The Reformation in Ukraine and Russia and its Relevance for Today
One of the difficulties with determining the impact of the Reformation on churches in Ukraine and Russia is the fact that the churches in this region did not participate directly in the sixteenth-century Reformation. In the case of Russia and Ukraine, the term 'Reformation' applies more ac...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2017]
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| In: |
European journal of theology
Year: 2017, Volume: 26, Issue: 1, Pages: 55-64 |
| IxTheo Classification: | KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBK Europe (East) KDD Protestant Church |
| Further subjects: | B
Peer reviewed
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| Summary: | One of the difficulties with determining the impact of the Reformation on churches in Ukraine and Russia is the fact that the churches in this region did not participate directly in the sixteenth-century Reformation. In the case of Russia and Ukraine, the term 'Reformation' applies more accurately to the nineteenth than to tne sixteenth century. Furthermore, the Russian and Ukrainian church reformers in the nineteenth century had mere in common with the 'Radical Reformation' of the Arabaptists, Spiritualists and other revolutionary groups than they did with Luther, Calvin and Zwingli. This article, accordingly, begins with a brief overview of the unique historical and theological factors that shaped the origins and development of Protestantism in Russia and Ukraine. The discussion then turns to the situation of Protestantism from the collapse of the USSR to the present day. It is noted that several young Ukrainian and Russian Protestant theologians are now calling openly for a 'reformation' of the post-Soviet evangelical church. The article argues that in the circumstances today it is still appropriate to speak about the 'reformation' of the Church in Ukraine and Russia, but that this impulse towards church 'reformation' should be combined with a biblical vision of the transformation of post-Soviet society in accordance with gospel principles. The article concludes with a series of specific practical suggestions for post-Soviet Protestant churches. These recommendations are informed by a strategic understanding of the conditions that need to be in place before one can begin to talk seriously about the 'reformation' of Protestant churches in the post-Soviet space |
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| ISSN: | 0960-2720 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: European journal of theology
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