Communist Christianity?

When the Communists took over Czechoslovakia in 1948, Dr. Joseph Hromadka, dean of the Jan Comenius Theological Faculty in Prague, was one of the few Christian leaders to cooperate with them. Since then, he has become one of Europe's rare spokesmen for the view that Christianity can get along under Communist regimes.*

How does it work in Czechoslovakia? The Christian Century interviewed Dr. Hromadka during the international Protestant conferences at Lund, Sweden (TIME, Sept. 1), last week reported, in third-person paraphrase, Hromadka's answers to the question, as checked and approved by Hromadka himself. Excerpts:

Cooperation with the Communists: "When Hromadka declared [his] attitude . . . many of his colleagues in the Czech church considered it a false step. Some even questioned his integrity . . . But now most of this has changed. There are still those who disagree, but they do not question his integrity--only his judgment. An increasing number of the younger students have come to take this position."

Policy as a Czech Christian: "There are not many choices ... If one will not work with the regime in its endeavor to reshape the old economic order, and tries to undermine it, one follows a path which can only lead to anarchy and ugly reaction . . ."

The Religion of Marxists: "Religion, of course, they consider an ideology and an opiate. In all this there is much with which Hromadka believes Christians would have to agree ... We must confess that [religion] has often been an opiate, that it has carried along much of superstition and legend, that it has been made a tool of exploitation."

A Substitute Faith: "It is really quite surprising to see how much the practice as well as the theory of Marxism presents a secularized form of Christianity . . . the quality of regret for deviations approaches genuine penitence."

Marxist Morality: "There are no moral absolutes for the Marxist, either in history or over history. Good and bad are always relative to concrete and changing situations. Now there is much truth in this for Christians. They cannot face all situations with premeditated norms or moral conventions. The saints have often done astonishing things."

Indoctrination: "In the elementary and secondary schools there is no systematic indoctrination in Marxism, although, of course, the teachers have it always in mind. On the university level it must be taught, and the Prague theological faculty is the only higher school which is free to teach another philosophy than Marxism. There are difficulties, of course, and some minor officials and minor party members are more suspicious and intolerant than others. But there has been nothing like forced confessions."

Relations with World Protestantism: "It was very encouraging to Hromadka . . . that he was permitted to come to Lund, which had not seemed at all a high probability. Nobody told 'him what to say, or even asked him what he intended to say . .' ."

The Impact of Communism on Theology: "This is our terribly difficult task. We cannot hide from this remorseless analysis of Christianity; we must confess how much has been hollow and unreal or worse. And we search passionately for that center and foundation of our faith which is invulnerable to attack."

* One fellow spokesman: the Very Rev. Hewlett Johnson, "Red Dean" of Canterbury.

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