The Army of the Lord ( ro, Oastea Domnului), also known as The Lord's Army, is an
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
"
renewal movement within the
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...
".
The founder of the Army of the Lord, Father
Iosif Trifa
Iosif Trifa (3 March 1888 – 12 February 1938) was a Romanian Orthodox priest and evangelist. He founded "Oastea Domnului" ("The Lord's Army"). He was also the uncle of Valerian Trifa. Trifa placed on the 100 greatest Romanians list.
Life
Iosif ...
, 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." Tom Keppeler writes that "What
Wesley was to the
Anglican Church
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
, 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." 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."
Members of the Army of the Lord greet one another with the phrase "Praise the Lord!", followed by the reply would be "Forever, amen!"
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]
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."
See also
*Anti-religious campaign of Communist Romania The anti-religious campaign of Communist Romania was initiated by the People's Republic of Romania and continued by the Socialist Republic of Romania, which under the doctrine of Marxist–Leninist atheism took a hostile stance against religion and ...
*Eastern Protestantism
The term Eastern Protestant Christianity (or Eastern Reformed Christianity as well as Oriental Protestant Christianity) encompasses a range of heterogeneous Protestant Christian denominations that developed outside of the Occident, from the lat ...
References
External links
* (Official Website)
Army of the Lord (Orthodox Wiki)
{{Romanian Orthodox Church
Christian organizations established in 1923
Romanian Orthodox Church
Anti-communist organizations