He was a pagan but converted to Christianity. Dual faith - what is it? Paganism and Christianity - the phenomenon of dual faith in Rus'

The Baptism of Rus', which took place in 988, is associated with the name of the holy Prince Vladimir, whom historians called the Great, the church - Saint Equal to the Apostles, and the people called him Vladimir the Red Sun.

Prince Vladimir was the grandson of Grand Duchess Olga and the son of Prince Svyatoslav and the “virgin of things” Malusha, who became a Christian along with Princess Olga in Constantinople. He began ruling independently at the age of 17 and spent the first six years on campaigns. During these years, legend portrays the prince as a real pagan, a favorite of the squad, a lover of sensual pleasures, military campaigns and noisy feasts.

In 983, after a successful campaign, Vladimir decided to make a human sacrifice to his pagan gods. It was decided to choose a victim using a lot, which fell on the young man John. The young man's father Theodore, who was a Christian, did not want to give up his son and began to condemn pagan idols and glorify the Christian faith. An angry crowd of pagans killed Theodore and his son. These were the first Christian martyrs in Rus'; The memory of the holy martyrs Theodore and his son John is celebrated on July 12 (25).

This case of public condemnation of the pagan gods made Prince Vladimir think about the truth of his pagan faith.

The chronicle story about the “choice of faiths” (“test of faiths”) by Vladimir is a kind of legend. As the chronicles tell, embassies from different nations came to the prince in Kyiv in 986, calling on Rus' to convert to their faith. First, the Volga Bulgarians of the Muslim faith came and praised Mohammed; then foreigners from Rome preached the Catholic faith from the pope, and Khazar Jews preached Judaism. Vladimir did not accept Judaism - he did not like the fact that for their sins the Lord scattered the Jews throughout the earth. Vladimir did not like the faith of the Mohammedans (Volga-Kama Bulgarians) because of the dryness of their worship, with their interpretation of the afterlife, about wives and the prohibition of drinking wine. In 962, at the request of Princess Olga, the German emperor sent a bishop and priests to Kyiv, who were not accepted by the prince.

The last to arrive was a preacher sent from Byzantium. He began to tell Vladimir about Orthodoxy, and Vladimir listened to him with all attention. At the end, the Greek showed the prince a cloth on which the judgment seat of the Lord was depicted. On the right stood the righteous, going to heaven in joy, and on the left were sinners going to torment. Vladimir, sighing, said: “It’s good for those on the right, and bad for those on the left.” “If you want to stand on the right side of the righteous, then be baptized,” said the Greek. But Vladimir answered: “I’ll wait a little longer,” wanting to find out more about all the faiths.

Tradition says that Prince Vladimir, in order to test on the spot whose faith is better, sent nine envoys. When the Russian ambassadors were in Constantinople, the splendor of the St. Sophia Church, the harmonious singing of the singers, and the solemnity of the patriarchal service touched them to the depths of their souls. They later told Prince Vladimir: “We didn’t know whether we were standing on earth or in heaven.” The boyars listening to this said: “If the Greek faith had not been better than other faiths, then your grandmother Olga, the wisest of people, would not have accepted it.” And the ambassadors said: “And just as someone who has tasted sweet does not want bitter, so we do not want to remain pagans anymore.”

However, Vladimir did not immediately accept Christianity. In 988, he captured Korsun (Chersonese in Crimea) and demanded Anna, the sister of the Byzantine emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII, as his wife, threatening otherwise to go to Constantinople. The emperors agreed, demanding in turn that the prince be baptized so that his sister could marry a fellow believer. Having received Vladimir's consent, the brothers sent Anna to Korsun. There in Korsun, Vladimir and many warriors were baptized by the Bishop of Korsun, after which they performed the wedding ceremony. At baptism, Vladimir took the name Vasily, in honor of the ruling Byzantine emperor Vasily II.

Returning to Kyiv, accompanied by Korsun and Greek priests, Vladimir first of all baptized his twelve sons. They were all baptized in one spring, known in Kyiv as Khreshchatyk. Following them, many boyars were baptized.

And on the appointed day, a mass baptism of Kiev residents took place at the confluence of the Pochayna River into the Dnieper. The chronicles read: “The very next day, Vladimir went out with the priests of Tsaritsyn and Korsuin to the Dnieper, and countless people gathered there. They entered the water and stood there, some up to their necks, others up to their chests, small children near the shore up to their chests, some holding babies , and the adults wandered around, while the priests performed prayers, standing still...” This most important event took place, according to the chronicle chronology, in 988. Following Kiev, Christianity gradually came to other cities of Kievan Rus: Chernigov, Novgorod, Rostov, Volyn, Polotsk, Turov, Tmutarakan, where dioceses were created. Thus, under Prince Vladimir, the overwhelming majority of the Russian population accepted the Christian faith, and Kievan Rus became a Christian country.

