Protestantism in Ukraine: Achievements and Losses
Ukrainian Protestantism has a long history, but is still searching for its own identity and its place in the social and cultural life of Ukraine. This article analyses the current state of Ukrainian Protestantism, looking at all the various denominations and church unions, and reveals the basic patt...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2010
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| In: |
Religion, state & society
Year: 2010, Volume: 38, Issue: 3, Pages: 265-289 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Ukrainian Protestantism has a long history, but is still searching for its own identity and its place in the social and cultural life of Ukraine. This article analyses the current state of Ukrainian Protestantism, looking at all the various denominations and church unions, and reveals the basic patterns of its formation and development in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The author aims to confirm the thesis that the positions of the Protestant churches in the political, social and religious life of the country are gradually strengthening, and also to show the ambiguous attitude of the different Protestant denominations to politics and public processes in Ukraine today. However, the paper offers a critical look at Ukrainian sociology and the conclusions of some Ukrainian analysts about a ‘Protestant boom’ in Ukraine. The author analyses the many contradictory processes which are affecting Ukrainian Protestantism today, and shows a decrease in the rate of its dynamics. The author gives particular emphasis to structural changes which are proving painful for Ukrainian Protestantism, and to the increasingly active role played by Charismatic communities, which is regarded in a negative light by traditional Protestant churches. These latter are less active than the Charismatics in missionary work, less receptive to religious innovation, and less open to society. Many believers, especially younger ones, see a crisis in Ukrainian Protestantism, specific features of which include the material and theological dependence of Ukrainian Protestant communities on foreign churches, the loss of many of their own traditions, inadequacies in religious education, an inclination towards emigration, and weak integration into Ukrainian national and spiritual life. The author links her ideas and conclusions with the example of the Pentecostal community in L'viv in western Ukraine, which reflects the general problems of Ukrainian Protestantism. |
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| ISSN: | 1465-3974 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion, state & society
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09637494.2010.499284 |