Bible in the USSR

The article introduces a general picture of the specific existence of the Bible in the U.S.S.R. up to the late 1940-s. The sources include books published in the U.S.S.R. in 1922—1947, as well as various anti-religious media: “Bezbozhnik” (“Godless”) Newspaper, “Antireligioznik” Magazine, and others. The authors argue that — in spite of the fact that the Bible was treated by ideologists as a kind of propagandist literature — it still played a significant role in the culture. The knowledge about the Bible was kept in the folk tradition. At that, the Bible was “an imaginary book” for the “people”. There was also research works on the Bible and its translations (first of all, about the Slavic Bible). The biblical plots had been presented in art, and literature, that is why understanding them was an important part of the Soviet culture. Even the anti-religious propaganda could not escape studying the Bible and explaining the biblical plots. The casus of the Soviet propaganda was in the situation when the propagandist publications became a source of information about the Bible

Art · Literature · Media studies · Newspaper · Old Testament · Slavic languages · Sociology · The Imaginary · Classics · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Philosophy · Psychology · Religious studies · Religious Studies