Army of the Lord
Oastea Domnului
TypeEastern Christian
ClassificationEastern Orthodox
OrientationEvangelical, Church renewal
ScriptureSeptuagint, New Testament
TheologyEastern Orthodox theology (with some Protestant influences)
PolityEpiscopal
PrimateDaniel, Patriarch of All Romania
RegionRomania
LanguageRomanian
LiturgyByzantine Rite
FounderIosif Trifa
Origin1926
Sibiu
Recognition28 September 1990
Branched fromRomanian Orthodox Church
Other name(s)The Lord's Army
Official websiteoasteadomnului.ro

The Army of the Lord (Romanian: Oastea Domnului), also known as The Lord's Army, is an evangelical "renewal movement within the Romanian Orthodox Church".[1][2] The founder of the Army of the Lord, Father Iosif Trifa, as well as consequent leaders, Ioan Marini and Traian Dorz, felt that "people needed to come to the gospel and that the Orthodox Church in Romania needed to return to her true mission: to serve God and to represent God in the midst of our nation."[3] Tom Keppeler writes that "What Wesley was to the Anglican Church, Trifa was to the Romanian Orthodox Church. As Wesley's preaching and ministry drew crowds from the working classes, so Trifa's as well was a ministry that grew among the villagers and workers of the fields."[4] In the 1930s and 1940s, "millions of Romanian Orthodox, including priests and religious, took part in its activities of evangelization, printing and open air meetings."[5] Members of the Army of the Lord greet one another with the phrase "Praise the Lord!", followed by the reply "Forever, amen!"[5]

Persecution under communism regime

After 1948, the movement was declared illegal by the communist regime. During this period, the "Lord's Army," led by Traian Dorz in the difficult years of Stalin, who had spent 17 years in jail for this reason, was part of the "silent church," an informal ensemble of Christian believers from various denominations, which refused to obey the Communist authorities, being for this reason considered as "printing and spreading forbidden literature," "plotting against social ordering" and "enemies of the people."[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Presidential Recommendation to Continue Waivers Applicable to Romania, Hungary, and the People's Republic of China, and to Extend the Trade Act Waiver Authority: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, First Session, July 14, 1983. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1983. The "Army of the Lord" renewal movement within the Romanian Orthodox Church has been severely persecuted for opposing or transgressing government policies, and its ministers have in some cases been beaten, jailed, or exiled.
  2. ↑ Ramet, Sabrina P. (1992). Protestantism and Politics in Eastern Europe and Russia: The Communist and Postcommunist Eras. Duke University Press. pp. 193. ISBN 9780822312413. The Lord's Army represented a very successful evangelical awakening within the Romanian Orthodox Church in the 1920s and was founded by Iosif Trifa, a dynamic Orthodox priest from Transylvania. This movement, strongly supported by Metropolitan Nicolae Balan of Sibiu, spread widely throughout the western part of Romania. Members were challenged to become soldiers of Christ and to struggle against the evil in themselves and the world.
  3. ↑ "Two Factions in Romania's Army of the Lord". Covering the Former Soviet Union and East Central Europe. Institute for East-West Christian Studies. 2 (3). Summer 1994. ISSN 1069-5664. Trifa, as well as his successors Ioan Marini and Traian Dorz, saw very clearly that people needed to come to the gospel and that the Orthodox Church in Romania needed to return to her true mission: to serve God and to represent God in the midst of our nation.
  4. ↑ Tom Keppeler (1993). "Oastea Domnului: the Army of the Lord in Romania". Religion, State, and Society. 21 (2). Trifa, as well as his successors Ioan Marini and Traian Dorz, saw very clearly that people needed to come to the gospel and that the Orthodox Church in Romania needed to return to her true mission: to serve God and to represent God in the midst of our nation.
  5. 1 2 The "Lord's Army" Movement in the Romanian Orthodox Church. Christian Committee for the Defence of Religious Rights in Romania. 23 August 1978.
  6. ↑ "Traian Dorz, în dosarele Securității (1947-1989)" [Traian Dorz, in Security Files (1947-1989)] (in Romanian). infocultural.eu. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "Traian Dorz, hăituit de securitate la Călanul Mic, de unde a fost arestat" [Traian Dorz, pursued by security at Călanul Mic, from where he was arrested] (in Romanian). infocultural.eu. 28 November 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
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