The Boundaries of Legality as an Approach to the Study of Soviet Religious Policy

This chapter deals with the boundaries of legality as an approach to the study of Soviet religious policy. It describes in detail how religious groups acquired legal existence through registration of a religious association with the authorities and offers an analysis of the charters of religious associations. This study is based on the case of Evangelical Christians-Baptists between 1945 and 1991. As an example, the charter of their central organisation, the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, is analysed. Using the concept of boundaries of legality, and the case of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, a periodisation of Soviet post-war religious policy is proposed.