The Tradition of the Gospel Christians

A Study of Their Identity and Theology during the Russian, Soviet, and Post-Soviet Periods

Andrey Puzynin

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781606089996
  9781498254687
• eBook ISBN:
  9781630876883
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

The Tradition of the Gospel Christians explores the post-Soviet tradition of evangelical Christians originating from the ministry of the Victorian revivalist preacher Lord Radstock in St. Petersburg in the 1870s. In an effort to resolve the current evangelical crises of theology and identity, this study provides an analysis of the tradition's history reflecting on its restorationist tradition, the contours and vectors of its theology, and its practice of biblical interpretation. The historical analysis reveals that the major causes of the crises of identity and theology pertain to the socio-political upheavals, which, in turn, led the tradition to develop strategies to maintain relevance in its changed contexts. The socio-political shifts were also responsible for the lack of emphasis on research and scholarship, which contributed to a difficulty in finding the necessary resources and intellectual virtues to deal with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Building on the discoveries of the historical analysis, Andrei P. Puzynin offers a new historical and theological paradigm by reconstructing the self-identifying narrative and theological framework in critical dialogue with recent developments in Anglo-American evangelicalism and postliberalism. Following the trajectory of the evangelical tradition in the post-Soviet context, a trajectory which relies on Western thought, the book adopts the narrative theological method of reading the world though the lens of Scripture. The self-identifying narrative of the community is reconstructed through a theological reading of the previous identity-constructions, in the light of recent discussions on Christ and the powers. The result of this study helpfully explains the dynamics of Eastern evangelicalism in a traditionally Russian Orthodox setting.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Lord Radstock and the St. Petersburg Revival
• Chapter 2: The Russian Workman: 1875–1881
• Chapter 3: V. A. Pashkov (1831–1902): A Clash of Paradigms
• Chapter 4: The St. Petersburg Evangelical Tradition: 1905–1910
• Chapter 5: The Evangelical Tradition during the Period between 1910 and 1939
• Chapter 6: The Gospel Christians between 1944 and 2008
• Chapter 7: The Gospel Christians: On the Way to a New Theological Framework and a New Identity
• Conclusion
• Glossary
• Bibliography