Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

religious samizdat literature in Estonia. It is fair to estimate that the highest peak of typewritten publications in Estonian ECB circles was reached in the 1970s and early 1980s. However, as early as the 1950s and 1960s several sermon collections,” theological treatises,” and conference materials” were reproduced by samizdat methods. In addition to sermon collections and translated devotional literature, some theological volumes and books by American evangelist Billy Graham were systematically translated into Estonian and reproduced on mechanical typewriters. Also several books published by the Finnish Free Church publishing house Paiva OY found their way from Finland to Estonia, including books by Tapio Nousiainen and Niilo Yli-Vainio,® the latter 6 Paul Johnson, Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the 1990s (London: Orion Books, 1994), p. 679. 7 For example, Robert Vosu, Armastusest [About Love] (1965), [O. Tark], Markmeid O. Targi jutlustest 1965. a. [Notes from the sermons of O. Tark] [1966]. Many sermons were written down by a few dedicated church members while the presbyter was preaching. These sermon notes were typewritten later. 28 Many volumes of theological literature were “published” in 1956-1960 in connection with the semi-illegal theological training courses in Estonia. In the 1960s, Arpad Arder compiled a 2000-page typewritten (A4 format) concordance of the Bible in five volumes. ? For example, a collection of materials related to the celebration of Estonian Evangelical Christian Free Church movement’ fiftieth anniversary, Eesti Evangeeliumi Kristlaste 50. a. juubel 1955. a. [The 50th Anniversary of Estonian Evangelical Christians in 1955] (1955), as well as two volumes with materials of the presbyters’ conferences of 1968 and 1969. *© Riho Saard, “Uskonnollisen ja teologisen kirjallisuuden lahettaminen Suomesta Neu- vosto-Viroon 1950-1980-luvuilla” (Sending Religious and Theological Literature from Fin- land to Soviet Estonia in the 1950s-1980s], Teologinen Aikakauskirja, no. 6 (2003), p. 544. 149 being influential within charismatic circles in the 1970s. Topics and themes of this “semi-illegal” literature conform to general trends of interest within the UECBE during these years: the work of the Holy Spirit, evangelism and sanctification. For those interested in popular apologetics, Paul E. Littles Miks ma usun [Know Why You Believe] was a helpful tool. Many translated books like this one came from an Anglo-American background. There is no reliable research on how many titles or how many copies were “published” in the Estonian language by Baptist samizdat efforts, but it is possible to talk about hundreds of titles and probably tens of thousands of copies in total. This was not only an attempt to provide reading material to church members; it was an attempt to maintain one’s identity and freedom to be informed about Christian thought. Besides original works an