The exact date of birth of the prince could not be reliably established, but historians date this period to 962. The future ruler grew up and was brought up under the supervision of his grandmother, Princess Olga. And by the age of 17, he accepted the lands donated by his father into independent rule. According to legend, Vladimir was a competent commander and enjoyed authority among his squad. Along with all his virtues, he is credited with debauchery and cruelty. In some chronicles that have survived to this day, he led a depraved lifestyle from a young age. In addition to several official wives, which was allowed in paganism, he had at his disposal several hundred concubines with whom he indulged in lovemaking while on military campaigns. He treated one of his wives with particular cruelty. Rogneda at that time was declared the bride of his brother, Yaropolk. Wooing her, he was refused, after which he gathered an army and won a victory over Polotsk, taking Rogneda as his wife without her consent. She was dishonored by Vladimir right in front of her parents, after which they were brutally killed. The prince strove for power in every possible way and often caused the death of innocent people.

As for faith, Vladimir was a devoted pagan and sacredly revered the canons of this religion. What prompted the prince to such serious ideological changes still causes debate among historians. Some argue that this act was committed only for mercantile reasons. Although this version is in no way consistent with the events taking place at that time. In general, order reigned in the prince’s possessions, including regarding political structures. Therefore, the official version interprets another reason - Vladimir often thought about the hopelessness of human existence and tried to search for the truth. The chronicles also describe an incident that forced the prince to reconsider the principles of paganism. Returning from another campaign, Vladimir decided to thank the pagan gods and make a sacrifice to them. A young guy, John, was chosen as the victim. The young man's father did his best to prevent the sacrifice, publicly condemning pagan idols. As a result, father and son were killed by the prince's squad. These events prompted Vladimir to think seriously. He began to think about changing the ideological heritage and internal regulations of his state. The prince walked towards the adoption of Christianity for quite a long time, deeply studying the canons of different faiths. He even communicated with representatives of different religions in order to find what was closer to the people and himself. After a long study of the laws of Orthodoxy, he made a decision that subsequently changed the religion of an entire people.

Nothing amazes as much as a miracle, except the naivety with which it is taken for granted.

Mark Twain

The adoption of Christianity in Rus' is a process during which Kievan Rus in 988 moved from paganism to the true Christian faith. That's what Russian history textbooks say, at least. But the opinions of historians differ on the issue of Christianization of the country, since a significant part of scientists claim that the events described in the textbook actually happened differently, or not in such a sequence. In the course of this article, we will try to understand this issue and understand how the baptism of Rus' and the adoption of a new religion – Christianity – actually took place.

Reasons for the adoption of Christianity in Rus'

The study of this important issue should begin by considering what religious Rus' was like before Vladimir. The answer is simple - the country was pagan. In addition, such a faith is often called Vedic. The essence of such a religion is determined by the understanding that, despite its vastness, there is a clear hierarchy of gods, each of whom is responsible for certain phenomena in the lives of people and nature.

An indisputable fact is that Prince Vladimir the Saint was an ardent pagan for a long time. He worshiped the pagan gods, and for many years he tried to instill in the country the correct understanding of paganism from his point of view. This is also evidenced by official history textbooks, which present unambiguous facts saying that in Kyiv Vladimir erected monuments to pagan gods and called on the people to worship them. Many films are being made about this today, which talk about how significant this step was for Rus'. However, the same sources say that the prince’s “insane” desire for paganism did not lead to the unification of the people, but, on the contrary, to their disunity. Why did this happen? To answer this question it is necessary to understand the essence of paganism and the hierarchy of gods that existed. This hierarchy is presented below:

• Svarog
• Alive and Alive
• Perun (14th in the general list).

In other words, there were main gods who were revered as the true creators (Rod, Lada, Svarog), and there were minor gods who were revered only by a small part of people. Vladimir fundamentally destroyed this hierarchy and appointed a new one, where Perun was appointed the main deity for the Slavs. This completely destroyed the tenets of paganism. As a result, a wave of popular anger arose, since people who had prayed to Rod for many years refused to accept the fact that the prince, by his own decision, approved Perun as the main deity. It is necessary to understand the absurdity of the situation that Vladimir the Holy created. In fact, by his decision he undertook to control divine phenomena. We are not talking about how significant and objective these phenomena were, but simply stating the fact that the Kiev prince did it! To make it clear how important this is, imagine that tomorrow the president will announce that Jesus is not God at all, but that, for example, the Apostle Andrew is God. Such a step would blow up the country, but this is precisely the step Vladimir took. What guided him in taking this step is unknown, but the consequences of this phenomenon are obvious - chaos began in the country.

