International and Area Studies Commons^™

Thirty Years Of Religious Freedom In Russia: The Case Of Ekaterinburg, Elena Glavatskaya

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The religious revival, which began nationwide during the USSR’s last decade, affected all religious denominations, including the so-called “traditional” religions, which had deep roots in Imperial Russia’s history, and new religions that appeared after the collapse of Soviet ideology. The religious renaissance manifested itself through the rapidly increasing number of religious communities, religion’s fast penetration into social and political life, and the church buildings that mushroomed all over the country. This article focuses on the history of the religious landscape in Russia since 1989, using the city of Ekaterinburg as a case study. We use the religious landscape concept to …

Guest Editorial: Interreligious Encounter And Religious Change In Former Yugoslavia, Aleksandra Djurić-Milovanović

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In this issue of OPREE, three case studies by Gašper Mithans, Evelyn Reuter, and Aleksandra Djurić-Milovanović explore interreligious encounters in Yugoslavia and religious transformations that brought new dynamics in interreligious relations between majority and minority religions.

Atomization, Decentralization, And Sustainability: Prominent Trends On The Russian Protestant Church Scene, William Yoder

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"At least in Russia–and China–the age of euphoria prominent 30 years ago is gone. The church missions committed to short-term gains have left for greener pastures and the congregations remaining behind are now, more than ever, required to determine their own fates. Increasingly required to live from their own funding, church projects are becoming more sustainable. Huge building and educational projects are only a memory. This general and expected course of events can be attributed in part to short attention spans in the West; increased government pressure is only one of numerous factors."

The Handmaid Of The Lord Redux: Constructing The New Orthodox Womanhood Between Cradle And Convert, Katherine Kelaidis

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"In an era when questions of sexuality and gender dominate much of the debate in theological circles, regardless of religious or confessional affiliation, the meaning of Orthodox Christian womanhood remains a simultaneously over-discussed and under-theorized aspect of these conversations. This article attempts to address this discrepancy by articulating and problematizing some of the myriad of forces that are shaping the construction of Orthodox Christian womanhood and the identity of Orthodox Christian women today. In particular, we explore how the “Culture Wars” (a once largely American political phenomenon) have internationalized and become a major force in the articulation of gender both …

Religious Conversions And Religious Diversification In Interwar Yugoslavia And Slovenia, Gašper Mithans

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

With the foundation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, the respective nationalities and ethnic communities were faced with the reality of a multi-confessional state. Internal migration and minority policy, in particular, set in motion a slow diversification in the religious sphere, even in the ethnically and religiously extremely homogeneous territory of Slovenia. This paper aims to analyze the role that religious converts—who were largely former Catholics—played during the interwar period in Slovenian regions in the phenomenon of the gradual transformation of the religious landscape over a long period of time. Converts were an important part of almost all …

Anti-Jewish Propaganda In The Ndh And The Slovak State, Madeline Vadkerty

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"This paper examines the nature of the anti-Semitic propaganda used by the Slovak State and the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska -- NDH) during World War II, taking into account the two countries’ unique and common objectives, evolving political contexts, strategies, and tactics. The paper also analyzes how those activities fit into the wider strategy of nation building and the attempt to create a new collective identity which was to be predicated on the concept of exclusivity and racial/cultural superiority."

Book Review: Russia Abroad: An Anthology Of Modern Philosophical Thought, Aleksandr Nikolaevich Chumakov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

“In September and November 1922, two ‘philosophical steamboats-‘ – the “Oberburgomaster Haken” and the “Prussia”- transported about 160 people from the Soviet city of Petrograd to the German city of Stettin. ‘Outstanding figures of Russian philosophy, culture and science’ were forced to emigrate including Nikolai Berdyaev, Semyon Frank, Ivan Ilyin, Lev Karsavin, Nikolai Lossky and many others. ” This is how Mikhail Sergeev, Doctor of Philosophy of the University of the Arts (Philadelphia, USA), and the initiator and compiler of Russia Abroad: An Anthology of Modern Philosophical Thought begins his preface.

Representation Of Non-Religious And Atheistic Identities In A Highly Religious Society - Croatian Case, Nikolina Hazdovac Bajić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Since the beginning of the nineties and the collapse of communism, non-religiosity and atheism in Croatia became socially non-desirable and non-conformist positions. In sociological terms, however, these phenomena have been largely overlooked, since scholars have focused mainly on trends in religiosity and public role of religion. The aim of this paper is to get the first scientific insight into the representation of individual non-religious and atheistic identities among the members of the organizations that gather non-religious people and atheists. The paper seeks to answer specific research questions: How are non-religious and atheistic identities presented at the level of everyday life …

Book Review: The Orthodox Church In Ukraine: A Century Of Separation, Joseph Loya

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

“Fog of war” commonly names the complete lack of situational awareness amidst a singular lethal engagement, but it may also describe the absence of clarity regarding the foundational reasons, societal dimensions, and collateral impact of years of continuous armed combat. Denysenko’s book provides the necessary bearings for navigating within a mist of ecclesial conflict pitting opposing sides of an effort to establish an autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church apart from the Moscow Patriarchate, a fray that also extends to impact global Orthodox interchurch relations. Indeed, the fallout from this seemingly intractable clashing looks to roil global Orthodoxy through the foreseeable future. …

