The Historical Merits and Demerits of Soviet Atheist Research, Propaganda, and Education

The issue of religion and atheism in the former Soviet Union has been a highly controversial topic both domestically and internationally, whether before or after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Over the decades, different people, starting from different positions, viewpoints, and methods, have drawn different or even opposite conclusions regarding whether the Soviet Union’s religious theory and policy were correct, whether the Soviet Union truly had freedom of religious belief, and whether the former Soviet Union’s atheist propaganda and education were successful. This is not at all surprising.

前苏联的宗教与无神论问题，无论在苏联解体之前，还是解体之后，都是国际国内争议很大的问题。几十年来，围绕苏联的宗教理论政策是对的还是错的?苏联究竟有没有宗教信仰自由?前苏联的无神论宣传教育是成功的还是失败的?不同的人从不同的立场、观点、方法，得出了不同的甚至相反的结论，是丝毫不奇怪的事情。

In human history, the Soviet Union was the first country to address religious issues under socialist conditions and to conduct atheist research, propaganda, and education. Although the issue of religion and atheism in the former Soviet Union has become a historical legacy, it still requires serious study in order to draw lessons from history. For research on the former Soviet Union’s religion and atheism issue, from a fundamental perspective, one should adopt a stance of upholding socialism and use the worldview and methodology of historical materialism to arrive at relatively scientific conclusions.

在人类历史上，苏联是第一个在社会主义条件下处理宗教问题以及进行无神论研究及进行宣传教育的国家。前苏联的宗教与无神论问题，尽管已经成为了历史遗产，但是仍然需要认真加以研究，以便从历史中汲取经验教训。对于前苏联的宗教与无神论问题的研究，从基本的方面来说，应该站在维护社会主义的立场，运用历史唯物主义的世界观和方法论，才能得出比较科学的结论。

After the victory of the October Revolution, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union came to power and began to address religious issues under the conditions of governance, especially during the socialist period. Its main work was to concretize the Marxist view on religion, particularly Lenin’s thoughts on religious issues, into policies and regulations for handling religious issues, directly applying them to solve practical religious problems: on the one hand, guaranteeing citizens’ freedom of religious belief and properly handling the relationship between the state and the church, and between national education and religion; on the other hand, carrying out atheist propaganda and education in the ideological sphere to oppose religious theism. In this process, the merits and demerits of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s practical application of the Marxist-Leninist view on religion were manifested.

十月革命胜利以后，苏联共产党执政，开始着手解决执政条件下特别是社会主义时期的宗教问题。其主要工作就是将马克思主义宗教观，特别是列宁关于宗教问题的思想具体化为处理宗教问题的政策和法规，直接用于解决现实的宗教问题：即一方面保障公民宗教信仰自由，处理好国家与教会、国民教育同宗教的关系；另一方面，则在思想领域开展反对宗教有神论的无神论宣传教育。在这一过程中，体现出苏联共产党对于马列主义宗教观在实际中运用的功过。

This article only offers an analysis and evaluation of the former Soviet Union’s atheist research, propaganda, and education.

本文仅就前苏联的无神论研究、宣传教育作一分析评价。

I. The Guiding Ideology of the Former Soviet Union’s Atheist Research, Propaganda, and Education

一前苏联无神论研究、宣传教育的指导思想

According to relevant documents from the former Soviet Union, the conduct of scientific atheist research, propaganda, and education was based on the following basic principles:

根据前苏联的有关文献，开展科学无神论研究及宣传教育的指导思想是基于以下几个基本原则：

1. The dialectical materialist and historical materialist worldview is fundamentally opposed to the religious worldview. For a working-class political party guided by a scientific worldview, religion is not a private matter. The struggle against ideologies that hinder social progress, including the struggle against the religious theistic worldview, is a matter for the entire Party.

l. 辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义世界观同宗教世界观是根本对立的。对以科学世界观作为指导思想的工人阶级政党来说，宗教不是私人的事情。反对阻碍社会前进的意识形态的斗争，包括反对宗教有神论世界观的斗争，是全党的事情。

2. During the socialist period, remnants of bourgeois ideology, outdated customs and habits, and religious prejudices will persist for a long time. The struggle of socialist and communist ideas against all old ideas in the ideological sphere is inevitable.

2.在社会主义时期，资产阶级意识形态、陈旧的风俗习惯和宗教偏见的残余还将长期存在。思想领域内社会主义、共产主义思想反对一切旧思想的斗争是不可避免的。

3. In a socialist society, it is necessary to carry out socialist and communist ideological education among the masses. An important task of this education is, through long-term and unremitting efforts, to gradually enable all working people to form a scientific materialist worldview and become entirely new people. Scientific atheist education is one of the necessary means to accomplish this task.

3. 在社会主义社会中，必须对人民群众进行社会主义共产主义思想教育。这种教育的一个重要任务，就是经过长期不懈的努力使全体劳动人民逐步形成科学唯物主义世界观，成为全新的人。科学无神论教育是完成这一任务所必需的手段之一。

4. The propaganda and education of scientific atheism must be subordinate to the basic tasks set by the Party in the economic, political, and cultural fields during various historical periods, must be closely integrated with other aspects of ideological work, must pay attention to methods, and must not hurt the religious feelings of believers.

4. 科学无神论的宣传教育要服从党在各个历史时期在经济、政治、文化等方面提出的基本任务，要同思想工作的其他方面密切结合，要讲究方式，不能伤害信教群众的宗教感情。

These basic principles can be said to have been consistently reflected up to the program adopted by the 27th Congress of the CPSU in 1986 and related important policy documents. Emphasizing the formation of a scientific worldview among Soviet people, unlimited loyalty to the Party’s cause and communist ideology, love for the socialist motherland, and cultivating proletarian internationalism were, and still are, the core of ideological and political education work. It is necessary to more actively propagate scientific materialist views among the population and pay great attention to atheist education. The political report of the 27th Congress of the CPSU (February 25, 1986) mentioned that the dregs of history still leave their traces. These dregs exist, manifesting in people’s consciousness and behavior. Old ideas cannot be changed overnight, and overcoming inertia in thinking is even more complex. This requires persistent efforts. Work in ideological, political, labor, moral, and atheist education is a vibrant and multifaceted undertaking, in which stagnation is absolutely intolerable. The newly revised version of the CPSU Program adopted by the 27th Congress of the CPSU listed the further improvement of atheist education as one aspect of the Party’s ideological education work. The Party Program stipulates that the Party uses means of ideological influence to propagate the scientific materialist worldview and overcome religious prejudices, but it also does not allow insulting the feelings of believers. While the Party advocates absolute compliance with the constitutional guarantee of freedom of belief, it also condemns attempts to use religion to harm social and individual interests. An important content of atheist education is: raising people’s labor and social initiative, and promoting new Soviet rituals and customs.

