Ivan Prokhanov

Ivan Stepanovich Prokhanov (April 17 (29), 1869Проханов, Иван Степанович / Агеева Е. А. // Полупроводники — Пустыня [Электронный ресурс]. — 2015. — P. 650. — (Большая российская энциклопедия : [in 35 volumes] / гл. ред. Ю. С. Осипов; 2004—2017, V. 27). — . – October 6, 1935) was a Russian, Soviet, and emigre religious figure, engineer, poet, preacher,Contrary to the frequent assertion that the ordination was performed by representatives of the Czech Brethren, the act of ordination speaks of "representatives of the Brethren Union of Helčický, which is a branch of the Baptist World Alliance, and presbyters of the Czech Brethren Evangelical Church".Попов В. А. Поездки Проханова за рубеж // Журнал «Братский вестник». — ВСЕХБ, 1990a. — V. № 1. — P. 55—60. theologian, and politician. Brother of the Molokan theologian , father of the botanist , great-uncle of the writer Alexander Prokhanov.

Ivan Prokhanov dreamed of a "revolution of the Holy Spirit" that would transform not only religious but also political and economic life in Russia and around the world. To unite Christians, he initiated the creation of the interdenominational . Then, out of the amorphous Pashkov's followers movement, he built an independent confession — the All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians, developed its dogmatic theology, organised a "Christian Komsomol", wrote more than 1000 spiritual psalms and created an original tradition of church music.

He published evangelical magazines, wrote books on theology and religious jurisprudence, founded Christian political parties, and opened training schools for church ministers. After the Bolsheviks came to power, Prokhanov became an ideologue and inspirer for the creation of Christian communities. Joseph Stalin's personal intervention prevented him from realizing the project of the Soviet City of the Sun — Evangelsk.

He had been in exile since 1928 and organized evangelical Christian emigrants into another denominational association.

Biography

Origins Ivan Prokhanov was born in Vladikavkaz on April 17, 1869. Prokhanov's parents were Molokans, peasants from the villages of Kopeny and Slastukha, Atkarsky uyezd, Saratov Governorate. In 1862, at the age of 20, his father, Stepan Antonovich Prokhanov, moved to Vladikavkaz with his wife, mother and mother-in-law to escape religious persecution. Later, when the Prokhanovs had sons, their grandmothers told them how they were persecuted for their faith, how they were arrested and imprisoned.Проханов И. С. В котле России (перевод с английского А. М. Бычкова) = In The Cauldron of Russia. — Чикаго: Всемирный Союз Евангельских христиан, 1992. — 111 p.In Vladikavkaz, Stepan Antonovich achieved material prosperity, acquired four mills and land, and became a member of the city council. In 1875 he joined a group of Baptists and later became an elder of the local church. He corresponded with .Пузынин А. П. Традиция евангельских христиан. Изучение самоидентификации и богословия от момента её зарождения до наших дней. — Москва: Библейско-богословский институт св. апостола Андрея, 2010. — 523 p. — . In 1894 Stepan Antonovich, along with other Baptists, was exiled to Transcaucasia on charges of spreading harmful religious propaganda. His son Ivan was at that time living in the in the Crimea. In 1899 Ivan visited his father in the place of exile — in the Armenian village of Goris. After his exile ended, Stepan Antonovich returned to Vladikavkaz. He died in 1910. His wife outlived him by 22 years and died at the age of 90 on August 5, 1932 in Moscow.Кале В. Евангельские христиане в России и Советском Союзе. Иван Степанович Проханов (1869—1935) и путь евангельских христиан и баптистов. Перевод с нем. Скворцова П. И = Evangelische Christen in Russland und der Sovetunion [Sowjetunion]. Ivan Stepanovich Prochanov (1869—1935) und der Weg der Evangeliumschristen und Baptisten. Von Wilhelm Kahle. — Онкен — Вуперталь и Кассель, 1978. — 627 p. — P. 27.

Youth In his youth, Ivan joined a circle of school students. They were fascinated by the works of the pessimistic philosophers Schopenhauer and Hartmann. Under their influence he even contemplated suicide, but the result of his spiritual search was rooting in the Christian faith. In November 1886, Ivan began to visit the same Baptist congregation as his father, and on January 17, 1887, he joined the congregation.Unbaptized persons join Baptist churches through water baptism.

Ivan graduated from the gymnasium in 1887 and studied engineering at the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology in 1888-1893, while actively participating in the activities of the . In 1889, together with his brother Alexander, he began to illegally publish the first evangelical magazine "Beseda".

After graduating from the institute, Ivan got a job as assistant director of a sugar factory in Chernigov province, on the estate of , the founder of . However, due to the difference in religious views with Neplyuev, Ivan Prokhanov was soon forced to leave this job and moved to Kolpino to work as the assistant chief engineer of the Izhorskiye Factories.Проханов И. С. В котле России (перевод с английского А. М. Бычкова) = In The Cauldron of Russia. — Чикаго: Всемирный Союз Евангельских христиан, 1992. — 111 p.

The state policy of persecution of Protestants in Russia led Prokhanov to leave his professional activity.Кале В. Евангельские христиане в России и Советском Союзе. Иван Степанович Проханов (1869—1935) и путь евангельских христиан и баптистов. Перевод с нем. Скворцова П. И = Evangelische Christen in Russland und der Sovetunion [Sowjetunion]. Ivan Stepanovich Prochanov (1869—1935) und der Weg der Evangeliumschristen und Baptisten. Von Wilhelm Kahle. — Онкен — Вуперталь и Кассель, 1978. — 627 p. — P. 13. In 1894, together with the evangelical figure , the widow of the poet Nekrasov and other believers, he organized the Christian community "Vertograd" in the Crimea, where he lived for about a year.

