The Dangerous God: Christianity and the Soviet Experiment

Published by Cornell University Press 2017

The Dangerous God

Christianity and the Soviet Experiment

Edited by: Dominic Erdozain

In the series NIU Series in Orthodox Christian Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501757693

Overview
Contents

About this book

At the heart of the Soviet experiment was a belief in the impermanence of the human spirit: souls could be engineered; conscience could be destroyed. The project was, in many ways, chillingly successful. But the ultimate failure of a totalitarian regime to fulfill its ambitions for social and spiritual mastery had roots deeper than the deficiencies of the Soviet leadership or the chaos of a "command" economy. Beneath the rhetoric of scientific communism was a culture of intellectual and cultural dissidence, which may be regarded as the "prehistory of perestroika." This volume explores the contribution of Christian thought and belief to this culture of dissent and survival, showing how religious and secular streams of resistance joined in an unexpected and powerful partnership. The essays in The Dangerous God seek to shed light on the dynamic and subversive capacities of religious faith in a context of brutal oppression, while acknowledging the often-collusive relationship between clerical elites and the Soviet authorities. Against the Marxist notion of the "ideological" function of religion, the authors set the example of people for whom faith was more than an opiate; against an enduring mythology of secularization, they propose the centrality of religious faith in the intellectual, political, and cultural life of the late modern era. This volume will appeal to specialists on religion in Soviet history as well as those interested in the history of religion under totalitarian regimes.

Author / Editor information

Dominic Erdozain is a research fellow at King's College London and an honorary research fellow at the University of Queensland. He is the author of The Soul of Doubt: The Religious Roots of Unbelief from Luther to Marx and The Problem of Pleasure: Sport, Recreation and the Crisis of Victorian Religion.

Reviews

The Dangerous God is an inspiring read for everyone who wants to go beyond the widely known basic narrative of Russian religious dissent. This book, written with thoughtful and thorough analysis, and based on a wide selection of sources, can be an inspiring conversation partner for further discussions.

"This volume constitutes a significant contribution. I know of no other book that illuminates so well the spiritual longings of Russian intellectuals in the last years of the USSR's existence."—Lee Congdon, author of Seeing Red: Hungarian Intellectuals in Exile and the Challenge of Communism (NIU Press, 2001)

"This thoughtful and accessible collection of articles is a valuable contribution to the growing scholarly literature on the fate of religion under communism. It will interest anyone studying the clash between religion and atheism in the twentieth century, and how spirituality evolves in response to persecution."—Philip Boobbyer, University of Kent

"The major contribution of the volume lies in its exploration of the ways in which faith gave meaning, a sense of freedom and dignity, to individuals living in an oppressive state." –Russian Review

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
INTRODUCTION The Rhythm of the Saints Dominic Erdozain Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 EMPOWERING THE FAITHFUL. The Unintended Consequences of Bolshevik Religious Policies Scott Lingenfelter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	12
2 COMBATING GOD AND GRANDMA. The Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and the Battle for Childhood Julie deGraffenried Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	32
3 PERSECUTION, COLLUSION, AND LIBERATION The Russian Orthodox Church, from Stalin to Gorbachev Michael Bourdeaux Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
4 "I AM A FIGHTER BY NATURE" Fr. Gleb Iakunin and the Defense of Religious Liberty Wallace Daniel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
5 "AN INWARD MUSIC" Revolution and Resurrection in Doctor Zhivago Dominic Erdozain Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
6 "THE PEARL OF AN UNREASONABLE THOUGHT" Religion and the Poetic Imagination Josephine von Zitzewitz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
7 "I HASTEN TO ESTABLISH A COMMON LANGUAGE WITH YOU" Orthodox Christian Dissidents and the Human Rights Movement Lauren Tapley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	138
8 THE ORTHODOX LITURGY AS POLITICAL RESISTANCE John P. Burgess Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	158
9 "AND I WILL TELL OF THE BEST PEOPLE IN ALL THE EARTH" Faith and Resilience in the Gulag Xenia Dennen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	170
10 "THERE ARE THINGS IN HISTORY THAT SHOULD BE CALLED BY THEIR PROPER NAMES" Evaluating Russian Orthodox Collaboration with the Soviet State Geraldine Fagan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
11 THE USEFUL GOD Religion and Public Authority in Post -Soviet Russia James W Warhola Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	210
AFTERWORD Whether in Words or Deeds, Known and Unknown Roy R. Robson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	226
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 277
Illustrations
- Other: 4 illustrations
Keywords: Soviet experiment; Marxist; totalitarian regime; Soviet leadership; command economy; scientific; cultural dissidence; religious faith; collusive relationship between clerical elites and the Soviet authorities

eBook

Published: October 2, 2017
ISBN: 9781501757693