上述基本原则可以说一直体现到1986年苏共27大通过的纲领及有关的重要政策文件之中。强调树立苏联人的科学世界观，无限忠于党的事业和共产主义思想，热爱社会主义祖国，培养无产阶级国际主义，过去是，现在仍然是意识形态和政治教育工作的核心。要更加积极地在居民中进行科学唯物主义观点的宣传，十分注意无神论教育。苏共27大政治报告(1986年2月25日)谈到历史上的积垢仍然留有它的痕迹。这些积垢是存在的，它表现在人们的意识中，表现在人们的举止中。陈旧的思想是不能一下子改变过来的，克服思想中的惰性则更为复杂。这方面必须作出顽强的努力。思想、政治、劳动、道德和无神论教育等工作，是生气勃勃的多方面的事业，在这样的事业中根本不能容忍停滞不前的现象。苏共27大通过的苏共纲领新修订本把进一步完善无神论教育列为党的思想教育工作的一个方面。党纲规定，党利用思想影响手段传播科学唯物主义世界观，克服宗教偏见，但也不允许侮辱信教者的感情。党在主张绝对遵守宪法规定的保障信仰自由的同时，也谴责利用宗教来损害社会和个人利益的企图。无神论教育的一个重要内容是：提高人们的劳动和社会积极性，推广新的苏联礼仪习俗。

However, after 1987, under Gorbachev’s tenure as General Secretary, the CPSU gradually abandoned Marxism-Leninism as its guiding ideology. In the CPSU Program of the 28th Congress, the CPSU’s attitude towards atheism had deviated from previous Marxist-Leninist principles.

但是，1987年以后，苏共在戈尔巴乔夫任总书记的情况下，逐步放弃了马克思列宁主义作为指导思想。在苏共28大党纲中，苏共对待无神论的态度已背离了以往的马克思列宁主义原则。

II. A Brief Historical Review of Soviet Atheist Research, Propaganda, and Education

二苏联无神论研究、宣传教育历史的简要回顾

Soviet atheist education began after the victory of the October Socialist Revolution and unfolded alongside the handling of church-state relations. It can be roughly divided into two major stages.

苏联的无神论教育始于十月社会主义革命胜利后，是伴随着对政教关系的处理展开的。大体上可划分为两个大的阶段。

1. The First Stage: From the victory of the October Revolution to the eve of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. [1]1 The 22nd Congress of the CPSU (1961) was a key party congress that adopted a new Party Program and intensified anti-religious campaigns under Khrushchev. Atheist education adopted the terminology of anti-religious propaganda, emphasizing the offensive and combative nature of anti-religious propaganda.

1. 第一阶段，从十月革命胜利到卫国战争爆发前夕。无神论教育采用的是反宗教宣传的提法，注重反宗教宣传的进攻性和战斗性。

In 1918, Soviet Russia promulgated the Decree on the Separation of the Church from the State and the School from the Church. [2]2 The League of Militant Atheists (Союз воинствующих безбожников) was a mass organization active from the 1920s to the 1940s that aggressively promoted state atheism. In the process of implementing this decree, in 1919, the People’s Commissariat for Justice established the Eighth Department, headed by Krasikov, [3]3 The 27th Congress of the CPSU (1986) was the first party congress under Gorbachev’s leadership, marking the beginning of the perestroika and glasnost reforms. to specifically handle anti-religious propaganda work. This department published the journal *Revolution and the Church*, [4]4 *Revolution and the Church* was a journal published by the Soviet state from 1919 to 1924, dedicated to anti-religious propaganda and commentary on church-state relations. which published many articles and communications elucidating the decree on the separation of church and state and school and church, as well as exposing the counter-revolutionary activities of the church. Some famous experts on religion and atheism also went deep into urban and rural areas to give lectures together with local Party and Soviet workers, organized anti-religious rallies and debates, and especially mobilized and organized the masses to expose the deceptive activities of the church using so-called “incorruptible corpses.” [5]5 “Incorruptible corpses” refers to the remains of saints or religious figures venerated in Orthodox Christianity, which the Soviet state sought to expose as frauds through public scientific examination. From 1918 to 1920, at the request of the masses in various places, 58 so-called “incorruptible corpses” were dissected in the presence of the masses, clergy, examining physicians, and Soviet representatives, exposing the clergy’s deception and raising the masses’ consciousness. From 1920 onwards, anti-religious propaganda was gradually transferred to the leadership of the Main Political Education Committee [6]6 The Main Political Education Committee (Glavpolitprosvet) was a Soviet state body established in 1920 to oversee political and cultural education among the masses. headed by Krupskaya. [7]7 Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya (1869–1939) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Lenin’s wife, who played a leading role in Soviet education and cultural policy. In accordance with the Party’s policy, the Main Political Education Committee paid special attention to organizing lectures, carrying out work in clubs, museums, and mass education, combining anti-religious propaganda with cultural and ideological education for the masses. During this period, a group of anti-religious propagandists headed by Yaroslavsky [8]8 Yemelyan Mikhailovich Yaroslavsky (1878–1943) was a leading Soviet Bolshevik, historian, and head of the League of the Militant Godless, the main state-sponsored atheist organization. wrote and organized the publication of dozens of books and pamphlets. In the acute class struggle, many believers, liberated from the oppression of the exploiting classes and the church, having witnessed the counter-revolutionary activities of the church and the deceptive use of religion, and having received initial education in culture and scientific knowledge, broke off their ties with the church.

