Revolts against Christianity in Rus'. Myths about the forced baptism of Rus'

The myth of the forced Baptism of Rus' originates in the 19th century. However, it became especially popular in Soviet times, i.e. at a time when it was fashionable to brand everything that is somehow connected with religion and, first of all, with Christianity. But even in our “independent” time, this myth does not want to die its natural death, which is why it still continues to live in the minds of the “best” representatives of the secular, anti-church intelligentsia, most of which cultivate neo-pagan myths about the beliefs of our ancestors - the ancient Slavs.

And yet, in fairness, we are forced to note the fact that the version of the forced baptism of the inhabitants of Kyiv and the entire Slavic population of Ancient Rus' does not withstand the slightest criticism:

« And although “in the literature on the baptism of Russia, the idea that Christianization met with stubborn resistance from the masses has become commonplace,” in reality, “the amount of evidence of this resistance in the sources is small.” In this regard, the corresponding data on the Russian North, which is usually perceived as the most “archaic” and pagan region, are indicative. During the excavations of settlements and burial grounds, “never was it possible to find any traces of the forcible introduction of Christianity and religious antagonism, which split the society into two parts." (1).

Thus, the very fact of the Baptism of the Old Russian state is a unique event in the history of Christianity, an event that in many ways does not fit into the framework of ordinary ideological schemes (all the more so since, as we saw earlier, in other countries the process of Christianization did not proceed so peacefully, as in ancient Rus').

The uniqueness of the Baptism of Rus' also lies in the fact that the people of antiquity were much more principled in relation to their religious beliefs than our contemporaries. The life of the ancients, in principle, was more severe and difficult: wars, civil strife, epidemics, natural disasters were not so rare, eating to your fill was already considered happiness. That is why people brought up in such difficult conditions of life were not so easily intimidated. That is why fear could hardly be the main stimulus for the adoption of Christianity.

However, if you carefully look at the actions of Prince Vladimir, you can see that in his plans there was not a hint of threat or violence to persuade his subjects to accept the faith of Christ. Most likely, the future Prince Equal to the Apostles understood that threats would do more harm than good, because. they always contain the risk of undermining their grand ducal authority in the eyes of their own citizens. So all the talk that both Vladimir himself and his henchmen forcibly forced people to be baptized does not stand up to the slightest criticism from the standpoint of common sense. And although, as we have already noted, at one time:

« I. Ya. Froyanov suggested that the sons of Prince Vladimir, sent by him to urban centers far from Kiev, “were entrusted with the duty of establishing Christianity among the population ruled by them by any measures and means” ... the sources do not give grounds for such categorical conclusions. Obviously, in the presence of duties to bring the population to the new faith, the sons of Vladimir should not have used repressive and punitive measures, fearing outbreaks of political protest and popular unrest» (2).

In this regard, it would be a serious mistake to perceive as a threat the words of the Grand Duke that those who refuse Holy Baptism will no longer be his friends. The fact is that if these words were really a threat, then it is unlikely that for a very long time the pagan beliefs of the ancient Slavs would have existed in parallel with the Christian religion. Moreover, they existed in their pure form, and not in the form of the so-called "dual faith", as it should have been in the case of the adoption of Christianity under pain of punishment and in the presence of constant repression.

History tells us that during this period the pagan sorcerers still continued to perform their rites and magical rituals, and in some places they felt so free that they even tried to turn the population against the growing strength of Christianity. And although, in some cases, this ended in violent death for them, nevertheless, it would be too naive to regard these (rare) facts of reprisals against rebels as a sign of persecution. Rather, these were actions to pacify popular unrest, which threatened to end in rebellion and disobedience to legitimate authorities. So, in fact, most of the reprisals against the Magi were administrative measures, but by no means ideological, in nature, because there is no such power on earth (regardless of the religion professed in the state or atheistic power) that would indulge in unrest and riots, putting thereby endangering the peaceful existence of citizens and the integrity of the state.

Pacification of popular unrest in Ancient Rus'

This conclusion is also confirmed by the fact that after the massacre of the Magi, the authorities did not take any measures against those who sympathized with the rebels. However, history has preserved only isolated cases of popular unrest led by the Magi:

« Here is a curious piece of news about this from the so-called Joachim Chronicle: “When they learned in Novgorod that Dobrynya was going to be baptized, they gathered a veche and swore everyone not to let him into the city, not to give idols to overthrow; and exactly when Dobrynya came, the Novgorodians swept away the big bridge and went out against him with weapons; Dobrynya began to persuade them with affectionate words, but they did not even want to hear, they took out two stone-shooting cars (vices) and put them on the bridge; the leader among the priests, some kind of Bogomil, nicknamed the Nightingale for his eloquence, especially persuaded them not to submit. Bishop Joachim with the priests stood on the trading side; they walked around the markets, the streets, taught people as much as they could, and in two days managed to baptize several hundreds. Meanwhile, on the other side, the Novgorod thousand Ugony, driving everywhere, shouted: “It is better for us to die than to give our gods a mockery”; the people on the other side of the Volkhov became furious, ruined the house of Dobrynya, plundered the estate, killed his wife and some more of his relatives. Then the thousand Vladimirov, Putyata, having prepared boats and choosing five hundred people from Rostov, moved at night above the fortress to the other side of the river and entered the city without hindrance, for everyone thought that these were their warriors. Putyata reached the court of Ugonyaev, seized him and other best people and sent them to Dobrynya across the river. When the news of this spread, the people gathered up to 5000, surrounded Putyata and began an evil slaughter with him, and some went, swept away the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and began to rob the houses of Christians. At dawn, Dobrynya arrived with all his people and ordered some houses on the shore to be set on fire; Novgorodians were frightened, ran to put out the fire, and the slaughter stopped. Then the most noble people came to Dobrynya to ask for peace. Dobrynya gathered an army, forbade robbery, but immediately ordered to crush the idols, burn the wooden ones, and throw the stone ones, having broken them, into the river. Men and women, seeing this, with a cry and tears, asked for them, as for their gods. Dobrynya mockingly answered them: “There is nothing for you to feel sorry for those who cannot defend themselves; what use do you expect from them? - and sent everywhere with an announcement to go to be baptized. Posadnik Sparrow, the son of Stoyanov, brought up under Vladimir, an eloquent man, went to bargain and persuaded the people most strongly; many went to the river on their own, and those who did not want to, the soldiers dragged them and were baptized: the men were above the bridge, and the women below ... The swept-out Church of the Transfiguration was built again. Having finished this business, Putyata went to Kyiv; that is why there is a proverb that is abusive for the Novgorodians. “He baptized Putyata with a sword, and Dobrynya with fire» (3).

The remaining incidents involving the Magi date back to a time very distant from the events of the Baptism of Ancient Rus' and were caused for the most part by purely economic reasons.

We will give two typical examples of the “revolt of the Magi”, which in most sources are presented exclusively as examples of the struggle of paganism with Christianity, although in fact they are based either on economic difficulties that befell people, or on the naive, pagan ideas of the ancient Slavs of a religious and everyday nature about the causes of their misfortunes. So:

« under 1024 The Tale of Bygone Years contains the following entry. “To Yaroslav existing in Novgorod then. In the same summer, the Volsvi rose in Judgment, I beat the old child at the devil's instigation and demonic, saying that they should keep the gobino. There is great rebellion and famine throughout that country; all the people went along the Volza to the Bulgarians, and brought live, and tako revived. Hearing Yaroslav the Magi, come to Suzdal; seize the wise men, squander, and show others, saying: “God brings sin to every land with a famine, or pestilence, or a bucket, or some other execution, but a person does not know anything.” And returning Yaroslav, coming to Novgorod" (4).

