Russia, A World Leader in AIDS Infection Rates

With Russian propaganda painting America and the West as morally inferior, citizens of the former Soviet Union nation would probably be surprised to know that HIV prevalence in their country is almost double that of the United States.

Reports on HIV in the United States reveal that, compared to heterosexuals, the AIDS infection rate is almost 50 times higher among homosexuals. So how is it that Russia, who recently passed legislation banning, among other things, the distribution of LGBT propaganda to children, has almost 1 million people living with HIV/AIDS (ranked #12 in the world according to the CIA World Factbook)? Well, while AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease, it's not the only cause of infection. In Russia, one of the primary causes of infection is by dirty needles shared by heroin addicts.

Recently, we blogged about the fact that applying the Golden Rule is simply not enough to right the ship in the former Soviet Union. And icons of the Russian Orthodox church are not enough, either. Salvation from sin in Christ alone has the power to change not only a thieving and covetous heart, but the hearts of the sexually immoral, of drug abusers, of sinners like me, and sinners like you.

Not only do immoral and unbiblical actions greatly increase the risk of a person contracting horrible diseases like HIV and tuberculosis, it increases the risk for innocent bystanders as well. Like Olga Moroz, wife of pastor Ruslan Moroz in Far East Russia, who is slowly recovering from a tuberculosis infection so severe it carved a hole in one of her lungs.

Unofficial statistics in parts of Far East Russia put tuberculosis infection rates as high as 1 in 3. Many of those who contract the disease are alcoholics and the downtrodden, whose already compromised immune systems provide greater opportunities for TB bacteria to gain a foothold. And these just happen to be the people Pastor Moroz, his family, and his church minister to on a daily basis.

Please pray for the students and graduates of SRS and their churches. Pray that God will deliver them from the evils of contagious diseases that are so prevalent in the former Soviet Union, so that they can minister to those who desperately need to hear some Good News.

And finally, as you are able, please support these men and their field director, Rev. Blake Purcell, as they labor with joy in a difficult land.

Thank you and God bless,
David Shormann, PhD
Secretary, SRS

God's Beauty: Icons or Kells?

This is the first of a series of posts from a paper titled God's Beauty. Rev. Blake Purcell wrote this in 2006 while serving as Rector of the Biblical Theological Seminary in St. Petersburg, Russia. Follow along as Reverend Purcell explores God's beauty in the Book of Kells, in the Church, in the Word, and in doctrine.

Introduction

Icon of St. Paul the Apostle
by Andrei Rublev, 1408.

Artistically, no one questions that Russian icons are some of the most beautiful art in the world. But my 2006 visit to Ireland and chance to view the Book of Kells in the Library of Trinity College in Dublin made me rethink beauty from God’s point of view.

The Book of Kells is a copy of the four Gospels created by Celtic monks on the Isle of Iona off of Scotland in the 9th century, A.D. It ended up in Kells eastern central Ireland due to Viking raids. It is the most elaborate and decorated text of the Bible known to exist.

It is my contention that for overall composition, the Book of Kells is more beautiful and edifying than any traditional Russian icon. I would like to suggest that Psalm 68 reveals at least 7 insights into God’s aesthetic when it comes to beauty in paintings. The verbal metaphors of this psalm require us to know and value their material counterparts. And if we value them, then I think we will rather have Kells-type art decorating our lives than iconic type art.

Opening of St. Luke's gospel, Book of Kells.

Freedom From Corruption

This July 4th weekend, the USA celebrates its 238th year of declaring the self-evident truths that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." America's Founding Fathers were correct to publicly declare these rights, as the battle is constant against those who want to trample them, so much so that many Americans are disillusioned with the whole "American experiment."

 Whatever your opinion is of the state of the USA in 2014, please look at the chart above, comparing "freedom from corruption" in the USA to former communist Soviet Union countries SRS ministers to. A vast gulf exists between the USA and most former Soviet nations. Have you ever had to bribe a policeman to get out of a crime or traffic violation you didn't commit? Is the police force in your town trained to keep the peace, or are they trained to take bribes and help the local business thugs trample any potential competition? Does your church take money from the government in return for certain favors? If you live in America, the answer is most likely "no," but not if you live in a former Soviet country.

What is the solution to corruption? Is it to follow the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12), doing unto others as they would do unto you? Well, as American theologian J. Gresham Machen wrote in Christianity and Liberalism, the trouble with the Golden Rule is that "the drunkard's companions apply the rule only too well; they do unto him exactly what they would have him do unto them --by buying him a drink." And as with the drunkard, the Golden Rule on its own, like a hamster on a running wheel, creates a cycle of corruption that is extremely difficult to end.

But, as Machen rightly observes, Jesus wasn't talking to the whole world when He gave the Sermon on the Mount. Indeed, "the persons to whom the Golden Rule is addressed are persons in whom a great change has been wrought--a change which fits them for entrance into the Kingdom of God. Such persons will have pure desires; they, and they only, can safely do unto others as they would have others do unto them, for the things that they would have others do unto them are high and pure."

The "great change" Machen speaks of is, of course, the Gospel. Salvation from sin in Christ alone has the power to change a thieving and covetous heart.

A nation with a high level of corruption is not a sign that the Golden Rule is being applied poorly. It's a sign that the Gospel is not taking root in the hearts and lives of a nation's people. It's a sign that rules without a relationship with Jesus Christ, while they may work for a while, are ultimately meaningless.

This Independence Day weekend, please remember the pastors and ministers that SRS sponsors in these former Soviet nations. Please pray that God will use their churches and ministries to bring about a "great change" in their countries, creating disciples and freeing nations from the cycle of corruption. If you would also like to contribute to SRS' ongoing material needs, click here to donate.