, and several other confessions were spun off: Aaronovtsy (Aaron's Confession), Shepherd's Confession (пастухово согласие), and many others.