What 1990 Meant For My Country..., Thomas Bremer

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

When I started thinking about what to write in this essay, my first thought was: I am probably from the country that was affected most of all by the events of 1998-1990. I am German, and I live in Germany, the country through which the East-West-divide went, most visibly through Berlin in form of the wall. But after a short time, I thought of the countries on which I concentrate most in my research—Russia and Ukraine, on the one hand, and Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the other hand. Thirty years ago, they all belonged to larger countries, …

Frontmatter (Volume 40, No.1), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Editorial, Paul B. Mojzes, Beth Admiraal

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

We hope you, our readers, find these reflections on the 30-year anniversary of the Great Transformation to be both edifying and fulfilling

The Idea Of A National Church In The Ukrainian Intellectual Discourse, Natalia Ishchuk, Oleksandr Sagan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The reception of the idea of a national church in the Ukrainian intellectual environment in the context of current socio-political events in the country is examined here. Among the most influential Ukrainian religious scholars, there is a dominant idea that the formation of a national church is a part of the state formation and security of the country. They opposed historical distortions of this idea, as it occurs in case of ethnophyletism—domination of the national over the ecclesiastical, and etatism—the domination of the state, imperial (in the form of the Orthodox empire) over the ecclesiastical. Signs of these distortions are …

The Ustaše And The Roman Catholic Church In The Independent State Of Croatia, Golda Retchkiman

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

On April 6, 1941, the Axis—German, Italian, Bulgarian and Hungarian military forces- invaded, occupied and partitioned Yugoslavia. Four days later, Slavko Kvaternik, the commander of the Ustaša forces, assumed power in Zagreb and proclaimed the New Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH). On April 10, Ante Pavelić arrived as head of the Ustaša, who was exiled in Italy under the protection of Mussolini, since he and his followers were wanted by the governments of France and Yugoslavia, accused of plotting the assassinations of the French Prime Minister Louis Barthou and King Alexander of Yugoslavia.1 One of his first …

How Ethnic And Religious Nationalism Threaten The Bosnian State, Matthew James Hone

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

When the wars ceased in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, as in the aftermath of other past conflicts in the Balkans, ethnic and religious divisions prevailed. Bosnia Herzegovina is perhaps the most vulnerable of the newly independent states of the former Yugoslavia, partially due to the manner it was established. Ethnic cleansing and discord have marred Bosnia while the three principal ethnoreligious entities continue to struggle to maintain their distinct identity within the context of a convoluted political system wrestling against domestic and international intrigue. Ethnoreligious nationalism threatens to further rupture the Bosnian state and create a renewed state …

Religion In Eastern Europe After The Fall Of Communism: From Euphoria To Anxiety, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In the decades prior to the implosion of the communist system, change could be discerned here and there in Eastern Europe. The purpose of this article is to provide a general overview of the most pertinent developments that spurred the transition from communism to post-communism, employing some fairly broad brushstrokes to make my case.

Winds Of Change 1989: A Perspective From An Office For Religious Affairs Somewhere In Eastern Europe, Vjekoslav Perica

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Under communism, in what used to be Eastern Europe, religion was neither outlawed nor favorably regarded either. In some cases, church and state had been at latent or open war as in Poland or in the former Yugoslavia. There, church-state relations radically changed over the course of more than five decades, which is the theme of this article. Confrontations began in 1945 and spanned to 1953. Accommodations from 1966 to 1980 permitted a relatively peaceful coexistence between church and state. Thereafter the public religions and ethnic mobilizations of the 1980s escalated into the Balkan wars of the 1990s. It was …

“I Don’T Want To Hear Your Language!” White Social Imagination And The Demography Of Roman Corinth, Ekaputra Tupamahu

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

This article aims to deconstruct the hidden pervasive whiteness in biblical scholarship and to propose another way to reimagine the linguistic dynamic of Roman Corinth from an Asian American perspective. It highlights the legal and historical interconnectedness of whiteness and the dominance of English. English is a critical marker of whiteness in the United States. In this context, immigrants are expected to conform to and assimilate themselves with whiteness by performing English. This particular racialized context has influenced and resulted in a scholarly historical reconstruction of immigrants in Roman Corinth as “Greek speaking im/migrants.” Immigrants can come from many different …

Thirty Years Later: The Pentecostal Church In Romania And Religious Freedom In The Post-Communist Era, Dragoș Ștefănică

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The aim of the present paper is to provide a brief presentation of the evolution of religious freedom in Romania since the 1989 Revolution from the perspective of a Pentecostal believer. To better understand what this event meant for this denomination, first the situation of the Pentecostal movement in the interwar and communist times will be presented, and then survey the changes brought by the fall of the communist regime and how religious freedom evolved in the past three decades.

