Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Today
ihUSSR
Howard L. Parsons
International Publishers
New
York
Contents
First edition,
Manufactured
in the
Howard
Christianity
Historical
Chapter
Bibliography:
I.
1.
Background
Short History of Christianity
L.
the
II.
p.
vii
in
Russia and
USSR
Christians in the
USSR Today
Includes index.
Soviet Union.
Church history 19171.
Christianity
BR936.P36
1987
ISBN 0-7178-0651-0
I.
2.
Union
Title.
274.7'0828
(pbk.)
Soviet
86-27320
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
III.
4.
5.
57
64
6.
Lutheranism
70
3.
Soviet Scientists
Chapter
Chapter
17
2.
7.
8.
ori
Christianity
44
Republic
and Religion
81
88
IV.
Chapter 9. Conclusions
Appendix: Rights and Obligations of Religious Societies
Under
the
Law
Reference Notes
Annotated Bibliography
Index
151
177
179
189
193
his
and Christian
institutions in the
clarity, direction,
and urgency
work of
the Council
is
USSR all
to the
this
and a
present study
fortiori
necessary path
to the preservation and development of humanity is detente, disarmament, and peaceful coexistence among states of different social
systems: that an essential step toward this end is understanding and
friendship between he peoples of the nations; and that as the USA
t
vm
Preface
and Acknowledgementt
Preface
h
deC S Ve mil " ary P oliti l, and
economic
power to determine
deter
the course of our precious race
on this planet
COex stence be "'een their states
and mutual understandh
611 their
P e0 P Ies are squired. Information and an open,
annre'
ir
P uative
mind are necessary for understanding;
this study is
V
intended to furnish information.
m T
'
nanny
ChristS
,,,
necessarily limited to
,n the
is
encouraged to supple
and tuches on
Christianity
USSR. Moreover,
Uld not
Chrt
mention
ful1
and
a the
branches' of
branches
nfriT
n I trust that the
Christianity. But
selective picture I have
given is not an unrepresentative
one.
Most of this study consists of direct
statements by Soviet persons
whom I mterviewed. While I have tried to
transcribe from
than have
nmll
impo
P
He
me
I cannot affirm
Success Inaudible sounds
and
translathms
f
forgive
'<>
the tape
and Acknowledgements
ix
'
'
PrjeCb
Ught sim
boor-CttY
But though
contained much
se
th
P ,y to
my 1972
booklet
that
basic information about
the history and state
of Christianity in the Soviet
Union ifwas
at t0 bnng lhe sub ecl
U P t0 date would require
J
an
ogether new work. The present
study should be regarded
as
a
sequel to the first work,
which 1 trust contains usef,
ination
1
mf
USSR
through
arranging
The
my
for
stay
and
facilitating
my accommodations and favorable condistudy was borne also by authorities at Moscow State
University. For these necessities I wish to thank
all of them, particularly Professor Anatolii Danilovich Kosichev,
Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, and Professor Valerii
Aleksandrovich Kuvakin,
Chairman of the Department of the History of Philosophy of the
Peoples of the USSR.
responsibility for
tions for
my
workers
at the
Armenian
and Cultural Relaand by Edvins Pumpurs, Vice-Chairman of the Presidium of the Latvian Society for Friendship and
Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Special thanks are
due
tions with Foreign Countries
to Dr. Yuri
State University,
my
guide during
Riga.
And
am
Suren Goulian
who
served as
travels
my
principal interpreter
from Moscow
and as
and
to Zagorsk, Yerevan,
my
other interpreters,
in Yerevan,
Ruben Apresian,
V. Brodov, Hakob Hakopian, Suren T. Kaltakhchian, Aleksandr S. Kaltakhchian, Olga Kirpichnikova, Tatiana Kushtapina, 'limya Lobachevoi, Yuri K. Mclvil, Vladimir V.
Ilia
University of Bridgeport.
Last
who
work
rests
Howard
L.
Parsons
December 1980
I.
Historical
Background
1.
The
ago
in the
now
the Ukraine.
early as 862
ing
its
the Tatars
(c.
2-10-1 480)
who
and Orthodoxy.
Geopolitically Russian history has been created in the antagonism between the northern forest zone and the steppe zone and
the efforts of all rulers, even pre-Russian ones, to unify these two
zones. This shifting relation in turn has been shaped by Russias
relations to the West, by both the threats from the West and Russias
interdependency with it. Even in the early Kievan period (9721237), in which the Russians held their ground in the transitional
forest-steppe zone against the Turkish tribes of the southern steppes, the Russians maintained their contacts with both Byzantium
and West. Thus Russian Orthodoxy, like Russian culture as a
whole, has developed as a formation between Byzantium and Islam
in the south and east, and the West with its pressures ol Roman
1
we
most numerous group of Christians, the Russian Ormainly in the Russian, Byelorussian, and Ukrainian Republics; Islam in the southern and eastern Republics; the
Armenian Christians in the peripheral southeast; and Western
Christianity predominantly in the western regions
Roman Cafind the
thodox
believers,
pires,
both
Roman
Catholic, once
dominated what are now Byand even Moldavia the Lithuanians with
tolerance, with Poles with evangelical force. 2 Throughout these
years of strife the Russians, with their own imperial designs and
their nationalistic Orthodox fervor, held their own. Today
these
threat.
pi otection
Short History
drew away from the lower clergy and the people themselves. The
rural and village priests were in fact hired and fired by the lords of
r
the
manor or
Third,
this division
its
base in economic
the
power and collusion with the secular power, reinforced the general
poverty and contributed to it a special class of paupers among the
priesthood. The great mass of clergy, often unemployed and usuuntil the
ally illiterate, became a parasitic drain on the economy
reforms in the 18th century. 3 And these priests remained a
creation of a large
culturally
even owned seifs. I he Russians also adopted the Byzantine doctrine of the divine ordination and right of the tsar. The
result was a
more or less blind acceptance of autocratic rule in both secular and
to
Under
to
from
hundred and
one
fifty
of Muscovy, as
ment northward beyond the Volga into the frontier. Monasticism
stressed neither learning nor works of devotion nor
thought. It
preserved the Palestinian communal spirit of charity and
support
of the needy and outcast. At the same time its spirit of
chastity, of
humility, of patience,
and
ment, zealous
site in
todays Zagorsk.
The
monastic move-
of Christianity, was a
cohesive force religiously, culturally, and ethnically;
it was the
zenith of Orthodoxy in a thousand-year history in which
for the
most part the Church was compliantly subordinated to the
purposes of the state.
The
A Slum History
growth
laid the
movement
in the
control over
Church
For a brief period after 1650 the Russian Orthodox
the
and
reformer
asserted its independence under Nikhon the
the
correct
to
had attempted
nationalistic
Old
Believers.
Nikhon
the most
Russian Bible, service books, and ritual on the basis of
main y
Believers,
Old
reliable Greek manuscripts and practice; the
centr alizauon
from the secular clergy, objected to what they saw as
and they
Orthodoxy,
Russian
of the Church and the dilution of
Short History
attracted those
Its
erarchy rtddled with personal
and bureaucratic corruption, remained alienated from the lower clergy
and the common people.
d X
R ssla was to extensive to remain intact
and unh
J over the centuries. But its
challenged
own weaknesses invited competition from other faiths both
at home and abroad.
Throughout this long history the Russian
Orthodox Church has
been shaped by three conditions:
the division and antagonism
6
51 "" and EaStem
branches of Christendom; the
Russian Church
RusM^nCh
T's emergence into national
independence from the
patriarchate at Constantinople; and
the Church's rivalry with and
subservience toward the State.
2
Roman
T r
47R
B mi, e S dC
d CltnshanhyTZ
:
Us
0n ^0, ng Greek culture, remained
untouched. Yet the
D
emperors
Greek-speaking Constantinople had
no way of
governing the Latin West, and by the
time Charlemagne
S
Fast
'
(by Western
Pope Leo
III) in
was
800
.hJlTfrr
struggle, begun bl
he EaMen USe f
a
h-42), Pope
(72^842)
P Vb
I
(
Nicholas i1 s claim
to the primacy of the
Roman see
over a patriarchates (858-898);
the excommunication of the
Eastern Patriarch Michael Celularius
by Pope Leo IX because the former refused to accept Romes
universal jurisdiction the
Great
Schism of 10o4; the first crusade,
called by Pope Urban II in
1095
resultmg m the imposition of the
rule of the Latin Church in
parts
of Asia Mmor; the fourth
crusade, which captured and
plundered
P1
0h
bit
Constantinople
*3
nfsqf
(1439)
f worship,
T T T?
' f By2
"
i,lm tepudiate.l
This last
event
ent, issuing from the Eastern
emperors appeal for aid to fight
it.
the Turks, ended once and for all the power of Constantinople
over the Russian Church. For when the metropolitan from Russia,
a Creek by the name of Isidore, tried to read the agreement in
the
Cathedral of the Assumption in the Kremlin in Moscow, Grand
at. last won its standing as an independent national church with patriarchal status; Patriarch
Jeremiah II of Constantinople, in need of financial help, was
monarchy,
in
payment.
And
rior over the State, forced out of office in 1666 by jealous nobles,
Old Believers, and others was the last patriarch of authority. In
1700 Peter the Great forbade elections and in 1721 installed the
Holy Governing Synod appointed by the tsar and supervised by his
lay representative.
From
never recovered.
Its
this
ancient
State.
CHRISTIANITY TODAY IN
HU USSR
and faiths within and beyond its national borders: what is the
meaning of ecumenism for it? How shall it interact with nonbelievers and the State in a Socialist society?
Large numbers of believers, whose groups were long established
in old Russia, did not belong to the Orthodox faith. Roman Catholicism had had a presence and influence in the western lands of
Russia since the early 11th century the time of the sanguinary
conflict between the sons of Vladimir the Saint, laroslav and Sviatpolk. laroslav, upholding Orthodoxy, defeated his brother who
relied on the support of the Poles and the Catholics, and
thus
profoundly shaped the course of subsequent Russian history. Besides the Orthodox faithful and the Old Believers,
numbers of
smaller native sects emerged in the course of the centuries the
religious
The Church has been its necessary economic and spiritual partner.
In 1917 rural peasants and industrial workers alike were
sunk in
the
muck of poverty,
the debasement of appetite, and the superstiAt the same time the new forces of capitalism in
Short History
Before the Bolshevik Revolution October 24-25, 1917 (Novemthe tsars family, landowners, and the Russian
ber 6-7, new style)
forty-two percent of the land. So immeheld
Church
Orthodox
of
Peace on November 8, new style, the new
Decree
the
after
diately
the Decree on Land. It stated that the
issued
government
Soviet
all crown, monastery, and church lands, with
also
as
estates,
landed
implements, buildings and everything pertaining
all their livestock,
at the disposal of the volost land committees
placed
be
shall
thereto,
of Peasants Deputies pending the conuyezd
Soviets
the
and
10
years the
principal
famine and
matethe
that
full
well
realized
But
it
government.
enemies of the
to
cemented
long
so
Church
the
of
rial and ideological power
and
survive
to
was
revolution
if
the
tsardom must be smashed
to the
succeed. Moreover, many leaders in the Church went over
the Civil
Whites in the
The
Civil
Bolsheviks understood
that they
had
to couple to their
new
society
economic order a new ideological order; they had to rebuild
a
making
of
ways
only
not
from the ground up, reconstructing
displacement
for
called
latter
The
living but also ways of thinking.
and in the
of the central role of the Church both in the schools
over
persons
for
1914
in
rate
other institutions of life. The illiteracy
12 and only one-half of the
ten was between 64 and 72 per cent,
primary educachildren of school age in Russia were receiving
largest class in the
tion. 18 Sixty-five per cent of all peasants, the
i
controlled
hunger and
immense wealth
disease.
in lands, tor-
10
On December
an ordinance
uT
chLe
dm
>
11
H ie generaI
llr ies
laid
excesses
on
and mistakes
in application
and ambiguities
Short History
in the policy
religious education.
on Separation
lay with
Education also carried out antireligious activity. The principal strategy for the decade following 1919 was formulated in Article 13 of
the Program of the CPSU in 1919. That article called for the
complete destruction of the link between the exploiting classes and
the organization of religious propaganda as well as the widest
possible scientific-educational antireligious
propaganda which
and the
strengthening of religious fanaticism. Lenins article, On the Significance of Militant Materialism (March, 1922), called for untiring atheist propaganda, and the scientific criticism of religion to
rouse the masses from their religious torpor. Then in April of
1923 the 12th Congress of the CPSU urged a program to train
antireligious agitators and propagandists.
It should be noted that in the USSR the separation of church and
state, which in the USA was an important achievement of the
other faiths into a position of legal equality with Orthodoxy. Under the tsars the only officially recognized religion was
Orthodoxy. Roman Catholics were associated with the conquest ol
Lithuania by Poland; the millions of Muslims were considered to be
lifted the
that the
hostility
also the
fall
12
too few.
was released in July, 1 923. This event signalled the end of this early
period of intense conflict between State and Church. (Though his
successor was also imprisoned, the next acting Patriarch, Metropolitan Sergius, declared in 1927 his loyalty to the Soviet State.)
During this period also the government supported schismatic
groups within the Church. The most prominent and successful was
the Living Church organized in the spring of 1923 by Archpriest
it
support.
At
this
time a
new
his
into the
on
scientific enlighten-
ment and education won out over two extremes within the party
(1) the mocking iconoclasts who exposed religion as a method of
enslaving the workers and (2) those who believed religion
would
disappear if propaganda were liquidated and knowledge of the
natural sciences promulgated. In spite of the vigorous work of the
League, the spreading popularity of atheism, especially among the
youth, and the decline of church membership, the League in 1928
in
Orthodox
and on May
On
April
activities
*13
Short History
appeared
in the Constitution
1 /
hundreds, a period of tolerance ensued. The government graduof Militant Atheists. In Deally reduced support of the League
of
the League along with the
Committee
Central
cember 1938 the
acknowledged the
Sciences
of
Academy
of
the
Historical Institute
the connection of
history
and
in
Church
progressive role of the
past. 18 Finally the
in
the
literature
art
and
Christianity with Russian
Great Patriotic War against fascism (1941-1945) stirred the deep
1943 the
patriotic sentiment of virtually all believers. In September
government permitted the installation ot Sergius in the Patriarcprohate (vacant since 1925); and Sergius conveyed to Stalin the
workers.
church
of
all
found love and gratitude
Tolerance toward religion by the communist state continued
through and after the war because of the solace and strength that
of
suffering believers found in their faith, the accepted separation
of
tasks
in
the
people
of
the
Church and State, and the unity
the
During
reconstuction.
its
defense of the Motherland and of
tenure of Nikita Khrushchev (1958-1964) as Premier and head of
was
the CPSU this policy was reversed. Antireligious propaganda
lecCulture,
of
Houses
greatly stepped up through the schools,
and
Political
of
books, and the Society for the Dissemination
tures,
Scientific
program of
militant,
919
14
life;
renewed State action against religion under Khrushchev steppedup anti-religious propaganda, the closing of seminaries, monasteries, and churches, the initiation of a
secular alternative to baptism; and the last two decades of relative peace
between the
churches and the State.
Today, in a population of almost 278,000,000 in the
Soviet
Union, there are more than 20,000 houses of worship. They
range
from large churches of the Russian Orthodox faith (chiefly
in the
Ukraine and the Russian and Byelorussian Republics) and
the
the east (there is one in
Moscow) to the prayer houses of small Protestant sects and the
2.000.
ninety-two
Jewish synagogues. As there is no national
1.000.
iri
religious
law, figures
faiths
on the
can be only
estimates: Russian
000;
The
constitution of the
USSR
(adopted October
7,
1977) says in
the
Short History
*15
well as dismissal
refusal of a job or admission to school or college, as
document can reor expulsion on religious grounds. No public
etc and
selves illegal.
The
propaganda
is
systematically exercised by state organs. The whole atheistic propaganda system is intended for educating people to a materialist
world outlook. The broadest and most common method is dissemination of knowledge in the natural sciences, a required subject
in the secondary, vocational, and technological schools. Courses in
Marxism-Leninism are also required from high school onward.
The materialist outlook is militantly put forward among the work-
through public organs such as the councils on atheism in production collectives, Znanie (Knowledge), the press, radio and
ers
television.
The whole
own
all
land on which
present buildings and has recently been given by the State the
buildings and grounds in a newly
historic Danilov monastery
developing region of Moscow. On this site it is now restoring the
monastery buildings themselves and constructing its own constateference hall and hotel. Congregations make use of these
owned buildings without rent, must maintain and repair them, and
are free to improve them at their own expense. The government
restores and repairs the many churches and other structures that it
has designated as having historical or architectural significance.
In spite of this policy, which has resulted in many colorful and
even dramatic restorations, numbers of valuable churches are falling into ruin for lack of attention from both believers and govern-
16
Christians in the
II.
USSR Today
77
2.
77
particular faith.
and
rites
gregations
They
receive
New
con-
fiee use
on which
to build a
rSk-ZTT
'
Romt
aldi o?Ch7rchr
Id
re%i0US 0rga
World
prominent
in national
the Soviet
Peace Committee. This is credible
if one accepts the report
of a
that he annual mcome of
J
the Moscow Orthodox oblast
h
u
churches
is more than
#6, 000,000 and understands the
passionate
commitment to peace among the leaders
and laity of this faith.
1
lo
Zagorsk
is
Moscow reachable by
northeast of
Radonezh
The Trinity
among
topped by
and
pilgrims,
work with
gold, silver,
and
was
jewels,
must be lodged
homes in
number come
in the
religious buildings,
is
18
training.
Academy
Moscow Theological
Konstantin M.
Moscow
went on
he served
Scriptures.
as a
He is
not a priest,
Orthodox
though for
rector here.
19
jects as
constitution. 3
I
tell
me
about
Old
Testament.
In the Seminary we are teaching the fundamentals of this subject. In the Academy we are widening some problems. Students
study the notion of the Holy Scriptures, what, the Bible teaches, the
fact that the Bible is the universal world book published in 1,300
languages. They study the question of the origin of the writing of
Scriptures, its content, and the stages of its development in human
society. On this basis they deal with the problems of the ancient
Jewish people in the Scriptures. We then study the Pentateuch and
I pay attention to the six days of creation of the world on the basis
of our modern science and modern thinking. Then we study the
texts of the Bible and the translations into different languages of
the world.
asked him about Russian translations; he replied that the RusOrthodox Church had used the Church Slavonic after Cyril
and Methodius had invented the script in the 9th century. The
Slavonic version is still used. In 1876 the Bible was translated into
Russian for the first time, and in 1956 it was translated into modern
Russian. The Professor noted that at the moment the Rector and
some of the professors of the Academy were in Bulgaria to celebrate 1 100 years of the achievement of these brothers. He spoke
also about the millennial anniversary (in 1988) to mark the founding and history of the Russian Orthodox Church. A commission of
the Church and its subcommissions are at work on plans for this
great date. That is our culture, he said, that is our history of
the past. Without the past there is no present existence. That is the
beginning of our Christian life of one thousand years.