It should be noted that even the historians of the Soviet era could not consider in this conflict (which they perceived exclusively in the categories of class struggle) the religious background caused by the dissatisfaction of the Magi with the Christianization of the Russian population. Moreover, in our time (a time when you can, if you wish, free yourself from ideological clichés), you need to have a very violent imagination in order to regard the events in Suzdal, events caused by purely socio-economic reasons (first of all, crop failure and famine) as a struggle between paganism and Christianity.

At the same time, it should be noted that the protest of the rebellious Magi and those who sympathized with them was directed not at church authorities and not at all at persons of the Christian confession, but at the “old child”, by which it is customary to understand either wealthy people who hid the harvest , or old women, guilty (according to persons of pagan confession) of witchcraft and various kinds of sabotage, which caused mass famine.

Unlike the events in Suzdal, which are rather sparingly described in the annals, the "uprising of the Magi" on the Upper Volga in the 1070s received a very detailed story. In The Tale of Bygone Years, it is placed under the year 1071. The chronicler begins his story about the “revolt of the Magi” that took place on the banks of the Volga and Sheksna, indicating the onset of famine in Rostov land - in a vast region, the central part of which was the Volga-Klyazma interfluve. Here (just like in Suzdal), the unrest was caused by purely economic factors, and the Magi acted only as some kind of keepers of secret (magical) knowledge, with the help of which, in their opinion, it was possible to establish the causes of the onset of famine and other troubles.

So, fully admitting the possibility of a struggle between paganism and Christianity on the territory of Ancient Rus', we must admit that neither chronicles nor folk literature have preserved certain indications about this. And therefore, it would be quite acceptable to conclude that the active performances of the ancient Russian pagans were rather a rare exception than a rule. And, by the way, the tasks of Vladimir, who, with the adoption of Christianity, relieved himself of the sacred duties of the performer of sacrifices (the duties of the “high priest”), clearly did not include plans for massacre of adherents of pagan cults:

« Apparently, the destruction of sanctuaries in other cities and places of Rus' meant the deprivation of their ministers of the duties and functions familiar to pagan society. But this did not necessarily mean that specific people (priests, magicians, etc.) were to be executed, expelled to forests and swamps. It was more important that it was the cult of the gods, namely the polytheistic mythology, that was the main object to be destroyed, excluded from the sphere of public life and ideology. A similar phenomenon is recorded by sources that reflect the processes of Christianization of the peoples of Western Europe. And here the Church unquestioningly destroyed the most visible attributes of paganism (sacred groves, temples) and condemned pagan beliefs in their most socially significant and therefore unacceptable forms for the Church (sacrifices, mass holidays)" (5).

The real factors of the peaceful Baptism of Rus'

In contrast to the version about the forced Baptism of Rus' and the subsequent religious confrontation between paganism and Christianity (the version that does not stand up to the slightest criticism and has no real historical basis), the real factors that served as the basis for the peaceful process of Christianization were:

Firstly, the real authority of the Grand Duke in the eyes of his subjects, including because in pre-Christian Rus', princely power was not only purely administrative, but also a kind of sacred character. This, by the way, is evidenced by the first (pagan) religious reform of Vladimir, which indicates that in this era the overall control over the religious life of the people was in his hands.

Secondly, Christianity really revealed to people the meaning, meaning and purpose of their earthly existence, and also opened up a perspective hitherto unseen in paganism. Ultimately, the degradation of the pagan worldview led to the fact that the religion of the ancient Slavs became just a unitary means for a person to satisfy his earthly, everyday needs and desires. That is why many people really came to the heart of the gospel ideals of life, which not only fundamentally changed people's attitudes to earthly life (i.e. attitudes towards each other, to their social and state duties, etc.), but also raised a person (moreover, regardless of his social status) to a higher level of spiritual development than actually gave a different quality to all human existence.

The third factor that contributed to the peaceful adoption of Christianity by our ancestors is the communal-tribal structure of ancient Russian society, which determined the quality and forms of social relations of that time, as well as the religious consciousness of the ancient Slavs (consciousness, which in many respects differs from the structure of consciousness of modern man). In the psychology of thinking, this phenomenon is called "primitive thinking". In itself, it is characterized by the fact that:

« …It is completely differently oriented. Where we look for secondary causes, stable antecedents (antecedents), primitive thinking pays attention exclusively to mystical causes, the action of which it feels everywhere. It admits without difficulty that the same being can be in two or more places at the same time. It reveals a complete indifference to contradictions that our minds cannot stand. That is why it is permissible to call this thinking, when compared with ours, pralogical» (6).

In this sense, people of antiquity felt themselves to a greater extent as members (cells) of a single organism - a COMMUNITY, the head of which is the prince, and therefore the life and activity of each member of the community largely depends on him. At the same time, this situation concerned not only religious life (more precisely, the entire life of an ancient person, since among the ancients, religious life was in principle inseparable from everyday life).

It is sometimes quite difficult for a modern person to understand what all this could mean in reality? For, unlike ancient people, the individualism of modern man often simply reaches its extreme limits. As a result, most people, placing themselves at the center of the universe and perceiving the world solely through the prism of their own "extraordinary" and pride, feel like a kind of "mini-emperors", "rulers of the world" and "bearers of objective knowledge" at the same time. As a result, all this leads to the fact that each individual individual directs all the efforts of his personality to please himself, his beloved, and satisfy all his conceivable and inconceivable desires, which inevitably ends in even greater distance from other people, as a result of this removal gives rise to insurmountable suffering in man.

The consciousness of our distant ancestors was arranged differently; despite the rudeness of the customs that reigned among the ancient Slavs, our ancestors were not individualists to the extent that we, modern people, are. Simply put, they were less aware of themselves than we were separate individuals and were more oriented towards the so-called collective consciousness. In this sense:

«… the collective representations of primitive people are not the product of intellectual processing in the true sense of the word. They include emotional and motor elements as components, and, what is especially important, instead of logical relations (inclusions and exclusions), they imply more or less clearly defined, usually vividly felt, "participations" (communities)» (7).

As a result, this vividly experienced feeling of belonging to a single team, apparently, helped our ancestors to organically enter the system of values ​​of Christianity and could well contribute to the sincere acceptance of the Christian faith, because. the feeling of being an organic member of the single organism of the COMMUNITY is very close to the concept of the Church as the UNITED BODY OF CHRIST, the entry into which does not end, but, on the contrary, the Christian life begins for each specific person. The newly baptized enters the Church and stays in it, stays in the unity of Eucharistic communion with other members of the Church.

Links:

1. A.V. Karpov "Paganism, Christianity, dual faith." Aletheia. SPb., 2008. P.73.

2. Ibid. - P.72.

3. S.M. Soloviev. History of Russia since ancient times. Volume 1. Chapter 7. http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/history/solov/solv01p7.htm

4. A.V. Karpov "Paganism, Christianity, dual faith." Aletheia. SPb., 2008. P.94.

5. A.V. Karpov "Paganism, Christianity, dual faith." Aletheia. SPb., 2008. P.74.

6. L. Levy-Bruhl. Primitive thinking. Psychology of thinking. M: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1980. S. 130-140. True, it should be noted here that this factor is significant only in conjunction with the other two reasons mentioned above for the peaceful adoption of Christianity. Because by itself (that is, apart from the historical context), it is not capable of explaining anything. Indeed, it is unlikely that the consciousness of the Eastern Slavic population could differ so much from the consciousness possessed by the Western Slavs and, in general, the inhabitants of medieval Europe, and in fact in other countries the process of Christianization was far from being as peaceful as in Ancient Rus'.

