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author: Ivan Kunderenko


Urgency of the research. Classic typology suggested by R. Niebuhr received world recognition and became well spread in the second half of the 20th century. Its relevance is questionable among foreign researchers of religion, especially given the dynamic environment of postmodernism. This typology continues to be used in the Ukrainian realm of the study of religion.

Target setting. The following phenomenon has emerged: the analysis of available and widespread texts of doctrine of the most numerous denominations of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists demonstrates that the main theological statements have remained intact for several years of existence in Ukraine, but the level of involvement in public life of Ukraine has changed significantly. Shifts in the degree of involvement can be ranged between personal and systemic influence, and it is possible to state the tendency from reactionary interaction with society to an active system of preventive actions.

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Ukrainian scholars and researches like O. Dyatlik, V. Hromets, S. Sannikov, Yu. Chornomorets, V. Syniy, S. Philipchuk, M. Chernkov need to be mentioned. Each of them either studied Niebuhr’s typology (like S. Philipchuk) or examined scale of the involvement of Ukrainian Protestants in the life of society.

Foreign researchers that should be mentioned Donald Carson, Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Brian D. McLaren, Erwin Raphael McManus All of them either provided critical assessment of Niebuhr’s typology, or provided their own dynamic typologies. Dennis Hollinger identified and systematized universal models of the Protestant impact.

The research objective. To examine the relevance of well-spread classic Niebuhr’s typology in its correlation with the transformation of involvement level of the Ukrainian Protestants in the life of society, using the example of All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists as the most numerous denomination.

The statement of basic materials. Applying the typology of R. Niebuhr to the Protestant environment of Ukraine is nearly impossible, because despite the preserved faith statements, the level of involvement of Protestants in Ukrainian society has changed significantly. Thus, the usual classification is not efficient due to the dynamics of the social dimension of Protestants and the background of theological conservatism. Author agrees with the proposed paradigm of D. Hollinger, that in any interaction with society there are two dimensions, in the middle of which we can make a certain ranking. The impact can be individual or structural, as well as reactionary or preventive. The following vectors have become especially common among Protestants:

  1. Christian relief; 2. Creating alternative Christian institutions; 3. Evangelism, not just a method to introduce beliefs to others, but also as a vehicle of structural changes in society; 4. Prophetic proclamation as a way to react on existing negative trends; 5. Political lobbying with an attempt to prevent the adoption of certain bills, or vice versa, their promotion; 6. Creation of political parties or political groups; 7. Nonviolent resistance; 8. The practice of Christian incarnation as a manifestation of faithfulness to God with the understanding that the attainability of ethical standards is possible only within the Christian community; 9. Individual impact with understanding that Christians hold views and moral (ethical) principles that differ from secular society, however Christians apply those principles, within and outside boundaries of Christendom.

Conclusions. Provided analysis relates the relevance of the common typology of R. Niebuhr in its application to the praxis of the Protestant churches of Ukraine on the example of the largest group, which is the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists.

Keywords. typology; protestants; society, church.

 

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