Religious Freedom in Central and Eastern Europe After the Collapse of Communism. Budapest: Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary, 1998. Reviewed by Mark Elliott.
How does one, on the one hand, respect religious freedom and, on the other hand, guard against the dangers of new religious movements (nrms)? Some 80 representatives of historic Christian confessions of East Central Europe (Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox), as well as religious studies specialists from Western Europe, met in Dobogoókö, Hungary, 21-25 September 1997, to address this issue. The present volume includes papers from this conference. Presenters are, for the most part, quite restrained in their portrayal of new religious movements. Tolerance is championed, but the volume's presupposition still is that Europe should be wary of new religious movements.
Even though the purpose of the gathering was to address the relationship of religious freedom to new religious movements, very little concrete data came to light on specific nrms. One exception is German Lutheran Thomas Gandow's useful typology of "Non-Christian Religious Trends" (pp. 31-33). In the main, the volume is an exercise in erudite ecumenical hand-wringing, culminating in a call for "further reflection."
This 119-page paperback is available in English and Hungarian. Contact: Okumenikus Tanulmanyi Kozpont [Ecumenical Education Center], 1114 Budapest, Bocskai ut 15. III. 3; tel/fax: 36-1-466-4790. Cost: $2 U.S. plus postage.
Russian and Ukrainian audiocassettes of the New Testament
are available from Mission Licht im Osten (Light in the East
Mission). The set of 12 cassettes, including both Ukrainian and
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© 1999 East-West Church and Ministry Report
ISSN 1069-5664