It seems that in connection with the film "Viking", a scientific presentation of this issue will be in place.

Baptism - personal and nationwide - was a prerequisite for the agreement between Prince Vladimir and Basil Vasily II, which was concluded in 987.

The decisions taken were:
Basil II expressed his readiness to renew the validity of the former Russian-Byzantine treaties. But from now on, the military-political union of Rus' and Byzantium was to receive a completely different basis. There could no longer be any talk of the fearful relations of neighbors involuntarily, differing from each other in everything, and above all in matters of faith. The new agreement was to seal forever friendly ties between two Christian sovereigns and two Christian peoples. To this end, Vladimir was invited to accept a personal baptism according to the Greek rite and to promote the fastest conversion to Christianity of the "boyars", "Rus" and "all the people of the Russian land."

If this condition was met, the international rank of the baptized "Russia" was subject to a radical revision. She was to enter the Byzantine community of peoples as the closest ally of the Basils and the defender of Christianity in the "Scythian" (Black Sea) lands. Following the spiritual adoption of Vladimir, Vasilevs undertook to grant him the Caesarian dignity. In this capacity, Vladimir could also count on a completely earthly relationship with Vasily II through marriage to his sister, the purple-born Princess Anna. The secular grandeur of the royal couple had to be reinforced by the foundation of a metropolitan see in Kyiv.

In return, Vladimir was expected to send a large Russian detachment to Constantinople as soon as possible.

The planned kinship with the Byzantine imperial house was extremely beneficial and honorable for the Russian prince, who was well aware of the need to introduce the vast state he had created to the Christian world. Thanks to the marriage with the purple-born princess, Vladimir was part of the family of European rulers, becoming on an equal footing with the most powerful sovereigns, many of whom could not even dream of such a close relationship with the Byzantine basileus.

But the decision of Prince Vladimir to be baptized cannot be reduced to political reasons alone. His conversion was unfeigned, he was not hypocritical and did not play an unprincipled political game in order to get the sister of the Basils as his wife at any cost. Politics and religion are intertwined here so closely that it is simply impossible to separate them from each other.

Baptism of Kiev

Returning to Kyiv from a victorious campaign against Chersonese, Vladimir, according to the ancient Russian writer of the XI century. Jacob Mnich, introduced all near and distant relatives to the faith: “Prince Vladimir himself was baptized, and his children, and his whole house, enlightened and freed every soul, male and female, for the sake of baptism with holy baptism.” At the same time, the princely squad was also baptized. He released all his former wives and concubines, and married some of his warriors, giving them a rich dowry.

Now that the main condition of the agreement with Basil Vasily II had been fulfilled, Vladimir had to do the last thing - to baptize the people of Kiev and become the sovereign of the Christian people. The prince had someone to rely on. Since the time of Yaropolk, Christians have constituted a large part of the population of Kyiv. But Vladimir had to convince the city council of his rightness, for which the prince's word was by no means an immutable law.

First of all, Vladimir tried to enlist the support of the city nobility - the elders of the city. They had the right to a preliminary meeting, without which not a single question could be brought up for discussion at all. The elders heeded the persuasion of the prince and expressed their readiness to be baptized. After that, the outcome of the case was a foregone conclusion: there could no longer be an organized rebuff to religious innovation. Representatives of noble families enjoyed special reverence among the Slavs. In the “Biography of Otto of Bamberg” (beginning of the 12th century) there is a similar episode when one Pomeranian prince, who decided on the advice of a German missionary to convert his people to Christianity, says to him: “Be calm, my father and master, no one will resist you, as soon as the elders and nobles accepted the Christian faith.

According to Vladimir's plan, the pagans had to see with their own eyes the insignificance of the old religion and the inevitability of the upcoming change of faith. To do this, Vladimir ordered the destruction of the sanctuary of Perun - the very one that a few years earlier he himself ordered to arrange "on a hill outside the courtyard of the tower." The prince's servants were ordered to throw the statue of Perun to the ground, tie it to the horse's tail and drag it from the "mountain" to the banks of the Dnieper, beating the fallen idol with wands - "not because the tree feels, but to desecrate the demon who deceived us in this image" . Having thrown the idol into the water, the servants escorted him to the Dnieper rapids, and there they let him go with the flow. So Rus' said goodbye to pagan idols that demanded bloody sacrifices.

Desecration of the defeated gods was the custom under such circumstances. For example, when in 1168 the Danes took the city of Arkona (on the island of Rügen), where the most revered sanctuary of Svyatovit in the Slavic Pomerania was located, the Danish king Valdemar I ordered “to pull out this ancient idol of Svyatovit, which is revered by all the Slavic people, and ordered to throw it on neck rope and drag him in the middle of the army in front of the Slavs and, breaking into pieces, throw into the fire ”(message of the German chronicler Helmold).

After that, Vladimir sent Christian priests around the city, who "walked around the city, teaching people the faith of Christ." The role of preachers was assumed by the few clergy of the Kyiv churches and the "Korsun priests" who arrived with Vladimir. The Joachim Chronicle also reports the participation in the baptism of the people of Kiev by several Bulgarian priests brought by Vladimir to Kyiv with the consent of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

They faced a difficult task: in a few months, by the summer, to prepare all the people of Kiev for the sacrament. Only in the summer it was possible to baptize many citizens in the waters of the Dnieper, because there were no churches with baptismal rooms adapted for this in Kyiv. The priests tirelessly explained to young and old the foundations of the Christian faith. In their hands was the Gospel in the Slavic language - the work of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. Thanks to the Thessalonica brothers, the Slavic language became the fourth language (after Hebrew, Greek and Latin), in which the words about the Son of God sent into the world sounded, “so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3.15) .

Prince Vladimir patiently waited for the voluntary choice of the people of Kiev. By the middle of summer, it became obvious that the majority of the inhabitants of Kyiv wanted to be baptized, some still hesitated in choosing, and some persisted in paganism.

Seeing this, Vladimir gathered the city council and announced his will:
- In the morning, let everyone come to the river to be baptized. If one of the unbaptized does not appear tomorrow, whether rich or poor, a nobleman or a slave, he will be considered a disobedient to my command.

The veche reasoned: “If the new faith were not better than the old one, then the prince and the boyars would not have accepted it,” and approved the prince’s call to change the faith with the whole world.

The next day in the morning (one 16th-century manuscript from the Moscow Synodal Library says: “Great Prince Volodimer of Kiev and all Rus' was baptized on August 1”), a lot of people of both sexes and all ages gathered on the banks of the Dnieper. The priests divided them into groups and ordered one by one to go into the river, which replaced the font. In order for the whole crowd to be accommodated in shallow water, the first rows had to go into the water up to the neck, those following them stood in the water up to the chest, and those who were closest to the shore, the water reached the knee. The priests read the prescribed prayers, and then gave each compartment of those who were baptized Christian names: one male - common to all men, the other female - to all women. No domestic inconvenience arose from this, since even after baptism, only worldly names were still used in everyday life. They tried to count the new converts, but lost count.

