Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

m but because they emphasized that only the baptism of a responsible adult was genuine, thus necessitating rebaptism of persons baptized in childhood. By the end of the 19th century American emphasis on immersion had become so intense that a professor of church history at the major Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, was forced to resign after demonstrating that immersion became a part of English Baptist practice only after 1641.37 The Soviet emphasis on the form resulted in sharp conflict with the Mennonites, as was described earlier. Perhaps an ad- ditional reason Soviet evangelicals are so insistent that immersion is the only correct form is that even the Orthodox, who practice child baptism, fully immersed the child under water, although effusion has become aminon there, too, during the Soviet era, The evangelical attitude toward communion clearly distinguished it from that of the Protestant Reformers and the Catholics. But this third prin- ciple had an exclusivist emphasis that resulted in considerable conflict within Soviet evangelical ranks. Even at present, some [local churches practice closed communion, closed to all non-members, while others specify that all born-again baptized individuals are welcome to participate|In those cities where many foreign tourists from other confessions visit, guests are welcome to participate. The present emphasis in conducting the Lord’s Supper (held on the # first Sunday of the month) focuses much more on reliving the deep pain our Lord suffered. The dramatization of the physical aspect and the highly developed reverence toward the bread and the wine (particularly by the L the major concerns that church dealt with at its members’ meetings and 1 L: received the reply that at recent meetings they had struggled with the ques- } 348 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War Il Mennonites) reminds the critical observer more of consubstantiation than a simple remembrance. 4, Independence of Local Church: The New Testament church was located in different cities and towns and the New Testament record indi- cates that in each town the church was organized independently. The Dog- matika also points out that the very influential Apostle Paul did not send orders to churches but appealed to them. The purpose behind this historic free church principle was to prevent the development of a hierarchy. The local church was described in the Dogmatika as “the union of born-again people, redeemed by the blood of Christ, living in a specific locality.’’38 Still following a New Testament model, the evangelicals noted that the local churches had maintained communication with each other. For the task of spreading the kingdom of God and the necessary education and upbuilding of the members, fraternal links were necessary. This is why