Transnational Migration And Ethnic And Religious Renewal Amongst The Ethnic German Minority In Romania, Ovidiu Oltean

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The normalization of inter-ethnic relations after the fall of communism and the establishment of a rather inclusive minority regime has opened up new possibilities for the ethnic and religious minorities in Romania. Social, cultural and religious life has seen a pluralization and revival that was not possible during communism. Ethnic minorities developed new forms of cultural and ethnic expression and gained new leveraging instruments in relation to the ethnic Romanian majority. As Romanian society has grown more pluralistic, not only has political and cultural life developed and become more diverse but also religious forms of expression and religious organizations have …

Thirty Years Later: Being Orthodox In Romania, Then And Now, Claudia Chiorean

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"Romanians know themselves to be traditionally Orthodox, so they declare themselves in censuses as belonging to the majority religion. But in fact, in practice, only about 30 percent are Orthodox practitioners....

If I, as a Romanian, belong to the two-thirds who have only declared themselves Orthodox without living the faith in its true dogmatic dimensions, this means I have replaced God in my life with the Internet, with the psychologist, with my job, with trips, with activities which distract my attention from myself and from my own identity."

Reflections On Jehovah’S Witnesses In Romania: A Thirty-Year Retrospective, Ionut Moraru

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article provides testimony from and data about Jehovah’s Witnesses in Romania, who have suffered persecution both before and after the fall of Communism. In recent years the government has taken steps to officially recognize and protect Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Foreword To This Special Issue, Beth Admiraal

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The door that opens up to religious freedom does not always lead to expected places. Our contributors, reflecting on the past thirty years for religion in Romania, note both the joys and tribulations of freedom."

Book Review: The Victory Of The Cross: Salvation In Eastern Orthodoxy, Paul Crego

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Victory of the Cross: Salvation in Eastern Orthodoxy is the latest book by James R. Payton, Jr., emeritus professor of history at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. His previous books include Light from the Christian East: An Introduction to the Orthodox Tradition. He also edited A Patristic Treasure: Early Church Wisdom for Today.

Crimean Anti-Religious Persecution In 2018 And 2019, Felix Corley

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In Russian-occupied Crimea in 2018, there were 23 prosecutions brought against individuals for ill-defined "missionary activity," of which 19 ended with punishment, Forum 18 has found. Many of those punished were prosecuted for sharing their faith on the street or for holding worship at unapproved venues. Cases against two more were due to be heard in mid-January 2019. This represents a doubling of such cases in the Crimean peninsula since the first year such punishments for "missionary activity" were imposed. July 2016 to July 2017 saw 13 known cases of which eight ended in punishment.

Eurasian And Eastern European Evangelicals: Tested Over Two Centuries, Walter Sawatsky

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The oppression of evangelicals has been a persistent legacy, but it has not applied to all of them. Therefore, we must begin by defining evangelicals and oppression. A further query to pursue is: what intensity of oppression has permitted creative survival?

Post-Soviet Transformation For Evangelicals, 1991-2018: Deepening Causes For Discord, Walter Sawatsky

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

During the great transformation between 1989 and 1991, the majority of American journalists were completely surprised by the transformations of 1989 in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the USSR in 1991, since it contradicted their stereotypes so profoundly. Several developments within the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe turned out to be signposts for those with the eyes to see. Literary figures and philosophers circulating their thinking in samizdat form, or through the emergence of dissenting movements, pointed to the disillusionment with the grand socialist promises. Solzhenitsyn had already drawn attention in his Nobel speech to the power of truth …

Women In The Serbian Orthodox Church: Historical Overview And Contemporary Situation, Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović, Radmila Radić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Research on the position of women in the Eastern Orthodox churches is still scarce. Some recent studies show differences among the various Orthodox Churches in Eastern Europe regarding women’s issues. The position of the women in the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) was addressed as late as in the 1990s, but this is still an insufficiently examined field. Eastern Orthodox theologians have rarely discussed the problem of the position and role of women in the SOC. During the socialist era, they did not engage this topic, except in studies related to female monasticism. On the other hand, sociological and anthropological studies …

Book Review: Church In A Divided World: The Encounter Of The Lutheran World Federation With The Cold War, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Research on the mutual impact of Christian churches and the Cold War is proceeding albeit slowly. One of the most important initiators of such research, the prominent church leader Risto Lehtonen of Finland, has now added his own study based on his personal experience in executive positions with the World Student Christian Federation and then more pertinently as Director of the Department of Church Cooperation of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). With occasional direct references to his own role in the historical development of the churches’ role in the post-World War II rupture of the world into two hostile camps, …

Book Review: A Short History Of The Georgian Church [SakʻArtʻVelos Eklesiis Mokle Istoria], Paul Crego

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Metropolitan Archbishop Anania Japaridze (1949-present) is a member of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in Georgia and has served as a bishop in that church since 1991. He has published several books, mainly on the history of the Orthodox Church in Georgia, but also books on how Georgians have been converted to other Christian denominations or religions, and, thereby “converted” to other ethnicities. The thesis of one such book is that Georgian converts to Islam in the northwest part of historical Georgian territories lost their Georgian language and national identity and became Abkhazians. (Apʻxazetʻi: kʻartʻveltʻa "gaapʻxazeba" = Abkhazia: …