Those who did not want to accept the light burden of Christ (Matt. 11:30), the veche decided to expel them from the city to "deserts and forests." The society of that time, which existed in conditions of constant military danger, could not afford the luxury of disagreement and opposition. Veche order demanded from the participants of the meeting a unanimous verdict. Those who disagreed with the opinion of the majority were at first persuaded by the whole world. “The Biography of Otto of Bamberg” reports on the baptism of the Pomeranian Slavs: “In such a huge city as Shchetin, there was not a single person who, after the general consent of the people to accept baptism, thought to hide from the Gospel truth, except for one priest ... But to him one day everyone came and began to beg him a lot.” Those who, in spite of everything, continued to be stubborn, were treated like criminals, subjecting them to severe punishments - beatings, robbery of property or a large monetary penalty. So, the German chronicler of the XI century. Titmar of Merseburg reports on the order of veche meetings among the Slavic tribe of the Luticians: “Discussing everything necessary at their discretion with a unanimous council, they all agree in resolving matters. If any of those who are in the same province does not agree with the general meeting in the decision of the matter, then they beat him with sticks; and if he contradicts publicly, then either he loses all his property from fire and robbery, or in the presence of everyone, depending on his value, he pays a certain amount of money.

Stages of Christianization under Prince Vladimir

The baptism of Kyiv and the dynastic union with Byzantium provided the Russian land with a de jure place among the Christian countries of Europe. However, de facto its official status as a Christian power was in striking discrepancy with the real state of affairs. Outside of Kyiv, the pagan element dominated everywhere, decisively and undividedly, and Vladimir had to provide Christianity, if not quantitatively, then at least qualitatively superiority over the "disgrace". Since that time, the further formation of the Old Russian statehood was put in the closest connection with the missionary efforts of the Russian Church and the princely power to convert to Christianity the main ethnic groups of the Old Russian population - Rus, Slovenes and "languages" (Finno-Ugric and Baltic peoples).

Unfortunately, the surviving written monuments shed very little light on the early history of the Christianization of the East Slavic lands. Most noteworthy is the silence of the Tale of Bygone Years, which only by its notes on the construction of churches in peripheral Russian cities makes it clear that the fact of baptism has taken place. In this situation, the results of archaeological observations on the evolution of funeral rites (the transition from pagan cremation to Christian inhumation) in various tribal territories are of particular importance - often this is the only way to get a more or less objective picture of the change in beliefs among the inhabitants of a particular locality. In general, historical and archaeological evidence leaves no doubt about the wide scope of missionary activity in the time of Vladimir, as well as the fact that it was not everywhere accompanied by quick and tangible success - the ethnographic material to which Christianity sought to give a single cultural shape.

After the baptism of the people of Kiev, Vladimir made missionary trips to the Suzdal and Smolensk lands, where he laid the foundation for the conversion of the Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes inhabiting these lands. But then the invasions of the Pechenegs and other external threats for a long time distracted Vladimir from direct participation in the Christian enlightenment of the Russian land.

Retaining the overall leadership of missionary activities, Vladimir entrusted its implementation to the higher clergy of the educated dioceses and the closest retinue entourage - governors and posadniks. “These [bishops], – says the Chronicle of Joachim, – walked the earth with nobles and warriors of Vladimir, taught people and baptized everywhere by hundreds and thousands…”.

The further spread of Christianity was carried out by the grown-up sons of Vladimir, who were planted by their father to reign in the city. Thanks to their efforts, the Christian sermon began to sound in the outlying Slavic lands - Drevlyansk, Turov, Polotsk, Smolensk, Rostov, Murom, Seversk and others.

According to Metropolitan Hilarion, "the apostolic trumpet and the thunder of the gospel sounded all the cities." The Christianization of each region began with the baptism of the urban population, and before others, the inhabitants of the city that played the role of the "capital city" in the given territory were converted to the new faith. This shows a conscious desire to rely on the legal tradition of the Slavs, which obligated the "smaller" cities to unquestioningly obey the veche assembly of the "oldest" city of the earth or volost. The command "to be Christians" applied to everyone - "ignorant and noble, slaves and free ..." ("Sermon on Law and Grace"). Therefore, together with the townspeople, their domestic servants were baptized.
The turn of the rural district came much later, when the Russian Church had the opportunity to appoint priests to rural parishes.

Baptism of Novgorod

In the north, in Novgorod, events developed in a dramatic manner. In connection with the shortage of persons of the highest spiritual rank, the appointment of the Novgorod bishop took place only in 991 or 992 - it was the simple Korsun priest Joachim. But back in 990, priests were sent from Kyiv to Novgorod under the protection of Dobrynia, Vladimir's uncle. The mission was aimed at preparing the ground for the mass baptism of Novgorodians. Therefore, the preachers limited themselves to addressing the townspeople with a doctrinal word, backed up for greater admonition by the public spectacle of “crushing idols” (probably those that stood in the princely court, since the main sanctuary of the Novgorodians - Peryn - has not yet been touched). The result of the efforts of the Kyiv teachers was the baptism of a certain number of Novgorodians and the construction of a wooden church in the Nerevsky end, somewhat north of the Kremlin, in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

The rest is known thanks to the preserved V.N. Tatishchev to a fragment of the Joachim Chronicle, which was based on the memories of an unknown eyewitness to the baptism of Novgorod - perhaps Bishop Joachim himself, as A.A. Shakhmatov, or some clergyman from his retinue. Most Novgorodians did not evoke sympathy for the preaching of the new religion. By the time Bishop Joachim arrived in Novgorod, the situation there was tense to the limit. The opponents of Christianity managed to organize themselves and gained the upper hand in the Nerevsky and Lyudin ends (in the western part of the city), taking hostage the wife and "some relatives" of Dobrynia, who did not have time to cross to the other side of the Volkhov; Dobrynya retained only the Slavensky end on the eastern (Trading) side. The pagans were very determined - "holding a veche and swearing everything not to let [Dobrynya] into the city and not to let the idols be refuted." In vain did Dobrynya exhort them with "pleasant words" - they did not want to listen to him. In order to prevent the Dobrynya detachment from penetrating the city's left bank, the Novgorodians swept away the Volkhov bridge and placed two "vices" (stone throwers) on the shore, "as if they were their own enemies."

The position of the princely side was complicated by the fact that the city nobility and priests joined the people. In their person, the uprising acquired authoritative leaders. The Joachim Chronicle names two names: the chief city sorcerer (“higher than the priests of the Slavs”) Bogomil and the Novgorod thousand Ugoniy. The nickname Nightingale was assigned to the first - according to his rare "sweetness", which he successfully put into play, "the grandeur to submit to the people." Steal did not lag behind him and, “driving everywhere, yelled: “It is better for us to die, rather than our gods give to reproach.”

After listening to such speeches, the angry crowd poured into Dobrynin's yard, where the governor's wife and relatives were being held in custody, and killed everyone who was there. After that, all paths to reconciliation were cut off, which, apparently, was achieved by the speech leaders of the pagans.

Dobrynya had no choice but to use force. The operation he developed to capture the Novgorod left bank can decorate a textbook of military art of any era. At night, several hundred people under the command of Prince Thousand Putyaty were put into boats. Unnoticed by anyone, they quietly went down the Volkhov, landed on the left bank, a little higher than the city, and entered Novgorod from the Nerevsky end. In Novgorod, from day to day, they expected the arrival of reinforcements - the Zemstvo militia from the Novgorod "suburbs", and in the camp of Dobrynya, obviously, they found out about this.