Students come from all over but mainly from the Russian, Ukrainian, and Byelorussian Republics, he said. They range in age from
twenty to thirty-five. Women are not admitted, though in the
I
sian
20
" **
women
called
ofXrch Ton^
tuns for
tumues
forTlf
taking part in Christian life.
There is a nunnery near
e Ukraine one in Moravia,
and one in Yaroslav
Some of them are agricultural and
cooperative
I asked whether
the students had courses in
philosophy.
He replied that they do not call it that,
but they study logic and
the constitution and the
literature of the early
Church fathers as
e as the problems of
Christian philosophy and the
subjects of
nfT
'
theology, which
is
built
StU V S '
asked
upon
'
'
st Jdy abo
study
also Kant, Hegel, s!!
Schopenhauer,
phdosophy of the ancient Orient,
the
'
?* WOrld
Christianity* Catholicism,
Christianity
German philosophy
We
the
11
and a11
confessions of
and Orthodoxy
Protestantism,
today.
anZe
Lenmgrad Academy,
>
at
a specialist
the
\ered.
11
'
of Volokolamsk, Head of
the Pubt
De^artmenf of'T
Moscow Patriarchate and Editor of
The Journal of the Moscow
Pa
inarchate, which is sent to
people in fifty countries, had
asked him
le
n th >ccasion ,he
985Vo
1985)
of
f this D
Department. It was an interesting
work, but at the
r/r r v
first
time in Russian) as
mark important
occasions in the
of the
Peace-Making by the USSR Religious Organizations, published in 1977 for
the World Conference, Religious Workers for Lasting Peace, Disarmament, and Just Relations Among Nations.4 The Journal of the
Moscow Patriarchate, a monthly, appears in both Russian and English and may be subscribed to from the USA. It regularly includes
sections devoted to news of Church life, sermons, reports of the
work of the Church, and other activities in the peace movement,
Orthodox Sister Churches, Oikoumene, theology, and legal advice.
I observed that the students in the later years of the ten-year
school in Soviet society study Marxism-Leninism. No, he cor-
Church
philosophical principles
life
to
others, so
it
at school.
Neverthe-
members
are speaking on the problems of the Bible. These then are the two
sources where they can get religious education.
22
here
th e hel
,hc literature that has been
P
.
published
ferre
Xo rhe Journal of the Moscow
Hz-
m mh^V
efirhr'v!
oS
Patriarchate,
tha
an
COntainS
then
theological
questions,
>
On
Komorov
10 ' 1
S0
man
words, that
V
believ
andr
and
Marxist-Leninists do not require
or want a verbal comparison of ideologiesfirst,
because it does not promise
to add
anything of value to their individual
and common fife, and second
because
e s'
ers
>D
thdr
TIhe
practical eff<
ls
thcm 1 took part in the
ttet
Great Patriotic War said
Professor Komorov, and was
wounded in it. After the wlr
Ve n ny Pe Ple f
dif,erent Parts of
country came hire
to the
tbe Academy
A d
and Seminary. At that time
there were civilians
iere, they graduated
and became churchmen. But
we have many
.0 reafee
iT
ssstt?
.*>.*:
ss
Pr
S
r
0m0r0V is P roud of ** foreign
contacts of the
Ch u rchh and Ils
,.f
8 rowm international activities. Students here
\
take
r ad R me
d Getleva and *
d
Sr
.
osiovakia. In exchange,
e
h
students
study
at
the
f7
thefr/sTfacIfi
from the
The
USA
S"
St
to
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia
C mries ln the Leningrad
Academy
Academy-from
Arab
Mand
ed
Caci,
tic
E^hion
OWC.Iho
23
said to Professor
Church
is
at
'
I
S
r
J;!
blte
JaC
Catholic osate of the East-India),
the
e ran Refo rned Methodist,
Baptist, and other
ftotesSm denominations
Protestant
,
;
are developing.
Likewise the
Church has
Patriarchate.
The
toward peace and the Soviet State as expressed in The Journal of the
Moscow Patriarchate has been concisely stated by Professor Komorov
himself:
24
importance
in the journal.
The peacemaking of
it
the Russian
to say that
The Journal of
especially for
Church
Orthodox
asked us about our attitudes toward peace. Peace for us is like the
oxygen by which we breathe. In the memories of the older generation, the arduous and horrible days of the war still remain,
and the
wounds in the hearts of our mothers, sisters, and wives have not yet
healed. There are trees at Leningrad that are veterans of the
war,
stripped forever of their branches. Such signs of the war can
be
seen throughout our land. That is why peace for us is not a facile
phrase, a mere idea. It is the lifeblood and activity of our existence.
It is our state of mind, our cause, that we carry
as long as we live. All
who are struggling for peace, who are doing all they can in this
cause, are working not only for the preservation of peace; they are
preserving our very life.
Nowadays some people in the world are talking about Star
Wars. \es,
matter. Space
is
is
become deformed.
It
When we
is
turn
it
we have
our brothers, our
into a cemetery,
that
25
spacecrafts.
our joint
victory. It
in
the world.
*
went
received by T. A. Volgina
who
Moscow
is
State. It is
by the Church, though the land is owned by the
Patriarchate
1981
the
Before
publications.
from
financed by sales
very shortly it
was located in the monastery of Novodevichy and
in Moscow. Mr.
will be moved to the Danilov monastery here
Academy
Theological
Moscow
the
from
Volgina, who graduated
here for
worked
and
has
there
theology
and wrote a thesis on
the USA in
twenty years, has visited many countries, including
ol
Metropolitan
the
led
by
delegation
1983 and in 1984 with a
was
built
Moscow, Yuvenaliy.
The Journal, he said,
26
111
T*
davT?
'
'
rubles.
<
'
'
the
Pnn d
last
edition in 1983
The
'
'
>',
H"
'!
'
I
li
I
^Y
^-
'
shown the
USSR and T,
" hen he * as
.
in
he
USSR
27
Patriarchate.
dox Church
and
remembrance of the
decorated.
d n
length
^^
to
put these
^o^TtmntrcS
28
Church Calendar,
Orthodox
one of the series
Menaion
And
rials.
gymens beard to
*
religion
29
members of the Conference of European Churches. We are inreligious conferences and meetings.
volved and very active in many
means of communication
have close
We
are
standing,
abroad, in the
The problem now is that the masses of believers
are under
public,
general
the
world,
developing
West and in the
are at a
We
media.
mass
of
the
propaganda,
the influence of
comparable
have
dont
because
we
situation
disadvantage in this
counteracting this propaganda. We dont have the means
means of
to neutralize
untruth and
injustice.
to
Our
left
from
Sri
Lanka, Dr.
Caucasus, the
Moscow there
They live in
Transcaucasus, and the European
millions.
We
30
now
31
peaceful.
normally
it
is
politicized.
It
is
not
good
there.
But
is
is
Sheikh
Ahmed
Kaftaro.
Many
So
Chris-
that
our
We
our country.
There is a theological academy in Tashkent. The people there have
conversations with the Leningrad Theological Academy of
the
Russian Orthodox Church. They have many things in common.
We
have Orthodox parishes in the Muslim areas of the country. People
used to exchange visits during holidays, Orthodox visiting
Muslims
and vice versa.
in
We
we maintain
We
have
Judaism.
But we have deviated from the main idea, said Dr.
Bouevsky.
lution.
It
of
and
this
development. They have more advantages from the viewpoint of the development of humanity. But it's a very complicated
problem. I have tried to give you just the idea.
You mentioned something about the participation of believers
in social reality. Will you clarify this? I asked.
Members of the Church, he answered, are citizens of the
country. Everyone in his or her own place participates in the life ol
the society, beginning with political life in any kind of activity,
cialist
The
show high morals in their family life, in their social life. The
Church educates people to be good citizens. Official representatives
in the soof the Church participate in many public orgnizations
of
restoration
the
ciety. The Church has made large donations for
the
At
memorials.
war
monuments of architecture, the arts, and
so we have
present time a war memorial is being built in Moscow,
contn
have
We
construction.
made our own contribution to its
emergency
in
people
help
it
we
uted to the Red Cross, and through
32
We cooperate with the Peace Fund, contributing to the peacemaking of our people and
organizations. We
paiticipate in the restoration of historical
monuments, and
situations in the world.
our
problems.
interrupted. You yourself are a member of a
board of the
Societies for Friendship and Cultural
Relations
with Foreign Countries.
I
Union of Soviet
Many
many
public
AHende was
killed. It
33
is completely
conception, both political and social,
can be considered to be Christian. Ii does not contradict Christianity at all. That we have different world views does not prevent
is
The socialist
wrong
And
its
USSR
as
an
atheistic state
is
idea.
this idea
of the
societies.
Metropolitan Filaret of Kiev is a member of several societies. 1 hen 1 am on the Soviet Peace
Committee's Public Commission for Liaison With Religious Circles for
Peace. Archbishop
Pitiiim in the Department of Publications
here participates in many
public organizations. Many representatives
of hierarchy and clergy
participate in public organizations and these
friendship societies.
As Dr. Bouevsky had spoken of the education of the
Church and
the forms of education, inquired about
these issues.
This is the basis of pastoral activity, of course,
the education of
the people.
here are various methods of education. First,
people
are educated in parishes and in families
of believers. Then cate1
Department
that distributes
many
publications
among
With respect
of pastors is very
has graduated from one of our three
seminaries can take holy orders and go to work
in a parish. He can
then study by correspondence at the
Academy while working at a
parish. There are about 1,500 such
students studying by correspondence. In the Academy students go more
deeply into theology
as everywhere in higher educational
institutions, and the Academies train persons to be theologians and
bishops. Theology needs
to be developed; it can be developed
only by those who have sound
important.
student
who
and
irrec-
oncilable.
This
idea,
socialism,
and
he answered,
it
is
a false
the
socialism.
Dialogues are occurring now between Christianity and Marxfrom our country who participate in this dialogue
come from the International Institute for Peace in Vienna. This
ism. Marxists
Institute, in
many
Its
a very
good
idea,
my
account of the
Church tradition. Every pastor should know the service very well to
perform it according to traditions and rites of the Church. This is
one of the main things in training pastors.
Now, your question. In the program of the development of the
34
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
IN'
THE USSR
Russian Orthodox Church
all
no differences
this position.
W.ll
economy, and
in social
Kfoisar
b
hv
hn.'TT
ln
? SOmCtimes we err
di
hat
.Ms
is not
noTund
under targetting
'
ur untry
th re
is
" t0wn
is
surrounded
in this
country
In conclusion
lvant to
tell
We are
preparing to
IGSS^In
state his
given us a monastery at the
request of the Patriarch a
centennial
monastery It was founded in the
thirteenth century by the first
prince of Moscow, Daml, ihe
younger son of St. Aleksandr Nevsky.
For two years we have been
restoring the place. It's very
nice We
P ai to finish it by 1988. We must not only
restore buildings but
gS T Sether " ith this lar e
S DanilOT nastewy aTariT"'
g aiCa Was glven 10 us and on * we plan
to build a
u
3 CO erence
> that we will have our own
and no, ne
t0
,e State S Within
monastery itself the
Parn,
h will
iMlive and the
ti larch
Holy Synod will have its offices.
We have
'-
>
35
foundation and all the drawings are ready and by the first
of September we should finish the foundation and start building
walls. That will be accomplished in 1988. Much restoration has
laid the
been done.
the
Church
'I
bis will
be
will
in this
is Viktor Igumen, a young monk who is a construction engineer by profession. The work is done by secular organizations and
we administer the work. The whole monastery is headed by the
Father Superior, Evlogii. lie has been manager of the Holy Trinity
Lavra, the monastery at Zagorsk, and was also Professor of the
Moscow Theological Academy there. You should visit the place.
There are services every day, in the morning and the evening. Its
work
is
beautiful.
There
a workshop
work there.
is
for
here?
Do you
We
we
and when
human
on Christianity and
socialism.
36
In our Journal
problems.
We work
because
we consider
it
important.
Life
are
voiced, including the position of the Vatican
and the Curia. Many
questions are asked about our people living
in a socialist society and
our attitude toward the concepts of the
theology of
liberation.
in
Commis-
bishops,
cleigy,
is
It
meets
commis-
after
it
is
official position
to
if
ferem
Our document will be very important.
Why? Because in our
time we have many very difficult
questions, difficult for the
Church. For example, the question of
moral matter.
of Christianity
It is
And
is
all
We must
produce
our own point of view. Deterrence is not
acceptable as a norm But
vye should elaborate our clear
position. We have many questions of
this kind.
And now
in
upon our
37
Synodical period in the life of the Church. And it is a very important question for understanding the relations between the Church
and the state and the concept of their relation before the Revolution. I carried my study up to the restoration of the Patriarchate in
1918.
no Patriarch
I
constitution.
It
would be wrong,
statistics at all.
census.
We
The
we have no
Baptists have a
ing the theological schools and internal Church life you can get
from Metropolitan Aleksei who is a chancellor of the Church. The
organism and
the Revolution,
we
in
dont have
believers.
I
observed that
more members
Its
in
very rough.
It is
thirty million or
small parishes that cannot even have a priest; they cannot support a
priest. So one priest must care for several parishes. And there are
different situations. One parish may have several priests because it
is too large. Even in Moscow we have both very small parishes and
very large ones. There are many millions of believers. Here Dr.
Bouevsky
listed
and non-Chris-
the
USSR,
to
sisters. It is
position because
we
We
discover a
We
and
common
38
good
cosmos
all
is
and indeed
life
a single
all
reality
on
this conviction
nUed
in
the
work
ff<)rt
'
of this conference.
The
ussian
mutuality with others and with nature. Patriarch Pimen summarized this religious outlook as it bears on peace in this way:
The conference
of a religious world outlook: first, faith in the fact that human life is not
confined to earthly existence, and, second, the conviction that an indilife is closely bound up not only with the lives of absopeople on Earth, but also with the existence of the entire world,
so life in the broad sense is an organic interconnection. Damage to one
of the component parts of this vital organism inevitably entails negative
consequences for all the others. Consequently, the defence of life on
vidual
human
lutely all
Earth
the direct
is
mentation of which
religious
and highest
peace movement
him
10
.
and in the
order created and sustained by God, that
any
in
39
this earth
When
Viktor
monastery.
lie
tumn
1983,
officer in
monastic custom, has been dropped the financial
vocation
his
find
to
pleased
He
is
the project.
is
charge of overseeing
40
here. Labor
It is
is Gods command,
he says. Laborare
expected that all will be completed by
1988
est
adorare.
celebration of the
The Church
l f
te
T inity Ca,hedral
theCmhe
e Cathedral
f
'
ancient times in
many cloisters (as here) and churches,
has been placed here. Most
of the workers on the restoration
of the icons are women, qualified
professional pamters in the art.
While they are paid for their work
\ lktor assures me that all of
them are
believers.
In addition to
all
buildings that
will
fields.
and by
tion of historical
cultural values
is
a duty
and obligation of
citizens
buildings. 1
rooms and
42
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
IN
THE USSR
Now we
governmem
archttects
the
Moscow
Soviet.
The
construction
modern and
is
of the monastery.
Whit
d!' project
While this
represents material progress Viktor
is at
pams to under me its spiritual
purpose. The DanUov monastery
ts
h
aCe
MOSCO Pnnce Danil was the first
saint in the region
of V nsr
n Unng
past '''' nturies, prominent
leaders of
Russian culture
cultur were buried here;
one could sav they were die
flower o our culture
Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol; the
brilliant Rus
er and POel Kh
Sarnarin,
2ll, a
th PamtCr
M
tT
founded the
founded
others.
>
'
:;Z
rr
~
T
hCir r
the^'whole
* 1CdUy fhe
011
-'
and
amfreh
reburted There
is
^ * tHe
church
a " d ">
buried
Viktor.
ab Ut the
relati nS
toSy?^
he
tt
thfCh
t,
Ude
'
-tore
put some
the names
spttotfic
of^l
questions to
=f=si s
e
of mstory.
oi
his^;
ticipatmg
He
r.
and
be,ieve in the
beings are
to
mr
C od
?
can stimulate the process
and he can dissent from it
n
the pinion of nonbelievers
toward
believer? From this you
believers.
can see that probably no
antagonism at all
43
least
that organizations
interest in helping us
and
in
cooperating with
us.
the force of
ers.
This
is
evil.
my
are believers,
Among
Mother. This
is
my
Friend.
believe
in
Armenian
through
briUiant
n f
sudd^mlrialtSoT
irOHn ut as rocks and
into
lavender
hills,
Visi
lies
i the
in
nd
""Wear"
~t0
'
deserts
and
less
^
T'"'
lra "'
ay ne 0f he
fl
in
rainy
S
stoicism await a
delayed sorincr
South,
summer
\\
wrapped
In winter
is
^
dmS
n
on Armenia, and
geometrl
fie
S n
r the sn w-covered
a d nvers the lakes
massecJ ' u P and aloof,
*
^king down
are
ik th
rain has
or is on
Below are sin^
n
"*
green Lids! hn^d
hTfees One
7
irrigation that makes
arffe P'P es
the desert
to bios
"rt
b ' Ssom
h ke the rose.
like
Tf
the way.
^
T* T
Arizona.
e
rysiL:tL fe7uLfastLlnlLndd m
on two sides by wooded
slopes^ and fh
undulated, as one
vtLt froL 1,^
t
monument one
It
looks
^ **
7 he CUy
the Whole
f
gets a breath-taking
view'lf a^ode/n
is
enclosed
^ory
is
d^wth its
When
grown on
oran K e sunshine.
a ' ,d Greece and
has, like them, a
subtropical climate ahm"^
oundin& in h()l bright
but it sits 1500 miles
sun;
east off.Black aild Cas pian
Seas, between the
mouma^of
Armenia
is
is
arid,
deenhf
high upland.
* - the image of a
r
it
Armenia
45
'
Church
tall
Apostolic
art.
1 hales said all reality is
water. Here one can say it is rock,
assuming its various forms melted, hardened, brittle,
dense,*
heaved up, layered, twisted precipitous canyons,
escarpments,
down
Armenians
The modern
Age
The
Old Stone
center of Yerevan
trees lovingly
the north,
(bread),
at the
crossroads of
46
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
UiJOIV
Armenian
ymboToI
painted ^th e
^nsibUity and S ym-
froXX
uXXX
'f
he USSR?