We went so deep into paganism and the initial steps of Vladimir in the role of prince, because this is precisely the reason for the adoption of Christianity in Rus'. The prince, revering Perun, tried to impose these views on the entire country, but failed, since the bulk of the population of Rus' understood that the true god, to whom they had been praying for years, was Rod. This is how Vladimir’s first religious reform in 980 failed. They also write about this in the official history textbook, forgetting, however, to talk about the fact that the prince completely overturned paganism, which led to unrest and the failure of the reform. After this, in 988, Vladimir adopted Christianity as the religion most suitable for himself and his people. Religion came from Byzantium, but for this the prince had to capture Chersonesos and marry a Byzantine princess. Returning to Rus' with his young wife, Vladimir converted the entire population to a new faith, and people accepted the religion with pleasure, and only in some cities there was minor resistance, which was quickly suppressed by the princely squad. This process is described in The Tale of Bygone Years.

It was precisely such events that preceded the baptism of Rus' and the adoption of a new faith. Let's now figure out why more than half of historians criticize this description of events as unreliable.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" and the Church Catechism of 1627

Almost everything that we know about the baptism of Rus', we know on the basis of the work “The Tale of Bygone Years”. Historians assure us of the reliability of the work itself and the events that it describes. In 988 the Grand Duke was baptized, and in 989 the whole country was baptized. Of course, at that time there were no priests in the country for the new faith, so they came to Rus' from Byzantium. These priests brought with them the rites of the Greek Church, as well as books and holy scriptures. All this was translated and formed the basis of the new faith of our ancient country. The Tale of Bygone Years tells us about this, and this version is presented in official history textbooks.

However, if we look at the issue of accepting Christianity from the point of view of church literature, we will see serious discrepancies with the version from traditional textbooks. To demonstrate, consider the Catechism of 1627.

The Catechism is a book containing the basics of Christian teaching. The Catechism was first published in 1627 under Tsar Mikhail Romanov. This book outlines the basics of Christianity, as well as the stages of the formation of religion in the country.

The following phrase is noteworthy in the Catechism: “So command that all the land of Russia be baptized. In the summer there are six thousand UCHZ (496 - since ancient times the Slavs designated numbers with letters). from the holy patriarch, from NICOLA CHRUSOVERT, or from SISINIUS. or from SERGIUS, Archbishop of Novgorod, under Mikhail Metropolitan of Kiev.” We have given an excerpt from page 27 of the Large Catechism, specifically preserving the style of that time. It follows from this that at the time of the adoption of Christianity in Rus' there were already dioceses in at least two cities: Novgorod and Kyiv. But we are told that there was no church under Vladimir and the priests came from another country, but church books assure us of the opposite - the Christian church, even in its infancy, was already among our ancestors even before baptism.

Modern history interprets this document quite ambiguously, saying that this is nothing more than medieval fiction, and in this case, the Greater Catechism distorts the true state of affairs of 988. But this leads to the following conclusions:

• At the time of 1627, the Russian church was of the opinion that Christianity existed before Vladimir, at least in Novgorod and Kyiv.
• The Greater Catechism is the official document of its time, according to which both theology and partly history were studied. If we assume that this book is really a lie, then it turns out that at the time of 1627 no one knew how the adoption of Christianity in Rus' happened! After all, there are no other versions, and everyone was taught the “false version.”
• The “truth” about baptism did not appear until much later and is presented by Bayer, Miller and Schlozer. These are court historians who came from Prussia and described the history of Russia. As for the Christianization of Rus', these historians based their hypothesis precisely on the tale of bygone years. It is noteworthy that before them this document had no historical value.

The role of the Germans in Russian history is very difficult to overestimate. Almost all famous scientists admit that our history was written by Germans and in the interests of Germans. It is noteworthy that, for example, Lomonosov sometimes got into fights with visiting “historians”, since they brazenly rewrote the history of Russia and all Slavs.

Orthodox or true believers?

Returning to the Tale of Bygone Years, it should be noted that many historians are skeptical about this source. The reason is this: throughout the entire story it is constantly emphasized that Prince Vladimir the Holy made Rus' Christian and Orthodox. There is nothing unusual or suspicious in this for a modern person, but there is a very important historical inconsistency - Christians began to be called Orthodox only after 1656, and before that the name was different - Orthodox...