The voivode’s calculation was fully justified: no one sounded the alarm, “everyone who saw the tea of ​​their wars of life.” Under the cries of welcome from the city guard, Putyata rushed straight to the Ugoniy's yard. Here he found not only the Novgorod thousandth himself, but also other leaders of the uprising. All of them were captured and transferred under guard to the right bank. Putyata himself with most of his warriors shut himself up in the Ugonyaev yard.

In the meantime, the guards finally realized what was happening, and raised the Novgorodians to their feet. A huge crowd surrounded Ugonyay's yard. But the arrest of city elders did its job, depriving the pagans of a single leadership. The crowd was divided into two parts: one randomly tried to take possession of the yard of the Novgorod thousand, the other was engaged in pogroms - "the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord was smashed and the houses of Christians were raked." The coastline was temporarily left unattended. Taking advantage of this, Dobrynya and his army crossed the Volkhov at dawn. To provide direct assistance to the Putyata detachment was, apparently, still not easy, and Dobrynya, in order to divert the attention of the Novgorodians from the siege of Ugonyaev's courtyard, ordered several houses on the shore to be set on fire. For the wooden city, the fire was worse than the war. Novgorodians, forgetting about everything, rushed to put out the fire. Dobrynya, without interference, rescued Putyata from the siege, and soon the Novgorod ambassadors came to the governor with a request for peace.

Having broken the resistance of the pagans, Dobrynya proceeded to the baptism of Novgorod. Everything happened according to the Kyiv model. The Novgorod sanctuaries were devastated by the warriors of Dobrynia in front of the Novgorodians, who looked at the desecration of their gods with “a great cry and tears”. Then Dobrynya ordered "to go to baptism" on the Volkhov. However, the spirit of protest was still alive, so the veche stubbornly refused to legitimize the change of faith. Dobrynya had to resort to force again. The warriors who did not want to be baptized "drunk and baptize, men are above the bridge, and wives are below the bridge." Many pagans cheated by pretending to be baptized. According to legend, it is with the baptism of Novgorodians that the custom of wearing pectoral crosses by Russian people is connected: they were allegedly given to all those who were baptized in order to identify those who only pretended to be baptized.

Later, the people of Kiev, who were proud that the introduction of Christianity went more or less smoothly with them, maliciously reminded the Novgorodians, at the expense of their piety: "Putyata baptized you with a sword, and Dobrynya with fire."

Following Novgorod, Christianity established itself in Ladoga and other cities of the Slovenian land. At the beginning of the XI century. in the Priilmenye, as well as in the basins of the Luga, Sheksna and Mologa, the Christian custom of burial spread.

Resistance to Christianity in other East Slavic lands

In the last years of the 10th - early 11th centuries. the distribution of volost cities between the sons of Vladimir took place. This made it possible to significantly expand the area of ​​missionary activity of the princely power, since the young princes sought to turn their specific "capitals" into centers of Christian enlightenment. Thanks to their efforts, Christianity penetrated far beyond the borders of the Russian land in a narrow geographical sense, although in many East Slavic lands the princely residences were destined to remain for a long time lonely outposts of the new faith in the midst of a pagan environment.

The introduction to Christianity of the Slavs of the Upper Dnieper took place in a generally peaceful way. Only in the legends of the Dregoviches did a dull allusion to some kind of bloody battle between the baptizers of the Turov land and local pagans survive. One legend says that when the famous stone crosses, which are still a landmark of Turov, sailed along Pripyat to the city and stood on the shore, the river water was stained with blood.

However, regardless of the means by which the Christian missionaries achieved triumph over paganism, they never managed to achieve a quick result - the Christianization of the Dnieper Slavs dragged on for many years. In one old manuscript, the baptism of the Smolensk land is marked in 1013, and this date quite accurately corresponds to the materials of archaeological research of the Krivichi kurgans, according to which the first few burials according to the Christian rite appeared in the upper reaches of the Dnieper around the middle of the 10th century, but they received a noticeable predominance only in first quarter of the 11th century. Approximately the same picture is observed in the tribal territories of the Drevlyans, Radimichi, Dregovichi and Severyans, where the replacement of pagan cremation by Christian inhumation took place in the last quarter of the 10th - first third of the 11th centuries.

In the lands adjacent to the Dnieper from the northwest and northeast, Christianity took root with even greater difficulty.

The folk tradition calls Rogneda and her eldest son Izyaslav the first enlighteners of the Polotsk land. Having settled after the expulsion from Kyiv in Izyaslavl - the city that Vladimir built for them - they supposedly founded a monastery in its vicinity, which became a hotbed of Christianity in the land of Polochan. Despite its late origin (the story of the tonsure of Rogneda in the "Mnish image" is included in the Tver Chronicle of the 15th century), the legend quite accurately points to the original area of ​​distribution of Christianity in the Polotsk land. The overwhelming majority of local Christian cemeteries of the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th centuries. really concentrated in the south, along the banks of the Svisloch (near Menesk and Izyaslavl), while to the north, in the vicinity of Polotsk, Drutsk, Vitebsk, pagan funeral rituals completely dominate ( Alekseev L.V. Polotsk land (Essays on the history of northern Belarus in the 9th-13th centuries). M., 1966. S. 227). The fierce resistance of the Polotsk to the planting of Christianity is also evidenced by the local legend about a certain nameless hero, "who destroyed many churches" ( Shane P.V. Materials for studying the life and language of the Russian population of the North-Western Territory. SPb., 1893. T. II. S. 424). It is possible that the Polotsk Krivichi, who had a hard time experiencing the recent defeat of their tribal reign by Vladimir, for a long time regarded attempts to instill the Christian faith in them as a policy of spiritual enslavement, which aggravated their dependence on Kyiv.

A relatively large corpus of written monuments tells about the early stage of Christianization of the Volga-Klyazma interfluve. However, these are mostly late sources of dubious quality, owing their appearance to the desire of the scribes of the Vladimir-Suzdal and Moscow principalities to create their own "sacred history".

In the XII-XV centuries. several independent traditions gradually took shape, each of which was based on a separate cycle of legends, with its main character. One of them was Dobrynya, who allegedly walked with the bishops “on the Russian land and as far as Rostov”, “and teach ... to believe in the one God in the glorious Trinity, and teach and show the God-reason and piety of many, and baptize without the number of people, and raise many churches , and appoint presbyters and deacons, and arrange kliros, and establish pious statutes. And there was great joy among the people, and the believers multiplied, and the name of Christ God was glorified everywhere ”(Nikon Chronicle, under 991).

Vladimir himself was revered as another baptizer of local residents, who “go to the Suzdal land, and baptize everyone there ...” (ibid., under 992).

In the Kholmogory chronicle under 988 we find news of another baptism of Rostov and Suzdal residents. Here this merit is attributed to the legendary Bishop Fyodor, about whom it is said that he "was the first bishop in Rostov and baptized the whole land of Rostov and Suzdal"; His name was also associated with a legend about the construction in Rostov of the magnificent oak church of the Assumption of the Virgin, which allegedly stood for more than one hundred and sixty years and was destroyed by fire around 1160.

A number of chronicles mention the missionary activity in Rostov of Prince Boris (son of Vladimir) and Bishop Hilarion, who competed with Fedor in the right to be considered the first Rostov hierarch and creator of the Assumption Church.

