Religion and the State in Russia and China: Suppression, Survival, and Revival

by Christopher Marsh

Overview

This comparative survey of the secularization policies of the Soviet Union and China looks at the suppression, survival, and revival of religion in both countries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441102294
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/20/2011
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Christopher Marsh is Professor of Political Science and Director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University. The author of several books, including Unparalleled Reforms: China's Rise, Russia's Fall, and the Interdependence of Transition (Lexington Books, 2005), he also serves as editor of the Journal of Church & State (Oxford UP). Dr. Marsh speaks Russian and Chinese and has conducted field research across Eurasia.

Table of Contents

Introduction: From Forced Secularization to Desecularization1. The Theological Roots of Militant Atheism2. Evicting God: Forced Secularization in the Soviet Union3. Faith in Defiance: The Persistence of Religion under Scientific Atheism4. Russia's Religious Renaissance5. China's Third Opium War: The CCP's Struggle With Religion6. Keeping the Faith: The Persistence of Religious Life in Communist China7. From Religious Anesthesia to Jesus FeverConclusion: Man, The State, and God

Editorial Reviews

Lucidly and engagingly written, Christopher Marsh's book is a landmark contribution to the growing literature on secularization and desecularization in the modern world. Previous studies have typically focused on a single country or religious movement, while there has been precious little comparative, cross-national and cross-civilizational research. Yet, without comparative research, it is impossible to theorize desecularization and detect its broad, cross-national meaning, patterns, causes, and consequences. Dr. Marsh's book fills in this gap. It detects and theorizes the patterns of religions' suppression, resilience and resurgence by comparatively exploring the cases of Russia and China. These are, without an exaggeration, the two most important and massive cases of forced secularization and subsequent religious resurgence in the 20th - early 21st century. The book marshals impressive empirical evidence, ranging from documentary sources to representative national surveys. An outstanding expert on Russia as well as China, Christopher Marsh aptly utilizes his thorough knowledge of the two cases and his fluency in both languages to present to his readers a convincing, empirically grounded yet theoretically consequential account of the stunning resilience of faith under the ruthlessly oppressive atheist regimes, and of its ongoing spectacular revival. -Peter Berger, Professor Emeritus of Religion, Sociology and Theology. Director, Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs, Boston University.

This is a masterful work, by a scholar with the rare ability to handle sources in both Russian and Chinese, that sheds much light on theoretical debates surrounding religion and modernity, secularization, and desecularization. But it is much more than that; It is also an inspiring story of human resilience in the face of oppression. Peter L. Berger, University Professor Emeritus, Boston University

From the Publisher