Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

en adopted by both unions in the 1920s and was — ble to the Mennonites. ! . = in eee de years I. V. Kargel (1849-1937) had played a aoa — in doctrinal questions. I. S. Prokhanov was a prolific writer and poet an = ; constant reprinting of his writings during the post-war period eats eer that his influence would continue, but initially his role had — t a ts _ activist organizer. Kargel, with whom he cooperated and een » Was : major preacher and exegete for this period.2° His writings are still reprinte idely. i pai war Asanabs Karev emerged as the theologian and exegete for the AUCECB. He wrote innumerable articles and composed the — statements of doctrine. A relatively small group of persons agate ae ing a contribution in Bratskii Vestnik on theological questions. : In the 1960s and 1970s, Karev’s place as resident teacher and theologian was gradually taken by his assistant, Arthur Mitskevich. One scholar ars on Soviet Baptist theology took the writings of Karev and a ue as representative and official.22 With the beginning of the theo = cor- respondence course in 1968, the Moscow union prepared course lectures which would help bring a uniform theology into the union. The laces o dogmatics has been published recently. It can be regarded as t e is < statement on AUCECB doctrine. The CCECB also uses stat . as expressed no specific objections to it. This textbook, simply ca = 1 matika, concluded by listing and explaining the seven Baptist principles. | Baptist Principles as Applied in the Soviet Union ene, oe 1. Sola Scriptura:.A major complaint which the Initsiationiki made was that the 1960 statute claimed to be based on Soviet legislation and — therefore weakly.grounded on the Word of God. That statute, as uke as a later revisions, affirmed that the Bible was the basis for the ECB con sare of faith. But in 1966 the newly adopted statute added that it was also the basis for the “life and activity” of the union.” Aside from this rather ine mental critique, the AUCECB ae paca Bible reading, printe i nd articles reflecting biblical exegesis. ee pear le eas affirmed biblical inspiration. It rejected the cee theory of inspiration, as well as a verbal inspiration theory that did not allow Soviet Evangelical Theology 345 for a recognition of the individual writer's memory, intuition, judgment, and character. But it was an affirmation of the Bible as divinely inspired and infallible.25 All Russian evangelicals have maintained a very high view of the Bible and there has therefore been no disputation on the nature of biblical au- thority. As Karev stated, their membership does not know modernism, which, as he claimed, questions many of the truths of Scripture. Still there is growing fear in conservative circles, especially in the Ukraine and in Central Asia, of a creeping modernism that they think is entering through association with the World Council of Churches. A leading American evan- gelical, W