It is significant, however, that, despite the excess of baptisms of the Rostov-Suzdal land, the annals did not have a “canonical” story about the baptism of the inhabitants of Rostov, similar to the stories about the baptism of the people of Kiev and Novgorod, and, for example, the Rostov (Khlebnikov) chronicler, speaking of the conversion of his compatriots, he almost verbatim repeats the article of the Tale of Bygone Years under 988 on the baptism of the people of Kiev.

Moreover, the peppy statements of the chronicles about the triumphal march of Christianity across the Rostov-Suzdal land and the “joy of greatness” reigning in the hearts of the natives do not fit very well with the gloomy assessments of the state of affairs in this region, available in hagiographic literature. The compilers of the lives of the first Rostov wonderworkers - Bishop Leonty (60s - early 70s of the 11th century) and monk Avraamy (12th century?) - do not hide the fact that their predecessors, Bishops Fedor and Hilarion, did very little success (“ nothing successful") in the education of the pagans and soon after arriving in Rostov were forced to leave the department due to the extreme hostility of the local population: "not tolerant of disbelief and annoying people, escaped."

We observe the same contradiction in the news about the Christianization of the Murom land. If the Resurrection and Nikon Chronicles report the baptism of the Muromians by Prince Vladimir (an article dated 1471), then the Life of Konstantin of Murom speaks of the complete failure of the Christian mission, which, according to this source, was headed by Prince Gleb Vladimirovich. Having received a blessing from his father for reigning in Murom, Gleb “went ... to the city of Murom and became under the hail, and in the city of Murom many unfaithful people became corrupted and strengthened, and standing under the city of Murom and otide. And unfaithful people do not give up on Prince Gleb, and the faithful Prince Gleb did not defeat those unfaithful people, from the city of Murom he left 12 fields and lives that ... within the limits of Murom for two years, ”that is, until his martyrdom in 1015. Of course, just such a method and met the Christian enlighteners of the Rostov-Suzdal and Murom lands during the time of Vladimir.

"The legend of the construction of the city of Yaroslavl"

A curious monument, depicting the difficult situation in which the princely power had to operate on this outskirts of the East Slavic world, is the "Legend of the construction of the city of Yaroslavl." It is based on a fairly ancient tradition, more or less discernible through later layers.

From it we learn that once, not far from the confluence of the Volga and Kotorosl, where a new city was destined to arise, there was a settlement called Bear Corner. The pagans living in it worshiped Volos, the cattle god. In honor of him, a sanctuary was erected, in which there was a sorcerer who supported the sacred fire and brought sacrifices to the idol. He was also engaged in divination and for this he was highly revered among the locals. However, if there was an oversight on his part, and the sacred fire went out, then the sorcerer was "brutally tortured", after which they killed and burned the corpse.

The inhabitants of the Bear Corner were little by little engaged in cattle breeding, but their main occupation was robbery on the Volga trade route.

This continued until Yaroslav arrived in Rostov (the beginning of his reign in Rostov is dated by the chronicles to the end of the 80s of the X century). Wishing to put an end to the robberies, he raided with his retinue into the Bear's Corner. The pagans took up arms against him, but were defeated, after which "by an oath at Volos they promised the prince to live in harmony and give him dues." Nevertheless, they resolutely opposed the baptism, which Yaroslav insisted on.

The prince went to Rostov, but after some time he returned to Bear Corner. Now, along with the retinue, he was accompanied by a bishop, priests, deacons and church masters. This time, the pagans did not dare to engage in battle with the prince's army themselves, but they released "a fierce beast and dogs" from their cage. The courage of Yaroslav saved his companions: the prince hit the “fierce beast” with an ax (we are obviously talking about a bear - the sacred animal of Veles), and the dogs, cowardly, ran away.

The bewildered inhabitants of the Bear Corner asked for mercy. The next morning, Yaroslav founded a city next to their settlement, which he called "in his own name" Yaroslavl. On the place sprinkled with holy water, the prince personally erected a wooden cross, marking the beginning of the construction of the temple of the prophet Elijah, since his victory over the “predatory and fierce beast” took place on the day of memory of this saint (July 20). The new city was populated by Christians, and Yaroslav assigned priests and deacons to the church of Elijah the Prophet. However, even after all this, the pagans continued to persist - "they lived separately from the townspeople and worshiped Volos."

Their conversion took place much later, in a year when the Rostov region was subjected to a severe drought. Volos' prayers for rain did not help. Then the priest of the Elijah Church asked the pagans if they would believe if, through the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and the prophet Elijah, rain would fall on the earth. They answered in the affirmative. In their presence, a prayer service was served, after which the sky was covered with clouds, and a downpour began. Shocked by the power of the Christian God, the inhabitants of the Bear Corner themselves burned the idol of Volos and all of them were baptized.

It goes without saying that the "Legend ...", even with great reservations, cannot be attributed to full-fledged historical evidence. But in some ways it certainly reflected the truth. Noteworthy is the political caution, if not to say delicacy, in dealing with pagans, which is completely uncharacteristic of the actions of princely power in other East Slavic lands: although Yaroslav is building a fortress in the Bear Corner - a stronghold of Christianity, but at the same time he is clearly not inclined to use violent means, such as "the overthrow of idols", etc. No less significant is the contrast between the tireless missionary care of the earthly authorities and the ultimate futility of their efforts, emphasized by the ending of the "Tale ...", where the main role in the conversion of idolaters is assigned to miraculous intervention from above. It is permissible to see in this not just a plot pattern characteristic of church traditions, but a stable idea deposited in the memory of Russian people about the difficulties that the princely administration faced during the Christianization of the Yaroslavl Volga region.

Materials of archaeological excavations show that inhumation burials appear here at the end of the 10th century, but their wide distribution falls on the 11th-12th centuries.

At approximately the same pace, funeral rituals evolved in the land of the Vyatichi. To say more about the penetration of Christianity into the Oka basin at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th centuries. impossible due to the absence of any news on this subject in ancient Russian literature and folklore.

The results of the "baptism of Rus'" under Prince Vladimir

As a result, we see that the historical phenomenon, which has received the name "baptism of Rus'" in historiography, in terms of its geographical, ethnic and social characteristics, appears far from being as comprehensive as it is implied. The historian should correct Jacob Mnich: Vladimir did not exactly baptize the Russian land “from end to end”, rather, under him, Christianity was brought to all ends of the Russian land. “Volodimer [earth] gaze [plowed] and softened by baptism by enlightening ... and we are reaping the teaching of an accepting book,” says the chronicler. In other words, during the reign of Vladimir, the foundation of Christian Rus' was laid, strong enough to bear without hesitation the majestic building of Russian civilization in the future.

At the same time, to consider the adoption of Christianity by Russia in only one local, narrowly national aspect means to extremely impoverish (and, consequently, distort) the historical significance of this event, since the baptism of Russia was only part of an immeasurably wider process of Christianization of the barbarian peoples of Europe, mainly Germans and Slavs, actually and ensured the world-historical victory of the Church of Christ. In the tenth century, the centuries-old period of the spread of Christianity in barbaros (among the barbarians) was coming to an end. The pagan gods still retained their power over many tribes and peoples hiding in the wilds of the forest and other hard-to-reach places on the outskirts of the European north and east, but the leaders of the last large tribal associations that claimed statehood, one after another, bowed before the all-conquering Cross. In the 930s. Christianity finally takes root in the Czech Republic, thanks to the holy prince Vyacheslav (Wenceslas); in 960, the Polish prince Mieszko I surrenders to the exhortations of his Czech wife Dombrowka and is baptized according to the Roman rite; in 974, German missionaries convert the Danish king Harald Blue-toothed to Christianity; around the same time, Geza of Hungary was baptized, and in the mid-990s. Norwegian king Olav Tryggvason learns the true God in Constantinople.
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I wrote these books in order to help bring the era of Prince Vladimir back into the historical consciousness of our society.

