www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall A Story from Soviet Russia

One report [...] tells of a schoolteacher who explained to her classes that Soviet cosmonauts had reached an altitude of 300 kilometers in their flights and had never encountered God. Therefore, she concluded, God does not exist. She then asked one of her second graders (whom she knew to be religious) whether she found this logic convincing. The child responded: "I do not know if 300 kilometers is very much, but I know very well that only those who are pure of heart will behold God."

(from "Antireligious Propaganda in the Soviet Union: A Study of Mass Persuasion" by David E. Powell, MIT Press: 1975)

Dear Chtec,

Excellent!

The desert Fathers taught that purity is also the pre-condition for properly understanding the Scriptures.

Just as the healthy human eye, unencumbered by any blockage, may see a physical object in the light, so man's spiritual sight made pure will see the clear sense of Scripture without even the need for bible commentaries etc.

Alex

Dear Chtec:

Thanks for this story. It reminded me of a similar propaganda story I heard which took place during the days of Communist Russia, and it went something like this:

A teacher once held the Bible to her students, and read a verse from the Psalms, Psalm 14:1, but instead of saying: "The fool says in his heart, 'there is no God.'", she put her hands over the first part of the verse so as to conceal it and began telling her students that the Bible says "there is no God."

One student went home and told his parents, but was then assured by his mother of how the teacher had concealed the complete verse.

Thank God the Godless communist yoke has been lifted from Russia, but there is still, however, a communist party there or at least that's what I've read.

God bless,

Rony

There are communist parties everywhere....we even have them in the good old UK.... Some just change their stripes.................

Anton