The Doukhobors (Spirit Wrestlers), a heterogeneous group of Christians in Russia and Canada, whose anti-war stance became well known when they organized a Burning of Arms ceremony in 1895, inhabit an undisputed placein the history of the peace churches and religious denominations. We argue, however, that the connection between the Doukhobors and twentieth century pacifists such as Jane Addams (1860–1935), Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi(1869–1948), and George Woodcock (1912–1995), deserves more attention. We then aim to raise awareness of Peter Nikolaevich Maloff (1900–1971), who authentically carried on the pacifist spirit of the group as he interacted not only with Gandhi and Woodcock, but also with Alexander Berkman (1870–1936), Dorothy Day (1897–1980),A. J. Muste (1885–1967), and Scott and Helen Nearing (1883–1983 and 1904–1995), among others. We finally highlight some instances of Doukhobor relations with the War Resisters’ International and the International Vegetarian Union in Europe during the late–1920s and early–1930s. In all this we draw out "Christ’s law of nonresistance to evil by violence" (Leo Tolstoy) that may be obscured to the public eye, not only because the number of self-identified Doukhobors has continually decreased due to the forces of assimilation, but also because "the scourge of war"(Preamble, Charter of the United Nations, 1945) continues to threaten the survival of life on Earth.

The article presents opinions in global Pentecostalism about pacifism and nonviolence. In most European countries and the United States, the topic of pacifism became relevant during the World Wars. Over time, pacifism as a dominant was replaced by the possibility of independent choice of believers in accordance with their convictions of conscience. The Global Pentecostal movement has developed different strategies of action in relation to participation in military operations: from categorical refusal to total acceptance of the need for military service. Those strategies were influenced by changes in the views of religious leaders, and the power position on statements from individual churches. In the Soviet Union, Pentecostals already in the 1920s held loyalist views on the military issue. The Soviet state forced Pentecostals to declare the need to fulfill civic obligations, including with arms in hand. Soviet Pentecostals officially proclaimed the principle of personal responsibility for one’s choices and the need to comply with state laws. In the late Soviet period, for most believers, military service was a way to test the "perseverance of faith" and at the same time demonstrate law-abidingness and inclusion in the life of Soviet society.

The article is devoted to the history of the participation of Old Believers in the Great Patriotic War and consecrates the little-studied issue of desertion for religious reasons. The article is based on the materials of field research conductedby the participants of the expedition of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Archeographic Laboratory of the Faculty of History of Lomonosov Moscow State University among the Old Believers-"Bespopovtsy",residents of Kilinsk. The source base was audio records of interviews collected during field research in 2003-2015, focusing on the study of everyday religiosity. The article analyzes the case of Mitrofan Kondratievich Kozlov, a strict mentor of the community of Old Believers-"Bespopovtsy" of the chapel of concord from the Kemerovo region. Mitrofan Kondratievich built his whole life and the life of his family in accordance with his own understanding ofChristian rules and strict prohibitions.

This contribution outlines catholic peace work in Weimar Republic and after the Second World War. It analyses how spirituality and political engagement connect and how the conviction that peace includes more than cease-fire — but requires a commitment to social justice — becomes a leitmotif.

The article presents an attempt at historical understanding of the experience gained by a united Germany, extracted from the idea of peace, both at the state and at the public level, with its own German characteristics   —   East and West Germany. The evangelical churches in the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic perceived the nuclear threat as a casus confessionis  and led the fight against it.