Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe (original) (raw)
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Evangelism and Proselytism in Croatia
To analyze the issue of proselytism in Eastern Europe is a big task and great challenge. After The Great Transformation Eastern Europe became a big religious market place were we face a real battle for souls. Historical and dominant churches and religions try to protect their spiritual and cultural monopoly they had over the centuries. Some of the Protestant and Evangelical Churches have plans to evangelize all people of Eastern Europe. Many Christian marginal groups, sects, and cults are "selling" their "truth" at newly opened spiritual market place. Eastern religions and religious groups with known and unknown gurus and different practice are very popular. The pluralism of interests makes the battle for souls very contested and sometimes very dirty.
Guidelines for the Future of Evangelical Christianity in Croatia
Kairos: Evangelical Journal of Theology, 2022
The article discusses the future of evangelical Christianity in Croatia. Together with analyzing the existing spiritual state, the author offers five key guidelines. He believes that their application in the everyday life of believers and churches of the Reformation heritage can accomplish the future God has prepared, and which he empowers and determines. For a biblically fruitful and God-pleasing future, local church and denomination leadership should adopt biblical guidelines and as soon as possible begin the appropriate processes to include God's creative activity in Croatia: 1) perspective on life; 2) God's authority in the life of a believer and the church; 3) discipleship that manifests itself in service; 4) training spiritual leaders on all levels of service to God; 5) efficient leadership system. Together with every guideline, the author suggests and explains processes belonging to it. Thinking about the future of evangelical Christianity in Croatia is focused on the consideration of God's Word in the context of spiritual, social, and cultural reality in which evangelical Christians live and co-create with God.
Federative Republic of Yugoslavia 1996/97: A Report on Evangelicals
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe, 1998
There are not many evangelical Christians in FRY, maybe a little above fifteen thousand. This is a very low percentage (0.14%) of the 11 million people in the country (10.5 million population + 700,000 refugees from Bosnia and Croatia). Still, even among that number of believers, not all of them are active in fulfilling their Christian duties and responsibilities. Apart from their spiritual low-esteem and low self-evaluation, we can easily indicate several other reasons for their apathy, i.e. lack of theological education, constant shortage of pastors and church leaders, poor financial church base, and non-professional approach to the publishing of Christian books.
Religion Within and Beyond Borders: The Case of Croatia
Social Compass, 2006
English The authors analyse religiosity in Croatia from the point of view of significant differences among its regions demonstrating an array of theoretical and methodological difficulties in interpreting religious changes in the post-Communist era, particularly the revitalization of religion in some countries and the contradictory social role of religion in most countries of Central and Eastern Europe. That the differences in religiosity between Croatian regions are connected to borders with countries of different religions, nations and/or languages and with the historical as well as recent social processes is very visible. Apart from the dominant paradigms of explanation (differences in historical processes and the trend of politicization of religion and “religionization” of politics in the transitional period), the authors suggest that the possible influence of politicization must be considered over a much longer historical period, that different patterns of socio-religious devel...
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe, 2022
Using the existing data from the national census (2011 and 2021) and other available data sources, the authors present Croatian Protestantism on the national level as a fragmented minority. In search for possible historic reasons for this fragmentized mode of existence, they proceed with an overview of Protestant presence in the Croatian lands, starting from the early adoption of Protestant ideas, eradicated by the Catholic Counter-Reformation up to the ghettoization of the Protestant congregations during the Communist era (late 20th century). The establishment of an independent Croatian state and the subsequent war proved to be a significant turning point for the Croatian Protestants, although most of them had no tradition of socio-political engagement and were therefore ill-prepared for the profound changes that followed. The fostering of a common Protestant identity was to a certain extent, as the authors argue, encouraged by the signing of contracts with the Croatian government that provided a legislative framework for the existence of various Protestant denominations. The contracts also secured minimal financial support and allowed their access to the public arena. Apart from that, impulses towards a clearer articulation of their own confessional identity usually did not result in pro-active investment in the contextual expression of individual denominational identities as part of a broader Protestant identity. Furthermore, the relationship with the majority Church – the Roman Catholic Church – still presents a major challenge for many Protestant churches. Although there are examples of earnest cooperation, this ecumenical communion remains a serious challenge, especially in the light of the fact that some groups continue to maintain a very exclusivist attitude towards the majority Church. As for the divisive issues in the contemporary Croatian society, the Protestant churches either ignore them or comply uncritically with the stance of one of the polarized parties. Finally, the present condition of Protestant theological institutions shows that a non-systematic approach to their development needs to be adjusted if the existing theological potential is to be unlocked for the benefit of Protestant churches and their integration into the Croatian society.
2004
On 31 May, 1973, Professor Bohdan Bociprkiw of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, delivered a London University lecture, entitled "Church-State relations in Communist Eastern Europe", at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In his introduction he observed that the position of organized religion in Eastern Europe had been fundamentally affected when communist political systems emerged in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania. For the first tim~ the churches were faced by regimes which aimed at eradicating religion from society. The churches, claiming that their internal autonomy was an essential part of religious freedom and that the dissemination of the faith was an intrinsic function of the church, could not but clash with the totalitarian aspirations of the East European regimes. Unlike the latter, which could refer to Marxist-Leninist doctrine and the Soviet model of church-state relations, the chur...