Religious Liberty in Russia

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 19, 1908

Religious Liberty in Russia

It is one thing to promise liberty; it is sometimes another thing to fulfil the promise. Religious liberty has been proclaimed in Russia; but it now appears that there are at least exceptions to the rule. The following paragraph testifies to this:—

The Russian government is still backward, and fears to grant religious liberty, lest people take advantage of it to leave the church in larger numbers. Rev. Samuel Wilkinson, of Mildmay Mission, writes that the gospel meetings for Jews in Odessa have been stopped by order of the governor of that city. This is after many months of undisturbed gatherings, in which many Jews have found Christ as their Saviour. Extensive alterations of the premises have been made to accommodate larger audiences, and a school was opened for the children of converts. Now comes the order to close the meetings! This and a similar prohibition at the recent Stundist convention at Kieff indicate that, though there is increasing liberty for gospel testimony in Russia, the era of true liberty has not yet come.

So far as we have learned, our own workers in Russia are permitted to preach the gospel freely, and for this we should be thankful. Nevertheless, we desire the same privileges for others that we seek for ourselves.