1918年，苏俄颁布了《关于教会同国家分离和学校同教会分离》的法令。在贯彻这一法令的过程中，1919年，司法人民委员部成立了以克拉西科夫为首的第八局具体抓反宗教宣传工作。该局出版了《革命与教会》杂志，发表了不少阐明教会同国家分离、学校同教会分离的法令及揭露教会反革命活动的文章和通讯。一些著名的宗教与无神论问题专家还深入城乡和地方党和苏维埃的工作人员一起进行宣讲，组织反宗教集会和辩论会，特别是发动组织群众揭露教会利用所谓“不腐的干尸”所进行的欺骗活动。从1918年~1920年，应各地群众的要求，当着群众、僧侣、检验医师和苏维埃代表的面，对58具所谓“不朽的干尸”进行解剖，揭穿了神职人员的骗术，提高了群众的觉悟。从1920年起反宗教宣传逐步转由克鲁普斯卡娅领导的政治教育总局领导。按照党的方针，政治教育总局特别注意举办讲座、开展俱乐部、博物馆、大众教育的工作，将反宗教宣传同对群众的文化教育和思想教育结合起来。这期间，以雅罗斯拉夫斯基为首的一批反宗教宣传家写作并组织出版了几十种书籍和小册子。在尖锐的阶级斗争中，广大教徒由于从剥削阶级和教会压迫下解放出来，由于亲眼看到了教会的反革命活动和利用宗教进行的欺骗行为，由于受到了初步文化科学知识的教育，不少教徒断绝了与教会的联系。

With the end of the civil war, from 1921 onwards, the Soviet Union entered a period of peaceful socialist transformation and construction. Alongside the tremendous changes in the socio-economic, political, and cultural fields, ideological education work for the working people, including anti-religious propaganda, was further strengthened. Due to the temporary resurgence of capitalist factors during the New Economic Policy period, [9]9 The New Economic Policy (NEP) was a Soviet economic policy from 1921 to 1928 that temporarily reintroduced limited market mechanisms and private enterprise after the civil war. churches and sects also vigorously expanded their influence. The development of the situation required strengthening and improving the content and methods of anti-religious propaganda, overcoming tendencies towards oversimplification, and enhancing its scientific character.

随着国内战争的结束，从1921年起，苏联进入和平的社会主义改造和建设时期。伴随着社会经济、政治、文化领域的巨大变革，对劳动人民的思想教育工作，包括反宗教宣传进一步得到加强。由于新经济政策时期资本主义因素的暂时活跃，教会、教派也极力扩大自己的影响，形势的发展要求加强和改进反宗教宣传的内容和方法，克服简单化倾向，提高科学性。

In March 1922, Lenin published the article “On the Significance of Militant Materialism,” putting forward comprehensive demands for anti-religious propaganda. Anti-religious propaganda was then rapidly launched. Within the political education system, various seminars were held to train high-level atheist propaganda cadres; publishing houses began systematically publishing important works of 18th- and 19th-century European materialists and atheists. In December 1922, the Chief Committee for Political Education founded its own popular science organ, *The Atheist*, which serialised Yaroslavsky’s *On the Bible for Believers and Non-Believers*, playing an important role in atheist propaganda and education at the time. To organise mass and systematic propaganda, in 1925 the all-Union voluntary anti-religious propaganda organisation, the League of the Militant Godless, was established. Yaroslavsky served as its main leader. Krupskaya, Lunacharsky, Krasikov, Skvortsov and Stepanov all participated in the relevant leadership and organisational work.

1922年3月，列宁发表《论战斗唯物主义的意义》一文，对反宗教宣传提出全面要求。反宗教宣传随之迅速开展起来。在政治教育系统，举办各种研究班，培训高水平的无神论宣传干部；各出版社着手有计划地出版18~19世纪欧洲唯物主义者和无神论者的重要著作。1922年12月，政治教育总局创办了自己的科普性机关报《无神论者》，该报曾连载了雅罗斯拉夫斯基的《对教徒和非教徒谈圣经》，在当时的无神论宣传教育中起到了重要作用。为了组织好群众性和系统的宣传，1925年成立了全苏自愿参加的反宗教宣传的组织——全苏战斗无神论者联盟。雅罗斯拉夫斯基担任主要领导。克鲁普斯卡娅、卢那察尔斯基、克拉西科夫、斯克沃尔佐夫、斯切潘诺夫都参加了有关领导和组织工作。

The period from 1926 to 1937 was an important period for organised mass anti-religious propaganda in the Soviet Union. The great social changes brought about by the country’s industrialisation, agricultural collectivisation and cultural revolution further promoted and improved ideological education work and anti-religious propaganda work. In 1926, the first All-Union Anti-Religious Work Conference was held, summarising the work of the preceding decade, criticising the “Left” deviation in anti-religious propaganda, and pointing out that carnival-style anti-religious demonstrations must be corrected, as well as activities such as “Komsomol Christmas and Easter” that treated religion with mockery, sarcasm or ridicule, and that administrative measures to forcibly close churches against the will of believers must be stopped. The conference summarised the debate between the newspaper *The Anti-Religious*, edited by Yaroslavsky, and the magazine *The Anti-Religious at the Lathe*, published in the name of the Moscow City Committee and edited by Kostelovskaya. The magazine *The Anti-Religious at the Lathe* held that anti-religious propaganda was merely about criticising the role of religion in serving the reactionary classes, and that the approach to religion should be to “strike it on the head”; some articles and cartoons in the magazine treated religious believers with a crude attitude. In response, the newspaper *The Anti-Religious* criticised the erroneous tendency of this magazine. The conference fully supported the anti-religious line of *The Anti-Religious*, emphasising that anti-religious propaganda must adopt a scientific attitude and method. The conference pointed out that anti-religious propaganda absolutely could not be conducted in isolation; it could achieve results only in connection with the fundamental transformation of social life. There must be a sufficiently sober assessment of the reasons for the existence of religion. It was necessary not only to expose the exploiting-class essence of religion and its connection with class enemies, but also to reveal the anti-scientific essence of religion through a materialist explanation of the laws of nature and social development.