D Sian
^sterner, an American
having a history
Bu '-re
>
in the Armenian
Repubhc anolhel
near| y twice as old the
first and the oldest
Of state religions
?
of
in Christianity
the Armenian Church Tt,
tdimiadzin Cathedral, which is
in the Hdy S? e of the
Church,
a town twenty ktlometers
,anlty
,s
WnUn
its
'
6 h,ghest
its
population The'
onward
Christianity hat
foXmeK^sX'T
WanH
P er
Re^biim holm
in
teen cSXteXtnfdtvXfoeTrme"
at d her StrandS f
cu,ture and history
n easy t0day lo determ
ine
this delicate art appear as early as the sixth century. But the
Golden Age of the glorious miniature, the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, brought to a climax the sense of national con-
ligraphy.
Armenians-^
al
tXtef te
to be
bapdzed.?
ChriS, ' an h
,,aSe
who
is
asked
Vj ^t
skillfully
hues of life
still
like.'
much
churches,
hewn out of
to reveal the
just
Chr
Christian and who
h
47
n Bge
of
the
Church
is
rth0d0x
Apostolic
ne !our
Pare " S
'<>
church
religious structures.
become
e miniatures for
in
thousands
century; and
it
The
'
48
CHRISTIANITY TODAY IN
ME USSR
Armenian
Jerusalem,
and" calendar
frl^he^And
to prevail as
orthodoxy.
More
imnomm
rv
th
Church
49
ipiSSHg
g that came
Apostolic
to the
Armenian people, gathering together the memories of past sufferings, the confidence of present-day success, and the promise of the
future. Far in the distance stands the
snow-capped Mount Arareminder of the endurance of the land and the survival
and triumph of its people.
The Armenians today are at pains to stress their historical ties
with the Russians. The two peoples helped one another in repelling
the Polvotsi, Pechenegi, and Scljuks; the Kievan prince Vladimir
married Anna, sister of the Byzantine Basil II, who came from an
Armenian dynasty; in 1410 the Armenians fought alongside Poles,
Lithuanians, and Russians in the battle of Grunwald against the
Knights of the Teutonic Order; when the Turks and Persians
conquered Armenia, the Russians took in their refugees; Ivan the
Terrible, Peter the Great, and Catherine II extended ties in the
forms of trade, Armenian participation in construction of Russian
towns, and battles against Turks and Persia; and Russia liberated
Yerevan in 1827. At the same time the long years of aggression and
oppression of tsarism are recognized by the Armenians. 8
The Bolsheviks and the revolutionaries in Armenia had a common enemy, the tsars and the ruling class around them. The Manifesto of the Communist Party by Marx and Engels was translated into
Armenian in 1887 and in 1898 the first Marxist societies were
founded. Then in Yerevan, in the period of 1903-1905, the first
Bolshevik organization came into being. Even before that, in 1902,
the League of Armenian Social-Democrats was formed and in its
Manifesto it pledged its support of the Russian and Armenian
proletariat. Lenin welcomed the Manifesto. Among the many Armenian revolutionaries and martyrs, the name of Kamo stands out
(Simon Ter- Petrosyan). His daring deeds, his courage under torture, and his Houdini-like escapes transcend the most imaginative
ghats, a
'
century), domination
bv the
TT*
P,a
he eleven,h
and
,he
mIXwever
the
took on the role of
Russia.
Caught
in this
Ando R Li,,
^ T"
int -ests,
Aci,,c fron ers against
.
their
fiction writing.
ss
and
50
Ill
Armema, Sharp
State
socialist State
|
mem
Trh
ent of
Church power and
new
as scientific-cultural institutes
of
translation.
There are
monastery
we?p handed
h
h'
were
over to the peasants for their
lists
'
collectivized use. In
Apostolic
Church
January of 1928 an illustrated atheist review was launched, Anastoats (The Godless); in October the first conference of the Union of
Atheists of Armenia was held; and in November of 1929 an antireligious university was opened in Yerevan. As in Russia, the Free
Church Brotherhood was started in Georgia as a schismatic movement to weaken the larger body, aiming at apostolic simplicity,
liberation from the monarchical rule of celibate priests, adoption of
modern Armenian, abolition of peculiar clerical dress, practice of
honest means of income, and propagation of canon law among
believers. But the movement had little effect.
It is worth noting that the coming of socialism to Armenia did
not affect the ecumenical relations of the Armenian Church inside
or outside the USSR. Echmiadzin sent consultants to Lausanne in
1927 and to Edinburgh in 1937 for the World Conference on Faith
revived the congregation and seminary of Echmiadzin, reorganized the diocese of Armenia and of the other Soviet republics, regularly published the review Edchmiadzin (Etchmiadzin)
ernment
to
52
Armenian
The
He
I.
>
bic, Persian.
This
is
a hot,
must go on constantly
a million. In
in
France-300,000;
lesser
numbers are
Apostolic
Church
53
found
tions
tant.
In 1962,
gers,
we
And
is
is
useful
and
own personal
are trying to
this
do our
duty.
Of course we
Armenian nation,
our nation throughout the centuries we were always
question because
we
because for
troubled by the absence of peace, the sufferings, and wars not
our own wars but the wars of other nations.
It is well known, he went on, that during World War I the
population of western Armenia was completely massacred in the
genocide of 1915 when two million people died. During World War
II also we had a great number of victims. So it is natural for us as
representatives of the
Armenian nation
that
to
break out anywhere. And we are very glad that the Soviet government, the Soviet leaders, are the great advocates of the cause of
peace in the world.
about
I said that it is important for the American people to know
his position on peace and the position of his Church, of the Gospel,
and of Jesus The Prince of Peace. And I observed that many
Christians in the USA do not know of the Armenian Church or
other religious bodies in the USSR and their strong position on
peace.
leaders are troubled, he replied. It is impossible
to be a Christian and not to be an advocate of peace.
in the USA want
I pointed out that while generally Christians
Many of our
54
,y
tog
We
ifve
Apostolic
Church
55
before World War 11 in the 1930s, such as the activities around the
League of Nations in Geneva. Many conferences on peace took
place, conferences on disarmament, and the like. There were un-
ending talks on disarmament and peace. But the war became a fact.
So mere words are not enough. There must be real disarmament,
not only words. And unfortunately we have not seen the fact of this
disarmament, and we are very much troubled by this.
I asked him what is the role of the Church, of people in the
Church, and of public opinion in this process of moving toward
real disarmament.
From that point of view, he said, we have some advantage,
because the ideas on peace of our government and the ideas on
peace of the Church coincide. And in our sermons delivered to the
public, we also speak about peace. And so the ideas of the government and of the Church concur and are harmoniously linked to
movement for
peace among the churches as
well as in the world, I
observed
This activity of different
churches toward strengthening
peace
he ansuvereil, is done through
different international organ ttons. For example,
there is a conference of
Christian churches
whose center ,s in Prague-the
Christian Peace Conferencenext
month there will be one great
international conference just on
this
n0 P
A nd
Cou d of'churc^
the r agenda
a ge ndr,h
these
e
questions of nuclear disarmament
and of
stiengthening peace also have
a place n
I noted that in the
1970s there had been a period
of detente of
itCnCe
ST hopeful
people were striving for peace not only in America but also between peoples. It is very important that the peaceful spirit of the
common people of America continue in the direction of the struggle for peace, so that in the end the government of the United
States will become again peace-loving and carry out the policy of its
this
"
all
hon^T
that
was twice
in
must
I
testify
then.
many
They
moment
the
spirit
of Americans.
am
sure.
And
as
there are
'
it
r
X^
1968, in different
e effeCti edeVe,0pme nt
of this pro^donot
for you
o ca
cant
T accomplish
;
everything merely with appeals
Something must fortify your appeals.
And we wa.T and hope That
3
6611 be USA and the
Soviet Union will bring
Vs to som
dt* S
ten th?
fo tureTsTiT danger.^
exist,
people.
Throughout
it
56
movement
and other
Armenians
in
other
search and the struggle for world peace. With its own historic
experience as the recurrent victim of war, it is eminently suited for
this all-important struggle
and
task.
4.
Roman
to visit Lithuania,
went
to see the
Roman
in
Catholics in
the
crowned
various forpredominant one through the centuries during which
ByRussian,
German,
Polish,
religions
eign armies, cultures, and
just
1791,
In
land.
the
across
forth
elorussian flowed back and
of two centuries
before the partition of Poland and the dissolution
a mixLithuania,
of
duchy
grand
of Polish- Lithuanian union, the
Russians, Latvians,
ture of Byelorussians, Poles, Lithuanians, Jews,
1,470,000 Roman
Uniates,
Germans, and Karaims, had 1,500,000
(dissidents from
Raskolniki
Catholics, 250,000 Orthodox, 140,000
Jews, 40,000
Russian Orthodoxy), 60,000 Protestants, 385,000
scnpanti-Rabbimc
Muslims, and 5,000 Karaims (medieval, Jewish,
it is
warfare,
of
centuries
2
turalists). Given such a mixture and such
no wonder
survived has
that the faith in this region that best
58
Roman
ary;
and
of Church and
State in
1940 set rh
more at cr oss-purposes with
the people turning m
clergymen mto active
collaborators with the
g>
stl11
L nder soc.ahsm
occupying
the
Roman
Catholic
Church
in
Lkhuania
59
The remainder
of the Catholics
in
the
USSR
numbers
Latv^he
Lithuania and every parish has a priest; but because many priests
Church has needed to train more clergy 5
Latvia
Catholicism
whose
at Liepaja.
seat
is
The whole
of Latvia
is
in Riga.
in Latvia
Lutherans. 7
wmm
":^sr:?
cupadon b
studied abioad.
if
-ties.
th Nazi
he program of training
follow^ the
c;
lines laid
art portrays the life and sufferings of Jesus in the mode of the
German Kummerstunden. Mary, the Mother of God, is prominently
featured here as in other Roman Catholic churches in Riga.
The reason is long-standing. While the Germans in the twelfth
its
60
II
established
fisasf
cry
Church
in
Riga and
who
Latvia
lives at
the
St.
Catholicism
met
in the Soviet
SS^gSSSS
^SiSSS,E
f
f-r-
tions, religious
an H
cpmUr
peace orgamza-
r*
3ma
Committee
Using the
historic
Pacem
member
in Terns
who
teaches Latin and other subjects at the semitwo full-time professors as well as some parttime instructors. In a six-year curriculum there are twenty-eight
fessor Vaivods,
f the
of Pope fohn
of
XX FI
this
required subjects,
(seven courses),
Church
.
I
Russian, Latvian,
and
Latin.
aaSSs^fH
Dean Dzen.s and
1984 there
62
Roman
worked
the
need"d
electrical
work and
fire protection,
maL
ChUrth
,al
was done by
can be
If materials
P" "
t0
And
State
Yes,
W
"T
'
eS
?
controlled by the State planning
committee. So the church asked
the Council to help it obtain the
plate.
-
Tu
^
Catholicism
Latvia
63
activities
Buildings
a nd the land.
Council of the
Supreme
Soviet.
cost
is
four kopeks.
No
The
Council
published the books, and the Roman Catholic Church in the USSR
paid the State publishing house for the printing. At the end of this
year, 25,000-30,000 prayerbooks are to be published in a new
edition. In
daily
prayer.
In addition, six volumes of the Old Testament and New Testament have already been published by Progress Publishers, translated from the Latin into Russian. Every day we use a selection
from the Bible. The New Testament is in the Latvian language; it
was published in 1964 in 5,000 copies. A professor is working on a
published.
We
Evangelical Christians-Baptists
St.
in
65
gregating or of
and Pashkovites in St. Petersburg (after Pashkov, a retired colonel).
Bible study), Baptists in the Caucasus,
5.
In the
bmon
Evangelical Christians-Baptists
USSR
today
when N.
moment
in
I.
in
the
The
which persisted
in face
of imprisonment and
exile.
In the early
1900s the Baptists began to publish their own journals. The tsars
government then tried to return to its repressive policy, and during
World War I banned the Bible School and closed many prayer
Mandel
8 new houses of
worship
T he administration of the Church is
organized into eleven
gions which are overseen by sixty-four
Ca
Ut
superintendents.
The Union
re-
The work
more
;i
Tnnn C0n re atlons and
8 8
groups, and in the 1979-1984
Jbio
period
268 new congregations were registered
and more than twohundied prayer houses were built, repaired,
or
includes
Also 40 000
persons were converted to Christ and
in addition, 5,600 persons
belonging to other congregations outside
the Union joined it
According
ment
rebuilt.
in
who were
in reaction against
the
liturgy
who wished
the
to have direct contact with
Biblethe cradle
in
66
Evangelical Christians-Baptisls
67
Church in the
counterparts in the West, has tended to ordain
ministers with little or no specialized education. It has sent and still
sends a few men abroad for theological training; in 1985 two were
studying in the Geman Democratic Republic and three in
USSR,
like
its
"'
r S
,?
f r ' Ppe
.
Melt,
ihus
for aspirants to the ministry, and from 1979 to 1984 some 369
164 as
persons studied in these Courses and 214 completed them
courses have trained about 600 local church ministers, among them
seventy choir leaders. Yet because of the growth in the number of
chance
'
ThM W
the
n8
al ap
7 sts 5tr rtgly emphasize
the publication and
stiulv^f
R-n In the period
study of the Bible.
of 1959-1979 they published the
e
gre
c,r cuIation a " d the
New Testament once.
fifnds theology
i"
u
u
Baptist
is thus
based on the fundamentals of Holy
Scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit,
which is the foundation for the
propagating and strengthening of the
faith. The Bible is the basis
for the sermon, which is central
to the all-important church
service
S PP e
e
y hC Sinsing of h > m,,s < of which there arc
2
tmn by both
M choir
'f andi congregation.
2,000)
Bible study is also necessary
to carry on the education
of the children in the home.
Parents in
our country enjoy the right to educate
their children in the spirit
of
rlT** mCetings
ogether "'hh
their children
dren. Education
Fdn a,
of children in the love of God,
neighbors and
Motherland is a right of believing parents.
'
Peri0d
198
nn^
the
f
!7
t
f * Blble-0f these
Bible c
Societies;
Tm
pastors
and
fifty as
last fifteen
its
at
the
in the
in Moscow. This is the largest Baptist church
year.
every
church
hundred persons join the
Church
USSR; more than one
Baptist
More than
into the
a thousand worshippers packed themselves
68
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
IN
THE USSR
Evangelical Christians-Baptists
mained
attentive
throughout the two-and-one-half hour servicewomen in scarves standing in one great mass in
the aisles and weeping cathartically during
the mournful hymns of
the choir and responding with sympathetic
cries to the long,
even the
many
old
The mood of
rhyththe con-
bread
USSR, greeted me
ministers
at this
in the pulpit
at this
church
in 1982.
It
joined in the
in 1952
convened
1969,
Likewise
it
working
organizations
69
Who said
in the
Sermon on
10
for they will be called the children of God.
11
agriculture
Lutheranism
71
USSR.
The window
6.
Lutheranism
tists,
who came
to the
in
very
late
DnkhT
SUbb tniki
andofht.
Shl
Sr
'
-aiUtiane,
'
SS13n C taCtS
d
,em
Stouih to the
MaleVantsi
p 0,es
'
of basic economic interests has no doubt shaped presentday attitudes on both sides, if only to create a certain estrangement.
The ideological differences of course have been widened by the
conflict
commu-
72
Lutheranism
the
USA.
Yes,
we
life in Latvia.
Its difficult to
our
W hen
in
*73
in
version of
ing voluntary contributions. In 1960 they published a
a
prepared
have
and
now
copies
1,500
in
about
Testament
the New
new translation to be printed in 2,000 copies. ( I he first Latvian
translation of the
New
Janis Kalvanas.)
Alexander
I,
when
faith.
The new
translation will
New Testament
in a
its
family has it in
cannot.
For the religious holidays, he continued,
..
we have
a tradition
On Victor)
printing special leaflets for Christmas and Easter.
end of t iewa^
the
of
anniversary
May 9, we celebrate the fortieth
confessions are repiesen e
in a special ecumenical service. All
Adventist, Pentecostal, Jud<
ay,
Roman
74
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
and
others.
We
the holiday in
I
put
this
September
USA,
Freedom of
constitution of
Church and
Its
said by people in
that theres
say to that?
believers,
our
Lutheranism
THE USSR
IN'
state.
freedom of
There
religion in the
is
USSR.
religion,
a special
It
is
based on the
document on the
is
different
The
Supreme Soviet
has to approve it, and after this it will be published. Thats why we
have the freedom for every believer to come to the church to pray
and
to
perform
To safeguard
session of the
religious duties.
this,
seminary here in Riga. More than forty students are there. The
students come mainly from Latvia; before, they came from
Lithuania. Its at a building of the Church of St. John. There are
ten or twelve instructors. The students do not live there but come
every month for a session and examinations. This year in January
five students graduated and went to serve churches in Latvia. And
women are studying there; seven have graduated and now are
pastors of churches. The first ordination of a woman took place at
the start of the 1970s.
Is the ministry
gregations?
of
women
asked.
now'
it
is
Z ation
we have
contacts.
That
is
our
common
cause.
We
75
have a
our understanding,
task. In accordance with our beliefs,
C ommon
of the Society. We
activities
peace
are taking part in different
believers of other
the
with
relations
that these friendly
Understand
To
churches serve to establish contacts.
d
society
Uommented
society
this
that
would like
from 1941
to say
to
goal, to liberate
our Motherland.
part in these
the believers
hard, strenuous years of the
of the econreconstruction
the
along with other people shared in
is no difthere
why
omy the reconstruction of socialism. Thats
the hrst
now
Because
ference between believer and non-believer.
That is
war.
nuclear
the world is to prevent a
task that
our
we have
common
in
task,
oi
"We
Moscow February
by the
Russian Orthodox Church and organized
foi Sa
g
Workers
Religious
sidium of the World Conference,
Catastrophe.)
Nuclear
Sacred Gift of Life from
\
auc>
Mesters about his view of the r e
I asked Reverend
strugg
_the
countries in
Christians here and Christians in other
Riga
ecumencial relations here in
held in
peace-whether these
76
will
No
only
but
is
many
grow.
world will
understand one another like brothers
and sisters "
ddegati n of S iet re,i ious workers
S
in several cities
in
m fh
the USA ast year, ?
he said they had been received
warmly,
y with
goodheartedness and love.
What about Reagans Christianity? I asked
him. He uses Christian language in a crusade
against Communism.
come
to
'
Tcf?
I cant say,
he replied, because
dont
know
the details.
can
77
only say that his Christianity does not coincide with the Prince of
Peace."
is
Christian concepts to
God
is
human beings,
gave to
the sun
is
is
given
to all.
turned
the Soviet
wished
to
army
spective.
German Democratic
Elbe
at
from the
observed that
wanted
many
countries fought.
Latvia
in the balmy air under the blue sky. But here, at this very
from October 1941 to the summer of 1944, stood the central
tow'er and the forty-five barracks of the fascist death camp where
more than 100,000 people from many occupied lands were
lodged and where they lost their lives by insult, terror, torture,
hunger, cold, disease, exhaustion, shooting, and hanging. The victims of this butchery included 7,000 children. (At the concentration camp near the Riga-Daugavpils highway another 47,000
felt
serene
site,
78
earth groans.
down
falling
forces
its stiff
arm
it is
rising against
its
called
is
Soli-
Eloquent testimony to
heroism in the horror, to honor
that spurns debasement, and
to
love triumphant over death!
