Religious Education in the Context of the Soviet State

(A Letter to a Friend)

Abstract

You are asking me to put on paper my thoughts on religious education for believers at present. Be my guest. I will gladly comply with your request. I am proceeding on the ground that two psychological facts have come to light in public life at the present time. The first is that, according to some, there is only one material world with its definite laws and discoveries. The other is that a considerable number of sincere souls are convinced that, over and above the outer world of the senses, there exists a spiritual world governed by God, with its own divine laws, from the point of view of which these people intend to work and live for the common weal, for the common good, for the fatherland. And the better this group assimilates the all-perfect Divine instructions, the better the tasks of our time will be perceived, the more comprehensively these people will serve society.