Studying abroad

Under threat of arrest for his religious activities, Prokhanov traveled abroad illegally in 1895. Here he received theological training for about two years at a Baptist college in Bristol, England, and then at a Congregationalist church in London. He also spent six months each at the University of Berlin and the University of Paris, where he also studied theology. During his time abroad, Ivan Prokhanov established contacts among European Protestants.Кале В. Евангельские христиане в России и Советском Союзе. Иван Степанович Проханов (1869—1935) и путь евангельских христиан и баптистов. Перевод с нем. Скворцова П. И = Evangelische Christen in Russland und der Sovetunion [Sowjetunion]. Ivan Stepanovich Prochanov (1869—1935) und der Weg der Evangeliumschristen und Baptisten. Von Wilhelm Kahle. — Онкен — Вуперталь и Кассель, 1978. — 627 p. — P. 14.

In 1898, Prokhanov was invited to work as an interpreter for a large group of Dukhobors on the island of Cyprus. In Russia the Dukhobors were , and as a result a large number of them in an organized way to Canada.Клибанов А. И. История религиозного сектантства в России (60-е годы XIX в. — 1917 г.). — Москва: Наука, 1965. — 348 p. — P. 113. On the way, a large group of Dukhobors fell ill with a disease similar to dysentery and landed in Cyprus. Prokhanov supervised their camp for several weeks, then fell ill himself and, after recovering, decided to return to Russia. Contrary to fears about the consequences of leaving Russia illegally, Prokhanov was not punished upon his return, although he was initially placed under official police surveillance.

Service in Russia

From the time of his return to Russia in late 1898 until 1921, Prokhanov worked as a full-time engineer and in his spare time was involved in Christian ministry.Пузынин А. П. Традиция евангельских христиан. Изучение самоидентификации и богословия от момента её зарождения до наших дней. — Москва: Библейско-богословский институт св. апостола Андрея, 2010. — P. 244-245. — 523 p. — . After his return, Prokhanov lived in Vladikavkaz for a while, then found a job in his specialty as assistant manager of the Riga-Oryol Railroad and moved to Riga. He then worked at the Riga Polytechnic Institute, but in 1901, at the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he was expelled from work as one of the leaders of the "Stundists".Савинский С. Н. История евангельских христиан баптистов Украины, России, Белоруссии (1867—1917). — Санкт-Петербург: Библия для всех, 1999. — P. 241. — . Prokhanov moved to St. Petersburg, where he took a job at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Here, despite the censorship, he managed to publish a collection of liturgical psalms "" (the author of some of these psalms was Prokhanov himself).История ЕХБ в СССР. — М.: издательство ВСЕХБ, 1989. — С. 624.Коллектив авторов. ⁠История ЕХБ в СССР. — М.: издательство ВСЕХБ, 1989. — P. 127, 282.

On August 31, 1901, he married Anna Ivanovna Kazakova, the daughter of a Christian from Tbilisi.Кале В. Евангельские христиане в России и Советском Союзе. Иван Степанович Проханов (1869—1935) и путь евангельских христиан и баптистов. Перевод с нем. Скворцова П. И = Evangelische Christen in Russland und der Sovetunion [Sowjetunion]. Ivan Stepanovich Prochanov (1869—1935) und der Weg der Evangeliumschristen und Baptisten. Von Wilhelm Kahle. — Онкен — Вуперталь и Кассель, 1978. — 627 p. — P. 15. They had two sons.

The management of the Westinghouse factory sent Prokhanov on a foreign business trip to America, where he spent about two years. Upon his return to St. Petersburg, he became actively involved in the Evangelical Christian (Pashkovtsy) movement.Проханов, 1992, 1901—1903 гг. Начало практического труда. Within a few years, Ivan Prokhanov became the leader of the movement.

In 1916, a Petrograd court accused Prokhanov of creating a revolutionary organization, meaning the VSEKH.Проханов, 1992, Обвинения за организацию союза. A prosecution began, but was suspended due to the overburdened law enforcement after the murder of Grigory Rasputin.

After the revolutions, during the Civil War, Prokhanov's wife died, and in 1926 his youngest son Vsevolod died tragically, but Ivan Stepanovich did not give up the leadership of the VSEKH. Twice he was arrested and held in a concentration camp and prison for several months each: in 1921 and 1923.Проханов, 1992, Мое первое тюремное заключение и работа среди молодежи.Проханов, 1992, Второе тюремное заключение. 1922-1923 годы

In 1923, as part of a delegation from Russia, Prokhanov attended the Baptist World Congress in Stockholm.Кале В. Евангельские христиане в России и Советском Союзе. Иван Степанович Проханов (1869—1935) и путь евангельских христиан и баптистов. Перевод с нем. Скворцова П. И = Evangelische Christen in Russland und der Sovetunion [Sowjetunion]. Ivan Stepanovich Prochanov (1869—1935) und der Weg der Evangeliumschristen und Baptisten. Von Wilhelm Kahle. — Онкен — Вуперталь и Кассель, 1978. — 627 p. — P. 19. In 1924 he traveled to Czechoslovakia, Germany, Danzig (then a free city) and Finland. In Prague he was ordained to the priesthood.Кале В. Евангельские христиане в России и Советском Союзе. Иван Степанович Проханов (1869—1935) и путь евангельских христиан и баптистов. Перевод с нем. Скворцова П. И = Evangelische Christen in Russland und der Sovetunion [Sowjetunion]. Ivan Stepanovich Prochanov (1869—1935) und der Weg der Evangeliumschristen und Baptisten. Von Wilhelm Kahle. — Онкен — Вуперталь и Кассель, 1978. — 627 p. — P. 20.