1926年~1937年，是苏联开展有组织的群众性反宗教宣传的重要时期。国家的工业化、农业集体化和文化革命引起的巨大社会变革，进一步推动改进了思想教育工作和反宗教宣传工作。1926年，召开了全苏第一次反宗教工作会议，总结了近10年的工作，批判了反宗教宣传的“左”的倾向，指出必须纠正狂欢式的反宗教游行示威；或以讥笑、挖苦、戏弄的方式对待宗教的类似“共青团的圣诞节、复活节”的活动，杜绝违背教徒意愿以行政手段强行关闭教堂的行为。会议对以雅罗斯拉夫斯基主编的《反宗教者》报和以科斯捷洛芙斯卡雅主编的以莫斯科市委名义出版的《机床旁的反宗教者》杂志之间的争论进行了总结。《机床旁的反宗教者》杂志认为反宗教宣传仅仅是批判宗教为反动阶级服务的作用，对宗教就是要采取“照脑袋痛击”的办法，杂志上的一些文章、漫画以粗暴的态度对待宗教徒。为此，《反宗教者》报对该杂志的错误倾向进行了批评。会议完全支持《反宗教者》报的反宗教方针，强调反宗教宣传必须采取科学态度和方法。会议指出，反宗教宣传绝不能孤立进行，只有在同对社会生活进行根本改造的联系中才能取得成绩；要对宗教存在的原因有足够清醒的估计；不但要揭露宗教的剥削阶级本质以及同阶级敌人的联系，而且要通过对自然界和社会发展规律进行唯物主义说明来揭示宗教的反科学本质。

The anti-religious propaganda of the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s was the initial practice of the victorious working class in its struggle against religious ideology to propagate its own worldview. Due to the limitations of historical conditions and the lack of successful experience to draw upon, anti-religious propaganda inevitably bore the imprint of the era, with shortcomings and even certain major errors. First, anti-religious propaganda in this period was conducted under conditions of acute class struggle. In the early days of Soviet power, the majority of Orthodox clergy took a stand against the Soviet regime, using various means to carry out counter-revolutionary activities; relations between the state and the church had not yet normalised. This determined that the anti-religious propaganda of the time had a distinct character of class struggle. Second, amidst the stormy class struggle, anti-religious propaganda often contented itself with simplistic general appeals, substituting mass campaign methods and administrative measures for patient and meticulous ideological work. Third, many believing workers and peasants broke with religion not because they had established a scientific worldview, but mainly out of hatred for the church as an exploiter and as an enemy of Soviet power, and out of anger at the church’s use of religion for political deception. Although they had severed ties with the church and no longer attended it, the religious ideas in their minds were not completely eliminated. Fourth, although the anti-religious propaganda of the 1920s and 1930s spread across the country, it was mainly carried out in the developed regions of the Soviet Union. In Central Asia, the Transcaucasus, Siberia and the Far East, due to economic and cultural backwardness, the complexity of national questions, and the deep-rooted influence of religion, the conduct of anti-religious propaganda work encountered greater resistance.

苏联20世纪20~30年代的反宗教宣传，是胜利了的工人阶级为了传播自己的世界观，在同宗教意识形态进行斗争方面所进行的初步实践。由于历史条件的限制以及没有可供借鉴的成功经验，反宗教宣传不可避免地带有时代的印迹，存在着不足乃至某些重大失误。首先，这一时期的反宗教宣传是在尖锐的阶级斗争条件下进行的。苏维埃政权初期，多数东正教神职人员站到反对苏维埃政权的立场，利用各种手段进行反革命活动，国家和教会的关系还未正常化。这就决定了当时的反宗教宣传具有鲜明的阶级斗争性质。其次，在急风暴雨式的阶级斗争中，反宗教宣传往往满足于简单化的一般号召，以群众运动方式和行政手段代替耐心细致的思想工作。第三，许多信教的工人农民群众摆脱宗教，并非由于树立了科学的世界观，主要是出于对教会作为剥削者、作为苏维埃政权敌人的愤恨，以及对教会利用宗教进行政治欺骗的愤怒。尽管他们同教会断绝了联系，不去教堂了，但是头脑中的宗教观念并没有完全消除。第四，20~30年代的反宗教宣传虽然波及全国，但主要还是在苏联的发达地区进行的。在中亚、外高加索、西伯利亚和远东地区，由于经济文化的落后、民族问题的复杂、宗教影响的根深蒂固，反宗教宣传工作的开展则遇到了更大的阻力。

During the Great Patriotic War from 1941 to 1945, because all efforts were concentrated on the anti-fascist war, and the religious circles also displayed unprecedented patriotic fervour, anti-religious propaganda basically ceased.

在1941年~1945年的卫国战争期间，由于全力进行反法西斯战争，宗教界也表现出空前的爱国热忱，反宗教宣传基本停止。

2. The second stage, from the victory of the Great Patriotic War to the mid-1980s. The slogan of anti-religious propaganda was basically abandoned, replaced by atheist propaganda and atheist education. Atheist education emphasised scientificity, planning, systematicity and effectiveness.

2. 第二阶段，从卫国战争胜利到20世纪80年代中期。基本上放弃了反宗教宣传的口号，代之以无神论宣传和无神论教育。无神论教育注重科学性、计划性、系统性、成效性。

After the victory of the Great Patriotic War, the situation facing the religious question in the former Soviet Union was as follows: (1) The disasters and suffering brought by the war caused the influence of religion to rebound significantly, religious organisations became more active, and large numbers of people who had left the church before the war rejoined it. (2) The primary task at home was to restore the national economy devastated by the war and promote the comprehensive upsurge of socialist construction. In the decade after the war, atheist propaganda and education remained basically in a state of stagnation. (3) The great victories of socialist revolution and construction, the normalisation of relations between the state and the church, the patriotic behaviour of the church during the war, and the church’s modernisation process to adapt to socialist society raised many practical questions that required scientific theoretical answers. This demanded that atheist propaganda, in both content and method, adapt to the new historical conditions in order to further develop the Marxist view of religion and improve and perfect atheist education work.