The name change occurred in the process of church reform, which was carried out by Patriarch Nikon in 1653-1656. There is no big difference between the concepts, but there is again one important nuance. If people who correctly believe in God were called true believers, then those who correctly glorify God were called Orthodox. And in ancient Rus', glorification was actually equated with pagan acts, and therefore, initially, the term devout Christians was used.

This, at first glance, insignificant point radically changes the understanding of the era of adoption of the religion of Christianity among the ancient Slavs. After all, it turns out that if before 1656 Christians were considered faithful, and the Tale of Bygone Years uses the term Orthodox, then this gives reason to suspect that the Tale was not written during the life of Prince Vladimir. These suspicions are confirmed by the fact that this historical document first appeared only at the beginning of the 18th century (more than 50 years after Nikon’s reform), when new concepts had already firmly entered into everyday life.

The adoption of Christianity by the ancient Slavs is a very important step, which radically changed not only the internal structure of the country, but also its external relations with other states. The new religion led to changes in the way of life of the Slavs. Literally everything has changed, but that’s a topic for another article. in general, we can say that the meaning of accepting Christianity boils down to:

• Rallying the people around a single religion
• Improving the international position of the country by accepting the religion that existed in neighboring countries.
• The development of Christian culture, which came to the country along with religion.
• Strengthening the power of the prince in the country

We will return to consider the reasons for the adoption of Christianity and how this happened. We have already noted that in an amazing way, in 8 years, Prince Vladimir turned from a convinced pagan into a true Christian, and with him the whole country (official history speaks about this). In just 8 years, such changes have occurred, and through two reforms. So why did the Russian prince change religion within the country? Let's find out...

Prerequisites for accepting Christianity

There are many assumptions about who Prince Vladimir was. The official history does not answer this question. We know only one thing for certain - Vladimir was the son of Prince Svyatoslav from a Khazar girl and from an early age he lived with the princely family. The brothers of the future Grand Duke were convinced pagans, like their father, Svyatoslav, who said that the Christian faith is a deformity. How did it happen that Vladimir, who lived in a pagan family, suddenly easily accepted the traditions of Christianity and changed himself in a few years? But for now it should be noted that the very adoption of the new faith by ordinary residents of the country in history is described extremely carelessly. We are told that without any unrest (there were minor riots only in Novgorod) the Russians accepted the new faith. Can you imagine a people who, in 1 minute, abandoned the old faith that they had been taught for centuries and accepted a new religion? It is enough to transfer these events to our days to understand the absurdity of this assumption. Imagine that tomorrow Russia declares Judaism or Buddhism its religion. Terrible unrest will arise in the country, and we are told that in 988 the change of religion took place amid applause...

Prince Vladimir, whom later historians nicknamed the Saint, was the unloved son of Svyatoslav. He understood perfectly well that a “half-breed” should not rule the country, and prepared the throne for his sons Yaropolk and Oleg. It is noteworthy that in some texts one can find a mention of why the Saint so easily accepted Christianity and began to impose it on Rus'. It is known that, for example, in the Tale of Bygone Years Vladimir is called nothing more than “robichich”. This is what the children of rabbis were called in those days. Subsequently, historians began to translate this word as the son of a slave. But the fact remains that there is no clear understanding of where Vladimir himself came from, but there are some facts indicating that he belongs to a Jewish family.

As a result, we can say that, unfortunately, the issue of accepting the Christian faith in Kievan Rus has been studied very poorly by historians. We see a huge number of inconsistencies and objective deception. We are presented with the events that occurred in 988 as something important, but at the same time, ordinary for the people. This topic is very extensive to consider. Therefore, in the following materials, we will take a closer look at this era in order to thoroughly understand the events that took place and preceded the baptism of Rus'.

Of great interest is the hryvnia of Vladimir Monomakh with the image of the Scythian snake goddess. This artifact of the 12th century indicates that in Rus' at that time there was dual faith at the court level, which came from the times of the Slavic “Rus-Scythia”.

According to the philosopher Telegin, all pagan mythology is characterized by the principle of many stages, when each new religious cult does not cancel the previous one, but absorbs it into itself, and it was this principle that formed the basis of dual faith in Rus'. That is why the Russian peasant did not see any contradictions between Christianity and paganism, but sought to unite Christian and pagan beliefs.

Evidence of dual faith in Rus' is Christian serpentines.