Fragment from the book by N.S. Gordienko

"Baptism of Rus': facts against legends and myths", 1986

In 1988, the Russian Orthodox Church, functioning in a socialist society along with other religious associations, will celebrate its own millennium. It considers the date of its origin to be the time when the inhabitants of ancient Kyiv were converted to Christianity. It is believed that this event, called the "baptism of Rus'", took place in 988 and it took place by order of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Svyatoslavich (? -1015).

The phrase "baptism of Rus'", familiar and familiar to everyone who has studied the history of our Fatherland, is not just unsuccessful or inaccurate, but deeply erroneous and misleading. This expression, as it were, suggests the existence of a one-time event in the past: the rapid and widespread introduction to Christianity of the whole people, the whole country - Ancient Rus'. Meanwhile, domestic history does not know such an event. There was a long process, stretching for several centuries, of introducing Christianity as the state religion of the centralized Kievan state. The official beginning of this process, which was gradually prepared by all the previous development of ancient Russian society, was laid by Prince Vladimir, who in 988 baptized only the inhabitants of his capital, and in subsequent years, the population of a number of other cities of Kievan Rus.

Calling the initiation to Christianity only the people of Kiev "baptism of Rus'", Orthodox theologians and church historians committed a gross violation of elementary logic, known as substitution of concepts. They impermissibly identified one of the initial moments of the long process of Christianization of Ancient Rus' with the whole process, gave it the appearance of a one-time and completely completed event, and the year 988 began to count the time of the establishment of Christianity in ancient Russian society and to celebrate as an exactly fixed date of the “baptism of Rus'”.

From theologians, this phrase (with all its ambiguity) was borrowed by noble-bourgeois historiography, making it commonly used. True, historians themselves usually used the expression "baptism of Rus'" in several meanings. They denoted by this term at least three completely different, although interconnected phenomena:

• first, specific events- the conversion to Christianity of Kiev, carried out in 867 year by Prince Askold (“the first baptism of Rus'”), and in 988 the year of Prince Vladimir (“the second baptism of Rus'”);
• Secondly, chain homogeneous events - the actions of princes Vladimir and Yaroslav to plant Christianity within the centralized Kievan Rus: the baptism of Novgorodians, as well as residents of other ancient Russian cities, located mainly on the waterway from Kiev to Novgorod;
• Thirdly, processes- the approval of Christianity as the state religion of the ancient Russian state, as well as the introduction to Christianity of the population of princely Rus' and tsarist-imperial Russia.

However differences between these phenomena were not recorded (especially in the popular publications of pre-revolutionary authors), and therefore a false theological and church interpretation of the phrase “baptism of Rus'” was fixed in the minds of the bulk of the population of old Russia. The Christianization of the Old Russian society was perceived as having a specific date (987 or 988) a one-time act that quickly and radically changed all aspects of the life of the population of the Kiev state, created everything from nothing and unambiguously predetermined all the subsequent development of the country, providing it with the status of "Holy Rus'".

By tradition, Soviet historians also began to use the phrase "baptism of Rus'", referring it not so much to the baptism of the people of Kiev, but to the planting of Christianity in Rus' and in Russia as a state religion. But even such concretization did not overcome the ambiguity of this expression. Yes, it is impossible to overcome it, due to the fundamental fallacy of the phrase. In a traditionally ambiguous meaning, it entered the Soviet popular science, educational and fiction, in our journalism.

Basically, without accepting the phrase "Baptism of Rus'" and joining those who deem it necessary at all withdraw it from scientific circulation and everyday use, we still cannot completely refuse to use it in this book, since we have to argue with those who made this phrase familiar to themselves, and therefore only resorted to it or are resorting to it. However, in the author's text, the expression "baptism of Rus'" is used in only one sense: to refer to everything planting and approval process Christianity as the dominant ideology of the class ancient Russian society and the state religion of the Kievan state. In other words, we consider it as the equivalent of the phrase "Christianization of Rus'".

Since the introduction of Christianity in Ancient Rus' was not a one-time event, strictly localized in time, but was lengthy process, then it cannot be dated to a specific year. Just as it is impossible to date the formation and establishment of feudalism or capitalism in Russia by a certain year, there are also no grounds for establishing a fixed date for the Christianization of the Old Russian society, which could be considered as the date of the “baptism of Rus'”. Hence, there can be no talk of some kind of anniversary baptism or Christianization of Rus', including, of course, its millennium.

There is only one more or less reliable date - the already mentioned year of the mass conversion of Kyivans to Christianity (988). This event marked the beginning of the official adoption of Christianity by the feudal elite of Ancient Rus' as the state religion and at the same time laid the foundations of the Russian Orthodox Church - one of the offshoots of universal Orthodoxy. That's why Moscow Patriarchy considers the millennial anniversary of this event as her anniversary, for which she began to prepare ahead of time. But in the course of such preparation, she, acting in the spirit of the theological and ecclesiastical tradition, began to present your own church anniversary, as the anniversary of the "baptism of Rus'", which was already reflected in the initial organizational actions of the official instances of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In December 1980, by a special decision of the church leadership, a jubilee commission was created to prepare and conduct the celebration of the millennium ... no, not the Russian Orthodox Church, as it should have been supposed, but the “baptism of Russia” (?!) ... Starting from 1981, the upcoming anniversary, invariably characterized as the millennium of the "baptism of Russia", they began to devote editorial articles that open the desktop church calendars, which are published annually by the Moscow Patriarchate (only in the calendar for 1983 it is said that in 988 there was not a "baptism of Russia", but only "Baptism of the people of Kiev", which "laid the foundation for the establishment of Christianity throughout the Russian land"). Since 1982, commemorative materials have appeared on the pages of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate and other periodicals of the Russian Orthodox Church.

So what? - some atheist readers may think or say, having read the above information. – You never know what anniversaries the Moscow Patriarchate has celebrated, is celebrating and intends to celebrate in the future. For example, in 1948 she celebrated the five hundredth anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church gaining independence from Byzantium (autocephaly, or self-heading), in 1967 - the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the patriarchate, annulled by order of Peter I at the beginning of the 17th century, and in 1988 it will be 400 years old since the establishment of the patriarchate in Rus'. For believers of the Orthodox confession, all these are holidays, anniversaries, anniversaries, and, moreover, significant, epochal ones. But for you, people who do not believe and do not belong to the members of the Russian Orthodox Church, what is the reason to follow purely church anniversaries, and even more so to dedicate books to them?

Indeed, if Moscow Patriarchy considered the millennium of the baptism of the people of Kiev at the command of Prince Vladimir, as the anniversary of this particular event and as the anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church, since she had already announced the year 988 as the beginning of her existence, then there would be no need to pay special attention to it and talk about it on the pages of atheistic publications. But the fact of the matter is that the authors of theological works and church preachers strive to present this anniversary to the Soviet people as a fundamental event not only for modern Russian Orthodoxy, but for the entire socialist society. Conversion to Christianity The inhabitants of ancient Kyiv are characterized by them as "the baptism of Rus'" and are declared the beginning of all beginnings. The theological and ecclesiastical circles of the Moscow Patriarchate deduce from it not only the assertion of Christianity as the state religion of Ancient Rus' with all the ensuing consequences, but also Russian statehood itself, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian culture, the national character of the Slavic peoples of our country, as well as all those social and moral values, which are the pride of socialist society.