卫国战争胜利后，前苏联宗教问题面临的情况是：（1）战争带来的灾难痛苦使宗教影响大大回升，宗教组织进一步活跃，大批战前脱离教会的群众重新入教。（2）国内首要任务是恢复被战争破坏了的国民经济，促进社会主义建设的全面高涨。战后10年内，无神论宣传教育基本上仍然处于停滞状态。（3）社会主义革命和建设的伟大胜利，国家同教会关系的正常化，教会在战争时期的爱国行为，教会为适应社会主义社会进行的现代化进程，提出了许多需要从理论上给予科学回答的现实问题，这就要求无神论宣传无论从内容还是从方法上都要适应新的历史条件，以便更进一步发展马克思主义宗教观，改进和完善无神论教育工作。

On 7 July and 10 November 1954, the Central Committee of the CPSU successively adopted the resolutions “On Major Shortcomings in Scientific Atheist Propaganda and Measures for Their Improvement” and “On Errors in Scientific Atheist Propaganda among the Population.” These two resolutions laid the foundation for the extensive development of Soviet atheist education over the following thirty-odd years. The resolutions disclosed that religion had become active again within the country, with religious proliferation in some areas, pointing out that the church was using every means to expand and consolidate its influence over the population. Religious prejudices and superstitions were poisoning the consciousness of a part of the Soviet people, hindering them from consciously and actively participating in communist construction. The resolutions sharply criticised the state of neglect into which atheist propaganda, as an important aspect of ideological work, had fallen. They pointed out that relevant departments from the central to the local level seemed to have forgotten that atheist propaganda was an important means of communist education for the working people, had not used effective means of ideological work to carry it out, and had even abandoned atheist education. Even the few materials on atheist propaganda that existed fell far short of meeting the demand. The weakening of atheist propaganda had, to a certain extent, contributed to the expansion of religious influence. The resolutions instructed Party committees at all levels to attach importance to and conduct atheist propaganda, and adopted some concrete measures, while also demanding that atheist propaganda must never hurt the religious feelings of believers or clergy. After the two resolutions of the CPSU Central Committee, atheist propaganda was quickly restored and further developed. The Party, government, trade unions, Komsomol, and the relevant departments of propaganda, culture, education and publishing cooperated with each other, forming the first upsurge of post-war atheist propaganda and education, which curbed the expansion of religious influence.

1954年7月7日，11月10日，苏共中央先后作出《关于科学无神论宣传中的重大缺点及其改进措施》和《关于在居民中进行科学无神论宣传中的错误》的决议。这两个决议奠定了以后30多年苏联无神论教育得到广泛开展的基础。决议披露了国内宗教重新活跃，局部地区宗教泛滥的情况，指出教会正通过一切手段，力图扩大和巩固对居民的影响。宗教偏见和迷信正毒害着一部分苏联人的意识，妨碍他们自觉地和积极地参加共产主义建设。决议严厉批评了作为思想工作一个重要方面的无神论宣传处于无人管理的状态。指出从中央到地方的各有关部门似乎已忘记了无神论宣传是对劳动人民进行共产主义教育的一种重要手段，没有利用思想工作的有效手段开展，甚至放弃了无神论教育。即使有少数无神论宣传的材料，却远远满足不了要求。无神论宣传的削弱在一定程度上助长了宗教影响的扩大。决议责成各级党委要重视和开展无神论宣传，并采取了一些具体措施，同时要求无神论宣传绝不能伤害教徒以及神职人员的宗教感情。苏共中央两次决议以后，无神论宣传迅速恢复并进一步发展起来。党、政、工、团、宣传、文化、教育、出版各有关部门互相合作，形成了战后无神论宣传教育的第一个高潮，抵制了宗教影响的扩大。

However, the new upsurge of atheist propaganda that arose after more than a decade of stagnation had, to a certain extent, still not completely shaken off the formalistic and simplistic tendencies of the anti-religious propaganda of the 1920s and 1930s, bringing with it no small number of negative effects.

但是在停滞了十几年后掀起的新一轮无神论宣传的高潮，在一定程度上仍未完全摆脱20~30年代反宗教宣传的形式主义简单化的倾向，带来了不少消极影响。

After the 22nd Congress of the CPSU, the Central Committee of the CPSU, on the basis of summing up the mistakes in atheist propaganda work, passed a resolution in February 1964 titled “Measures for Strengthening Atheist Education among the Population.” The resolution prominently called for strengthening scientific research on atheist issues and the training of specialists, enhancing atheist study among cadres at all levels, using various means to conduct atheist education—especially among youth—and improving the organizational work of atheist propaganda. In the same year, the Institute of Scientific Atheism was established within the Academy of Social Sciences of the CPSU Central Committee to lead and coordinate nationwide atheist propaganda work. The institute also organized the publication of the biannual collected papers *Problems of Scientific Atheism*. The League of Militant Atheists, founded in the 1930s, was renamed the “Knowledge Society” and launched the popular science atheist magazine *Science and Religion*, which played a guiding role in atheist research and propaganda at both high and low levels.

苏共22大以后，苏共中央在总结无神论宣传工作失误的基础上，于1964年2月通过了《关于加强居民中的无神论教育的措施》的决议。决议突出地提出加强无神论问题的科学研究和专家的培养，加强各级干部的无神论学习，运用各种手段进行无神论教育，特别是对青少年进行教育，加强无神论宣传的组织工作。同年，在苏共中央社会科学院成立了科学无神论研究所，领导和协调全国无神论宣传工作，并由研究所组织出版一年两期的《科学无神论问题》论文集。30年代成立的战斗无神论者同盟也改为《知识协会》，并创办了科普性无神论杂志《科学与宗教》，从高低两个层次上发挥着无神论研究和宣传的指导作用。

During the more than ten years from 1964 to 1976, atheist education in the Soviet Union generally developed in a relatively healthy manner and accumulated some experience. Given that during the period of socialist construction, atheist propaganda was not limited to criticizing religious ideas but was more about helping people establish a scientific materialist worldview, Article 52 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution changed the phrase “freedom of anti-religious propaganda” from the 1936 and 1959 constitutions to “the right to conduct atheist propaganda.” Thus, the concept of “anti-religious propaganda,” which emphasized offensiveness and militancy and had a narrow meaning, was formally discontinued.

