The burning of the Bibles at the Baptist warehouse last Feb. 3 by a group of people led by a dissident Orthodox priest has brought not only the Christians, but other religious communities together to fight for religious liberty in their country.
This information came from Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, pastor of Central Baptist Church, Tbilisi, Georgia, and president of the Evangelical Baptist Church there. He explained this to an audience at the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) on Sept. 20.
On a visit to the United States State Department to discuss religious freedom concerns, Songulashvili said while the Constitution of Georgia does guarantee full freedom of religion there is much opposition from the Orthodox Church.
Songulashvili explained some of the reasons why his church and the Baptists in particular have been singled out for harassment. While Christianity was introduced in 337 A.D., Baptist work of 132 years is relatively new by their religious standards.
Also, he says, Central Baptist Church has decided to be very involved in what he described as “the ills and pains of society” and “to engage the society.” They believe it is God’s will for the church to be part of national life. This has given it great visibility but has also caused difficulty with the Orthodox Church.
Songulashvili said that before the breakup of the Soviet Union some 11 years ago there used to be harmony but now the tensions are very prominent.
He showed a video of the Bible burning on Easter.
In the video one sees the defrocked Georgian Orthodox priest Basil Mkalavishvili saying on national TV that the burning of Bibles and Christian literature is “poisoning our nation.”
Among the group participating in the destruction of the Bibles are older women normally associated with the faith of the church. As Mkalavishvili poured kerosene on the flames they chanted the Lord’s Prayer. In the background he denounces Baptists as sectarians. He says, “No Baptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostals. We are the true Orthodox faith.”
Out of the incident has come a new law for religious freedom from the government. The video also shows the priest burning a copy of the draft of the law that would give religious liberty to all.
So far there has been no arrest in the Bible burning incident, and the Baptist bishop reports there have also been raids on other evangelical churches. They have organized a group of men to defend churches from further attack.
He says that Baptists are accused of all kinds of things including sacrifice of children.
However, the reputation of the Baptist churches is growing, and the work that is done with the refugees, mentally ill and the children has all gained recognition in the state.
The Baptist bishop thanked the BWA for helping to raise awareness on the issue. At that time the BWA denounced the book burning.
“How can a modern state endure if it is not able to control fanatics who in the name of religion burn books and destroy churches?” said Denton Lotz, BWA general secretary, who wrote both the U.S. and Georgia government on the matter.
“We need to pray,” said Lotz, “that the Holy Spirit will bring Baptists together so that we can work for religious freedom in places like Georgia.” (BWA)
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