Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

to give the impression that they were enjoying full religious liberty. In 1947, for example, he stated that “Evangelical Christian-Baptists have full freedom, not only for their divine services but also to conduct the necessary activities embracing all aspects of our religious life.” Persons from abroad who circulated rumors to the contrary, he warned, were saying things about which they knew nothing and God would judge them. 106 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War Il Soviet evangelicals who had no rights or freedoms under tsarism ex- pected great things from the Soviet regime. One of the Soviet governments first decrees separated the churches from the state. No longer would the Or- thodox Church receive unfair advantages as the state religion. Now evangel- icals could meet for worship freely; the first decade of the Soviet regime proved to be their golden age of expansion. But after 1929, Soviet evangelicals experienced equally with other reli- gions the state’s antireligious attitude. Once the Stalinist terror passed and loyal churches were rewarded with renewed tolerance, the churchmen with their uncritical affirmations exaggerated the extent of the limited freedoms granted, But these limited freedoms may well have meant as much to them as full freedom in a relaxed society. Separation of church from state had been a concern of the evangelical free churches for centuries. During the Reformation the Anabaptists had emphasized that the state had no business in internal church affairs. By contrast, the Soviet state was more anxious to prevent the church from in- terfering in state affairs. At first the similarity in the language of “separa- tion” encouraged the evangelicals to anticipate religious freedom. As the difference in emphasis became apparent, evangelicals were compelled to examine the situation more critically. At its last general conference in 1925, the Mennonite church submit- ted an eight-point memorandum to the state outlining what it regarded as the minimal requirements for religious freedom. The Mennonites said the state should interfere neither with church meetings nor in discussion groups for adults and children. It should not hinder the acquisition of Bibles and the conduction of Bible courses. Further, they requested the state not to restrict church societies, choirs, the erection of new church buildings, and the operation of orphanages. The Mennonites also argued that the schools should have a non-ideological emphasis where neither religion nor atheism would be fostered. Most serious was their request for exemption from military service and training in order to engage in useful alternative service. Although the memorandum could be regarded as distinctly Men- nonite, it is an accurate summary of what all evangelicals expected in a land of religious freedom; even the pacifist clause reflected broad evangelical sentiments. State officials rejecte