Russia Forbids Evangelizing Outside Of Church

A new Russian law forbids evangelizing except within a church service. This includes using e-mail or other online communication. It even outlaws private evangelistic conversations within one’s own home.

This is not the work of Godless communism. It comes out of the Russian Orthodox Church and its resistance to “proseletyzing” on the part of Western Protestants and Roman Catholics. I wonder what would happen, under this law, if a devout Orthodox Russian tried, over glasses of vodka, to persuade an old-line Communist to embrace Orthodox Christianity. I suspect this would be allowed. My impression is that the Russian Orthodox Church considers all of Holy Russia to be its domain, even among the unbaptized. But I don’t know.

Ironically, the recent Great and Holy Council of the orthodox, the Russians not attending, put out a statement affirming religious liberty that pointedly did not include “the right to convert.” I’d love to hear from Orthodox readers about why this is.

From Russia’s Newest Law: No Evangelizing Outside of Church | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com

Christians in Russia won’t be allowed to email their friends an invitation to church or to evangelize in their own homes if Russia’s newest set of surveillance and anti-terrorism laws are enacted.

The proposed laws, considered the country’s most restrictive measures in post-Soviet history, place broad limitations on missionary work, including preaching, teaching, and engaging in any activity designed to recruit people into a religious group.

To share their faith, citizens must secure a government permit through a registered religious organization, and they cannot evangelize anywhere besides churches and other religious sites. The restrictions even apply to activity in private residences and online.

[Keep reading. . .]

See the “update” at the link, which reports that Vladimir Putin approved the law, which passed nearly unanimously in the Russian legislature, so that it will go into effect.