Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

, which warn against Western religious propaganda and attempt to include the research centers among the forces of anti-Soviet imperialism. But Soviet critics have not managed to produce persuasive evi- dence challenging the fundamental veracity of Western scholars, resorting instead to verbal abuse.° Research Centers Provide Facts Many mission agencies have employed individuals to “research” for them in order to make their work more effective. Only in a few cases was such research of a high quality. It usually focused on the specific program needs of the sponsoring agency. In recent years independent research insti- 392 : Soviet Evangelicals Since World War Il ’ tutions financed by voluntary donations have emerged, enabling trained scholars to pursue objective research and writing. Most of these scholars have a positive bias toward Christianity, but their research is characterized by adherence to accepted standards of scholarly objectivity. (a) Russia Cristiana (Via Martinengo. 16, 20139 Milan, Italy) was one of the first research centers, founded in 1960 near Milan, Italy. The work of such scholars as Pietro Modesto and Giovanni Codevilla are known interna- tionally. Russia Cristiana has developed a highly specialized library on So- viet atheism and has also published extensively on the Lithuanian Catholics. Since its journal (as well as a monthly Information Service) is printed in Italian, it is less widely read than it deserves. (b) YMCA Press (11, rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviéve, 75005 Paris, France). This Russian Student Christian Movement began in the mid-twenties and with support from the American YMCA became the main publisher of emigré Russian writers such as Nikolai Berdiaev.!! Its journal Vesinik RSKhD continues a tradition of the pre-Revolutionary “fat” journals, Under the editorship of Nikita Struve this journal has become one of the most valued publications for the Orthodox intellectuals in the Soviet Union. Struve regularly published the writings of the Soviet intelligentsia which have been banned in the Soviet Union. For example, the YMCA press printed most of Solzhenitsyn's writings. With his book, Christians in Contemporary Russia, Nikita Struve presented one of the most detailed, dispassionate treatments of Russian Orthodoxy in the twentieth century. (c) Centre de Recherche et d Etude des Institutions Religieuses (1966- 69). William C. Fletcher, an American specialist in Soviet studies, received financial support to establish a research center in Geneva, which focused on religion in all of Eastern Europe. He was assisted by a small staff while scholars from other institutions helped to maintain a bibliographical survey which was duplicated for circulation to a small readership.” Better known were Fletcher's own writings which appeared during this period in book form as well as two very important collections of essays.!? These were the results of study conf