Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

n characteristic of the Soviet evangelicals was their pacifism. To understand their present, officially en- couraged peace activity, a careful look at the way they've changed from pac- ifists to militarists to peace people (but not pacifists) seems vital. The Khrushchev-initiated campaign against religion (1959-64) left shock waves that have not yet disappeared. In Chapter 5 I have sought to summarize the state’s policy shifts toward religion during the past 20 years—the chapter can also serve as one of the most recent attempts to analyze overall Soviet policy toward religion. Chapters 6-10 treat the Khrushchev impact on the evangelicals: the beginning of a major split in the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, and the sub- sequent, less than successful attempts at reunification. Part of the Init- siativniki story has been told in earlier publications. I have brought it up-to- date and revised it in light of more recent information that has become available. A thorough discussion of the registered Baptist response to the Initsiativniki challenge has not been attempted before. The final third of the book is again more thematic. The intense com- petition between preacher and atheist for the loyalty of the young people deserves its own chapter as do also the principles on which evangelicals base their theology, The Soviet evangelicals are quite unique in their character, but they also have strong ties to fellow evangelicals abroad. These strong ties are both encouraged and discouraged by the state. Since these ties may be of personal interest to many readers, I have sought to evaluate registered Baptist relations with the World Council of Churches, the Baptist World Alliance, and other bodies. Similarly, since many missions to Eastern Europe claim to be helping Soviet evangelicals, their policies and practices merit scrutiny. In fact there is so much controversy about these missionary societies, that a critical assessment seems long overdue. Hopefully, my 16 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War Il assessment will not lead to further controversy. Chapter 15 on the new frontiers includes details of the latest Baptist All-Union Congress held in Moscow in December 1979. Some readers will wisi for a more detailed prehistory. That would have exceeded space limitations, however, and would also have drawn at- tention away from the postwar period which is the least understood. Two recent studies adequately cover the history of the Baptists and of the Evan- gelical Christians for the prewar period. Hopefully, these will both be published in English.? John B. Toews’s recent Menno Simons lectures on “The Mennonite Experience in Russia—the Twentieth Century’’® may fill that gap in the story on the Mennonites. I plan to devote more atterition to the Russian Mennonite experience after World War I in a sequel to this book. | The limited attention to the period befor