The merging of two forms of religion in dual faith “is not was based on the contradiction of the basic tenets of paganism and Christianity, on the commonality of the ritual side and on the ultimate unity of revelation...

Christianity was accepted with such ease because it did not contradict the paganism of the Indo-European peoples, but merged with it.

The reason for this merger, dual faith, was that in its essence the new religion of revelation was not much different from the traditional pagan cult of God in nature».

Why did the overwhelming majority of pagans not perceive Christianity as a hostile religion?

An interesting idea was expressed by M. Telegina that in the pagan worldview there is no concept of “new” or “old” faith:
« The acceptance of Christianity as a true revelation was perceived by many pagans not as something new, but as a return to the ancient, true Tradition, to the original sacredness (holiness) that existed before the Babylonian pandemonium and the emergence of new languages ​​and paganism».

Many ancient Indo-European pagan peoples had such a concept as the return of the gods in new incarnations, and the people were always open to new revelations and religious experiences. There has never been any canonization of pagan beliefs, laws and rituals of paganism; on the contrary, cultural exchange and mutual integration between religions, peoples and states constantly took place in the pagan worldview.

A good example of a policy of religious tolerance served by the Hittites, Romans, Slavs, 12th century. Prince Gediminas, founder Gedimin dynasty, from the grand ducal family of Rurikovich, remained a pagan and was buried according to the pagan rite of burning at the stake, while his children converted to Christianity.

In the historical Jesus Christ, the Celts recognized the incarnation of the god Jesus, the Scandinavians - the crucified Odin (Old Scand. Óðinn), the Proto-Germans - Vodin (Proto-German: Wōđinaz), the Germans - Wotan (Proto-German: Wōđanaz), the Slavs - Khorsa (Old-Russian). Khurs), Dazhbog, Kolyada, Veles.

Aryan peoples - Pelasgians, Minoans, Celts, Dorians, Trojans, Thracians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Goths, Veneti, Rugi - contributed to the formation of the Slavic ethnos.

Because it was precisely such a religion as Christianity that was most suitable for solving the problem of establishing the religious unity of the state, and also corresponded to the emerging feudal relations. To this we must add that humane Christianity easily merged with the inner, spiritual content of the Russian person. Those. Vladimir seeks to strengthen the state and its territorial unity. An attempt to achieve these goals by creating a single pantheon of pagan gods led by Perun did not lead to overcoming tribal separatism and strengthening princely power. Only monotheism could unite the country and illuminate the authority of the sole princely power.

By the 10th century AD, Rus' was a very young but rapidly developing state. What was the reason for this rapid development? The fact is that the development of almost any state depends on the development of crafts.

Russian craft developed mainly as a result of active trade. At that time, Rus' bordered in the south with Byzantium, a state that had a two-thousand-year history and was a vast storehouse of knowledge. Of course, Byzantium was far ahead of Rus' in development, and the distribution of the flow of goods is connected with this - mainly raw materials came from Rus' - fur, grain, and from Byzantium - craft items - various devices, weapons, books, paintings. But along with material goods, Rus' received technology, scientific discoveries, knowledge, culture, and IDEAS from Byzantium. Russian people “always had reverent respect for the Empire, for the brilliant forms of its life, which so amazed their imagination; such are the constant relations of uneducated peoples to educated ones.” They, who came to Constantinople, were immeasurably surprised by the cultural achievements of the Byzantines and the greatness of Christian churches. “It was not the hope of self-interest alone that could attract our Rus' to Constantinople, but also the curiosity to see the wonders of the educated world; how many wondrous stories those who visited Byzantium brought to their hearths. How, as a result of this, the one who was in Constantinople was elevated, and how others had a burning desire to visit there!"

Thus, prosperous Byzantium provided an example of what a monotheistic religion could do for the development of a state. How important is the ideological unity of the people living in it.

It should also be taken into account that the adoption of Christianity introduced Rus' into the family of European nations, and paganism doomed it to isolation and hostility from Christianized neighbors who treated pagans as non-humans. It should be borne in mind that the final split of Christianity into Catholic and Orthodox branches occurred only in 1054.

Probably, some personal considerations of Vladimir and some episodes of his life also had an impact. He probably took into account the baptism of his grandmother Olga, who left behind a good memory. It is possible that his sinful pagan past, for example, fratricide during the struggle for power, violence, polygamy, ultimately made him think about spiritual cleansing, which could leave a good memory of him. But, most likely, he acted based on pragmatic considerations. The fact is that his adoption of Christianity was conditioned by his marriage to the sister of the Byzantine emperor. This unusually raised his authority, and consequently strengthened the princely power.