Decimated by war, revolution, and famine, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia was in critical condition in 1921. InĀ The Gates of Hell, Matthew Heise recounts the bravery and suffering of German-Russian Lutherans during the period between the two great world wars. These stories tell of ordinary Christians who remained faithful to death in the face of state persecution.
Christians in Russia had dark days characterized by defeat, but God preserved his church. Against all human odds, the church would outlast the man-made sandcastles of communist utopianism.Ā The Gates of HellĀ is a wonderful testimony to the enduring power of Godās word, Christās church, and the Spiritās faithfulness.
520 pages.
Ā
- Prologue: A World in Flux
- āThe Church Is Separated from the Stateā
- āAny Proof of Brotherly Loveā
- A Powerful, Invisible Hand from the Dark
- The āReligious NEPā
- A Fir Tree with Two Peaks
- Servant in His Vineyard
- āHold Fast What You Haveā
- āUnbelievable Elasticityā
- āThey Would Not See His Face Againā
- āA Declaration of a Relentless Struggleā
- āHe ... Shall Think to Change the Times and the Lawā
- āFaithful to Him to the Graveā
- A Somber Christmas
- The Church Is Broken
- Sheep among Wolves
- āStand and Eat, You Still Have a Long Way to Goā
- āStuck Deep in Snow and Iceā
- A Sad and Muddled Affair
- āHarvest of Sorrowā
- āA Martyr to the Causeā
- āA Small Crowd Armed with Courageā
- The Pulse of the Church Grows Weaker
- They Could Do No Other
- āFellow Citizens with the Saintsā
- Shadows of the Great Terror
- The NKVD Big Lie
- Blessed Are They That Suffer Persecution for Justiceās Sake
- Heroes of Faith in the Gulag
- Last Christmas in Leningrad
- Under the Watchful Eye of the NKVD
- Epilogue: The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail Against the Church
Gates of Hell, The: An Untold Story of Faith and Perseverance in the Early Soviet Union is in the following collections:
