‘If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you’: the eschatological tranquillity of Jehovah’s Witnesses persecuted in Russia
In 2017 the Russian Supreme Court officially declared the organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses to be extremist, and another court declared their Bible translation to be extremist material. In the context of Soviet-era persecutions and routine harassment and intimidation even before 2017, the JW commu...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Religion, state & society
Year: 2025, Volume: 53, Issue: 5, Pages: 463-481 |
| Further subjects: | B
Bible
B Persecution B Jehovah’s Witnesses B Eschatology B Russia |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In 2017 the Russian Supreme Court officially declared the organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses to be extremist, and another court declared their Bible translation to be extremist material. In the context of Soviet-era persecutions and routine harassment and intimidation even before 2017, the JW community now faced a new wave of repression. Hundreds of believers all over Russia have been detained, arrested, convicted, and given sentences of up to eight years in prison. Those remaining at liberty try to keep a low profile, and some leave Russia to seek refuge abroad. Finland has received the largest wave of JW refugees from Russia, due to its close proximity to Saint Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia, where the JW Branch Office was situated until 2017. Drawing on interviews with Russian JWs seeking refuge in Finland, this article explores the historical, ideological, and theological context of the persecutions and the way in which believers perceive them. Special emphasis is put on the interplay between personal experience and eschatological expectations of persecutions, discussed in the context of what I call ‘eschatological tranquillity’ – the theological assurance of God’s plan and personal resilience demonstrated by biblical Christians in the face of existential threats. |
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| ISSN: | 1465-3974 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion, state & society
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09637494.2025.2552519 |
