{"id":24610,"date":"2016-07-12T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=24610"},"modified":"2016-07-11T22:23:48","modified_gmt":"2016-07-12T02:23:48","slug":"russia-forbids-evangelizing-outside-of-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/07\/russia-forbids-evangelizing-outside-of-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia forbids evangelizing outside of church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A new Russian law forbids evangelizing except within a church service. \u00a0This includes using e-mail or other online communication. \u00a0It even outlaws private evangelistic conversations within one\u2019s own home.<\/p>\n

This is not the work of Godless communism. \u00a0It comes out of the Russian Orthodox Church and its resistance to \u201cproseletyzing\u201d 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. \u00a0I suspect this would be allowed. \u00a0My impression is that the Russian Orthodox Church considers all of Holy Russia to be its domain, even among the unbaptized. \u00a0But I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Ironically, the recent Great and Holy Council of the orthodox, the Russians not attending, put out a statement affirming\u00a0religious liberty<\/a> that pointedly did not include \u201cthe right to convert.\u201d \u00a0I\u2019d love to hear from Orthodox readers about why this is.<\/p>\n

\n\n

From <\/span>Russia\u2019s Newest Law: No Evangelizing Outside of Church | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Christians in Russia won\u2019t be allowed to email their friends an invitation to church or to evangelize in their own homes if Russia\u2019s newest set of surveillance and anti-terrorism laws are enacted.<\/p>\n

The proposed laws, considered the country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See the \u201cupdate\u201d 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.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new Russian law forbids evangelizing except within a church service. \u00a0This includes using e-mail or other online communication. \u00a0It even outlaws private evangelistic conversations within one\u2019s own home. This is not the work of Godless communism. \u00a0It comes out of the Russian Orthodox Church and its resistance to \u201cproseletyzing\u201d on the part of Western […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,26],"tags":[1870,1939,4637,2320],"class_list":["post-24610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-law","tag-religious-liberty","tag-russia","tag-russias-anti-evangelism-law","tag-vladimir-putin"],"yoast_head":"\nRussia forbids evangelizing outside of church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new Russian law forbids evangelizing except within a church service. \u00a0This includes using e-mail or other online communication. \u00a0It even outlaws private\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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