Russian Evangelicals Penalized Most Under Anti-Evangelism Law

DamianWarS

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Do you see Russian Orthodox priests in the open air evangelizing? Nope.
how many Orthodox missionaries are there in the world anyway? it doesn't seem like a strong characteristic of them.

With regards to Russian Orthodox, Vladimir the Great in the 10th century desired a statewide religion. Runners up were Catholicism, Judaism and Islam, but he didn't like the dietary restrictions of the latter. He ultimately chose Orthodox because he wanted to blanket his country with the greatness he saw in Hagia Sophia; his agenda was inward glory. Had it been the 13th century Russia would be Catholic, had it been the 15th century Russia would be Muslim.
 
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redleghunter

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how many Orthodox missionaries are there in the world anyway? it doesn't seem like a strong characteristic of them.

With regards to Russian Orthodox, Vladimir the Great in the 10th century desired a statewide religion. Runners up were Catholicism, Judaism and Islam, but he didn't like the dietary restrictions of the latter. He ultimately chose Orthodox because he wanted to blanket his country with the greatness he saw in Hagia Sophia; his agenda was inward glory. Had it been the 13th century Russia would be Catholic, had it been the 15th century Russia would be Muslim.
With Vlad I think it had more to do with alcohol. ;)
 
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rockytopva

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Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel... -Revelation 2:20

One of the unfortunate realities during Thyatiran times was the congregations tendency to suffer the spirit of Jezebel, which is to control and to dominate. This was true with the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant congregations. I thank God they never got ahold of me!
 
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DamianWarS

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How did Orthodoxy get to Russia? Someone had to be sent out. We would call that person an evangelist.
Vlad did the sending. he sought out to find the right statewide religion and sent representatives out to find it. they reported back and he picked the one he liked best. So even from the onset, Russia was evangelized from within.
 
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FireDragon76

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Wow sounds more like Saudi Arabia.


Lutherans and Reformed Christians have been in Russia for centuries but they experience xenophobia, religious oppression, and they do not enjoy full liberty there. My pastor was actually baptized in a Ukrainian Reformed church, which was made of many ethnic Volga Germans. The Ukraine and the Volga regions in the Russian empire had many ethnic German settlers.

Here's a documentary about the difficulties Lutherans face in Russia today, it's about the youngest Lutheran archbishop in the Lutheran World Federation. Though some Russians are friendly towards Lutherans, most are suspicious and our religion still suffers oppression. We aren't always allowed to have the religious symbols or architecture we are accustomed to in the West, and some Russians are offended by our liberal, more individualistic values- values that Archbishop Brauer believes in.

 
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FireDragon76

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why they are mean with evangelicals? looking with favor on orthodoxy is to do the right? is it the holy spirit's will?

Xenophobia and nationalism are the creed of many in Russia. In highschool we had a Ukrainian exchange student in our Russian class and he said his church was mostly about preaching anti-semitism.


Is it your point that everyone in Russia are considered disciples of Christ and “mission complete?”

That's closer to how the Orthodox in Russia view the matter. They view Russia as their territory historically, even considering Russia "Holy". There are only three official religions in Russia- Orthodoxy, Islam, and Vajrayana ("Tibetan") Buddhism. All other religions are merely tolerated, but in reality face some degree of oppression.

I believe the strong ties go back as far as
Peter Alexeyevich (Peter the Great).

It goes back further than that, all the way back to the Byzantine conceptualization of church-state harmony known as Symphonia. The Church and state cooperate and are enmeshed in such a way that it forms a harmony in vision and values between the two. It's more totalizing and authoritarian in its mindset than the Lutheran or traditional Reformed conceptualization of the Two Kingdoms, and often translates into a virulent and blind sort of religious nationalism.

Max Weber elucidated the Protestant Work Ethic, but one Russian academic said recently, that if there is the equivalent ethic among Orthodox in Russia, it's about obedience to powerful political or spiritual figures for ones salvation.
 
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Perhaps we should consider religious liberty?

What’s so dangerous about preaching the pure Gospel?

I think we know the answer.

Romans 1: NASB

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
There is no Gospel more pure than the Orthodox Christian Gospel, so why preach some other gospel?
 
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Do you see Russian Orthodox priests in the open air evangelizing? Nope.