T
d " * h left lading into the forest
represents the real
j.
road of Nazi fiendish
design along which feeble old people
despondent mothers, little children, and
grown men were forced to
walk toward execution-The Way
of Death. The road that circles
the grassy area is The Way of
Sufferings-for along this prisoners
were driven mercilessly until they fell,
undernourished and wasted
^T?
III.
7.
and
Nauka
Religiia (Science
costing
articles
on
atheistic
propaganda (concrete,
creative, effective
),
the
Moscow), pie]u-
762 in
future of graduates, a school of joy (No.
lethargic sleep
education,
their
and
handicapped
the
dices about
the fall (two arti(protective reaction of the organism"), sin and
"Russian Orthodoxy and Ruscles), Mahomet, historical Smolensk,
and
Reality,
this
journal
is
L)r.
Editor-in-Chief
is
Maksimovich
probaby
second partour attitude toward Christianity
this problem and cervou have talked with many people here on
from theirs; and I can te you
tainly our attitude would not differ
toward religion and the
our view. We have a definite attitude
our society, working and
Church. Believers make up a great part of
to the
doing
all
sense
the things that others do. In this
we
see religious
82
acnvmes and
realizing
its
institutions as a part of
aims. That
is
our general
attitude
settled
nSe *****
iS
COWradiction In Political and
social
a
contradiction.
(Before the Helsinki meeting
Security and Cooperation in
-
affairs ",there
affairs,
're
is
Conference on
march
P,
no
Europe, 19751 Pa
men
J;,
Th
?
f0r
m?ent. The
Tl
,
example of that?
e are so ' ne tases where
people
hC undermin,n of
S
,
usual case
socialist society
vZn
prom
ZZ
the Soviet
for
kind of activity. He was one of
the religious leaders of the
Baptist
Church, living in Kiev, and he is
now in the United States
Une ol the arguments that gives
support to the
Ms
'
proposition that
here ts no contradiction between
the Stale and the
"sttb
lishment ts that as a rule two
parallel processes are
on the
same rehgtous organizations
which are in conflict with the
Church
are at the same time
usually in conflict with the
State Vins reprc
t3keS Pla
Wkh
reEs
MSff
gZg
-clarity
and for
settling
such questions.
Q:
On
is
where there is
in Nauka
83
a
i
Re liglia?
A: Since the believers are Soviet people and in principle have the
same political position as nonbelievers of the USSR, taking part in
all
Communism,
there
is
only
readers
explain the approach of the scientists in the analysis ol the phenomena, and we stress that nothing can be supernatural in these
things and everything can be discovered. And for all these won-
ders,
will
84
Editors,
human
culture,
We aim
explanation.
approach
to these
Its
in
polemics?
How
would you
wonders. This
is
a Marxist-Leninist critique of
religion.
the
are
the
the
practical life
supports
this view.
85
work of
the people.
some
aspects
can demonstrate
illuminates
who
directed to what
this
material printed in
these clubs there are discussions of the
journal.
le
believers.
Q: What kinds of responses do you have from
Sometimes they
A: Their responses come through their letters.
them but no
come here to the office in person and we talk with
borne
readers into certain categories,
anonymous
are
their letters
are fighters against atheism. As a rule
e in
to punish us. leop
God
on
calling
words,
foul
and they use
e
an
make
they
second category do not agree with us but
very often.
can
classify the
us.
enter into a constructive dialogue with
We
deve op a
86
friendship with these people, and with some the exchange of letters
has gone on for several years. In the third category are believers
who are trying to reflect on their ideas and who truly want to listen
to the other side and to understand it. Usually these people
are
grateful for the explanation of certain things about which they have
been thinking. The last category includes writers of letters not too
who as ex-believers thank the journal. Some of them, having quit the Church, become proponents of atheism.
many
we
CT May
tion.-'
am
I
A:
Editors,
to this posi-
They ought
to think
87
about
this
more carefully.
include m my new work.
There is another thing I would like to
more popular but at the
journal
the
We are contemplating making
.
theoretical quality.
policy against detente and tor
Q: I think now, with Reagans
up our exchanges and meetconfrontation, its important to step
sacrificing
its
the peace-
understand
lished,
we
will
not
make any
Philosophers
8.
89
You
rials
Man
i
He
and
is
(.
institutions in
A: Practically
He
He
and
the
it
it.
million
have no such data. But for our rich conditions, a
only.
voluntary
are
contributions
These
money.
rubles is not big
about
Many people contribute to the Peace Fund. We not only talk
something.
peace but we do
ago you discussed
Q: During my interview with you some years
on which you
religion,
and
Marxism-Leninism
the relation between
A:
We
comments on
had done much research. Would you make some
this
question?
relation, particularly with regard to the peace
relation between
the
concerning
problem
A: We have no such
belief,
1 think that
view
and
own
In
my
believers and nonbelievers.
find contradictions
certain propagandists efforts have tried to
If you could stay
targets.
false
between the two. I think they have
ask you whether
will
one
life,
no
longer and observe everyday
here
mind such
you are a believer or not. We do not even keep in
become
we
do
literature
religious
questions. Only when we study
probhe
1
consciousness.
religious
concerned about the problem of
was solved a
lem of relations between believers and nonbelievers
Lenin formulated die
long time ago. More than seventy years ago
eSocialism^ and
principles governing such relations in his works,
oj
Toward Religion, The Attiture
ligion, The Attitude of the Workers' Party
Classes
and
Parties
Materialism.
Towa rd
Religion,
and On
Militant
the Significance of
.
atheistic
propaganda
90
Philosophers
we understand
image of atheism
against this
nothing to do with.
facts, to
in the Soviet
wrong image,
very
It is
common
for logical
men
to distort the
wrong
contents,
Q: So atheism, you
view.
And
say,
is
is
arose.
Thus
Rome,
and death
initial basis
for Christianity,
how
it
it
existed in,
what
now.
Personally
is
the only
life
we
a5
of values.
But even
as a
minimum
in
one
when you need to
hold
people in the
USA
with
make Darwins teaching compatible
Christianity.
his
is
social conflict.
religion in unscientific.
and
How do
fly
is
is
ol the
autonomous. The
constitutional, so that
lam-
private
in
in his
nrl
mind
it is a question
Q: An American scientist told me that
of the past or whether
remnants
whether these contradictions are
What is your view on this.
they are an inherent part of socialism.
from the past. Otherwise
A- Religion
would not
is
exist
a self-contradiction
under
socialism.
It
existed forJ^een
in-
trans-
92
formed
professor, this
is
Philosophers
is
hard to understand.
We
come
they
invite a delegation
We
me
believers in the
here
talk with
children,
women, old
people.
We
Germans
Q: In
my
wonderful it was that the Amerand the Soviet people had one
common encrny-
that
in the
and
eople
practice,
that
War
of
and
television,
thats
important.-'
most
God
as
United
States.
Nobody can
93
believers,
is
of
a violation
law,
punishable by
Nobody regards
law.
We
respect
reli-
believers as second-
and
They have the same rights as others. We have no
special registration under he question, Are you a believer or not?
We deal with the problem of religion, but we do not know how
gious people
class people.
their views.
many
believers
we have
in the Soviet
are believers
and
them
who
Q: People
kind by
its
own
form
of consciousness.
through
artificial
94
grounds for
its
phenomenon
creations
will
have no reasons o r
like politics
think, a
will not
and
go
fine,
but
if
feel lonely,
have troubles, if I
wouldnt go to a
to a priest for
scientist; I'd
/ he Brothers Karamazov one of them goes to the monasanother goes to the restaurant. Its a historical truth. People
need to have certain compensation. But if they do not find it, they
go to religion.
tery,
What can
think
first
losophy.
people
die.
The
9.)
him
relations
go
to the
before I will
Twill consult with my nearest friends
we
them first of all. We share our views
priest. I will listen to
difficulties.
no
has
Who
difficulties.
discuss our problems and our
no life without difficulties. But
Theres
them.
Every person has
difficulties
hi
the
person. Personally
go to
sometimes know we
relations to us as persons] we
second
this
know
especially if we
bad priest but not to another,
qualities.
is
We
judge us on the
basis of
wrong information.
II
Yakovlev, who
Professor Evgenii Georgievich
University,
State
Moscow
ulty of Philosophy of
Rehpons, 1977)
World
mirovye retigii (Art and
IsLwo
works.
r^
Philosopher!;
96
CHRISTIANITY TODAY IN
Q:
am
Till-.
your society.
A: I can speak about the sphere of culture. There will be a
a thousand years from the date when Chriscelebration in 1988
into Russia. In connection with this date we
introduced
tianity was
tianity in
USSR
many
in the
such a
state? First
is
of all,
it is
What
related to the
problem of realization of
On the
Q:
97
matter of
die magazine.
And
ance of the mass, in its ideology. It tries to take account of the level
of knowledge of people today. Of course the Orthodox Church is
not as modernized as the Catholic Church. It has a very traditional
system.
Concerning the problems of culture in connection with this situathe Church has declared that the culture was founded by the
tion
Church, and that is why its influence on the people is increasing.
The second problem is ethical. There are some negative processes in our society in the ethical sphere. The Church has asserted
that the human being is a spiritual being. So spirituality is understood in an illusory way, not materialistically. But this assertion has
had influence on some people. This idea that the moral is a spiritual process strengt hens the position of the Church. So the Church
articles, for
after the
'^'TWslinerv^' connSted^ith
our
art
icaUy
you deal wilh this
our
FOosofskie
culture,
in
we
in
Q: Do you mean
and
l?SSR
the
the
first
Church was
anti-revolutionary.
an
t Z"::
and
much
authority
A T he essence of this
adverse relation *
h lyrically there was a very
role of th ceremoj b
What makes
the work of
the
esthetic
r S
As
is
in
these
they wi
...
reasons for social domination,
view that re
your
in
it mean
Q: What does
human beings
But our
you explain the actm
Q:
peace movement?
everything.
How do
A:
this
religious beliefs,
wi fi decline as
^^
\\
will
absence G f
never know
process
98
and
99
position that
is
,s
a
concrete historical fact. As far
as the Revolution of
1 905
concerned, there were a lot of
religious people and
nonreligious Com
munists engaged in it. In the
Communist Party ofUaly thereat
some Communists who are religious.
Communism and religion are
n a dialectical relation to
one another. In our Party in thf
USSR
lere is no coexistence
between religion and members of
ihe Com
mumst
Party.
So
been established In
another wa X for the resolution
of
to problem
problc - Historically
Hi
a period might come when
[ l
socialism and
lgion will coexist; and
the disappearance of
religion will take
^.
there
ss
P reSer
'?
.
rei Si0US
wa
on]y
th^worir
A: We must change their minds,
but it is difficult.
IS impossible. And
there is no need to change
their
is
For
10
view
some
that
>'
minds We must
Senerati n There are some
people in our country
who think that science is one way to
know and religion is anothe/
And if it is a very old man, we cant
change him. We must take a
dialectical
whoT
studies.
his
departmental colleagues.
real socialism.
is
its
What is happening
to religion
under socialism?
Why
How
is
it
it
exists,
an
(T
and other
is
1975),
merit,
religious feelings. If
previous one,
religion
among
industrialization
Ill
Depar
mem
of Philosophy of
Obshchestvo
is
Chairman of the
Moscow State
zakony ego razvitiia (Society
and the Laws of Its Develop-
causes
Among
the objective
my
100
Philosophers
looked to the
Then
socialism
cent
of the
live
The more
There are
it
influence consciousness.
and
their
own
lives,
all
op-
timistic.
There
is
a question that
tins
capitalism.
scientific techniques,
is>
in the last
how
of
better. This
*101
And
opened up a new
created.
and
The
state,
socialist
a
the struggle for peace by
member
workplace and
w.ll
of that sWe
work be ten
means
S
.
the Russian
S talked
to
'
forty-five rubles.
State University get only
religious education
of
does freedom
What
mean?
vve
con
jo
don t
these babies and children, they
they
g
adults
when people become
That's why we have seminaries;
f
no. do That s
can decide what they can do or
ree
not be freedom. It is the
would
that
have religious schools
J
- atl
edl
compulsory religious
for adults to give their children
whether
say
Thats why it is difficult
sider
understand re
all
this
does not
there
is
mean freedom.
freedom or unfreedom
who
from other
children
ch
have
be possible lor a mother to
_
l?
11
'
them re iglf
it
religion.
ses re*ligion as
H
He use.
102
Even
Xl'A
7V
VC r nGt
"
7
tou should go to our churches
to see for yourself
My grandfather was a leader in the Church
before the RevoluMogi ov m Byelorussia. My parents
were peasants and
worked on collective farms. Nobody
led them away from religion
But they were indifferent to religion.
They were ordinary peasants'
and they died without any church
influence. Some people
r ||T
w
Who
w, II
try,n
t0 force re
% on
f.
do anything,
and the
result
Q
for
PeOP
this?P
is
like
Others.
There are
a quarrel,
priests
an ideological
g
A: Le
be
from the opposite side. Why do they
put this
pv
ques ton? They believe
that the Soviet people are
forced to live in
socahsm by the government. But let's
put
ai les.
re-
War our
it.
our
some order
belief in
1"
And we
this
do
sovereignty
3nd
participated in
will of the people was tested not by words but by war, by deeds,
by trouble, by blood, by everything.
Lets look at the current problem. What are the arguments? Why
do they say that our government doesnt want peace? What do the
he rcsuh of some
rS
in the
-103
and
Wn
remember
Scholars
other than socialism could come to our country. After the War we
believed that there should be only socialism. That is why this belief
Christians
,s
dont
member
One of the main tenets of Marxworks for socialism. War is dangerous to it.
The Communist Party is not something external to people but it
is a part of the people. The people support it because the best part
of the people come into the Party. The Party carries out the will of
taking place in the United States.
ism
is
that peace
the people.
now
all)
liked the
American people,
I
dont
know how
long
German Democratic
Republic.
Of course
the presence ol
Reagan
is
104
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
IK
THE USSR
Philosophers and other Marxist Scholars
h3Ve 3 ' 0t f
American pe ople
ScS Xheism
f he
pa
w-hat the
false
IV
lished a
book of
sociologist in
his investigations
me
of >our research on
i,
ha
aS
Vu
,e first
'hat subject?
0mmsm
wmmm
u
fctiftffr?
schoois are
105
'
scL^lilZr
'
kn0W
spond to reality.
Q: The study was based on a questionnaire?
A: Yes. There were standardized interviews. Then interesting
also is the dynamic of religiosity in the USSR. We have very interesting results in Voronezh because there was a very large investigation in 1965 by another scientist, M. K. Tepliakov, and this was
repeated in 1980-1981, after fifteen years. The results are that
religiosity did not decrease much
only 2.8 percent during such a
long period. 3 So the process of secularization is going, but its going
slowly. Why is it going slowly? There are many, many causes
social, psychological, and others. I can speak about them if you
wish.
1
are
think that the main social causes for religiosity in our country
some
now
social
all, I
mean
to solve.
But
until
106
Philosophers
flowers
ritual.
it
has
baptismwe ought
its
influence. But,
We have
We do not
but not in
have the organizational and material facilities for this ritual.
So
thats also a problem. And during the last very great
historical
period there was a connection between ethnic or national con
sciousness
and
am
ol
all
Then
work
and otherwise, they will need this religious consolation. Take esthetic needs. The Orthodox Church has historically
had a very
great experience in using esthetics for its goals,
because the
Churchs activity is also esthetic though it has specific ideological
content. There are moral needs for instance, now' its a great
social
Bui
problem
that
we
can say its also connected with religion. For instance, for
Baptists its a very important argument that they are moral
people,
that they do not drink, and so on. And this is an
argument for
many people who go to these Baptist groups and communities.
I
107
we must solve.
Q: What about a philosophical need for orientation
that
to history, to
A: Yes, and
traditions
alternative to
has not received full attention. Marxism is the great
religion in the modern world.
but
A: Ideologically its a great alternative to religion as ideology,
religious people. So this is a dialecit does not include union with
tical
approach.
from
from
Of course we
religions,
religion
No, we must
enter into a confrontation with the religious people.
I think ninety-nine perpeoplereligious
not.
Most
must
not, we
are workcent of them in our country are honest citizens. T hey
and so on.
they study Marxism, say its
when
students,
our
Q: Some of
gives poetry, symall right, but its too cold; religion
scientific
and
want
to
you
its not
speak about our way of life, our socialist way of life,
and esthetic moments and expressions and
if
many rituals
And our people also have some
cold. It has
so on.
work
to
improve our
society,
and
We must do
very great
<>
to be done. Bat
spiritual or psychological needs there is very much
not woi
we cannot say that we do not understand this, that we do
something is
in this direction. We understand these problems;
it must be done.
Q: Do you teach students?
my lectures.
A: Yes, of course. I am teaching these ideas in
ideas.-' You proT
your
to
Q: And how do the students respond
done, and
ably
108
Philosophers
all are not because they must study dialectical and histormaterialism. If they are religious they must go to Zagorsk but
We
ical
tions,
religious people
and with
we
are trying to
religious organizations.
Our
field.
religious
Thats the
The most important thing is that they are for peace, for
disarmament, and we must work together with them and do it in
our country and in the international area. I think you know that
there are many forms of such cooperation with religious people.
Some representatives of religious organizations are in our Soviet
Peace Committee and the World Peace Council and other groups.
And there are conferences of religious people who are working for
peace. Very many religious organizations from our country take
part in these different meetings and conferences.
Q: When these people participate in peace work, probably they
see the identity of human interests between Marxists and religious
gious.
people.
A:
109
want to work together to have good relations, peaceful relaand we want to change American-Soviet relations in the direction of peace and detente. I was in the United States, at the State
University of New York in Albany, in 1979. The atmosphere in
practically
not here.
general,
SALT
now
its
II,
it
w-as strained,
much
and
it
it
is
now much
was another
better. After
situation. Yes,
of course
worse.
compare
And
Billy
Graham
how do
you
Q; Very useful, very important. He was here last autumn, 1984,
and this past spring he showed a two-hour film of his visit on
the
national television. Hes very influential against Reagan, against
lias
Reagan
think
mixed.
I
very
is
situation
the
Moral Majority. So
is now beginCongress
influence.
his
limit
of
reached the
probably
Of course.
Marxist, that
Marx
is
problems he
is
in
quite right as a position, because in this situation
and
disarmament,
peace,
of
those
the USA the main problems are
religious
certain social progressive measures. So cooperation with
A:
its
people
I
think
is
the
to
be
American,
published in 1986. 1 used many western sources, mainly
and
religion
of
sociology
that in these branches,
because I think
the western
psychology of religion, the most interesting works in
where
branch
a
is
countries are in the USA. Philosophy of religion
branches
these
in
but
ideological differences are most important,
we can
find
much
interesting material.
