Characteristics of Adventist-Millenarian Proselytism in Romania, in the Aftermath of 1989
Characteristics of Adventist-Millenarian Proselytism in Romania, in the Aftermath of 1989

Summary/Abstract: Post-Decembrist religious effervescence might be deemed as a form of missionarismaddressing a dechristianized society. Unfortunately, this is only partially true.Authentic mission, which is strictly about preaching and never about constraining, isparallelled by an unprecedented recrudescence of sectarian proselytism, which is anirreparable distortion of genuine missionarism, and actually opposes it. As a countertestimony,thus, proselytism is defi ned by the endeavour to divert and estrange thefaithful (be they Orthodox or members of other historical denominations) from theirChurch, and affi liate them abusively to sects and new religious movements. It is abrutal action, breaking traditional spiritual bonds, by conveying the harmful messageof antisocial defi ance. This is why proselytism poses a serious challenge marking thecourse of a society in transition. To illustrate this fact, the present study undertakesan analysis of the most aggressive form of proselytism in post-1989 Romania 1989:the adventist-millenarian one.

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