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

which could train pastors, who shared values of the communistic state and supported its politics, although this wasn’t allowed. **” "7 See Olena Panich, “Children and Childhood among Evangelical Christians-Baptists During the Late Soviet Period (1960s - 1980s),” in Theological Reflections, Vol. 13 (2012), p 156. "8 For an in-depth description and analysis of Khrushchev’s anti-religious policies see Steve Durasoff, The Russian Protestants: Evangelicals in the Soviet Union, 1944-1964 (N. Jersey, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1969), Part IV. Also A. Popov, “The Evangelical Christians- Baptists...,” pp 74-76. 119 «/last i Sluzhiteli na Etape Formirovaniia VSEKHB” [“Authorities and Ministers at the Stage of Formation of AUCECB”], in Traditsiia Podgotovki Sluzhitelei V Bratstve Evangelskikh Khristian- Baptistov, pp 155-156. 85 One of the most significant consequences of “scientific atheistic propaganda” employed by the communistic authorities was a widening gap between academia and churches. Historically, Christians in Russia were on a more conservative side when it came to anything new introduced by educational institutions, whether secular or religious, despite what a well-known proverb was saying (Uchenie — svet, a neuchenie — t’ma [Learning is light, whilst ignorance is darkness]). Prokhanov wrote a story which sheds light into the widespread attitude to academic training. He wrote about a rich man who offered to give education to a poor man’s son. That night, the poor man called his friends to discuss the offer. A deacon from a local church said that he shouldn’t send his son to school, since it would make him an atheist. Another friend was convinced that education would make him disrespectful towards his parents. Yet another voice said that once educated, the boy wouldn’t want to work...*”° | have already mentioned that the roots of such perception of formal education can be traced to the period of Great Reforms (the reign of Alexander Il), when universities received the reputation of being faithless places of free and rebellious thinking. Although the efforts of the baptistic leadership at the beginning of the 20" century in changing negative attitudes to theological training in churches started to bring fruits, Knruschev’s atheistic surge on churches of the 1950s rekindled mistrust and even hostility to formal education. Moreover, from that time, schools and universities were seen as places that cultivated an atheistic worldview, hence young 121 people were not advised to pursue higher education.“ Simplicity and spirituality were found to be the answers. This will be further addressed in the next Chapter in my overview of the publications in BV.’ ®°V Kotle Rossii, p 52. 21 Talking about educational institutions, | obviously mean secular universities and institutes, since there were no theological schools in the Soviet Union. 2 When considering Russian Baptist