CHRISTIAN VICTORY IN RUSSIA

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXII, Issue 8873, 19 February 1943, Page 3

CHRISTIAN VICTORY IN RUSSIA

(E.L.8.G.) "Sobovnost," the journal of the Anglican-Orthodox Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, tells us that visitors to Russia in 1942 report a vigorous Church life, skilfully camouflaged. It goes so far as to ask a question that sounds strange in our ears: "What is the cause of the Christian victory in Russia?" The answer is summarised as: "(a) Because God does exist; (b) because Chiistianity has always been deeply rooted in the life of the Russian people and did not depend on the ecclesiastical organisation which had been easily smashed; and (c) because the type' of State- control established by the opponents of the Church had defects which provide a powerful proof that not they, but the Christians, know the truth about man and his nature." However much we may feel that this "victory" is more in the nature of a successful raid than of a conquest, it must be true that Christianity is far from dead in Russia. Is it too much to hope that Christian influence may so grow in that country that the ultimate sweep of Allied forces from the west and the east across Europe to meet somewhere in the centre may be controlled by men united not only in their hatred of Nazi principles but also in a conviction that the Christian message carries the real hope for the world ? We believe that all the advances in Russian national life would have been possible without any denial of Christianity; that the "godless" movement of which so much has been heard, is an Obstruction to rather than a necessary ingredient of the process of the amelioration of the Russian people. When will they realise the truth of that belief? In the meantime we have to try to keep our own faith clear and forceful. As Lord Wakehurst said in a public address recently, among those who "not merely call attention to the shortcomings of Christian civilisation, but flatly deny the validity of Christian premises" are large numbers of individuals in all countries. We know that that is 'true of New Zealand. Every convinced Christian has a job to do, not so very far removed from what our Russian brethren are doing.