Maybe the ROC should be employing the evangelists.

The Christian faith in the NT was a “go out to the nations” faith. Not a “come and see faith like Levitical Israel.
I see them evangelizing with their whole mind, body, and soul, with which they Love God and others. Priests are ministers, but there are also apostles who evangelize and who serve in mission. Orthodox Christians work and bring their faith into their places of work and other areas of socialization, so even the laity are evangelists of a sort.
 
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worshipjunkie

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\'Evangelicals are destroying our Church,\' says Syrian Orthodox leader

Look how they go for the Orthodox Christians through unethical manners.

I'm not quite ready to call this unethical. It's clear he thinks that any attempt to evangelize those already Orthodox is wrong. He also seems to think that providing financial assistance is a bribe. It may be, it may not be- it could simply mean that the Protestant churches are offering aid the Eastern Orthodox are not. I have never in my life so much as heard of an Orthodox charitable organization. I'm sure some exist, but not the way they do in the Protestant and Catholic churches.

The Eastern Orthodox believe their church is the one true Church, outside of which there is no salvation, right? So they teach their faith and don't want people to leave it. That's understandable, but what about their faith is so weak that they can't hear the message of an evangelical, and they have to forbid that message by law? if they're "losing sheep", who's to blame; the person who preached to them, or the people that had their ears for many years and didn't apparently win them?
 
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Maria Billingsley

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Russian Evangelicals Penalized Most Under Anti-Evangelism Law


Following Russia’s ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses, evangelical Protestants have become the most-punished group under the country’s controversial “anti-missionary” laws.

More than half of all cases of alleged violations last year were against evangelicals. Of the 159 individuals and organizations prosecuted for demonstrating their faith in public, 50 were Pentecostals and 39 were Baptists, according to analysis by Forum 18, a news service covering religious freedom issues in Russia and surrounding countries.

So far this year, Russian authorities interrupted a Baptist worship service in April and charged its 71-year-old pastor with illegal missionary activity. In January, two Baptists were punished for discussing their faith at a bus stop.

The 2016 Yarovaya laws ban Russians from inviting outsiders to join their faith, even online or in their own homes, unless they have a government permit through a registered religious organization, and even then they can only evangelize in designated churches and religious sites.

Evangelicals in the former Soviet country say that even as many Christians outside the state-affiliated Russian Orthodox Church heed the restrictions, violators are more likely to face punishment when charged by authorities. The fines start at 5,000 rubles for individuals (~$75) and at least 50,000 rubles ($750) for organizations.

“Believers are afraid to carry the Word of God to the masses, because they fear fines,” Pentecostal Union lawyer Vladimir Ozolin told Forum 18. “As ever, law enforcement agencies assume that any church activity is missionary activity, which is certainly not true.”

For some Protestant Christians, the rules have turned into a no-win situation: Even displaying the full name of their organization to comply with one provision of the law has been interpreted as a violation of another. Last year, a Baptist pastor in the Perm region was found guilty for hanging a sign reading, “House of Prayer of the International Council of Churches of Evangelical Christian-Baptists, worship service every Sunday from 10am,” Forum 18 wrote.

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Russian Evangelicals Penalized Most Under Anti-Evangelism Law
Reading through the comments I had wondered if there was an icon of Putin. Unfortunately, I found a case. This may be why spreading the "good news" through an Evangelist is contrary to religious thought in Russia. Lets pray for them.


Russian soldiers line up to kiss an “icon” of Putin, while a Russian Orthodox priest of the Moscow Patriarchate blesses them.
wDuELY21.jpg
 
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FireDragon76

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Reading through the comments I had wondered if there was an icon of Putin. Unfortunately, I found a case. This may be why spreading the "good news" through an Evangelist is contrary to religious thought in Russia. Lets pray for them.

wDuELY21.jpg

That doesn't really surprise me at all.
 
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FireDragon76

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You don’t get beheaded in Russia or forced to convert back to the religion you were born with regardless of belief.

No, you just get a bullet in the head or poison in your tea.
 
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RDKirk

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The Russian Church did all it could to minister to the faithful. Even under the terror of Stalin. It was not much different from the early Church during the Roman persecutions. Though Stalin's persecution was much worse.

So as I asked before, are you sure "symbiotic" is the word you want to use for that relationship?
 
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