Study of Religion.
Q: Do you know- the Society for the Scientific
A: Yes.
to yours.-'
Q: Are their methods and studies similar
Philosophers
aie
many
V
Professor E.
F.
Sulimov
is
Communist Education
at
Moscow
State
University.
Q:
We
in Soviet
society.
A:
Our
activity
ideology
is
that in practice
as a
human
religious beliefs
our
allies.
The
religious
many questions.
and
religious
We
are in
many moral
issues,
nist morality
religion.
We
does
also.
We condemn
Scholars
-111
human
possibilities,
We have
it.
too.
And
on some questions we have discussions connected with world outlook. It is not person-to-person dialogue. But we have examples of
personal contact. Our representatives in this Department have not
yet had such contacts. But the specialists in atheism and the history
of religion have had such discussions. In the 1920s, when the
question of atheism was for the
sions
first
common and
But there
is
no
special course
on atheism or
religion in
these textbooks.
Philosophers
and
*113
Q: You spoke
earlier
A:
Among
And
there are
some
do not
advertise their belief. Probably they feel that it is not very easy to do
so. As a result we dont have any contacts with believers and our
religious believers.
if
believers, they
antireligious activity
education begins in the kindergarten. The teachers may be religious believers, but they dont teach their religion to the school
children and must teach according to the scientific view. We dont
have the conception of a pluralistic approach to the Church, and
the professors of the institutes cannot just believe anything ideological as they wish.
is
a believer or
not?
and
vice versa.
it is
prohibited
questions.
istrative
human
the
from
the
Golden Rule of morality which occupies a central place m
been
has
it
Gospels. In Marxist ethics as in the Soviet Union
tion
this
not,
relation
religious
the family.
by admin-
measures.
Thanks
to this
human
Do you
have face-
to-face dialogue?
A:
Q:
When
West from
the
was that?
came here.
A: During the last five years. Twice two delegations
The dialogue was not published.
Q: What was your estimate of that dialogue?
persons who su
A: I appreciate it as a common dialogue with
common princip es. ur
scribe to other interpretations of these
a theo ogic
approach was so common that I would call my sell
~
and the leal mora eva u
ethicist, because in the human content
uation
eva
with us. In the negative
'
VI
tions they
Dr. A. A. Guseinov teaches in the Department of MarxistLeninist Ethics of Moscow^ State University. He is the author of
were
identical
ey
lls
opinion.
consumerist morality we shared the same
of
understanding
the
in
but
images and words of the Bible;
Philosophers
between
In one
of these dialogues the representatives of theological ethics could
not precisely answer why they were theologians. In particular, they
looked on Christ as a real historical personality. They even called
at
him
similarities
us.
and they changed his name from the reliname to a name associated with his place of birth the
Nazarene. One of them was speaking of religion without God, and
Jesus, not Christ,
gious
there
is
only morality.
Q: You
God
Q: Did you
A: You see,
Mien
is
in
good interpersonal
criticize that,
1
or accept
approached
that
relations, or love.
it?
from
no God, there
is
Q: You agreed
that good
is
in
human
relations?
A:
Scholars
*115
How
is
Communism
actually get
cases
and the
situation
is
different.
And
that
is
why
the question
the
should not be put as to how the Communist ethics comes into
can
norms
religious
school or family, but vice versa, i.e., how some
schools.
be known to some children of families in the secular
courses in
there
Q: Are ethical principles explicitly taught? Are
of young
character
ethics? How does the school shape the moral
people?
once. But in
A: Thats too big a question, difficult to answer at
the school,
in
principle, the general line is clear. The relations
of our writers, speaking of love, said, Oh, Pushkin, Pushkin, Pushkin! This is a religion. For our ethics, for our spirit, for
built on
between the children, between the teachers and pupils, are
of values such as
the basis of socialist moralityon the principles
and others. Of
love of work, collectivism, responsibility, self-giving,
The main
course these values are given and fixed in pure form.
thing
A: Yes.
good.
One
is
is
is
are talking
features
and not
the dif-
ferences.
One more
or others,
plined
practice in the
that they be incorporated in the life of
part
From the first course onward the pupils begin to take
the
lor
are responsible
in public work. What does this mean? Some
the
in
corner
animal
class library and others take care of the
in
well,
study
classroom. They give help to the pupils who dont
school.
accented.
We
is
it
to
do good work,
to be a disci-
Q: Because of religion?
A: They give such religious justification. Or from the other side,
the whispering in the street when somebody says, Why are you
lying? You must be kind to each other. And the other one says,
Oh, I am not religious to be kind.
Q: Do you deal with questions of practice, ethical education?
moral principles
that
w cn
they hear
them expressed
as
phy: the
e
the whole society,
is thus the family, the school,
a
the
sometimes
exceptions to this principle, because
ave
s<
16
Philosopher!,
example not
literally
a model.
Do
Q:
ciety
these problems
come from
am
part of a
problem of developing
ethics, the
sciousness.
I would say
theoreticians think those
in the
faults with
origmatmg
in
VII
Dr
Garadzha
'
the author of
AVo-Thomism,
He
Study of
is
Reason, and
and
Atheism.
information for our peace
movement. People want information about
the status of religion in
Lni n ab Ut relations between the
State and the
Q.
The main
idea here
is
Scientific
to get
Church^
A
!!
Ct
perspectives
mam
*117
lems but rather the problems of how and in what direction the
changes in religious traditions and in religious consciousness are
being fulfilled. That means the relations between believers and
nonbelievers in our country and the problems of atheistic education. Our work on this first set of problems pertains mainly to
Christian Orthodoxy, Islam, Catholicism, and
some Protestant
is
first
all
all,
the problems that arc concerned with the role of religion in the
and
political
antisocialist
The
ideological struggle.
We
propaganda.
third direction
is
slaves in society.
9
Science,
rhe Crisis of Contemporary Protestantism
New Theology (1973), and other works.
Institute for the Scientific
Scholars
Last,
is
in short
the
we
we
movement and
its
understanding how these problems are reflected in religious consciousness. We must deal with these questions because religion is
now
in
world
affairs.
Our work
is
and
there are
some
is
it
religious
religious tensions,
where
118
Philosophers
social
i.
.,
re-
ligion or not.
the Soviet
religion
is
What does
Union and
decreasing, or
is it
permanent phenomenon
society i
in
human
is still
here.
gious
and
Orthodox Church,
as far as
many
of
reflected in the
appearance
this particular
noil-traditional religious
phenomena
occurring,
para-scientific claims,
decline,
its
Do
The
use of religion
In addition, many problems come to light concerning our understanding of the role of religion in the State, particularly in this
country s history and the history of culture. Such questions are
*119
political
antihumanistic.
A: And therefore
being raised now in connection with occasions like the 1988 anniversary of one thousand years of Christianity on Russian soil.
We
Scholars
so, that
there
political
is
themes
much
too
it
politics in religion.
Church
movement
movement in this
the peace
as an institution has taken part in
ideologica
other religious organizations. Its
comes out ot a
foundations in participating in the peace movement
humanity on this earth, out
religious understanding of the fate of
leading role
among
And
its
position on
us
issue
m.
we can
is
human
120
CHRISTIANITY TODAY IN
TIIF.
USSR
Philosophers
been a member of
in this battle religion was defeated. I mean by this two things. First,
the appearance ol the scientific world view in the domain of world
outlooks brought forward the truth about the world, the truth
these problems
the State
being discovered by science. Religion could not cont rol that process
nor could it offer an alternative picture of the world. Its efforts
today are directed to maintaining a religious understanding of the
world in such a way that this religious view can coexist with the
scientific
world outlook.
explain the
It is
clear to
to
become
scientific?
The
And
its
*121
and
differ
perspectives, which
...
tional
contacts,
Christ in the
USA. We can
Perhaps
our situation.
pendent peace movement do not understand
vita P 10 5 e
more
no
is
there
Party and the State understand that
the highest value o
than the problem of peace and war. Peace is
argument can suppo
our values. Nothing can justify war; no
argument, B
the
For example, for us we cannot accept
most vi al ta
this
Second,
than red. That is the first point.
people of d ere^
the
all
of
be solved except through the efforts
is o
religious views. That
political, ideological,
general,
human
task.
and
to this questio
122
from
position.
up
give
there
No
a religious position?
That
There
is
religious principles
its
when
it is
deep unity, an equivalence at the core, in these different positions and approaches in the peace movement. That is,
a
is
movement,
And when
political bargaining.
particularly
do
they
on
to destroy
a religious basis
its
unity.
VIII
Mrs. Nora L. Hakopian is President of the Armenian Society for
Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and a
Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian Republic.
Q: Professor Hakob Hakopian has said that the Armenian Apostolic Church disseminated the culture and controlled the schools.
A: Yes, before the Revolution. In some regions there were only
Turkish schools. As my friend said, from the very beginning of the
Revolution,
to realize
society, to
We
think
we have
believers here,
But
in a ritualistic
is a demand to register for marriage. I am convinced that ninety-nine percent of those who are married in the
Church are not believers. They pay their respect to our tradition. I
think that we must develop the beaut y of our civil rituals. When we
the Palace of Youth we included a hall for wedding ceremonies. At one time there were more couples who wanted to be
married there than could be accommodated. Perhaps at that parbuilt
123
titular
ceremony.
O- When was that?
of the 1960s and the
A- At the end
attitude
rhurch
is
start
members of the
one of respect for the leaders and
the struggle for
in
unite
us
understand that all of
We
consistently stresses
respect the Catholicos because he
neace
and in his
speeches
his
in
of Soviet Armenia
The achievements
Catholicos
the
of
services
different
statements as a priest. And the
and
those ot
here
living
the Armenians
nlav a great role in uniting
for the
respect
our
So
Armenian origin who are living abroad.
Church.
ot
the
idea
the
respect tor
oerson of the Catholicos is not
if there is a
if there are still believers,
this:
is
things
of
state
The real
and not
wise
be
Church
of the
Church, it is better that the head
comprehenand
flexibly
be thinking
blindlv fatalistic, and that he
he be a real person.
that
and
affairs,
real
sively about
tor the cause that
We are flghting and we will continue to fight
consciousness
religious feelings from the
will eventually eradicate
work.
propaganda
through our
of people- not through force but
people.
ot the
This is the struggle for the consciousness
parties in the world who
Marxist
some
are
there
As you know,
countries, have agreed that
according to the traditions of their
could be believers. But in our
some of the members of their parties
that the Party is that part
country believers are excluded. We think
most highly developed conof society whose members have the
must surmount the restncsciousness. To enter the Party one
We
of
for Religious Affairs
Lazar Soudgian is advisor of the Council
ot
group
a
USSR. The Council is
the Armenian Republic of the
Ministers.
persons appointed by the Council of
you
to your work here-how
orientation
Q: Can you give me an
Churc
relations to the
organized, what you do, what your
are
Republic, and th
the Council at the level of the
works here in Yerevan.
1943. The main g
A: This Council was founded in
er
the
between
connections
First,
Council
the
is
to maintain
Church and
to deal with
i.:
and
^. ^ lations to
questions arising in
one another.
Q: To maintain those relations?
govern
g0 vernmeni
separated from the
A: Yes. While the Church is
124
still
Philosophers
some questions
related to building
and foreign
A:
The
there
some repairing and restoration of all the monasteries besides building some apartment houses for clergymen, and the government is
helping with building materials for these purposes. Tomorrow you
will have a chance to go to Echmiadzin and to see the new buildings
dations.
there?
and architectural point of view have been restored. And restordepends on the possibility; if you have only a foundation,
is
not possible.
great
sum of money
to
be
it is
possible to
A:
great
repairs?
Q:
is
Q: Thats a benefit to the Church. And all the land, as I understand it, is owned by the State.
A: Yes. But this land occupied by the Church is given to it for
use free of charge and for an unlimited period of time.
Q: If a church, such as an old church, has historical value, does
restoration
in
Q:
ical
payment of
A: Usually the Church does this
25
ation
A: Yes. According to the State prices the government sells different materials to the Church stone, cement, and so on. [1he
State prices for all materials, it was explained, are lower than the
structures are
preserving
historical
monubeing restored by this department for
tourists
to
see.
There
is a
ments, and they become monuments for
tourist bureau that organizes special excursions for this purpose.
When you
say the government helps with building materaials, do you mean that it helps to secure and make available the
materials?
Q:
Scholars
by religious communities?
A: Yes. One of its objectives
is
strictly to
money
to the
all its
money
126
as
is
it
This
likes.
that this
own
free
is
Philosophers
money given by
will.
Q: So the Church
is
i.e.,
freedom of
conscience and freedom to be an atheist are guaranteed.
You know
that in the matter of religious freedom
before the Revolution the
positions of various Churches in society differed from
one another,
for example, in Russia alone the Orthodox Church
occupied a
leading place; the other Churches, so-called
sects, were persecuted
by the tsarist government or were tolerated. It was
out of the
question to speak of any freedom of conscience.
Only after the
October Revolution of 1917, by Lenins 1918
decree separating
government from
We
main goal of
the
religious organizations
of believers. To secure
is
to
this satisfaction,
facilities
its
clergy. It
must
also have
its
it
and
27
Q: As a matter of history, can you tell me when the first translation of the Bible into Armenian appeared?
A: Actually the Bible was one of the first books to appear in
Armenian. It was translated from Greek at the beginning of the
fifth century just after the creation of the Armenian alphabet.
Previously the ceremonies of the Church were conducted in the
Greek [and Syriac] language. From the time of the adoption of
Christianity as the state religion up to the creation of the Armenian
alphabet, a period of about one hundred years, religious literature
was in Greek; there were no written texts in Armenian.
many
publications.
The
reminiscences
of Patriarch Vazgen I,
tries, have been published in eight volumes; the title is Eight Journeys. He was elected to the office of Catholicos in 1955. Now they
are preparing in two volumes a book about his activity before being
elected Catholicos as well as his activity thereafter. They are also
preparing now to publish the whole Bible for the first time in the
itated?
harmonious
relations?
tecostals, etc.
128
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
We
Q:
IN
THE USSR
Philosophers
army.
in the
IX
Professor Mikhail Maslin is a young lecturer at the Faculty
of
Philosophy of Moscow State University. He has taught
and done
research in the United States and is the author of
On the Blurred
Mirror of Sovietology, which appeared in the collective
volume,
Zaatlanticheskie rnify
interpretation of
wrong
Marxism
as a
intepretation, because
kind of religion.
we know
think theirs
is
Marxism is a kind of
scientific world view and therefore Marxism
and religion in general
hold contradictory views. Marxism is a scientific
philosophy and
religion is a world view based on faith and
not on a scientific
attitude
But
toward
that
reality.
some
this position
Russian
Scholars
29
people, that
Orthodox
nism is the product of rational, Western civilization and Communism was imported into Russia as a hostile ideology and world view.
But in Russia, said Berdyaev, Communism became a kind of faith
because the Russian people are religious people and therefore
religion and Communism became synonyms in Russia. He wrote
that Russian populists (narodniki) believe in people as religious
people believe in God, and so on.
in the West;
and the
own
USSR. His
is
myself consider
Solzhenitsyn an anticommunist who writes about the Russian soul
in order to present a false interpretation not only of our modern
life in
the
USSR
is
We know
and materialists. In this respect our history dislaws of development as any national development in
the history of philosophy for example, the struggle between maand
terialism and idealism. In Russia we can find not only religious
thinkers, atheists,
plays the
same
nineteenth century
130
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
THE USSR
IN
Philosophers
De
pre-Marxit1
many others.
the West now h ave asserted
that the Russian
r
revolutionary
tradition ,s one of terrorism,
that Russia is a
S
me mtn n
*
country
of terronsm, that Russian revolutionists
are always terrorists
un
thmkmg men with bombs, and so on.
Its a false view. Of
course in
the history of the Russian
revolutionary movement there
are pages
of terror. But this terror was not
terror for the sake of terror
The
terror of the Russian revolution
was the answer to tsarism to
7 of Russian tsarism
SSSf
&
whom
I have interviewed
here made the point that Christians
not
accept socialist reality but
support it not only because they
ZenS
be USe they Say trUe Christian
is for
brotherh od peace, equality,
brotherhood,
ily
'
'
CO
We mU5
rS
>'
Strive to see
The
Ages
hamty of
Then
slavery.
religion
is
is
State
Russia 5h -ed
common
d VCry ften we can see an interesting
thing
? ,
Church ideologists
were also government ideologists-for
exam-
fT
,
Scholars
*131
Pobedonostev, a reactionary who was at the head of the governments department of religious affairs as the Chief Procurator
to the Holy Synod. Dostoevsky criticized Pobedonostsev, and Pobedonostsev criticized Dostoevsky, in spite of the fact that Dostoevsky
pie,
an appeal
to study religion
word
religion,
'
op
ChTh
our country.
But the historical role and the contemporary
monies
at
in
my
visited old
32
Philosophers
my
A:
attracts
young people
to the
church
if
make money.
Q: You said
structure of society.
institutions of socialism
and
Scholars
133
their shortcomings?
life and
development of people. The problem is to put it into practice.
These lacks and crudities that you mentioned occur because the
people in the system are not effective. Some people say that human
Socialism
is
icons
War
beings
will
will
always be failures in
persons and institutions, and therefore there is no way of preventing a turning to religion. How would you answer that?
A: Because we are Marxists the most fundamental question of
course is the question of economics. As long as the economic
organizations
That
loses
it
is
Communist
is
for example, a
mother
make
all
philo-
interprets
me
a sense of
how
Existen-
its
134
at least
it
young people are looking for something more intimate and personal than what (they say) Marxism-Leninism provides. What
would you say about that?
A: In
my
is
very important in
Marx
That
is
why
Soviet
that
is
135
religious
themes
in his painting.
creativity.
some
spiritual insight
persons?
A: His
manner
is
realistic.
But some
factors in
people
real position in
am
for socialism,
not that of a
am
for
communism, but
their
socialist
A:
in
suppose
so.
The churches
educated man
veloped talent. But the churches are created by the hands of simple
sense
people; this is a thing of the peoples doing. And in this
part of
churches will never be eliminated from our life. They are a
labor.
our history, our culture, our peoples arduous
religion, the
Q: And what about the worship in churches, the
faith, the beliefswill that continue?
concerned, 1
A: As fas as conservative religious ceremonies are
They
will
gradually disappear.
Q; When?
society
two centuries if the development of our
not
must
we
and
will be peaceful, free of invasion. But we cannot
predict these new forms of religion.
A:
more
A:
Maybe
in
and
their journal.
136
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
IN
THE USSR
Philosophers
A:
and
Christianity,
Moscow.
he
is
specalist
on
the
among
(Illusions
Moralnye
tsennosti
A: You
other works.
istrative
tion
am
Christianity
pe Is. What
well.
