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Abstract

Content

Introduction

Baptism is one of the most popular religious movements in modern Ukraine. This confession has played a significant role in religious, social and cultural processes of our state. The evangelical movement in Ukraine during the 150 years of its existence, has taken an important place in the spiritual life of Ukrainian people. Subsequently, the Baptist congregation experienced all the vicissitudes of history of Ukraine in the XX century, and accordingly changed denominational, organizational, ideological, social aspects of being Baptist on the Ukrainian territory. During this time, especially in the first decade of its existence, Baptists got the bright specific national and cultural features, which suggests that in those days formed a distinctive phenomenon as the "Ukrainian Baptists".

1. Theme urgency

In the modern conditions of the Evangelical-Baptist brotherhood, are intimately connected with the whole Ukrainian society, its life and problems. Therefore, the features of modern transformations in the environment of the Evangelical community of Ukraine in the context of socio-political and cultural processes is relevant theological problem that affects thousands of new round of Ukrainian Christians, from the civil position and religious beliefs which will greatly influence the future of Ukraine in all spheres of life.

2. Goal and tasks of the research

The aim is to identify the essence of the social and doctrinal peculiarities of formation and development of the Ukrainian Baptists.

Main tasks of the research:

1. To analyze the peculiarities of formation and formation of the Evangelical Christianity in terms of spiritual development of Ukraine in the second half of XIX - beginning of XX century;

2. To explore the processes of transformation of the ideological, organizational, social aspects of sectarian existence of the Evangelical-Baptist brotherhood in Ukraine in the conditions of existence of the Soviet totalitarian regime;

3. To determine the role and place of the Evangelical-Baptist community in the contemporary religious life of independent Ukraine.

Research object: the process of development of the Ukrainian Baptists. Research subject: social and doctrinal singularities of the Ukrainian Baptists.


3. Review of research and development

Fathers Baptist historiography can be called Alexis (Dorodnitsyn) [1; 2] and Arseny Rojdestvensky [14]. They in their works entered in a scientific revolution a considerable number of documents, which reflected the emergence of the "southern Russian groupism". To the pre-revolutionary research of Baptists can be attributed work  V. Yasevich-Borodaevsky [20] and M. Hrushevsky [3]. Among the Soviet research works should be made A. Klibanov [7; 8], L. Mitrokhin [9;10], E. Filimonov [17; 18]. Historiography on the specifics of the formation of religion is represented in the work of S. Golovaschenko [5]. Historiography of the Soviet Foreign Evangelical Baptist movement represented by the work of V. Zavatsky [4]. At present, the major contribution to the study of Ukrainian Baptists are the works of S. Savinsky [15; 16], Y. Reshetnikov [11; 12; 13], M. Karetnikova [6], O. Panych [21], J. Dyck [22]. Separately it is necessary to allocate M. Cherenkov's work [19].

4. Ukrainian Baptists: the evolution of organizational forms and the social orientation

The first of the Evangelical-Baptist communities appeared in Ukraine in the 60-ies of the XIX century in the three remote one from the other regions: in the South of Ukraine: in the Kherson and Ekaterinoslav, as well as the Kyiv province [15]. Evangelical movement owes its origin in the XIX century foreign pietism influence, however, the soil was prepared a deep spirituality of the Orthodox seekers of God. If Evangelical movement was only a common foreign borrowing, it would be easy to resolve, as the impact of foreign colonists. And today, Evangelical Christians is one of the numerous and growing Christian denominations in Ukraine.

The origin of the first Evangelical Baptist communities in each region has its own background and their predecessors. The community, which arose spontaneously flocked around the more Mature and spiritually strong communities. So they formed a group around the communities in the villages of the Osnova, Lyubomirka, Karlivka, Ploske and other first communities (see Fig. 1). Between groups were written and personal communication. They have emerged in different places, almost independently of each other, and later these were the first local communities-the Church United in working together, formed the brotherhood, and later formed the Union [15].

The first centers of inception Baptists in Ukraine in the XIX century

Figure 1 – The first centers of inception Baptists in Ukraine in the XIX century

(animation: 5 frames, 7 cycles of repeating, 150 kilobytes)

Peculiarities of the formation of theology and the social position of the Ukrainian Evangelical Protestantism are in the synthesis of Eastern and Western cultural and theological influences.

Ukrainian Evangelical Protestantism in the socio-theological plane is relevant synthesis of Eastern and Western traditions, "thorough" and are deeply rooted in the historical and cultural substrate, but at the same time is open to the creative assimilation of Western cultural and theological impacts and achievements of universal Christianity. This movement absorbed and transformed the various components of Christian spirituality – the Eastern and the Western, which was manifested, in particular, and in the theological views, and at the household level beliefs of ordinary Evangelical believers [19].

Conclusion

Ukrainian Baptists as an independent religious education was held century and the path of the Ukrainian expanses. During this time, there was the formation of the institutional design, the formation of their own religious tradition, the position in relation to the society. Tendencies of development of the Baptist brotherhood in Ukraine are conditioned by the socio-political, cultural and other specifics of the relevant period (the times of the Russian Empire, the Soviet period, the years of independence).

Self-Ukrainian evangelical Protestants is based on western religious documents, but takes away from them only what is consistent with the cultural and historical context. Specificity of social and theological positions of Ukrainian evangelical churches becomes clear when compared with the Orthodox tradition, cultural and historical context.

References

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Important note
The master's work have not been completed yet. Final completion is on December, 2012. Full text of the work can be obtained from the author or his advisor after this date.