Tim Ellsworth

6 Responses to “Gorbachev: I’m a Christian”

1. The Zoner says:
   March 20th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
   

   Interesting. Yet puzzling is this: “”St Francis is, for me, the alter Christus, the other Christ,”

2. Andrew says:
   March 21st, 2008 at 9:41 am
   

   That’s great. God Bless. I know the Truly Reformed in America will immediately call into question his theology, but thats just wrong. I seen it with Michael Vick’s conversion. We can’t expect new believers to have perfect theology. All thats needed is the mustard seed and God will take care of the rest.

3. Tim says:
   March 21st, 2008 at 9:52 am
   

   At Union, we’re wondering what role this encounter in 2001 played in Gorbachev’s journey to faith:

   http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=10496

4. Brent Snyder says:
   March 21st, 2008 at 9:40 pm
   

   Not to cast doubts on anyone’s conversion, it’s not my place, but all those of the Russian Orthodox Church, call themselves “Christians”. Good for him if he did place his faith in Christ (a little hard to tell from the article if he actually did), but the Orthodox church in Russia does not believe that Jesus is the way to heaven. In fact they not only ridicule Christians but also persecute them. They are responsible for a lot of the propoganda that goes around about Christians. They had my inlaws believing that Baptists in America sacrifice their children.
   I’ll ask my sister-in-law living in Moscow what she and her husband think. But my wife was very skeptical, though she has been gone from there since 98′.

5. Larry says:
   March 24th, 2008 at 9:12 am
   

   Having been on several mission trips to Eastern Europe, I can attest that what Brent says is true. Much of the persecution the church faces today in that part of the world is not from the government but from others who claim the name of Christ.

   I was told of one incident where an Orthodox priest in a small village had the tires of the pastor of the local evangelical church flattened. In another instance, thugs procured by the local priest actually burned down a building being used by an evangelical church.

   One of the issues is that the office of priest is a source of revenue for these small village priests and anyone who is freed from the belief that favor with the priest is necessary for salvation is a lost source of revenue.

6. Craig says:
   March 25th, 2008 at 11:16 am
   

   This kind of resistance to evangelicalism is true also in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, to some extent. Nobody can really be certain of someone else’s conversion. However, knowing his background as the leader of an officially atheist culture, and hearing of his interest in St. Francis, makes me hopeful for Gorbachev.