And
say
is
as far as
of view of
not only
my
my
colleagues as
this country's
Party. If anybody
as
much
in their
admin-
Our main
principle
is
(their
wrong
activity)
at
administration?
the side of
tives
and the
when
values in religion,
particularly the morality of the Gos-
trying too
to
A: If we look
founda-
and
3r
dy
continue to
measures
to eliminate religion.
is
Is this
And though
articles
have
eradication of religion,
long time.
Chris tfanity
many
rehgioznam vera
I
in
subjects of ethics
eS P eC
-137
have not been made. Vice versa, it is our asessment that most of the
believers here are as good as nonbelievers. Extremists and law-
Q:
A:
It s
mg
19o2),
and
of the administration.
Of course
this
should be understood as
tsarist regime
Philosopher*
138
CHRISTIANITY TODAY IN
TIIF.
my works.
It
was a very
the
To day we do not have
The
and the detachment of people from reand 1930s was so decisive and quick that since
of people have gradually forgotten about religion and
religion
then a
dont
lot
know what
And
is.
it
of people
society has
history
is
we can
growing.
It is
is
a natural process.
is
among
and
art.
And
nonbelievers.
such an
We
athe-
think that to stop the growth of the interest of the people in past
history and religion is not necessary; people should satisfy their
ists
interest.
We would
like for
and
in religion as
in
39
the present.
We
believe that
in the past
issues,
and
Some
overcoming of
incompatible, an
attitude is good.
And I think that such a changed
vulgarized interpretation ot
Q- You mentioned earlier that the
'
me
are raising
newspapers,
difficult period.
Let
Scholars
ples in
USSR
is
now being
religious
literature
believers understand them. Atheistic
religion
of
antique
and varied. Sometimes the
Communist morality
of the contradiction between
of course we as Commuand religious morality is false. Logically
sa>s.
quite different from what leligion
nists should say something
positions
and our mora
But we do not create our moral principles
heroes o
I he
morality.
religious
with
out of a contradiction
Christian
of
contradictions
Nietzsche who are the mirror image
us in
tor
are not acceptable
morality or the heroes of Dostoevsky
that
o
in
Christian people as well as
the situation of the ancient
wit
lot of similarity
contemporary religious people we can find a
A-
The
thesis
Lenin sharplv
toward
religion.
Me
e
had a revolutionary, democratic
we
struggling in peace-making,
sence. If Christian people are
toward the
oppose them. That is, our attitude today
tainly
cer-
do not
principle of ove of
principles of religion such as the
the
f
Russian Marxists before
different from the attitude of the
moral self-development as
forward by Chnsua
put
resolving social problems, as it was
y
by Marxists^
accepted
not
was
Revolution,
fore the
under those
and
Penod
that
Dostoevsky were talking about this, to
had a di ere
8
conditions the principle of love
But
140
Philosophers
itself,
in
its
essence,
is
stealing. 5
Communism,
Q: What does
it
to love
mean?
How
sense?
and
if
this principle
works
We
in a class society
have a
it
classless society,
means
a struggle for
f
A.
'
StatCment
>rS n
perS "
class society,
this principle
ond
*141
by relating
to the question
it
of revolutionary
of Gods
the believers
between
tion
will
and
his
that
is
a contradic-
inner necessity.
have peace.
think that under these conditions religion
A:
icalized.
our country, how well our actions succeed, and how our social
relations develop. The more people will understand one another,
the more they will love and look after one another the less will be
the necessity for attachments to a transcendental power. These
things are more fundamental for this process than the weight we
give to atheistic propaganda. We do not think that everything is
based on education. And in our country we are optimistic toward
these problems. But we must not consider the struggle against
religion to be our main task. It is more important to unite all the
people, believers and nonbelievers, for our practical, social reconstruction, for any mobilizing of the struggle on a religious-nonreligious base. And our main goal in the constitution is founded on
this principle.
class collaboration.
and
lord.
And
XI
the
the Instit ute of Philosophy and Law of
Since
Republic.
Socialist
Soviet
of Sciences of the Latvian
Academy
at
142
Philosophers
his
art icle
him
to write out a
group of
small
Law
of the
on
in research
summary of his
my
topic of study, so
asked
and
engaged in
Academy of
SSR
is
at the
Dynamics,
end of
this
year.
but in
level,
4S
minded
falls
below
twenty people, they are considered extinct.) It should also be mentioned that not. a single of these parishes was, so to say, pressurized by secular authorities the local Soviets. They all
and a way of
life.
public
Various secular pastimes are promoted by the state and
spiritual
life
for all
variegated
bodies in order to secure a rich and
clubs
of
crafts,
and
arts
folk dancing, singing, theatre,
people'
various interests,
etc.
religion as
an enemy or
thing. Religion is
religious people as guilty of treason or any such
case, it can be
worst
just wrong, unscientific, irrational, and in the
such by the
as
used
used for reactionary purposes (and has been
amply evigives
exploiting classes over the years). Latvian history
stands
in the way
dence of it. At best, religion in one way or another
personhuman
of a full and rich development of the potentials of
is
rites,
spread
the
avail-
number
of parishes
in operation, etc.
larization
is
and
demonstrated by
e.g., a less
The moving
Lutheran parishes. This can be explained by the sociopolitical role the Lutheran
Church played in the past especially in the prewar bourgeois
Latvia, where it was in fact elevated to the position of de facto state
religion and given various forms of undeserved assistance by the
rigid belief in the supernatural, in
away from
religion has
life
in
the
class. It
Church with
its
normal
size.
drop
in the
Adventist parishes.
ality.
It
hampers the
Blunting the
just
socially a very
living
people,
and truly humane societya brotherhood of
In a specific
here and now and shaping the future of mankind.
just
people, their
that cooperation with religious
in the solving oi
involvement in public affairs, their participation
fighting leligion, i.e.,
outstanding problems, etc. is the best way of
become aware of the tac
of persuading believers, of letting them
analysis of social pn
that religion offers an inferior form of
eve
c
P
have been
nomena in comparison with those tools which
dia ogue )e v\
a
Thus,
view.
world
in secular, Marxist-Leninist
sense
we consider
144
is
Philosophers
and which we understand primarily as cooperation in the solving of burning social issues (among which the fight
lor a peaceful world is of paramount importance) is not tantamount to any form of ideological compromises. The locus classicus
for the Marxist attitude to this problem is in my opinion the work
of V. 1. Lenin, Socialism and Religion, and in particular his words
parts of the world,
also to the
new
of social life. Soviet philosophers, in particular those dealing with the problems of the Marxist-Christian
realities
Hie
world
pacifistic
is
To
name of joint
to overlook the
action.
effectively.
methods
And
if
we
enough
(for
we
some other more sinister reason, are trying to extinguish the fire
with petrol, it would be criminal negligence to let them proceed
with their activities in the name of the all hands to the pumps
attitude
145
Professor Valerii Aleksandrovich Kuvakin is currently the Chairman of the Department of the History of Philosophy of the Peoples
XII
and
osofskaia mysl v
SShA
1980),
Editor-in-Chief of Vestnik
Herald).
of the Christian
is
socialist society. It
means
that
we have a certain
ownership,
etc.
it
terms of social relations. So
Chriswith
which we have controversies
means
that
all
the field in
questions, t le
the field of ideological
we iave
aspect
this
philosophical aspect of religion. But behind
Union
is
146
any
real contradictions
of one socialist
nonbelievers paiticipate
citizens
society. It
means
and
but
at
in
ist if
Protestants, Catholics,
bers of religious confessions.
Church cannot
and in
Q: Many Americans believe that the socialist order does discriminate against religious people and believe
that Christians cannot be
it
socialists.
A:
think
believer doesnt
its
consciousness
is
or Christian socialism.
It
that
try to
show
at
And
And we
is
why
for us
it
is
believe that
religion. It
it's
a society
religion
and church
in
is
activity.
free
terms of their
from
own
possible to
destinies, their
too?
nature and with each other on the basis of human freedom and
scientific understanding of the outside world.
Q: Then your appeal is to the real, everyday, practical conditions
means we argue
show that
of
provide good,
we are arguing
tice?
why we
exploitation. Thats
means
is
tianity
I
It
be
separatists,
its
political life.
being Marxistimpossible to be a Marxone does not study the whole rich heritage of humankind in
Leninists.
mean we try to be
Maybe you know Lenin said
kind. It doesnt
Union
life,
Marxist-Leninist
We
consider this
philosophy as the greatest achievement of humankind, as the best
result of the world-historical-philosophical process, as a phenom-
in
Church
we mean
exis-
inter fere in
147
We compare
A:
life
by which
human
148
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
enon
IN
THE USSR
Philosophers
God
life, in
is
just different
forms of
we
by
is
its
nature, by
its
first
of all
any transcendental
beliefs. And showing that we try to persuade people, Do not
believe in the things which really do not exist.
Q: Would you say that these illusions persist not so much bet
A:
Of course
still
require in
there are a
lot
some
these illusions?
of post-imperialist and
social
circum-
stances which
knowledge
is
needed.
features of the
human
The need
for
knowledge
is
one of the
And
it
this.
interesting
basic
being.
is
a very
it
through
religion.
Maybe
it
is
149
some
people
think religion
in
maybe
We
But at the same time maybe we sometimes are tired. We try to stay
on one of the poles of this contradiction. Some people try to fulfill
their needs on the pole of stability. Other people try to satisfy the
needs of the pole of struggle or transition. But the real life is the
unity of contradictions stability in change, development and
something stable. Maybe some people can say that it is a tragedy.
But I think its a question we can ask but we cannot answer.
Q: Marxism-Leninism is a philosophy of process, ol change.
A: Yes. But at the same time it considers the real world as a unity
of continuity, stability, and qualitative changes, as a unity both
some
everything for me? Its a problem of choice. I think that
people can wish stability as a permanent struggle.
certain
But in spite of our desires, our subjectivity, there is a
ns
process,
this
objective process, and the point is just to study
understand
to
for
us
objective process. Maybe thats the only way
t
realize their
ourselves.
150
Q:
Selflessness.
One must
forget ones
own
IV
individual desires in
a sense, insofar as these are desires that are purely subjective, that
cannot be objective for instance, the desire to live. We are faced
9.
Conclusions
not religious.
Like
all
on large-scale
and
education,
public
industry, science, technology, large cities,
other
the
and
robots,
now the advance into automation, computers,
revolution. Moreover,
refinements of the scientific- technological
thinking, based on the premises
the dominant and explicit form of
is scientific.
and methods of the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism,
as thought
religion
Within such a political economy and ideology,
and practice must lake a secondary place.
history and the
This should surprise no one who understands
built
modern
world.
of religious
parliaments has brought a progressive subordination
revolution
he
1
secular ideology.
interests to the secular power and
tomes
productive
the
of capitalism was both a transformation in
genera
its
In
outlook.
and relations and a transformation in world
and is this-worldly and not
spirit
and
was
and not spiritualistic,
direction, capitalism
other-worldly, materialistic
scientific
and no
rel
American colonists
WhTn,' for example, the rebellion of the
the end of the eigiteen
against the British king succeeded at
dissident faiths, eat
centurv, the ex-colonists, having many
others, separated a
secular society,
icans laid the foundations for a
of^secu\
within the^unds
faiths
of
freedom of a great variety
culuiie^
USA and
is
P ccepte d.
y
152
it
153
darkened by time, he holds in his right hand his slender horn and
blows down on the assembled multitude the mixed message of
wrath and mercy; and in his left hand he holds a wreath of victory.
Thus for a long age lived the otherworldly fears and hopes of the
generation of the faithful who came and sat here and looked with
uplifted eyes to the judgment of the heavenly powers in the drama
of salvation.
Seated now inside this
countries
it
it
either reverts to
may
mine.
illustrate this
political, legal
transformation by a
order I
particular experience of
seems to withstand change; even the apparently enduring sentiments of this music and architecture are somewhat altered in this
setting. Transformation is the powerful law of our epoch. The
religious heritage of the past, carried by these forms into the
present secular life, is being absorbed and transformed by it. Yet
the heritage persists
and
is
the
USSR,
They are
and
to
worship in keeping
Roman
dox
Catholic,
Armenian
in the
and other
faiths in the
USSR
abroad.
Many people
in the
^
Ctntcluswns
154
human
lose
spiritual,
still
The
result
155
zeal
all Christians
There
is, first,
feeling of
all
all
Soviet citizens, of
and
social life. It
is
this
common commitment,
practical
and
that runs
power of
way among abstractions and
cohesive
its
distinctions. It pulls
and grips
On-
Everybody believes in
arguments fly away with the wind.
everybody disbelieves
peace;
.creating
defending the Motherland, in
ash.
of nuclear
,
in fascism, in a world
tological
There
is,
many as 2.5
woikers t
organizations that call for
millions of jobs in public
peace and
countries,
societies with foreign
trade unions, friendship
cwjrA
people's
the bodies of
solidarity committees, and
who enforce the fulhUment of sta
people,
ing about ten million
numb-
of disciplines,
plans, correct violations
U e
an
to
work and
choose
ones
of job in accordance with
.the
of the needs of society
account
education, with due
ng
the
to health protection,
rest and leisure; the right
ho^
ght
disability;
nance
to
^^
and
(he
benefits,
to enjoy cultural
right to education; the right
participate in the
public affairs;
and so on.
(Articles
from persona
teed to everyone quite apart
guarantees to
Article 52 of the constitution
or no to
profess
to
science, that is, the right
athels L p
or
religious worship
freedom of con-
conduct
one to
forbidden by law to require
and
is
to
state
religion,
P
.f belic f
Q n any
156
Conclusions
quick to
make such
we should
not be surprised
at
we should
of Soviet
life
not be surprised
and
at
history.
From
the existence of
up
as
many ways
157
Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, the Sothe Peace Fund, and the World Peace Counviet Peace Committee,
urgent and actual endeavor, the ecumenical ties
cil. In this very
denominational lines in the Soviet Union have advanced and
across
ical
lifted the
and
Reverend Billy
community. 1 The outpouring of warm response to
human
Graham, for example, expressed this sense of our common
It affirmed
understanding.
worldwide
for
need
frailty, hope, and
intellectual belief
our solidarity and unity as much as an identity of
and ideology
since
The forces of secularization and the acids of modernity
instituand religious
their origin have weakened religious outlooks
within nacooperation
and
thinking
ecumenical
tions. Therefore
between the denominations
tions and across national boundaries
more unified and effective.
Church
the
render
useful ways to
.
are
Patriotic
War
in
both
political
the faithful is
In the contemporary crisis, which for
of Christians have found
denominations
and religious, the various
with
one another and with
together
coming
new vigor in their
own country. And
Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and others in their
who belong to the
those denominations of the Christian Church
have both given
powerful body of the World Council of Churches
seminators of
face up to the
in that
critical global
Some religious
ment and poverty, and equality and inequality.
and the negainjustice,
people and groups have chosen reaction,
and the affirjustice,
tion of death. Others have chosen progress,
Union nave
Soviet
the
far as the Christians of
mation of
life.
So
ant
life, of progress
taken their stand on the side of peace and
sense of the meaning o
justice, they have experienced a new
respect their faith docs
faith in the world today. And in this
Conclusions
158
The
CPSU, and
them
to non-
the State
toward
and administrative
is a complex of policies adapted to the subject and the circumit is a dialectical attitude that includes both affirmative and
stances
negative moments.
uphold a scientific
hence to be critical of
to
159
religion.
with the
person quite
religion
is
educational
and
activity, that, in
the final
new
But a deeper
and o
opposition to
all
of disruption a
order by law-breaking
acts
socialist
destruction of the working of the
of religion. For "tost societies
name
the
in
when such acts are done
would not be
assume the right curb and
worthy of mention. All societies
years a loud hue and cry has
punish law-breakers. But for many
have supposed that religion
been raised in the West by those who
jaded
convicted, sentenced, fined and
dissenters" have been tried,
by
supported
this supposition is not
for their religious beliefs. But
we could assume
this attitude to
be normal and
it
law-breaking
punished for specific acts of
the evidence. People are
w-ithout
such as organizing a congregation
If a specific illegal act,
ml
or printing and distributing
registering it with the government
out, what is P un sba b
unlicensed religious tract is carried
deI
the status of the act " n
but
an act
the religious content of such
Th y
y
that the law is too restnctive
the law. Critics may object
People
the
for
issue
an
is
case, that
'
or
may not be
so; in
any
160
Conclusions
reads of a person
because
God
told
me
to
do
so.
here
our
as
own
distinctive
economic,
political,
and
religious history
as
came out of
their history.
munists in
Com-
this matter:
let
allegations
about
violations
of freedom of conscience'
in
the
USSR
are
spread.
Everyone knows about our constitufreedom of conscience. The communists are consistent atheists but they do not impose their world outlook on anyone.
Our method is education, conviction, propaganda. But when we come
across facts of violations of socialist laws and subversive political activity
which is only camouflaged by religion, we act as our constitution re-
What can be
tional guarantees of
quires. 6
161
alone to demystify and dissolve the idea of God and other religious
notions. Taking a psychological and sociological approach, they
believe that all ideas are in some sense the reflexes of everyday
practical activity, of social relations,
Therefore
and of personality
structure.
ideas
attention must
plished easily and quickly. Systematic and sustained
upbringing of
of
the
conditions
the
be given to the reformation of
Greater proinstitutions.
cultural
the young in family, school, and
education
moral
and
esthetic,
gress must be made in the scientific,
is not
ideological
work
of
of adult working people. The point
and realize
merely ideological. The point is to help people develop
It is to
beings.
social
and
their own needs and powers as creative
thephysical,
and
mental
help them clear away all obstructions,
oretical
6.
and
The
human
in part dif-
values.
power, Marxism-Leninism
two deep and complex
faces in religion, particularly Christianity,
the USSR
problems. The first is physical and historical. Religion in
marked
of
fact
years a physical
is and has been for nearly seventy
easily^
be
cannot
that
proportions, an inheritance from the past
of
objects
the
there,
are
altered or abolished. The church buildings
othei
and
litanies
music and
ritual, the religious paintings and
physical habits of masses ol
the
obdurate,
heavy
and
as
and,
art
stones of the tempeople, sometimes as resistive to change as the
of cultic practhemselves. Theirs are the habits of generations
As a world view
that has
come to
state
ples
habits of feeling
tice,
phasis today
when
religion as institution
viewed not
and
as a
as
an end
means
in itself but as a
to personal liberation.
is
is
in a
a physical presence
If
it
is
in
to be
done?
diminished in strength and influence, what is to be
answer was the
an
toward
step
first
the
State
Soviet
For the new
Church property,
1918 decree on religion which socialized all
of the State separated
placed the leasing of buildings in the hands
forbade all mone ai
the Church from the State and from schools,
contributions and
transactions by the Church except voluntary
and worship, u n
limited religion to the privacy of conscience
that religious organization
later, in 1928, a decree required
government, exclude
more adults must register with the
,
twenty or
to removal
children, eschew cultural activity, submit
<
Conclusions
162
and
own
geo-
were closed. The Baptists and the Orthodox protested. After the
departure of Khrushchev in 1964 the closing of the churches
ceased and the use of force was modified. Atheistic propaganda
continued, making massive use of lectures, pamphlets, books,
radio, television, newspapers, clubs, group discussions, and the
schools. Scholarship shifted to concrete, practical, applied research. 7 During the last two decades Soviet Party leaders and
scientists
have come
of religious
tific
and
rhetoric,
and
163
natural, finding
its
and progress.