从1964年~1976年的10多年间，前苏联的无神论教育总的来说发展得比较健康，也积累了一些经验。鉴于在社会主义建设时期，无神论宣传并不限于批判宗教思想，更主要是帮助人们树立科学的唯物主义世界观，1977年，苏联新宪法第五十二条，将1936年，1959年宪法规定的“……反宗教宣传的自由”改为具有“进行无神论宣传的权利”。这样，强调进攻性、战斗性，且含义狭窄的“反宗教宣传”的概念便正式停止使用。

Thereafter, the focus of atheist education shifted to forming and perfecting the system of atheist education, emphasizing the adoption of comprehensive measures—including atheist education—in the process of cultivating the scientific worldview of the new socialist person. After the 27th Congress of the CPSU, atheist education highlighted the need to further improve its effectiveness. Relevant departments were required to seriously inspect problems in their work, continue to overcome the shortcomings of simplification and formalism, strengthen surveys of the religious beliefs of the population, improve measures in response to new changes in religion, emphasize atheist education for youth, stress individual work with believers, and further promote new Soviet rituals and customs.

之后，无神论教育的重点则在于形成和完善无神论教育体系，强调在培养社会主义新人的科学世界观的过程中，采取包括无神论教育在内的综合性措施。苏共27大以后，无神论教育突出要解决的问题是进一步提高无神论教育的成效问题。有关部门要求认真检查工作中的问题，继续克服简单化、形式主义的缺点，加强居民宗教信仰状况的调查，针对宗教方面的新变化改进措施，突出对青少年的无神论教育，强调对教徒进行个别工作，进一步推广新的苏联礼仪风俗等等。

III. Characteristics of Soviet Atheist Research, Propaganda, and Education

三前苏联无神论研究、宣传教育的特点

1. Emphasis on the necessity for atheist education to be based on profound social transformation and to be closely integrated with other aspects of ideological education work

1. 强调无神论教育必须以深刻的社会变革为基础，必须同思想教育工作的其他方面密切结合

The Soviet Union adhered to Lenin’s principle that propaganda of atheism should be subordinate to the basic tasks of the political party of the working class, paying attention to placing atheist education in its proper position within the Party’s overall work. It emphasized that purely enlightenment-style atheist propaganda and education could not ultimately eliminate religious concepts; rather, profound progressive changes in all aspects of social activity were the fundamental factor in eliminating religious theism. In relevant Soviet documents, it was stressed that the overcoming of religion is a law-governed historical process, which can only proceed on the basis of continuous development in society, economy, politics, culture, education, science, and technology, as well as the unity and prosperity of all nationalities. Cultivating the new socialist person and educating people are inseparable from people’s actual participation in creative labor for the happiness of the people, participation in social life, and participation in solving various tasks of socioeconomic construction and cultural construction.

前苏联坚持列宁关于宣传无神论应当服从工人阶级政党的基本任务的原则，注意将无神论教育摆在党的全部工作中的适当位置。强调，单纯启蒙式的无神论宣传教育，不可能最终消除宗教观念，社会活动各方面深刻的前进性变革才是消除宗教有神论的根本性因素。在前苏联的有关文件中，强调宗教的克服是一个合乎规律的历史过程，这一过程只能在社会和经济、政治、文化教育、科学技术不断发展，各民族团结繁荣的基础上进行，培养社会主义新人，对人的教育是同人实际参加为人民的幸福进行的创造性劳动，参加社会生活，参加解决社会经济建设和文化建设的各项任务分不开的。

On the premise that atheist education must be based on profound social transformation, the Soviet Union also affirmed the positive role of atheist propaganda and education in criticizing the religious worldview, disseminating scientific knowledge, and cultivating a scientific worldview in people. It further pointed out that this positive role can only be fully realized when closely integrated with other aspects of ideological education work.

前苏联在强调无神论教育必须以深刻的社会变革为基础的前提下，也肯定了无神论宣传教育在批评宗教世界观，传播科学知识，培养人们树立科学世界观方面所起的积极作用，并进一步指出，这种积极作用只有在和思想教育工作的其他方面密切结合起来时才能得到充分发挥。

2. Emphasis on social surveys of the current state of religion

2. 重视对宗教现状的社会调查

In the Soviet Union, there was a tradition of conducting surveys on the state of religion. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the League of Militant Atheists, and other organizations conducted numerous surveys. After the 1950s, such surveys became active again. After the establishment of the Institute of Scientific Atheism under the CPSU Central Committee in 1964, more than 40 survey research sites were gradually selected across the country, making sociological surveys of the state of religion a routine task. Before the 1960s, the main purpose of sociological surveys of religion was to demonstrate the gradual decline of religious belief among the Soviet people and the development of mass atheism. As a result, many surveys at that time inevitably carried subjective biases, focusing on the positive aspects of societal secularization while often neglecting existing problems, leading to propaganda that did not match reality. This situation not only caused dissatisfaction among many atheist workers but also drew criticism from the Party and government. Since the 1970s, social surveys on religion gradually overcame their one-sidedness. They not only investigated the achievements of secularization but also began to pay attention to the reasons for the continued existence of religious beliefs among the population during the socialist period, the religious thoughts and psychological characteristics of different types of believers, the resurgence of religion in certain areas, the situation of religious belief among youth, and the reasons for the low effectiveness of atheist propaganda. After the 27th Congress of the CPSU, sociological surveys of religion received even greater attention. It was emphasized that the starting point for improving atheist education was to provide a realistic assessment of the secularization of contemporary Soviet society; to gain a scientifically grounded understanding of the state of belief among different social strata and types of the population, as well as new characteristics and development trends in the activities of domestic religious organizations; to provide a true picture of the state of atheist conviction among the masses; and to oppose idealistic assessments.

在前苏联，一直有对宗教状况进行调查的传统。20世纪20~30年代，苏联科学院、战斗无神论者联盟和其他组织就组织过多次调查。50年代以后，这方面的调查重新活跃。1964年苏共中央社会科学无神论研究所成立以后，在全国各地陆续选定了40多个调查研究工作点，宗教状况的社会学调查已成为一项经常性工作。60年代以前，宗教社会学调查的主要目的是为了证明苏联人民宗教信仰的逐步衰落和群众性无神论的发展。这样，当时的不少调查，难免带有主观的框框，对社会世俗化的积极方面看得多，存在的问题往往被忽略，造成宣传上的名不符实。这种状况，不但引起了许多无神论工作者的不满，也受到了党和政府的批评。70年代以来，宗教方面的社会调查逐步克服了片面性。不但调查世俗化的成绩，且开始注意社会主义时期居民宗教信仰继续存在的原因，不同类型教徒宗教思想和心理特点，某些地区宗教回升的状况，青少年宗教信仰的情况，无神论宣传成效不大的原因等等。苏共27大以后，宗教的社会学调查更受到重视，强调完善无神论教育的出发点，就是对当今苏联社会世俗化给予合乎实际的评价，对居民中不同的社会阶层和类型的信教状况，对国内宗教组织活动方面的新特点及发展趋势有了具有科学根据的了解，提供群众无神论信念状况的真实图景，反对作唯心主义的估量。

Sociological surveys of the state of religion provided a variety of vivid and concrete materials, thereby enriching the content of atheist education, forming new working methods, and improving the effectiveness of atheist education.

