Article February 12, 1990 Issue

Second Thought

Looking again at news and commentary

Harvard University Gazette

[Excerpts from an interview with Professor Harvey Cox of Harvard Divinity School shortly after his appearance on a Soviet television program discussing the future of religion in the Soviet Union.]

"The fact is that over the years in which there has been atheistic propaganda and considerable harassment and even oppression of churches and religious believers, religious belief has continued in the Soviet Union. Even by the government's own count there are 60 million or 70 million Orthodox believers ... in addition to the other religious groups that many people don't know about.

"For example, there are large numbers of Baptists in the Soviet Union, there are of course Roman Catholics, there are Lutherans in the Western part, ... there are some Adventists, and there are others. In all of these one sees a certain kind of vigor, growth, and energy now, more and more, especially among young people .... So there really was not much debate about whether there is [a renaissance of spirituality in the Soviet Union]. The question was how deep is it, how far will it go.

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