MARI LUTHERANS OF BASHKIRIA: BETWEEN OLD TRADITIONS AND NEW RELIGIOUS RULES

The Mari people living in the Republic of Bashkortostan are mostly followers of their ethnic religion (“Mari paganism”). There is also a small group of Orthodox Christians, formed in the midst of the Mari pagan population as a result of forced baptism in the past. Since the 90s of the last century, the Mari people have also become acquainted with Protestantism, from different denominations of which only Lutheranism has had a tangible impact on the religious life of the Mari people. The teachings of Luther were preached among them by Finnish missionaries, who positioned themselves as representatives of a kindred Mari people. The use of the ethnic factor was one of the main reasons for the dynamic development of the Mari Lutheran community in Bashkiria. As a result of successful preaching work in the city of Birsk, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria was formed, which at one time was also the center of the Ural Brotherhood...