宗教状况的社会学调查，提供了各种各样生动具体的材料，从而充实了无神论教育的内容，形成了新的工作方法，提高了无神论教育的成效。

3. Strengthening the organizational work of scientific atheist education and comprehensively applying multiple methods

3. 加强科学无神论教育的组织工作，综合运用多种方法

Drawing on decades of practical experience, the Soviet Union can be said to have formed a system of atheist education with clear ideological content, a complete set of methods, and strict organizational guarantees. In terms of organizational leadership, the Party, government, trade unions, the Komsomol, the Knowledge Society, cultural institutions, and schools all established and assigned atheist education work departments or relevant personnel at all levels from top to bottom. To maintain regular contact and strengthen coordination among various systems and departments, atheist education committees were established within major Party committees at the central, republic, oblast, city, and district levels. Their members consisted of representatives from the Party and various mass organizations, scholars, university teachers, and experienced atheist propagandists and lecturers.

前苏联积几十年的实践经验，可以说已形成了一个具有明确的思想内容，成套的方法和严密的组织保证的无神论教育体系。在组织领导方面，党、政、工、团、《知识》协会、文化机关、学校各个系统，自上而下都设置和配备了无神论教育工作部门或有关人员。为了使各系统、各部门经常保持联系，加强协作，在中央、各共和国、州、市、区等大的党委机关建立了无神论教育委员会。其成员由党和各群众团体的代表、学者、高等学校教师、有经验的无神论宣传员、演讲员们组成。

The methods of Soviet atheist education were also diverse. First, various organizations widely used a variety of specific forms of mass propaganda, such as lectures, oral propaganda, question-and-answer evenings, themed evenings, people’s universities, knowledge schools, heart-to-heart talks, discussion meetings, science and technology groups, atheist knowledge competitions, and meetings with scientists and artists. Second, propaganda tools such as newspapers, periodicals, radio, and television were widely utilized. Central and local newspapers and periodicals frequently published articles and materials on atheism, and many newspapers and periodicals had special columns on atheist issues. The popular science magazine *Science and Religion* had a significant influence both domestically and internationally. Radio and television also broadcast programs such as broadcasts to believers and non-believers, dialogues on religion and atheism, and “Man and the World.” Third, visual and literary forms of atheist tradition and knowledge education were conducted using novels, plays, fine arts, and films with an atheist tendency. Fourth, individual popular science education work was carried out with believers.

前苏联无神论教育的方法也多种多样。首先，各个组织广泛运用各种具体的群众性宣传形式，如讲座、口头宣传、问答晚会、专题晚会、人民大学、知识学校、谈心会、讨论会、科技小组、无神论知识竞赛、同科学家和艺术家会见等等。其次，广泛利用报刊、广播、电视等宣传工具。中央和地方报刊经常刊登无神论方面的文章和材料，许多报刊辟有无神论问题专栏。科普杂志《科学与宗教》在国内外影响很大。广播电视也开办对教徒和非教徒广播、关于宗教和无神论的对话、人与世界等节目。第三，利用具有无神论倾向的小说、戏剧、美术、电影等进行形象化的无神论传统和知识教育。第四，开展对教徒的个别的科普知识教育工作。

IV. The Historical Merits and Faults of Soviet Atheist Research, Propaganda, and Education

四、前苏联无神论研究、宣传教育的历史功过

Although Soviet atheist education over several decades took a tortuous path, as an aspect of ideological education work, it promoted the process of societal secularization and resisted and weakened the influence of religious ideas on the masses. Of course, the secularization process in the Soviet Union and the general trend of the gradual weakening of religion cannot be attributed solely to the results of atheist education. The fundamental factor was the socialist transformations in the Soviet Union over several decades in the fields of economy, politics, ideology, science and technology, and culture and education, which achieved world-renowned successes and led to the gradual weakening of the various conditions on which religion depended. When evaluating the effectiveness of Soviet atheist education, this major premise must be upheld.

前苏联长达几十年的无神论教育尽管走过了曲折的路，但是，它作为思想教育工作的一个方面，推动了社会的世俗化进程，抵制和削弱了宗教思想对人民群众的影响。当然，不能把苏联的世俗化进程和宗教逐渐消弱的总趋势单纯归结为是开展无神论教育的结果。苏联几十年来在经济、政治、意识形态、科学技术、文化教育等方面发生的社会主义变革并取得世界瞩目的成就，导致宗教赖以依存的各种条件的逐步消弱，才是根本性的。在评价苏联无神论教育的效果时，必须坚持这个大前提。

