Baptistic Theologies, 2009

e Church and the State took a stand against evangelicals and Pashkov’s work was ultimately suppressed. 1 Istoriya Evangelskih Hristian-Baptistov v SSSR [History of Evangelical Christian-Baptists in the USSR], (Moscow: VSEHB, 1989), p. 44. 2 The Bible in contemporary Russian was not the only reason for the spiritual renewal. There were other (political and social) factors, and I will refer to some later. I began with the Bible, though, because of my strong belief that this was the major contribution to the process. One of the proofs of my hypothesis would be two observations: Most of the evangelical groups sprang up after 1860; and most of the groups were formed around one or several educated leaders - people who could read the Scriptures. 72 Baptistic Theologies Although Pashkov and Pobedonostsev appear almost as enemies, they had many things in common: both of them were patriots of Russia; they belonged to the Orthodox Church; and were trying to improve the Russian social and political order. Moreover, they were among the richest aristocrats in Russia, and possessed authority and power being among the closest friends of the Tsar. In this paper I would like to look at how much the relationship between the Orthodox Church in Russia and evangelical Christians depended on the relationships and personalities of very few people - and particularly, Pashkov and Pobedonostsev. This study consists of three sections. In the first I will describe Russia and the Orthodox Church in the second half of the nineteenth century. This will help in understanding the background for the appearance of a movement such as Pashkovism and the reasons for Pashkov’s and Pobedonostsev’s confrontation. The second section will examine Pashkov’s life, his convictions and ministry. The third chapter will turn to Pobedonostsev seeking an explanation for his actions towards nonconformist movements. Russia in the second half of the Nineteenth Century 1850 - 1900 were years of intense development of the Russian culture. This period is known as the ‘Russian Enlightenment’. Defeat in the Crimean War made it obvious that in order to maintain the status of a powerful state, Russia had to change socially and politically. This resulted in ‘Great reforms’ and the abolition of serfdom in 1861. Those reforms were considered as an attempt at the Europeanisation of Russia. Changes were made in education and public health, the financial system, army and censorship. However, as E. Heier argues, all those reforms ‘though liberal and progressive... were not radical enough... and... reflected clearly the reluctance of the government to abandon its autocratic position or to grant full freedom of conscience and expression’/ Seeking solutions to the questions and trying to change the existing order, people developed different ideas and several movements appeared. For example, the intelligentsia 3 4 was very concerned about the ‘total transformation