Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

preaching is to strengthen the believers in faith, hope, and love, and to complete their understanding of the Lord.® That is, the sermons should be exegetical, didactic, and exhorta- tive. Although these are the commonly acknowledged goals of preaching, evangelicals are accustomed to emphasizing that the first goal of preaching should be to produce conversions—an evangelistic sermon. No doubt be- cause of the “condition of the times,’ Zhidkov discouraged evangelistic preaching, arguing that “‘it is our fundamental task to instruct those already believing.”® He also criticized preachers who favored the prophets and the Book of Revelation, which involved problematic interpretations. Putting it positively, he stated: “We may preach from the entire Scripture, but the major subject for sermons in our congregations is the New Testament. ’’!° A scholarly study of Soviet evangelical preaching is difficult. Bratskii Vestnik is replete with printed sermons which are intended as model ser- mons that other preachers should imitate.!! Throughout the years heavy emphasis has been put on providing homiletical guidelines for sermon preparation and to provide background information that the presbyters would find useful. Such information included a survey of the Bible, a sum- mary statement of evangelical doctrine, and commentaries on books of the Bible usually printed as sermon outlines. Alexander Karev in particular gained a reputation not only by his outstanding preaching but by reprinting large numbers of his sermon outlines in the journal. This concern for the needs of the preachers also'confirms that the average preaching in the con- gregations was of a different caliber than that fostered in Bratskii Vestnik. One Soviet sociologist, Iarygin, was able to analyze 800 sermons de- livered in Baptist churches in the Northern Caucasus in the middle sixties. Since he had read the sermons, presumably he had access to reports submit- ted by the watchdog assigned to monitor church activity. Although tendentious, this study provides some interesting information. In spite of Zhidkov’s cautions and the much more explicit discouragement of evangel- istic preaching contained in the 1960 Letter of Instruction to senior presbyters,!8 Iarygin found that more than 70 percent of all sermons were devoted to the theme of salvation. According to his classifications, 60 percent of the sermons were edificatory or exegetical. Another 25 to 30 percent dealt with religious-ethical themes. Approximately 8 percent of the sermons were apologetic in nature, seeking to defend the faith against scientific criticism. Another 5 percent were devoted to the burning ques- tions of the day, such as the problem of war and peace. The obvious conclu- sion one must draw is that the bulk of the preaching was inward-oriented, Preaching and Peace 109 seeking to meet spiritual needs of believers and above all to respond to the spiritual needs of the seek