Baptists and religious liberty in the U.S.S.R.

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Elliot Brown Stewart (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
David MacKenzie

Abstract: Living under a hostile government and suffering persecution, Russian Baptists, nevertheless, face life with manifest joy. This spirit has so intrigued me, that I have been led to make this study. Until 1956, very little was known concerning the status of religious groups in the Soviet Union. Over the past fifty years this status has fluctuated in relation to long-range and short-range goals of the Communist Party, in relation to changing Party leadership, and in relation to the changing world scene. Only since 1956, under Khrushchev's announced policy of de-Stalinization, liberalization, and "peaceful co-existence" with the Western world, has it been possible to learn much concerning the state of religious affairs in the Soviet Union. The result of my research indicates that forty-four of the sixty-two sources used in this work are dated subsequent to 1960, and almost half of these have appeared since 1965. To add to the mystery, differing viewpoints have been, and continue to be expressed by the Communist Party, by religious leaders within the Soviet Union, and by visitors to the Soviet Union. There are also differing opinions within each of these groups. It will be the author's purpose, therefore, through an historical and comparative study of Church and State relations in the U.S.S.R., to try to determine the extent of religious liberty and to evaluate future prospects for these churches. The situation of the Baptists will be emphasized to illustrate the plight of believers in Russia.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1971
Subjects
Baptists $z Soviet Union.
Church and state $z Soviet Union
Soviet Union $x Church history
Persecution $z Soviet Union

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