It
opposed
to
center
temperament or social
Marxism do not meet
traditiona
situation find that the values of
their personal
women
effective social
could be brought into these processes by
the disabled, and t e
children, certain elderly people, certain of
these processes. At this
chronically ill will never be integrated into
according to his abilities, u>
point the socialist formula, From each
has been and must
each according to his work performed,
such persons.
rethought and broadened to take account of
in the Ub
With regard to those drawn to Christianity
u pea
of
peasants
the
the slaves of the Roman empire and
sp
love
and
feudalismthe Christian message of faith, hope,
displacement and psyt 0
their condition of geographical
for^an
well to their need
separation. It often answers, however
intimate
religion
Mares Dngiu
and meaningful community. In
is
the spirit
of a
spiritless situation
thoug
ure
164
Conclusions 1 65
is
qualitatively different
compassion for others, the need for purity of heart, the corruption
power, knowlof sinful selfishness, the self-destructive dangers of
pride that
edge, and material possessions, and the temptations of
far as these
So
tyranny.
social
and
arrogance
personal
lead to
them,
perspectives are essentially human, people will be drawn to
expressed.
be
they
may
form
religious
or
philosophical
whatever
in
stability
great social
Some
ideological opposition
are even revolutionist; they represent the
that is generally
opposition
of
form
a
Communism,
of religion to
belief
as knowledge
religious
because
Union
very weak in the Soviet
10
Orthodox.
the
faith,
predominant
the
weakly developed in
is
USSR
rise to
voluntary
group
members
identity
in
small communities
sects
an exclusive fellowship of
and some
hostility to
composed of
and
feeling,
and
knowledge and
belief, emotion
good works for
individuals or society.
Orthodox
In the history of Russia and the USSR the Russian
associclosely
liturgy
traditional
Church has been built on a strong
process
it has
tradition.
In
the
ated with national and cultural
icon
through
but
thought
held the faithful not through
drawn and
this
by these bonds and group sanctions, and in fact they tend in
the
As
morality.
respect to move toward congruity with Communist
to
pleasure
Orthodox service gives peace of mind and esthetic
and
warmth
those in need of comfort, the Baptists provide the
a variety of
7.
The
human
needs,
spurious.
in the
are unclear.
of
and comprehensive information about the numbers
in
members
Church
not
are
who
Church members and believers
connot
do
denominations
Some
the Soviet Union does not exist.
accordance with
duct or do not publish their own censuses; and in
numconcerning
census
the constitution the government has no
like the
bodies
some
Although
bers of believers and nonbelievers.
there is probably an
Baptists claim a growth in religious interest,
interest. One of
overall slow decline in religious membership and
that in the
showing
our interviewees cited above referred to studies
Precise
four
and twelve percent of the people sampled in
(Christian,
religious
different places of the Russian Republic were
of 2.8
of the studies indicated a decrease
study
recent
A
percent among believers from 1965 to 1980-1981.
showed
Republic
of religiousness in three regions of the Latvian
Lutherans, 69.8 percent, a/.i
that for Catholics, Orthodox, and
believers over a
percent, and 56.4 percent respectively remained
became
percent)
1.8
ten-year period; a small portion (3.3, 1.7, and
pc
2.
and
2.5
more believing while a few were converted (3.4,
percen
23.5
believing;
cent). But large numbers became less
and 39.0 percent of
Orthodox,
of
percent
Catholics, 38.7
in these studies).
One
virtues, if any,
Church h.stonans
dtst.ngu.sh
166
Conclusions
activites: the
and the prophetic functions, the Constantinian and apocalyptic traditions, and the Church that is adjusted to the world
and
the State over against the sect that either withdraws from the
social
order or rebels against it (Ernst Troeltsch). The established
Church
priestly
re-
whose
and ideological refusal of the old order reflected in reliantagonistic movement and aspirations of a new
class. For example, when the feudal economy,
dominated by the
land-owning Catholic Church, organized around status, authority,
and hierarchy, was giving way to the class of individualistic merchants, industrial entrepreneurs, townsmen, and the jobless
peasants, squeezed into poverty in this transition
a new form of
Physical
gious
form the
Christianity arose giving ideological expression to the revolutionary movement. That new form appeared in the thought of
Huss,
Miinzer, Luther, and many others. As Engels put it, The ineradicability of the Protestant heresy corresponded to the
invincibility of the rising burghers. 12 In like manner
the early Christian
community was
communal
power has
passed into the hands of the people (still classes of workers,
collective farmers, and intelligentsia), the destructive
antagonism of
classes is a thing of the past, progress is defined as the
development
of socialist society in the direction of communism, and
religious
activity as distinct from secular is essentially
personal and peripheral to the driving forces of society?
On this question the Christians in the Soviet Union with whom
I
to
embody
in their
own
grounded
in a
167
world with
The
of
life
sacred.
written:
We, on our
part, believe
(1
Jn.
through men,
man, due to
Incarnation.
through
us
because God too appeared to
and life on
peace
preserving
for
responsible
is
granted
him,
free will
Our path
to
God
lies
.
Earth.
We stand
for the
development and
Socialism in the
will, in
USSR now
in place
and their
and practice of
politics
and
economy
from
institutions. It has removed the Church
Church
the
excluded
by socializing the Churchs property. It has
s
from education by putting the schools into the hands of a people
the
longer
no
now
secular State. The creation of works of art is
monopoly of an ecclesial hierarchy with its skilled hirelings; the file
create
of the arts and culture now belongs to the people, ireely to
disappeared.
has
and enjoy. The corruption of a parasitic class
Church leaders have been displaced from positions of unearned
power and privileged comfort. Many casual and frivolous believers
religious people
168
Conclusions
God, and
Out of
its
much
Its
thinking has
in the fires
of
sacrifice.
It
years. Since
and the productive process; lack of vocational skills and of a developed personal and cultural life; deprivation in the satisfaction of
been so
social
life. It tells
everlasting
no
of archetypical heroes or
their hands or
hold the destinies of worlds
no overrulhas
Marxism
deeds.
its
mm
old,
2000 years
of its
evocation of a
tries
consequential economic,
ethnic,
effective in
169
prayer
The
this century.
is
far
and away
arts
task of developing the
in
institutions
familiar
and the
The
tional appeal,
polilical,
It
^pem
ways to comp
with
170
and other
Christianity
nists
do
mon
it.
tian belief
changes
Continuums
and
jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its
own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but
rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things,
endures
all
things. 14
social life.
Can
modern
religious devotion
advanced beyond
of new theological
formulation.
The moral values shared by Christians and Marxists in the USSR are
a meeting point and basis for their present and future cooperation.
We have already spoken of the pre-eminent issue of peace and
8.
all
classical Christian
The commandments
your neighbor
are
as yourself.
statement of virtue
summed up
.
Love
is
a recent
collectivist morality,
a humanistic
morality
personal
communist
ideals. 15
moral values
differences between these two declarations of
feeling
personal
emphasize
Christians
and virtues are evident: the
the
concern;
active
and
compassion
and disposition, interpersonal
laproductive
group,
the
of
solidarity
Communists highlight the
these
for
struggle
and
society,
socialist
bor, loyalty to nation and its
grounded their morality in a
values. Christians have traditionally
are dialectical and
Communists
while
transcendent source and end,
the life of a
reflects
statement
materialists. The Christian
The
life
The
And here
historical
it;
*171
is
is
this:
in this sentence,
patient
small
slave
ei
communal minority living within the limits of an im P
highly
a
of
out
comes
formulation
economy; the Communist
and hostility,
people. Both are against death, indifference
natural am
a
becomes
and discord. This set of mutual convictions
religious
other
P eo P e
normal bond between people Christians,
for these pcop e o
Marxists. Such a common faith makes it easy
in
together in concoi
divergent cosmologies to live and work
earth.
place and cult ure they share on this
among
;.
172
Conclusions
In my conversations with them, several Marxists scholars expressed in an almost matter-of-fact way their concurrence with
certain moral values of Christians. Of course this is not an acknowledgement of an identity of positions. But this kind of statement
came as a surprise to me, since when in 1970 I had conducted
interviews with Soviet scientists
moral values
open
face,
comic
in life;
Olita Abolinas
was made.
Our
*173
wedding
men
being
her
in
and
and Money,
turned into pigs by their own lust, in Love
leave
plant,
cactus
to a
attachment of the white flower of weddings
part of a larger
concern of hers. Peace to the World, a
long-robed
three
has
work called Variations on a Gothic Theme,
the world
imploring
uplifted arms
figures, their anxious faces and
is the
Muses,
work, Burnt
for peace. Another part of the same
explains,
Abolina
They say,
voiceless cry of mournful maidens.
will be silent And it war
Muses
the
talking
are
guns
that when the
they will be burned.
comes, no voice will be heard from the Muses;
s te
theme. All the artists speak for peace,
I asked her about this
is
a great
Yahweh
Reworks with Biblical figures and motifs. Here are
expression
and
>u
and cramped in body and facial
than
taller
between them,
recognizably human, while Eve stands
and playful, smiling
plump,
soft,
She
is
they in the flower of youth.
she grooms her
foolishness on both sides. With one hand
Adam,
at
primitive
the
in a sign of conaliatio
long hair, her head resting on her shoulder
the one side Yahweh,
In her other hand rests an apple. On
finger to forbid the s
bearded, bent, and old, lifts a stern
work.
of Olita
Abolina and her daughter Inesa, both ceramists. As we entered
their two-story house sheltered by high shade trees, three white cats
scurried to the cover of leafy flower beds unconcerned about
In Jurmala in the Latvian Republic
and Marxism!
Olita Abolina is short and
world.
Christianity
delight; while
on the other
side,
a large leaf at
remains energetic, ioun
Adam,
in t ns
Abolina has retained her own favorites
Her most bclo ved
money.
need
I
when
never sell them-not even
_
wide and
174
CHRISTIANITY TODAY IN
creation
is
TIIF.
USSR
Conclusions
upward and
themes
much
as
as
excited public.
*
village over.
call
And
so
when
on Mariya Petrovna.
they wanted
somebody
175
close by theyd
the
for
night, and the next day.
the
for
dead);
there
[commemoration
are
a
lot
of
pominki
funerals
it
was
dead.
So
for
these
the
serremember
you
days on which
vicesat weddings,
births, services
active also in
promoting the
transition to socialism.
Sara replied: Yes, that too. She didnt see any contradiction. In
in a
fact, she described to me the time when she was working
betweeen
holding
conflict
laundry. And 1 asked her if there was any
a job in socialism and religious holidays when she wanted to go to
church. She said she remembered one time when she was in the
laundry doing her work and the head of the laundry came in and
said, Masha, what are you doing here? You know its St. Peters day.
Get out there to the church. Why arent you doing your duty? And
church. So
literally he shooed her away from the job and into the
she said there was no problem.
Andrei, the Kamenshikovs oldest son, eighteen years old, just
year in philosophy at Moscow State University
and now on the very eve of his departure for army service, a sad
Pskov,
sign of our timesrecounted this: A few days ago I was in
Kremlin,
an old Russian city close to Estonia. They have an old
finishing his
first
perhaps six hundred years old. And in the middle of the Kremlin
the
they have a beautiful church. And I was there Sunday during
by
started
service. It was very interesting to listen to the priest. He
many
saying people should not acquire material things. Today
these
people are looking for good clothing and things like that, and
he said.
are not important. People are not very religious today,
commitment
They
And how do
socialism in the
new
occasions of
USSR? Two
Kamenshikov family
in
nalists,
for
good
more
in
fulfill
they need, for wealth. People ought to
think about the
the religious principles to work conscientiously, to
he said, that
things of the spirit rather than the body. It is Gods will,
for
well.
is
said.
He
176
socialist principle is
the
same
as the
one
in the Bible
18
.
And
spoke about war and peace, developing the idea of the need
he
for
we do not create
eat? And
we do not work, who
people of the
tasks
before
the
are
These
peace, who
for
peace. All of
the
struggle
wage and win
USSR to work
Yes
shall
if
if
shall live?
well, to
most precious
Religious Societies
gift.
pose the selfishness of body and soul; they call for selfless service to
the good of each and all now and in the time to come. Followers of
both can and do struggle for peace and life, for a world community
of free and equal persons.
This is the task in which all people of good will must join the
commitment to humanity. Whatever our individual, national, religious beliefs, whatever our ideologies let us unite and cooperate
in this one thing needed. Let us be about our business in this, our
noblest calling
on
earth.
'
the religious
rite
necessary if
be obtained. Permission is not
worship
takes place round the house of
and
service
religious
a part of the
of
pe.ss,on
the
With
rules.
traffic
and does not violate public order or
in
med
rites may be pei foi
the Executive Committee religious
performed without the sanction of the
ridze^s Religious rites may be
hospitals, in the
in case of grave illness-m
of death-at home
case
prisons;
invalids, and in
cS
and
indu^ chjdren
citizens
cemetery or crematory. The believing
religious
participants
voluntary
be
may
over,
and
rites
of
In the case
of ownership. 1 he
objects of religious cult with right
J ,
, legated
need
its
for
building
religious society of a
religious sect y
the
of
property
the
thus acquired becomes
and
The
building
oS
178
state
insured
if it
so desires.
its own monetary funds accumulated from donaand collections made in the house of worship, the sale of objects of
cull and the performance of religious rites. These are free of tax. The
money is spent on the upkeep of the houses of worship and other property
of the cult, on the wages of the servants of the cult and religious centres, as
well as of workers and employees.
Possessing monetary funds, religious societies have the right to employ,
on a permanent or temporary basis, workers and employees on contracts
drawn up with or without trade union participation. Wages are determined by agreement with the religious societies but they must not be lower
tions
Chapter
George Vernadsky, d
New Haven
Yale
f
Russian. Palo Alto: University of
william M. Mandel, Soviet But Not
356.
Alberta and Ramparts, 1985, pp. 183,
t.
Russia, rev. ed. New York: flat com
History
of
Short
A
Sumner,
3B. H.
166-67.
Brace, & World, 1949, pp.
4 Ibid., pp- 170-171.
.
5 Ibid., p. 173.
6 Vernadsky, op.
7 Ibid., p. 148.
cit.,
pp- 106-108.
Moscow
9LTolstov
toy.
I.
19/2,
Moscow: Progress, 1Q79
Lenin, Collected Works vol. 26.
12 Ibid., p.
Sumner,
is
i
cit.,
op.
p.
op. cit., p.
Vernadsky,
$ Russia.
185.
op.
New
cit.,
272.
161.
p.
260.
p.
Vernadsky,
*9
op.
cit.,
172.
pp. 403-404.
17
Policy
<2 58
p. 2u.
329.
New
Sumner,
i'
in Religion.
as
1959-1964, in Richard
II.
Fletcher,
Marshall,
Jr.,
Thoma.
the
Blane, eds., Aspects of Religion in
135-144.
1971,
pp.
Chicago,
of
Chicago: University
Andrew Q.
Churches
"men it>ned the World Council ofthnty
million
membership at
Assuming this pc
its
^^
^ mem
woukl he almost
^.
^ 2/8
of almost
bership in 1985 in a population
(presurna
holds
39,000,000. Christel Lane, however,
ct
Soviet Union,
>
>
01
1974)
180
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
THE USSR
IN
Notes
percent
still
not during the time of the Tartar yoke, not in the times of troubles in the
beginning of the 17th century did the Church betray her country. ... on
means.
And
after the
on
that the
numbers are
large
enough
to
provoke
serious attention.
22
When an
a given
locality,
23 Peter Grose,
Soviet Union:
p.
The
New
in
New American
York:
Library, 1968,
467.
the
The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response. A Pastoral Letter
Peace. Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference,
War and
1983.
10 Speech at the Meeting of the Heads and Representatives of Churches
and Religious Associations in the USSR Devoted to the 40th Anniversary
Moscow
*181
Patriarchate, 6,
1985,
p.
36.
dox Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Churches in the Latvian SSR, the
Lithuanian SSR, and the Estonian SSR, the Judaic Communities, the
Methodist Church of Estonia, the Muslim Religious Boards for Central
Asia and Kazakhstan, the European Part of he USSR and Siberia, Transcaucasia, and Northern Caucasus, the Reformed Church of lranscarpathia, the Roman Catholic Churches in the Latvian SSR and Lithuanian
SSR, the Russian Orthodox Church, and five groups of Old Believers.
t
it
But because
the cost.
this
monastery
Chapter 2
Moscow: The Moscow Patriarchate [1957], pp. 103-104. The same source
refers to sixty-nine monasteries and convents (p. 78), whereas a recent
work gives the figure as eighteen. [The Russian Orthodox Church, trans. Doris
Bradbury. Moscow: Progress, 1982, p. 78.)
2 For a variety of estimates, religious
and secular, see Donald A. Lowrie
and William C. Fletcher, op. cit., pp. 151-153.
3
4 Ibid., p.
5 Ibid., pp.
e K.
90.
No.
pp. 15-16.
"of
Moslem
op.cit., p.
23.
8 The
appeal read
Chapter 3
'Rein Ananikyan, Yerevan, A Guide. Moscow: Progress, 1982, p. 76.
2 The estimate of Bishop Arsen Berberian, cited in Bart McDowell and
Dean Conger, Journey Across Russia: The Soviet Union Today. Washington,
D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1977, p. 228.
Armenian Miniatures of the 13th and 14th Centuries from the Matenadaran
Leningrad: Aurora Art, 1984, pp. 7-8.
4 A. A. Aslanyan, A. B. Bagdasaryan, L. A. Valesyan, and S. M.
Collection.
Its
p. 40.
167-187.
Marks
3,
p.
42.
to
is completed, it will be protected by the state according
monuments.
cultural
of
historical
and
and
use
protection
law
on
the
the
Elya Vasilyeva, The Monastery Reborn, Soviet Life, July 1986, No. 7 (358),
the monastery
in part:
Not
in the
Robert T. Handy.
New
p.
145.
182
Yerevan,
Guide,
p.
w Ibid.,
p.
3 William
4
Jr., et.
ah,
op. cit.,
pp. 239-256.
5 For a brief
account of this
New
250.
Krikorian,
pp. 377-380.
19.
9 Mesrob K. Krikorian,
Richard H. Marshall,
II,
op. cit.
Chapter 4
Russia, p. 171.
