Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

of the Unity of Czech Brethren present. This emphasis - a mie to New Testament renee! a oe sear Reet sie in a “resurrection call” which Prokhan yeh iC s Here he stated that the Evangelical ee oe “considers itself entrusted with the task of restoring origina Chris = ty earth in its creative power... .” © Soviet Evangelical Theology 355 Alexander Karev repeated a similar goal when he reported on their recent involvement in the ecumenical movement. The mission of their representatives in the ecumenical encounters “must be to witness about the Christianity of apostolic days which has been forgotten in the West.’’®? Such a restitution was above all an emphasis on the personal piety and disciple- ship of the early believers. Karev also hoped to demonstrate the unity of the early church. The example of a union of Russian Baptists and Mennonite Brethren, he told fellow European Baptist secretaries, should prompt them to imitation. The split in Baptist ranks, as well as the continuing threat of the entire evangelical union coming apart, was therefore embarrassing and also painful. Their union, too, consisted of people “remarkable . . rightly dividing the word of truth and wrongly dividing themselves.’”’® Like the apostolic church, Russian evangelicals are a church of the poor. They constantly address their appeals to the simplest level of society, and artificial state pressure has guaranteed that their membership will remain lower class and uneducated. This low-class status and the leveling process of their persecution means that their membership probably reveals more potential for costly discipleship than do comparative bodies in North America and Europe. This is particularly true of the aggressive Reform Baptists. Soviet evangelicals are trying, through their biblicism, to retain the quality of New Testament Christianity. A biblicism which demands of each individual the right to interpret and to study should logically result in a plu- ralism of interpretation. Yet here the state has been influential in trying to produce conformity. One wonders when the state will recognize that plu- ralism is a prerequisite for a classless society. Following New Testament models of Christianity leads to considerable diversity. When General Secretary Bychkov visited North America in 1976 he contrasted the extensive activity of North American Christians in the social sphere with the spiritual emphasis in his own union: “Sometimes the churches in North America look like Martha—not taking much time to sit and reflect at the feet of Jesus, but always working and inviting people to serve on committees, subcommittees, and sub-subcommittees. Some Soviet churches look more like Mary—quiet and reflecting. Continuing contacts will be important in helping both churches to be more like Martha and Mary.”7° Bychkov could not have known that a British student of the Russian churches in an earlier age gave his book the title: Th