The USSR

Abstract

Abstract There are of course the usual difficulties that historians face in dealing with so large a subject. The Soviet Union was, at its demise, a society of some 285 million people, spread over a geographical area encompassing eleven time zones, divided into fifteen republics and about a hundred ethnic groups. These facts alone should make us wary of all generalizations about religion in Soviet society. Then, too, how is one to make sense of the events of the last three-quarters of a century? The usual tangled contradictions of history out of which one struggles to discern meaning and direction are magnified in this case. But perhaps the thing that most bedevils the historian’s task is the personal set of assumptions and values that inevitably color the evidence. This is the most important reason for the deep disagreement between many Marxist and Christian historians who have analyzed the encounter of Marxism and Christianity in the Soviet Union. It is also the explanation of why even Western historians of eminent reputation, high integrity, and deep religious sympathy can arrive at diametrically opposed conclusions. Some, for instance, hold that the story of Christianity in the Soviet Union is one of unwarranted persecution and unmitigated disaster for the Church.