Church and Soviet Union

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that legal and social discrimination against Christianity and individual Christians was the norm at all levels of society in Russia from 1945-1988. The activity of the KGB and government agents was a key factor during this time and this encapsules their view. The writer looks at the discrimination felt against both Orhtodox and Baptist groups and how the church that did not want to controlled by the state went underground and developed many clandestine activities including publishing activity that alerted the west as to events.

From the Paper:

The period prior to the Second World War was a time of great suffering "for the Christians inside the Soviet Union but in the post -war years leading up to Glasnost their was still a tragedy being played out. The Kruschev era brought the beginnings of a new persecution and an attempted destruction of the churches and even after these harsh years there was still much persecution until Gorbachev's reforms. During this time the hierarchies of both the Russian Orthodox Church and the official Baptist body seemed to compromise with the State, whilst others, particularly those not belonging to a registered church protested and stood their ground and often suffered the consequences. Due to the comparative size of the Orthodox Church I will focus on it with some reference to others, particularly Baptists."

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