Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

all in authority so that they might live a quiet and peaceful life added a few bold qualifications. Romans 18, he said, demanded unconditional obedience to the law “if such laws do not restrict the free exercise of the duties of our Christian faith.”% Mitskevich also tried to get his readers to realize that it is not only Christians who do good but that the Bible also records illustrations of how the Persian King Cyrus helped Ezra build the temple in Jerusalem. It was still an affir- mation of the quietist approach, but did seem to suggest a growing desire for Christians to participate in the large undertakings for social welfare. There was some hope that Soviet evangelicals might become involved in social service ministries in developing countries, but so far such a cooperative venture under international Baptist or Mennonite auspices has been foiled. But their representatives have participated in many interna- tional conferences devoted to justice and development in the Third World. There are indicators that further involvement might be possible together with other East European churches through WCC initiative. 3, Secularization. Although less apparent in the Soviet Union than in the West, secularization and affluence have begun to influence Soviet evan- New Frontiers After 1974 439 gelicals, This constitutes both a problem and a challenge. There is a prob- lem of having developed an ingrown cliché language which makes it dif- ficult to communicate to the world about them, There is also the problem of what could be described as Soviet cant—the excessive verbalizing of Marxist ideals while hypocritically pursuing a highly individualized struggle for personal success and affluence.5” Will Soviet evangelicals be mastered by affluence or will they represent a strata of socially concerned individuals . who will take seriously the social idealism of Marxism? A further challenge is to persuade the state to become consciously secular so that the necessary separation of church and state might finally become a reality. 4. Unity and Structural Change. During the past five years it was the tense relations with Pentecostals that again became the major unity prob- lem. The leaders held special talks with Pentecostals in Kiev, Moscow, and in Kharkov and regularly advised senior presbyters and presbyters to be fair and non-partisan in their dealings. Klimenko urged the leaders to follow Paul’s advice of being all things to all men, to listen and show love accord- ing to Christ’s method rather than to hurry to give “my views” on points of conflict.58 The solution to the tension appeared to be a new movement toward autonomous registration which Klimenko fully endorsed. As a union, however, they insisted on strict adherence to the August Agreement but stressed warm relations toward Pentecostals registered autonomously, Ten presbyters from the latter group were enrolled in the Bible cor- respondence cour