The problems with Soviet atheist education were also numerous. First, the implementation of atheist education was highly uneven. In developed regions, atheist education was easier to carry out and its effects were more evident; conversely, it was more difficult in less developed areas. Second, atheist education was to a certain extent divorced from reality, marked by formalism and oversimplification—a long-standing problem that had not been properly resolved. Especially at the grassroots level of atheist education, due to the poor quality and limited methods of propaganda and education workers, there was little investigation into the current state of religion, little understanding of believers’ psychology and new changes in religion, and a reliance on mechanically applying ready-made materials. Many materials were filled with empty preaching, lacked vivid examples, and had weak persuasive power. Some leading organs of atheist education merely pursued quantitative targets—how many lectures had been held, how many people had attended, how many pamphlets had been printed—while rarely paying attention to actual effects, so that they failed to attract interest and even repelled the masses. Third, there were still differences in understanding regarding the necessity of carrying out atheist education. These differences were also reflected in theoretical circles. Some scholars consistently denied the necessity of atheist education. This view held that during the socialist period, because socialist politics, economy, culture, education, and the scientific worldview all occupied a dominant position, and with the comprehensive development of socialism and the further secularization of social life, religion would naturally and gradually decline. Therefore, atheist education was unnecessary. The majority did not agree with this view. They believed that the emergence of religion could be said to be a spontaneous process, but the disappearance of religion was not a spontaneous process. As a remnant of an old ideology and social phenomenon, religion would not voluntarily withdraw from the historical stage; it would do everything possible to adapt to new social conditions. The comprehensive development of society created the fundamental conditions for the disappearance of religion, but it was also necessary to rely on the power of scientific thought to struggle against the religious worldview. The development of secular education could weaken the influence of religion, but secular education was not equivalent to atheist education. Only atheist education could provide knowledge about the essence, origin, and social role of religion, as well as how the working-class party should correctly understand religious issues. Therefore, atheist education was entirely necessary. In addition, a minority continued to adhere to the view that had once dominated in the 1950s and 1960s, holding that religion was merely a remnant of the old ideology, that socialist society had no real basis for the existence and development of religion, and that persistent atheist propaganda could solve the problem of weakening religious thought.

苏联无神论教育存在的问题也不少：首先，无神论教育开展得很不平衡。在发达地区、无神论教育易于开展，效果也较明显，反之，则比较困难。其次，无神论教育在一定程度上脱离实际，形式主义、简单化，这是一个长期以来没有解决好的问题。特别是在基层的无神论教育中，由于宣传教育工作者素质差、方法少，很少调查宗教现状，不了解教徒的心理和宗教方面的新变化，满足于生搬硬套现成的材料。许多材料充满了空洞的说教，缺少生动事例，说服力不强。一些无神论教育领导机关，一味追求搞了多少次讲座，有多少人听讲，印发了多少小册子的数量，很少顾及实际效果，以致吸引力不强，甚至令群众生厌。第三，对于开展无神论教育的认识还存在分歧。这种分歧也反映到理论界。一些学者一直否定无神论教育的必要性。这种观点认为，在社会主义时期，由于社会主义的政治、经济、文化教育、科学世界观都占统治地位，随着社会主义的全面发展，社会生活进一步世俗化，宗教自然而然会逐步走向衰落。因此，无神论教育没有必要。多数人不赞成这种观点，他们认为宗教的产生可以说是一个自发的过程，但宗教的消亡则不是一个自发的过程。宗教作为一种旧的意识形态和社会现象的残余，不会自动退出历史舞台，它会千方百计地适应新社会条件，社会的全面发展为宗教的消亡创造了根本条件，但还必须依靠科学思想的力量同宗教世界观作斗争。发展世俗教育能够削弱宗教的影响，但是世俗教育不等同于无神论教育。只有无神论教育才能提供关于宗教的本质、起源、社会作用以及工人阶级政党如何正确认识宗教问题的知识，因此，无神论教育是完全必要的。此外，还有少数人继续坚持50~60年代一度占统治地位的观点，认为宗教只是旧意识形态的残余，社会主义社会没有宗教存在和发展的现实基础，坚持不懈地进行无神论宣传就能解决宗教思想的削弱问题。

Soviet atheist education had long been a focus of attention and study for Western religious circles. Religious centers in the West, represented by the Vatican, established specialized institutions to study “atheism in the communist world” and published many books on religion and atheism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Western religious circles believed that Soviet atheist propaganda and education relied on the power of the state to forcibly eliminate religion and constituted persecution of believers. They argued that decades of Soviet atheist propaganda and education had not only failed but had instead led to a new religious revival.

苏联无神论教育一直是西方宗教界关注和研究的对象。以梵蒂冈为代表的西方各宗教中心设有专门机构研究“共产主义世界的无神论”问题，出版了不少苏联东欧宗教和无神论方面的书。西方宗教界认为苏联的无神论宣传教育就是依靠国家政权力量强行消灭宗教，就是对教徒的迫害。苏联几十年的无神论宣传教育非但没有取得成功，相反却导致新的宗教复兴。

Is the Western conclusion correct? How should Soviet atheist education be properly evaluated? Through a preliminary examination of the practice of Soviet atheist education, we believe that the atheist education carried out by socialist countries was not accidental. It was determined by the social system of socialist countries. The full development of the socialist cause would inevitably lead to the gradual weakening of religion’s social influence. The attitude of Western religious centers toward Soviet atheist education reflected their opposition to socialism and atheism. This stance made it impossible for them to adopt an objective, comprehensive, and fair attitude when evaluating Soviet atheist education. Although some of the materials they used, especially those concerning the shortcomings and mistakes of Soviet atheist education, were indeed genuine, many materials were distorted, exaggerated, or even fabricated.

西方的结论对不对?怎样正确评价苏联无神论教育?通过对苏联无神论教育实践的初步考察，我们认为，社会主义国家开展的无神论教育，不是偶然的。这是由社会主义国家的社会制度决定的。社会主义事业的充分发展，必然导致宗教社会影响的逐步削弱。西方宗教中心对苏联无神论教育的态度，反映了他们反对社会主义和无神论的立场。这种立场使他们在评价苏联的无神论教育时不可能采取客观全面的公正态度。尽管他们利用的材料，特别是有关苏联无神论教育的缺点和失误的材料，有些确实是真实的，但是也有很多材料是被歪曲、夸大，甚至是捏造的。

Of course, with the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, Soviet socialist theory and practice also came to an end. In today’s Russia, since it is no longer a socialist country under the leadership of the Communist Party, abandoning atheism and revitalizing religion is a matter of course. Our current study of Soviet atheist education is only undertaken as an examination of a historical issue, attempting to draw appropriate conclusions using the viewpoint and method of historical materialism. Its experience, and especially its lessons, should serve as a warning for atheist research, propaganda, and education in China today.

当然，随着前苏联的解体，苏联的社会主义理论与实践也随之停止。今日俄罗斯，由于已经不是共产党执政的社会主义的国家，放弃无神论，重振宗教，也是情理之中的事情。我们今天对苏联的无神论教育进行研究，也只是作为一个历史问题加以考察，试图运用历史唯物主义的观点和方法得出适当的结论，对它的经验特别是教训，对于今日中国的无神论研究和宣传教育，应当引以为戒。

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