On April 29, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation hosted a roundtable discussion on the topic “Activities of religious organizations in Russia”, at which a presentation of the book Living in Hope by the famous Russian historian, Mikhail Odintsov, dedicated to the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Russia, took place.

The organizer of this conference was the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on the harmonization of interethnic and interreligious relations, chaired by V. Yu Zorin, together with the all-Russian public organization, Russian Association for the Defense of Religious Freedom (RARS), and the centralized religious organization, Euro-Asian Branch of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Among the participants in this roundtable were representatives of various religious denominations and public organizations, as well as representatives of state authorities. Welcome addresses to the roundtable participants were received from the Department for Religious Associations of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the Committee for the Development of Civil Society for Public and Religious Associations of the State Duma, and the Department of National Policy and Interregional Relations of the city of Moscow. The conference was attended by representatives of religious organizations such as the Russian Orthodox Church, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, the Buddhist sangha of Russia, and evangelical communities.

This conference has become an important event in the context of the efforts of public, religious, and state institutions, which are being applied to strengthen and develop state-confessional relations in the Russian Federation.

Odintsov, historian, religious scholar, doctor of historical sciences, professor, and chief specialist of the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History, deals with the history of Russia in the 20tth century. A special interest of his research is focused on the confessional policy of the state. For many years, he has been conducting research work in the archives of the Russian Federation and generated numerous publications and scientific works. The scientific activities of Mikhail Odintsov become a documentary basis for works on the history of Russian religious organizations. A number of his scientific studies are devoted to the topics of freedom of conscience and human rights.

Mikhail Odintsov's book Living in Hope is dedicated to the activities of one of the historical churches of the Protestant denomination in Christianity for Russia: the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which has been operating in the country since 1886. The scientific value of this book lies in the fact that it is based on archival sources that shed light on the peculiarities of the development of state-confessional relations in Russia from the end of the 19th to the end of the 20th centuries. The book is of scientific and practical interest for the study and development of state-confessional relations and solving urgent problems of all Russian religious organizations.

Odintsova’s book is another scientific proof of the fact that over its century-plus-long history, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has become an integral part of Russian religious culture and tradition and made its feasible contribution to the good evangelical and social service to its compatriots.

During the discussion, a common understanding was clearly expressed that the study of the history of state-confessional relations of the 20th century contributes to the development of an effective state-confessional policy and also guides in the search for ways to solve difficult issues with the activities of religious organizations, which, at the present time, contribute to the development of civil society and the harmonization of interreligious and interethnic relations.

They also touched upon issues related to maintaining a constructive dialogue with government officials on the implementation of the rights to freedom of conscience and religion. Following the results of the conference, it is planned to adopt a final document with the proposals and recommendations made on the development of state-confessional relations in Russia.

This article was originally published on the Euro-Asia Division’s news site