Abstract
The article studies the Pentecostal religious revival during the German occupation of the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. The study reveals that the Pentecostal religious organization, destroyed as a result of the Stalinist repressions, revived rapidly in 1941-1943. Analyzing the religious revival of Pentecostals, the authors of the article come to the following conclusions. 1)In the specific conditions of the Nazi occupation, an episcopal structure emerged among the Soviet Pentecostals, which is not otherwise characteristic of this religious movement. 2) At first, the occupation authorities were neutral or supportive of Pentecostals and did not interfere with the activities of Pentecostal communities; however, in the summer of 1943, the policy of the occupiers became extremely inconsistent. In some regions, the occupiers banned activities of Pentecostals, and, in others, they tried to use the group for propaganda purposes. 3) At the initial stage of the religious revival, the Pentecostals set themselves the task of uniting with other branches of Evangelical Christians, principally with the Baptists. Differences in the missionary approaches of the churches, however, led Pentecostals to have conflict with the Baptists, who in turn attracted the Nazis to their side and contributed to the repression against the Pentecostals. This conflict was one of the factors that shaped the relationship between Pentecostals and Baptists in the post-war period. 4) During the occupation, the leaders of the Episcopal Church did not display vivid anti-Soviet or pro-Nazi sentiments. This research results are important for understanding the history of Pentecostals and Protestantism in general, in the USSR and in the post-Soviet space.
Recommended Citation
Shchelkunov, Anton and Karpova, Svetlana
(2022)
"Religious Revival of Pentecostals in the Occupied Territories of Ukraine in 1941-1943,"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 42
:
Iss.
3
, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2148.2341
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol42/iss3/4