Russian Baptists And Spiritual Revolution 1905 1929

"... a fascinating read for everyone interested in Russia, religion, and modernity." -- Nadieszda Kizenko In the early 20th century, Baptists were the fastest-growing non-Orthodox religious group among Russians and Ukrainians. Heather J. Coleman traces the development of Baptist evangelical communities through a period of rapid industrialization, war, and revolution, when Russians found themselves asking new questions about religion and its place in modern life. Baptists' faith helped them navigate the problems of dissent, of order and disorder, of modernization and westernization, and of national and social identity in their changing society. Making use of newly available archival material, this important book reveals the ways in which the Baptists' own experiences, and the widespread discussions that they generated, illuminate the emergence of new social and personal identities in late Imperial and early Soviet Russia, the creation of a public sphere and a civic culture, and the role of religious ideas in the modernization process.

From sermons and clerical reports to personal stories of faith, this book of translated primary documents reveals the lived experience of Orthodox Christianity in 19th- and early 20th-century Russia. These documents allow us to hear the voices of educated and uneducated writers, of clergy and laity, nobles and merchants, workers and peasants, men and women, Russians and Ukrainians. Orthodoxy emerges here as a multidimensional and dynamic faith. Beyond enhancing our understanding of Orthodox Christianity as practiced in Imperial Russia, this thoughtfully edited volume offers broad insights into the relationship between religious narrative and social experience and reveals religion's central place in the formation of world views and narrative traditions.

The present study fills a gap in the study of the evangelical movement in Russia by presenting a comprehensive picture of their compassionate ministry during their longest stretch of relative freedom before the 1980s. Better known for their energetic preaching and literature work, Russian evangelicals also gave attention to compassionate ministry, although it was never extensive because of their marginal status. They established assistance funds, organized charitable institutions, practiced urban rescue ministry, participated in the Russian temperance movement, and established economic communities. Each area is distinct, yet all were supported by the same set of theological convictions. The Russian evangelicals were convinced that their witness should consist of good works as well as words, and that the gospel had the power to undo human suffering. While intentionally cultivating an attitude of concern for the needs of others, they taught that compassion was the concern of all members of the community, regardless of economic status or age. In their publications evangelicals devoted a good deal of teaching to the proper Christian attitude toward money and giving. They drew on Western models, but also their indigenous sectarian roots.

The ideas of the Protestant Reformation, followed by the European Enlightenment, had a profound and long-lasting impact on Russia’s church and society in the eighteenth century. Though the traditional Orthodox Church was often assumed to have been hostile toward outside influence, Andrey V. Ivanov’s study argues that the institution in fact embraced many Western ideas, thereby undergoing what some observers called a religious revolution. Embedded with lively portrayals of historical actors and vivid descriptions of political details, A Spiritual Revolution is the first large-scale effort to fully identify exactly how Western progressive thought influenced the Russian Church. These new ideas played a foundational role in the emergence of the country as a modernizing empire and the rise of the Church hierarchy as a forward-looking agency of institutional and societal change. Ivanov addresses this important debate in the scholarship on European history, firmly placing Orthodoxy within the much wider European and global continuum of religious change.

