Towards Understanding of the Practice of Proclamation: The Core Element of Russian Baptist Worship, Timofey Cheprasov, 2015

ng of powers as created by God and thus necessary for the existence of human society, yet fallen to sin, therefore causing 4 and still not without injustice and suffering instead of God planned wholeness,” hope of redemption and restoration through the ministry of Jesus is well summed up by Yoder: (a) [All these structures] can be conceived of in their general essence as parts of a good creation... We cannot live without them. These structures are not and never have been a mere sum total of the individuals composing them. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. And this “more” is an invisible Power, even though we may not be used to speaking of it in personal or angelic terms. (b) But these structures fail to serve us as they should... They harm and enslave us. We cannot live with them. Looking at the human situation from within, it is not possible to conceive how, once unconditionally subjected to these Powers, humankind can ever again become free. (c) We are lost in the world, in its structures... But nonetheless it is in this world that we have been preserved, that we have been able to be who we are 3 Ibid. > Charles L. Campbell argues that the main goal of the fallen powers is to survive at any cost. Thus, their God given purpose is being side-lined and rejected. ‘Their [the powers’] fundamental concern is their own survival, and nothing must get in the way of that. Everything else is expendable: human beings, compassion, humanity, the land, preaching — everything. For the powers, finally, the only morality that matters is their own survival, and they will use any means necessary to ensure that survival.’ (Campbell, The Word Before the Powers, p 25). Cf. William Stringfellow, An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land (Waco, Word Books, 1973), pp 82-84. See also Walter Wink, The Powers that Be: Theology for a New Millennium (New York, Doubleday, 1998), p 39. 177 and thereby to await the redeeming work of God. Our lostness and our survival are inseparable, both dependent upon the Power.”” Yoder further develops the concept of the redeeming work of Christ in relation to the powers. He argues that in order to defeat the fallen powers, which ‘cannot simply be destroyed or set aside or ignored,’ Christ submitted to them, just like every human being has to. However, Jesus ‘morally... broke their rules by refusing to support them in their °® Thus, the cross becomes the natural self-glorification; and that is why they killed him. outcome of Jesus’ resistance to the demonic rule of the powers, highlighting the existing and ongoing struggle for Christians in choosing between preserving life (by siding with the powers) or losing it (by choosing the way of Jesus, thus risking to end up with Him on the cross).°” Yoder identifies Jesus as someone who ‘is not the slave of any power, of any law or custom, community or institution, value or theory. Not even to save