THE PURPOSE OF THE HOLY SYNOD.
By S.
Perverted Ideas of the Purpose of Christianity.
The contention referred to some months ago in these columns that Russia is not a persecutor of Christians, is hardly borne out by the recent demand of M. Pobedonostzeff, procurator of the Holy Synod, that there be a “complete suppression” of Protestantism in Russia. Protestantism, in Russia, means any religion that is not in harmony with the Greek Catholic Church; and just as the Roman Church has always been, and always will be, opposed to any religion she does not control, so the Russian Holy Synod has been, and always will be, opposed to any religion which it does not control. The Russian State stands behind the Russian Church to enforce the decrees and wishes of the Holy Synod. In fact, the czar is the head of the church. These governmental officers of the Russian Church, viewing with alarm the growth of independent religious bodies, are demanding that such bodies be completely suppressed, and that all “recalcitrant religionists” be forced into the fold of the State Church or leave the realm. Many have done the latter; for vital godliness in Russia is just as incapable of enduring the captivity of a State creed as it is in any other part of the world. For the love of an unchained Gospel these religious sects have been willing to leave the homes of their childhood to find liberty of belief in a foreign land, even as did the earlier settlers of America. M. Pobedonostzeff declares that unless steps be soon taken to destroy these independent sects, they must eventually destroy the imperial authority. He does not do them the injustice to claim that this is their aim, but holds that it is the “logical conclusion” of their beliefs. He does not accuse them of teaching beliefs contrary to the Word of God, but of practising a religion not recognized and controlled by the State. Thus is the imperial authority of the czar over the souls of his subjects greatly endangered. These sects, especially the Stundists, have of late been specially active in the circulation of tracts and pamphlets in propagation of their faith, and this, the procurator fears, will “lead to a democratic social State.” Commenting on this, The Interior says there is indeed some reason to think that the Bible does favor “government of the people, by ‘the people, and for the people’ rather than “a ‘government of the czar, by the bureau, for the ‘bishops.’” That is a terse way of expressing the difference between a true republican government and the government of a State controlled by a church; and yet we must not fall into the error of supposing that the purpose of the Bible is to set up, transform, or overthrow civil governments. The Bible teaches self-control, self-government; and that is why the true Christian will be the best-behaved man in the world, the most law-abiding citizen of any government. He is obeying that law which is the source of all just laws. His law-keeping goes to the root of the matter; and that is Christianity. The Christian finds it no harder to obey the law of the czar, king, or emperor than he does to obey the law of the Legislature; and he will disregard the laws of the one as quick as the laws of the other, when, as in the case of Daniel, they step out of their legitimate sphere and seek to control the conscience or religious belief of the individual. It is this supposition that religion must have to do with the State that is causing the State of Russia now to persecute the Stundists, the Molokans, and the Doukhobors. They are looked upon as a menace to the State because their religion is not under State control. Pilate realized, on the day of Christ’s crucifixion, that Christ’s kingdom was no menace to him. If governments could but realize to-day, as Pilate did, that Christianity is not in the world to govern it, but to save it, how much less persecution and trepidation, how much more peace and security, there would be in the world. The whole trouble has come through a misapprehension of the business of Christianity; and it must be admitted that in too many instances professed Christians have given the State reason for supposing that a religion not controlled by the State was a menace to it. That is the belief in Russia; that has been the belief in every country where Church and State have been united; that is the belief that has been responsible for persecution for conscience’ sake in all the history of the world. Russia has “harried out of the kingdom” thousands upon thousands of her most peaceful citizens because the government could not control their consciences or their religious practices; and yet it is a matter of record that the provinces in which these proscribed sects have flourished most are the provinces which are in the best economic conditions of any of the provinces of Russia, models of sobriety and thrift. Thus Russia, because of her State-controlled religion, is robbing her realm of the best she possesses; and in carrying out the purpose of the Holy Synod for the preservation of “imperial authority” in the realm of conscience, she is weakening the very foundation of good government in her territory. As sin will finally compass its own destruction, so this error is really waging war against the stability of the government that supports it. The purpose of the Holy Synod may be carried out; but it will never bring peace and a stable government to Russia, nor advance the interests of the kingdom of Christ in the earth.