Note and Comment

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jul 6, 1905

For many years it has been the aim of the Russian orthodox church, which is the real ruling power in that country, to unify the Russian people. To accomplish this end the church authorities, at whose head stood the procurator of the “holy synod,” M. Pobiedonostzeff, sought to have all the people profess one religion,—that of the state church,—and to attain this result they employed all the force of the civil power. Present-day events in Russia have demonstrated the utter failure of this church-and-state program, and M. Pobiedonostzeff is ending his days with the bitter sight of the collapse of his cherished plan before his eyes. There is no unifying power in an enforced religion. There is no religious unity without the presence of the divine Spirit, and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” There is a lesson here for all nations which maintain a church-and-state system.