Transformation of Evangelicalism: the Ukrainian Case by Eugenijus Liutkevičius

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Birmingham Research Archive, E-theses Repository Transformation of Evangelicalism: The Ukrainian Case by Eugenijus Liutkevičius A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY International Development Department School of Government and Society College of Social Sciences University of Birmingham March 2020 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Transformation of Evangelicalism: The Ukrainian Case Abstract This dissertation focuses on the development of Ukrainian evangelical movement after the dissolution of the USSR. Based on ethnographic fieldwork it examines the reasons for the rapid transformation of Ukrainian evangelical Christians, which occurred from the end of 1980s. The dissertation investigates the specificity of the context of post-Soviet evangelicalism in Ukraine: how a particular conservative tradition, which was valued and preserved during the Soviet regime and which secured the evangelicals’ survival during that period, subsequently came under increasing pressure from a new, open style evangelicals. In the dissertation I propose four main reasons for the transformation. Firstly, there is the absence of a national church in Ukraine. This means that there is no national religious authority to make alliances with the ruling elite and thereby relegate religious minorities to outsider status. As a consequence, Ukrainian evangelicals are more empowered and more active, visible and audible in society than their colleagues in other former Soviet countries. Secondly, I argue that the particular Ukrainian political context has made it necessary for the previously apolitical evangelicals to take an active political stand. A third factor, which has stimulated rapid changes in Ukrainian evangelical movement, is the fact that many newly converted believers are joining the evangelical communities. This is mainly due to the engagement of evangelical Christians in different kinds of evangelisation projects, among the most visible and effective of them - charitable and social services. The new converts do not focus on adopting local evangelical traditions but are more concerned with their role in society at large. The fourth theme explored in the dissertation is that both individual believers and evangelical institutions in Ukraine became increasingly involved in the movement of global mission after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This engagement highly contributed to the changes in Ukrainian evangelical 1 movement. All four main reasons mentioned above are explored, and analysed in the dissertation. Additionally, I proposed a theoretical contribution by examining evangelicals’ perceptions of the surrounding world, which helps to highlight the close relation between the interpretation of biblical texts and the perception of the surrounding reality of those who are practicing evangelical Christians. I show how social transformation among Ukrainian evangelicals is connected with religious transformation. Thus, the evangelicals are seen to choose new interpretations of the Bible because the old ‘Soviet-era’ ones no longer work for them. 2 Acknowledgements Throughout the writing of this thesis, I have received much help and assistance. Thanks to Birmingham University, International Development Department, and Economic and Social Research Council for funding my research and training. Special thanks to my supervisor Dr. Deema Kaneff whose expertise on eastern Europe and thoughtful comments on my work have been of key importance to me. I would also like to thank my other supervisors for their insights, comments and suggestions; firstly Dr. Jeremy Morris, who likewise encouraged me to apply for a PhD at Birmingham University in the first place and whose house always was open for me during the years of study, and also special thanks to my supervisors Dr. Martin Rew, and Dr. Adrian Campbell. I would like to acknowledge the people from the Baptist Communities in Lviv. Without your help, support and patience with my many questions I would not have been able to conduct this research. I also thank my Ukrainian language teacher Olena Synchak. This dissertation is dedicated to my wife Ida Harboe Knudsen, my son Kristupas and my daughter Liv, whose love and support led me through the years of the study. 3 Content Chapter Page 1. Introduction 6 Defining the Research Problem 8 Research Questions 14 Outline of Research Methodology and Methods 15 The Fieldwork Site 21 Researcher’s Own Position 28 Limitations of the Study 33 Chapter Outline 36 2. Literature Review 39 Introduction 39 Anthropology of Christianity 40 Inner Theology 43 Continuity 46 In the Aftermath of the End of Socialism and Dealing with It 47 Ethnographies and Theories 51 Conclusion 62 3. Evangelicals 64 Introduction 64 Evangelical Identity 65 Transformation of Evangelicals 66 Soviet Evangelicals 68 Building the Tradition 72 Tradition versus New Style 78 Nostalgia for the Tradition 84 Ukrainian Evangelicals 88 The Political Background of Evangelicals 89 Conclusion 91 4. Evangelical Transformation – Learning the Biblical Perception of Reality 93 Introduction 93 Looking for Renewal 96 4 The Biblical Perception of Reality 99 Learning the Biblical Perception of Reality 111 Conclusion 114 5. Transformation of Ukrainian Evangelicals: Politics 115 Introduction 115 Evangelical Movement in the Ukrainian Way 116 Two Revolutions and the War: To Get Involved or not to Get Involved? 119 The Interpretation of Events: Same Doctrine and Perception, Different View and Direction 133 Conclusion 136 6. Transformation of Ukrainian Evangelicals: Social Engagement 139 Introduction 139 The Rehabilitation Centres 141 Conclusion 155 7. Transformation of Ukrainian Evangelicals: Engagement to Mission 157 Introduction 157 Mission in Ukraine: An Overview 161 “Ghost Missionaries” 165 On Contemporary Mission 168 Mission that Transforms 175 Ukrainian Baptists on Mission 182 The Inner Mission 186 Conclusion 188 8, Conclusion 191 Further Research 201 References 203 5 1. Introduction The main theme of the thesis is transformation. So, this study explores the experience of people living in a changing society. While change is a feature of all societies, in Ukrainian society change has been extremely rapid, a tempestuous, and unceasing process of moving towards something as yet uncertain, leaving behind the communist past. For many years Ukrainians were living in a stage of ”no longer – not yet” when the socialist system no longer existed; yet, a functioning capitalist state was also not in place (Benda-Beckmann 2000 [1994]; Yurchak 2005). In Ukraine, as elsewhere in the former USSR, religious groups have been active participants in dramatic social and political changes playing an important role in construction or reconstruction of ethnic/national identity (Batalden 1993; Kaneff 2018). In the process of dramatic changes religious groups have themselves been transformed. My study is about one of these religious minorities – Ukrainian evangelical Christians.1 More specifically, my fieldwork was conducted among Baptists in Lviv. Whereas elsewhere in the former Soviet Union we have witnessed how religious minorities only are existing in the shadow of powerful national churches and have experienced a significantly smaller growth, in Ukraine communities like the Baptists, the Charismatics, the Pentecostals, Jehovah Witnesses, and the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) have grown and flourished. The particular focus in my study is on Baptists because Baptist communities provide the most straightforward Soviet/post-Soviet comparison as they were the most numerous among Soviet evangelicals. In addition, as mentioned above, the Ukrainian evangelical communities have undergone a particular and rapid change starting to actively engage both socially and politically in society just as they keep an active dialogue with non-believers. 1 I use the terms evangelicalism, evangelical movement, evangelical communities, evangelical Christians, and evangelicals in the thesis. The term evangelicalism I use in the broadest sense – as a whole phenomenon that includes global church of evangelical Christianity and its theology. I use the term evangelical movement when I refer to the dynamic contemporary and usually more local, let us say Ukrainian, or American evangelical communities and evangelicals. The terms evangelicals, evangelical Christians, and evangelical communities sometimes refer in my dissertation to the smaller groups of evangelicals. However, as a rule they are used interchangeably with each other and with the term evangelical movement. 6 Again, unlike other countries of the former Soviet Union that experienced a short upheaval of religious interest in the 90’s that then again faded away, the religious minorities in Ukraine have kept growing and developing until the present day. After the dissolution of the USSR, Ukrainian evangelicals

Load more