Russian Baptists and the Orthodox Church have had a difficult and – at times – dramatic relationship over the past century and a half. However, the purpose of this thesis is to examine certain internal connections between these two Christian bodies. Despite the evident dissimilarity – in theology, church practice and traditions – there is common ground which has been largely unexplored. A number of features inevitably brought them together, such as living in the same country over a long period of time, sharing a history and national roots, responding to the same civic concerns, and finally – until recently – using the same Russian (“Synodal”) translation of the Bible. This thesis explores, first of all, the roots of the issue of Orthodox-Baptist similarities and dissimilarities in the nineteenth century. The remainder of the thesis focuses on 1960 to 1990. There is a chapter analyzing the way in which, in significant areas, Russian Baptist theology resembled Orthodox thinking. This is followed by a study of church and sacraments, which again shows that Russian Baptist approaches had echoes of Orthodoxy. The thesis then explores Baptist liturgy, showing the Orthodox elements that were present. The same connections are then explored in the area of Russian Baptist communal spiritual traditions. The examination of the Bible, beliefs and behaviour also indicates the extent to which Russian Baptists mirrored Orthodoxy. Finally there is an analysis of the popular piety of the Russian Baptists and the way in which they constructed an alternative culture. The basic views of Russian Baptists between the 1960s and 1990 have been drawn from periodicals of the Russian Baptist communities and from interviews with pastors (presbyters) and church members who were part of these communities. This often yields insights into “primary theology”, which in relation to many issues differs from official Baptist declarations that tend to stress the more Protestant aspects of Russian Baptist life. The aim of the thesis is to show that in a period in the history of the USSR when the division between the Western world and the Soviet bloc was marked, there was a strong Eastern orientation among Russian Baptists. This changed when the USSR came to an end. Over a number of years there was mass emigration of Russian Baptists and, in addition, pro-Western thinking gained considerable ground within the Russian Baptist community. During the period examined here, however, it is possible to uncover a great deal of evidence of Russian Baptists participating in Orthodox theology, spiritual mentality and culture.

Coinciding with the four-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Baptist movement, this book explores and assesses the cultural sources of Baptist beliefs and practices. Although the movement has been embraced, enriched, and revised by numerous cultural heritages, the Baptist movement has focused on a small group of Anglo exiles in Amsterdam in constructing its history and identity. Robert E. Johnson seeks to recapture the varied cultural and theological sources of Baptist tradition and to give voice to the diverse global elements of the movement that have previously been excluded or marginalized. With an international communion of over 110 million persons in more than 225,000 congregations, Baptists constitute the world's largest aggregate of evangelical Protestants. This work offers insight into the diversity, breadth, and complexity of the cultural influences that continue to shape Baptist identity today.

Today, many evangelicals in the Russian-speaking world emphasize sanctification as a distinctive mark of their Christian faith. This is a unique characteristic, particularly in the European context. Their historic tapestry has been woven from a number of threads that originated in the second half of the nineteenth century. Missionary efforts of the German Baptists, a revival sparked by a British evangelist, and a pietistic awakening among the Mennonites in the South converged to form a tapestry that displays Protestant, Baptist, and Anabaptist heritage. Ivan Kargel uniquely participated in the formation and ministry of each of these threads. His life spans from Tsarist Russia to the Soviet Union. Kargel refused to adhere to a systematic view of theology. Instead, he urged believers to go to Scripture and draw from the riches of a life united with Christ. Kargel's influence today is keenly felt across the Russian-speaking evangelical world as they seek to identify the roots of their spiritual identity. This book examines the influences on Ivan Kargel and offers insights into how his life and work are expressed in the tapestry of Russian evangelical spirituality.

A compendium of original essays and contemporary viewpoints on the 1917 Revolution The Russian revolution of 1917 reverberated throughout an empire that covered one-sixth of the world. It altered the geo-political landscape of not only Eurasia, but of the entire globe. The impact of this immense event is still felt in the present day. The historiography of the last two decades has challenged conceptions of the 1917 revolution as a monolithic entity— the causes and meanings of revolution are many, as is reflected in contemporary scholarship on the subject. A Companion to the Russian Revolution offers more than thirty original essays, written by a team of respected scholars and historians of 20th century Russian history. Presenting a wide range of contemporary perspectives, the Companion discusses topics including the dynamics of violence in war and revolution, Russian political parties, the transformation of the Orthodox church, Bolshevism, Liberalism, and more. Although primarily focused on 1917 itself, and the singular Revolutionary experience in that year, this book also explores time-periods such as the First Russian Revolution, early Soviet government, the Civil War period, and even into the 1920’s. Presents a wide range of original essays that discuss Brings together in-depth coverage of political history, party history, cultural history, and new social approaches Explores the long-range causes, influence on early Soviet culture, and global after-life of the Russian Revolution Offers broadly-conceived, contemporary views of the revolution largely based on the author’s original research Links Russian revolutions to Russian Civil Wars as concepts A Companion to the Russian Revolution is an important addition to modern scholarship on the subject, and a valuable resource for those interested in Russian, Late Imperial, or Soviet history as well as anyone interested in Revolution as a global phenomenon.