8 Evangelski Khristiane-Baplisti
For material on
Roman
9 Ibid
10
(March-
53, 2
12 Evangelski Khristiane-Baptisti
3 William
M. Mandel,
op. cit., p.
own
liturgy,
186.
(313), p. 61.
b Paul Mailleux,
Catholics in the Soviet Union, Aspects of Religion in the
Soviet Union,
7
They
inhibit contacts of
with the
women
and
and promote
father,
group.
from the
collective
and Soviet
on
and young people and
semia, in D. G. Danilov
Some of the history that follows is taken from Evangelski KhristianeSSSR (in Russian and English) published by the All-Union Council
the Evangelical Christians-Baptists in Moscow in 1979.
Baptist v
2 This is
the estimate of the AUCECB in its Information Bulletin, July
1984. Figures below are taken from this source and from the
AUCECB
Presidium Report to the 43rd Congress of Evangelical Christians-Baptistsin the USSR, March 23, 1985. A State source says,
Soviet Baptists have
5,000 churches. Novosti Press Agency '83 Yearbook USSR. Moscow: Novosti
Press Agency Publishing House, 1983, p. 77.
and
V.
236-250. In English as The Baptist Movement and the Family, The Soviet
(Summer 1976), pp. 103-1 16.
The chief criticism of certain Christian doctrines and practices generally
Review, 17, 2
that they are at variance with the values of Soviet society in their
other
faiths, national chauvinism, and male chauvinism. Excesimmersion, and drinking stagnant holy water endanger the
health of believers. Members of some sects will not work on Saturday or
Sunday, refuse military service and participation in elections or trade
union work, and may prevent their children from joining the Pioneers or
other peer activities. Such cases are not common, but where they occur
hostility to
Benton
Chapter 5
of
Some of
from the
Evangelical Christians-Baptists, strongly shape values through family edu-
is
in the
29.
p.
group
Seminary, Soviet
v SSSR,
cation.
v SSSR, p. 15.
pp. 12-13.
.,
Presidium Report.
Mintis, 1975),
4 Ibtd.,
*183
sive fasting,
they
may
Moscow,
2 Ibid.
No. 7 (310),
p. 34.
184
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
IN
Notes
HE USSR
See Georgi Vins, Obey God, Dont Count the Cost, Christianity Today
XXVI, 16 (October 9, 1982), pp. 48-49. Reverend Vins, a Baptist pastor,
was Secretary of the Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Bap1
fCCECB] from 1965 until 1979 when he was expelled from the Soviet
Union, having served two prison terms for a total of eight years. He
emphasizes that in 1960 the AUCECB [All-Union Council of Evangelical
Christians Baptists] forbade the entrance of children into church buildings, baptism under the age of thirty, all invitations at the end of the
service, and all forms of charity. As a result, dissenters formed unregistered congregations. He asserts that the registered church leaders.
say
they have to obey the KGB and that right now there are about 300
Christians in prison in the Soviet Union, and of those, 160 are unregistered Baptists. In an adjacent article, Denton Lotz of the Baptist World
tists
who worked
in the
USSR
different picture, pointing out that the registered Baptists have chosen to
it.
religion in the
Sunday
USA, he
observes,
and other
respectively),
and 39.6
as
convinced believers
given in English in
1967, pp. 130ff. Two tables summarizing the results are
R. Bociurkiw, Religion and Atheism in Soviet Society, in Richard
Bohdan
H. Marshall,
cit., p.
60.
in
from private
subsidiary plots of land. Personal Property differs essentially
man, of
property, which serves as a means of exploitation of man by
Dictionary
of Philosoappropriation of the results of other peoples labour."
1984,
p. 314.
Progress,
Moscow:
phy, ed. I. T. Frolov, 2nd revised edition.
Chapter 9
at
'Their world inter-religious cooperation started as early as 1952
Associations
Religious
and
Churches
All
Zagorsk, with the Conference of
given by Metropolitan Filaret of
in the USSR. A record of these meetings is
Activity of the RusPeacemaking
Inter-Religious
Byelorussia,
and
Minsk
sian
of the
Moscow
4348.
Edition.
2 The Programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. A New
Published
1986.
March
on
1,
CPSU
of
the
Congress
27th
the
Approved by
1.
as a Supplement to Moscow News, No. 12 (3208), 1986, p.
.
State laws.
Chapter 8
The
185
Chapter 7
Alliance,
have been credited with all sorts of incendiary speeches against religion. Of
course you would like to see the whole system destroyed, root and branch.
We know, he replied after a moments hesitation, that violent measures
against religion are nonsense; but this is an opinion: as Socialism grows,
Thing
in
2,
1980,
pp. 70-71.
nihilosol
Religion, Soviet Studies in 1
5 L. N. Mitrokhin, Marxs concept of
Pomatie
from
Translated
phy, 22, 3 (Winter 1983-84), p. 45 and passim.
1983, no. 8, pp. 44-o8.
religii u K. Marksa, Voprosy filosofii,
186
6 Konstantin
and Mass
Political
i4
The
Toward
Work
26. Translated
7
8
p.
from Russian.
to support and
master technology, to improve skills; to
protect and increase socialist public property,
the mainstay of the might
and prosperity of the Soviet count ry.
. From
The Rules of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Soviet Union, March,
1981, p. 8.
9 Contribution
to the Critique of Hegels Philosophy
to
K.
Marx and
of Right,
F.
Engels,
On Religion. Moscow:
in
p.
10
>
belief
USSR are
religious, op.
60,000" which
This estimate
at
major
is
is
cit.,
p.
23.
A Soviet source
based on a
velopment of a mass
urban neighborhood)
cult ure. P.
207.
to
urban
life
town and
and the de-
The
Bible,
*187
Philosophy.
Romans
13:8,
Corinthians
13:4-7.
15
p. 10.
wibid.
17
V.
I.
18 Article 12
USSR
Annotated Bibliography
and
collide with
do not
law the
and
issledovanm (The
Crisis of Religiosity
of religion
Moskva: Izdatelstvo Nauka, 1984. The critique
the scientific
basis
lor
thus the
located in the context of education;
comprehensive
the
namely,
critique of religion is the basis of education
is
search).
integrity of the
communist world
social-political activity
accomplished through the devotion of youth to
ol its atheistic
formation
the
for
condition
the most important
(aktivnost)
commitment
\uhezhdennost].'
,
itarian"
generalizations
in the text gives license for large
The
three chapters
and personal
critically,
testimonies.
ed., Religion
and Atheism
in the
190
1979.
under the
religion
tsar
USSR,
Dennis
Religiia
Dunn,
con-
and repression of
Uniat.es.
the
coali-
tion.
it
religious policy.
Soviet Believers:
the post-
shifted
from theory
to
Impressionistic con-
in
and
average, and
more
the
meaning of
life in
book
work
A.
Stephen
V. O. Kluchevsky,
be ade-
quate.
tserkov
State
Christianity.
*191
Sovietskorn gosudarstve.
Moskva:
facts
is
of
and
longer:
Politizdat, 1981.
western
sects.
central industrial
and
women, and
in strata
peripheral to the
i.e.,
the rural,
the elderly.
supplements
Cradle of Civilization.
V. I. Lenin. Religion. New York: International Publishers, 1933. Contains
the major writings by Lenin on this question that have laid down the
general guidelines for Soviet policy.
William M. Mandel, Soviet But Not Russian. The Other Peoples of the Soviet
and Ramparts, 1985. Unique trea-
sure of concrete information and insights garnered from ten visits and
more than fifty years of study. Deals with all the major non-Russian ethnic
M.
P.
Novikov, ed.,
Istoriia
teoriia ateizma:
Edition).
Moskva: Mysl,
1982.
Howard
New
Monograph based on
York: American
interviews with
Christians and
tables.
192
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
IN
THE
l.'SSR
and
limiting
its
attend church, celebrate holy days, and perform religious rituals; and
unsuccess
in
militant atheists
tiveness,
in
into
II.
Kitchener, Ont.
1968.
Index
weapons, effec-
and
making them
history,
Herald
Press, 1981.
Africa, 76
Berlin Conference of
64-66
Alexander
1,
tsar,
Bessarabia, 65
Bible, 16, 19, 21, 23, 26, 27, 47, 63, 65,
66,67,73,77,90, 112, 113, 132, 135tion,
Council of Churches, 23
Allende Gossens, Salvador, 33, 135
Allied intervention, 9, 154
Ancient Oriental Churches, 22
Andriamanjato, Richard, 27
Antony, Metropolitan of Leningrad, 31
All- African
Socialist Re-
European Catho-
60
73
lics,
3,
ch. 3; 14,
73;
New
Bohemia,
tions to State,
rela-
50-5
Armenian
tries, ix
Athanasius, 20
Atheism, 83, 84, 89-90, 104, 111-112,
114, 116-117, 126, 137; and educa16, 158-159; in socialist coun116
Augustine, St., 20
Autard, Francois, 108
Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist
Republic, 49-50, 52
tion,
tries,
Bouevsky, Alexy
S.,
28-38
157
Bueva, L.
P.,
134
Bailey, Martin,
Reverend, 27
66
Callistratus, Patriarch, 51
1, 2, 3, b,
194
Catherine
II, tsarina, 8,
Catholicos,
Catholicos,
49, 70
Georg V, 5
Georg VI, 51
Catholicos, Vazgen
I,
tion in
Europe
(Helsinki), 60,
Consciousness, social
51, 52-56,
123,
127
Chalcedon, Council of, 48
Charlemagne, Emperor, 6
{see Religion),
158-159
Constantine, Emperor,
101,
6,
146;
State,
164
and
and upkeep of
16,
and
Cyril
and Methodius, 19
Dahlgren,
S.,
72
Daletski, Olegets,
61-63
Danilov monastery,
15, 25,
Muslim, 30
Dostoevsky, Fyodor Mikhailovich, 131,
8,
11,70
Dzenis, Leo, 60
State,
63, 125;
wedding
ritual,
122-123
Communism,
158
Communism, Religion,
ethics
{see
Values), 96-97, 113, 141
European Baptist Federation, 68
Evangelical Brotherhood, 65
Evangelical Chrislians-Baptists
100
Federal Republic of Germany, 71, 75,
120,
145-146,
185
Filaret, Metropolitan of Kiev, 32, 36
Filaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Byelorussia, 167, 185, 186
Filosofskte nauki 97
Fletcher, William C., 180
P.
1 17
individual, need for attention
India, 86,
Initsiativniki,
162~ 166
International Institute for Peace, 33
Iran, 2, 30, 44
Isidore, Metropolitan, 7
Islam
Italy,
Socialist Re-
God,
II),
13,
16, 22, 25, 27, 31, 38, 50, 69, 75, 92,
Guseinov, A. A.,
Muslims)
Israilitianc,
Great Patriotic
{see
viii,
76-77
Gemyanov, 105
Georgia, Georgian Soviet
133
to,
183
Gaililis, Karlis,
160-161,
158-159,
86, 113
Fedoseev,
133-134
34-35, 39-
43
Darwin, Charles, 83, 91
Dashnaktsutyun, 48, 50
Decembrists, 130
Decree on Land, 9
Decree on Peace, 9
Decree on religion, 126, 161
139
Dukhobors,
Hunchak, 48
Hungary, 1, 61, 86
Iaroslav,
181
47
121
Christianity, Christians: Christian so-
tivities,
existentialism,
123,
cialism,
82
*195
Index
12-1 16
70
86, 98
49, 135
tsar, 7, 40,
Japan, 76
Jehovah's Witnesses, 8, 14
Jeremiah II, Metropolitan, 7
Jesus Christ, 43, 48, 53, 60, 65, 67, 69,
77,90,96,114,156,167,174
57,
Jews, Judaism, viii, x, 11, 14, 16, 29,
59, '73, 157, 186; and Christianity, 30
Josephites, 5
The Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, 20,
21,22,23,25,37,97
Judaizers, 5
Khachaturyan, Aram, 45
Khlysty, 8, 14
Khomyakov, A. S., 42
Khoren 1 (Muradbekian),
1,
3,4,60
Socialist Re-
59,
Kokorevich, Nikolai Andreyevich,
,
62
19G
Index
136
16,
104
104
Kuvakin, Valerii Aleksandrovich, 45
150
Kuzmina-Karavayev, Elizaveta (Mother
Marie), 27
Krivilov,
172
174
League of
Atheists,
League of
Militant
Atheists, 12, 13
League of Nations, 55
Lebanon, 17
1
Lenin, Vladimir,
8,
Nicaragua, 109
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 139
ethics,
74
Mahomet, 81
Mau, Karl, 73
Mcnnonites: Church Mennonites,
183; Mennonite Brethren, 8, 14, 64,
65, 70
Mesters, Eric, 71-76
Methodists, 22, 59, 70
Mongol
rule,
cialist
5, 8, II, 14,
70, 142
Catholics, 22
Old
1-2,
7,
47;
the Tatars,
5, 15,
34, 171
Christi.
Apostolic
Armenian
and
dependent' movement,
Lutherans, 71-72, 75-77; movement
in the USA, 92; peaceful coexistence,
69; and religion, 97-98, 137. 159; and
Roman Catholics, 60-61; and Russian
Orthodox Church, 23-25. 27, 31-32,
37-39, 88-89, 119, 120-122, 176;
and United States Council of Catholic
Bishops, 36, 93, 109
Muscovy, 2,4,5
Muslims (see Islam), 11, 14, 16, 29, 30,
57,64,71,106, 127, 146, 180; Shi'ites,
29; Sunnis, 29
Myslivchenko, A. G., 134
Narodnaya
Volya, 130
National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the
USA,
Nauka i
81-87,89,97
Religita (Science
and
Religion),
81-
14
Red Cross, 3
Reformed Church, 22, 7
religion: and art, culture, 97,
problems
of,
5, 7, 8,
33- 134
J
37. 49
Podmazov, Arnold
A., 142,
2, 8,
Poland, Poles,
1,
19-120,
122,
148-149; criticism of, 9091, 93-95, 143-144, 146-150; decline, 97, 99-100, 142-143, 165; decreasing or permanent, 118; defini145, 146,
freedom
of,
and
Perov, V. G., 42
personality,
14,
87
consciousness, religious,
60
176;
122,
PAX, 60
Pax
16, 71,
103
Moscow,
25-28
St.,
1,
117, 146
Parcs, Bernard, 1 1 ,
Patriarch, Patriarchate of
Paul,
136
of,
Protestant, Protestantism,
152,
126,
102,
Revolution),
153-154
Old Believers,
66
Malevantsi, 70
5,
Pakistan, 2
Mongols:
Nikhon, Patriarch,
Novgorod, 1, 4-5
15,
72
propaganda:
and
and
*197
1,
186
92-93, 99-101,
102, 110
Religious Workers for Lasting Peace,
Disarmament, and Just Relations
Among Nations (Conference, 1977),
38
Index
198
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
IN
7, 9,
13
Sergius of Radonezh, 4, 17
Seventh Day Adventists, 8, 14, 59, 70,
Skoptsy,
Roman
Council II, 58
Roman empire, 6
Rubinstein, A. G., 42
Rublyov, Andrei, 4, 17
130-131; phi-
129
niki),
70
Slavonic Church, 1,
Slavophilism, 129
Smirnov, G. L., 186
8, 14,
(see
141;
South America, 52
Soviet Peace Committee, 16, 32, 108,
119, 120, 157
Sri
in
USA,
28; interna-
spiritualistic
phenomena, explanation of
83, 91
spirituality, 96,
138
Lanka, 29
Star Wars, 24
subbotniki, 70
13, 16,
society, 29,
181
and
tsar,
8-10
Stundo-Baptist movement, 65
Sviatpolk, 8
Syria,
118; secularization,
151-152, 157-158
K 105
Simon (Kamo), 49
Theodosius, Emperor, 6
theology of liberation, 36, 61, 170
Rome, 7
Third World, 76
Tikhon, Patriarch, 12, 14
Tir idates, King, 47
Tokarev S. A., 104
Tolstoy, Lev Nikolayevich, 114, 139
third
142-143,
tragedy, 133
Turkey, Turks,
7,
Twain, Mark, 81
199
46,61,64, 70,131
(USSR): constitution,
and USA, 43
Union of Soviet. Societies for Friendship
and Cultural Relations with Foreign
Countries, 32
United Nations Organization Second
Special Session
on Disarmament
of
Bishops,
vii,
commu-
15
20
Vejs, Janis, 141-145
Victory Day, 73
Viktor Igumen, 35, 39-43
Vasiliy the Great,
Council
of Catholic
97
America (USA),
Wikstrom, John, 72
in the churches, Baptists, 67;
Lutherans, 74
women
States of
Voprosy filosofii,
Voronin, N. I., 65
Vvedensky, Alexander, Archpriest, 12
war danger,
Republics
155,
41, 62, 74, 82, 91, 93, 126, 141,
160, 187; and peace, 75, 102-104;
problems
ligion,
Ugrinovich, D. M 104-110
Ukraine, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Re-
32, 43,
United
71-72, 74, 75, 77, 91, 92, 93, 102,
117, 137, 151
Ter-Petrosyan,
terrorism, 130
Scandinavia, 1
Scheer, Robert, 185
values,
30
Tepliakov, M.
Memorial, 77-79
Samarin, Y. F., 42
Saryan, Martiros, 45
Salaspils
tion,
98
antirevolutionary position, 9,
3031 education, 21-22, 32; history,
;
religion,
Spartacus, 90
130-131 history
26
Communism):
and
19,
103; and
art, 167; building of, 145; and Christianity, 32-37, 81-83, 165-169; jus-
Socialism
tice,
THE USSR
(see
ideology)
108
CHRISTIANITY TODAY
in
the
USSR
He has taught
at the Universities of
Southern California,
Illinois,
Issues,
Ethics;
For
Human
Values.
many years he
ALEXANDRA KOLLONTAI,
Selections
Wm. Pomeroy
BIRTH OF THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO, Dirk Struik
The CHALLENGES of OUR TIME, Mikhail Gorbachev
CHRISTIANITY TODAY in the USSR, Howard Parsons
CLARA ZETKIN, Selected Writings
CUBA
The Continuing Revolution, Gil Green
DICTIONARY of PHILOSOPHY, ed. by Frolov
GOLD: The Yellow Devil, A.V. Anikin
HISTORICAL MATERIALISM, V. Afanasyev
IMPERIALISM, V,
Lenin
.
0296-5
0643-X
0609-X
0632-4
0320-1
0642-1
0651-0
0611-1
0628-6
0604-9
0599-9
0637-5
0098-9
0624-3
0641-3
0644-8
0397-X
0368-5
0200-0
0636-7
I.
I.
MAY
DAY,
D.
0625-1
Rosenberg
WARWORDS:
WORLD
and AFRICA, W.
E. B.
Du
Bois
0650-2
0221-3
Inc.
NY NY 10016
ISBN 0-7178-0651-0
$6.95