Baptism of Kiev, arbitrarily issued for "Baptism of Rus'", is proclaimed by the modern church press "the greatest event in the history of the Russian people" (50th anniversary of the restoration of the patriarchate. Special issue of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate - further ZhMP, - 1971, p. 25). “It was a great event,” they said about the baptism of the inhabitants of Kyiv at the first meeting of the synodal jubilee commission. - Therefore, in the year when we intend to prayerfully celebrate the millennium of the baptism of Rus', together with all the people we will be able to celebrate the millennium of our patriotic culture And literature... "(ZHMP. 1982, No. 1, p. 6).

The ideologists of contemporary Russian Orthodoxy have taken advantage of a purely church jubilee for religious and apologetic purposes far beyond the framework of the jubilee being celebrated. In reports, articles and sermons dedicated to the millennium of the action of Prince Vladimir of Kiev and the conversion of the inhabitants of the capital of the Old Russian state to a new faith, a distorted, religious-idealistic coverage of the historical past of our country and the place of Russian Orthodoxy in it is given. Their authors exaggerate the role of the religious factor in the historical process, idealize Russian Orthodoxy of the pre-revolutionary period, embellish the nature of its influence on the destinies of the country and the life of the people, biasedly shed light on the anti-people activities of the episcopate and clergy at turning points in Russian history, uncritically characterize the reactionary church leaders of the past, known for their rejection of the progressive tendencies of social development.

Moreover, talking about baptism of Kiev and about the millennial anniversary of this event is used by modern Orthodox theologians and church leaders of the Moscow Patriarchate to "throw a bridge" from the past to the present. They are trying, in particular, to assure the Soviet people of the absolute progressiveness and enduring significance of the Christianization of Ancient Rus', prove the direct involvement of Russian Orthodoxy in the social, scientific, technical and cultural development in our country, in the establishment of high principles and noble ideals in a socialist society, to justify the presence of a confident and stable historical perspective in the Russian Orthodox Church. In other words, preparation for millennium of the baptism of Kiev and the formation of the Russian Orthodox Church is used by the theological and ecclesiastical circles of the Moscow Patriarchate as an additional reason for the widespread activation of religious propaganda, designed to mitigate the crisis of religion in the modern world, increase the prestige of Orthodoxy in the eyes of the Soviet people and strengthen the position of the Russian Orthodox Church in a socialist society.

At present, there is a situation where there is not only a purely religious apology for the initial moment of the "baptism of Rus'", carried out by the ideologists of the Russian Orthodox Church. This event in national history became the object of political provocations and ideological speculations on the part of the extremely reactionary forces of the Russian and Ukrainian church emigration, standing on openly anti-communist positions and for more than six decades engaged in subversive anti-Soviet activities. The greatest activity of this kind is shown by the leaders of the emigrant religious and political group, pretentiously calling itself the "Russian Church Abroad". Its leadership decided to use both the upcoming anniversary of the baptism of the people of Kiev and the formation of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as preparations for it (immigrant clerics call it the "anniversary of the baptism of Rus'") to strengthen anti-communist sentiments and anti-Soviet activity in the Russian emigre environment, as well as to intensify ideological sabotage against our country.

In the second half of 1977, with the sanction of the leadership of the "Russian Church Abroad" and under its direct tutelage, a "Commission for the preparation of the celebration of the millennium of the baptism of Russia" was created, composed of anti-Soviet people of all stripes and ranks and headed by the former confessor of the traitor general Vlasov, and now the rector of one from the New York churches of the "Russian Church Abroad" archpriest A. Kiselyov. At the initiative of this commission, first in the United States of America, and then in other countries of the Western world, the so-called "congresses of the Orthodox-Russian public" began to be held, discussing similar problems: "Modern Russian reality and the ideals of Holy Rus'" ("Modernity and Eternal Values" ), “Russian Diaspora on the Threshold of the Anniversary”, etc.

Speaking at the first of these "congresses", held in September 1977 in New York, Archpriest A. Kiselev stated the clear prevalence of inertia and disunity in the Russian émigré environment, noted the open unwillingness of an increasing number of émigrés to support the anti-communist actions of their church leaders, to demonstrate frank anti-Sovietism. The chairman of the anniversary commission expressed dissatisfaction with this state of affairs, which is very deplorable for the "Russian Church Abroad" and those forces of international political reaction that support it. He bluntly stated that the leaders of the "Russian Church Abroad" expected to use the preparations for the millennium conversion of Kyivans to Christianity in order to overcome this inertia and disunity in the course of it and with its help, and at the same time try to find allies among the believing Soviet people with the help of falsifications, slander and social demagogy.

Information about the activities of the jubilee commission, articles and reports written by its order began to be published on the pages of the official body of the "Russian Church Abroad" - a fortnight "Orthodox Rus'" and in other publications of the emigrant religious-political group. But this was not enough for the politicizing emigrant churchmen, and in 1978 the commission began publishing its own quarterly magazine "Russian revival".

The very first issue of The Russian Renaissance contained a crude and provocative fraud: it claimed that the editorial offices of this quarterly were located in Western Europe, North America and ... Russia. True, a clarification was made in the second issue: it is indicated that the co-editors, secretaries of the editorial board and members of the editorial meeting are persons living in the USA, France, Canada and other Western countries. And, nevertheless, on the cover and title page of the magazine there are three cities where this edition is allegedly published: Paris, New York and ... Moscow. In subsequent issues, the publishers publicly declared that the Russian Renaissance magazine was designed not only for distribution among Russian emigration circles and in the West in general, but also for illegal shipment to the Soviet Union. The same statements were made by them on the pages of other publications of the "Russian Church Abroad" (in particular, in "Orthodox Rus'").

The prince became the editor-in-chief of the Russian Renaissance S. Obolensky, who was characterized by the emigrant press as a person who "has proven his anti-communist conviction through many years of publicistic activity." And after the death of the prince in 1980, this post was taken by an equally pronounced anti-communist and anti-Soviet G. Andreev. This is the pseudonym of a traitor to the Motherland G. Khomyakova, who collaborated during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. with fascist intelligence agencies, and then picked up by the American intelligence services, for which he still works tirelessly. The émigré press sees perhaps the main merit of the new editor of Russkoe Vozrozhdeniye in the fact that he proves "the moral justification of an active struggle against the communist regime."

Some idea of ​​whose interests the Russian Renaissance expresses and defends, which has the subtitle “Independent Russian Orthodox National Organ”, is given by the list of “Russian church and public organizations” that subsidizes the publication, published from the very first issue. This list mentions not only the Synod of Bishops of the “Russian Church Abroad”, its Western American and San Francisco dioceses, the Orthodox Cause fraternity and the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, but also military organizations (in particular, the “Great Don Army Abroad” , "Garrison 297 named after General Turchinov", "Cadet Association", "North American Department of the Russian All-Military Union", "Union of Officers of the Russian Expeditionary Force", etc.), as well as monarchical associations: Russian Imperial Union-Order. The Tsar-Martyr Foundation, the Union of Zealots in Memory of Emperor Nicholas II, etc. ...

Laurentian Chronicle. See the ancient text: PSRL, vol. 1, v. 1, M., 1962; repetition ed. PSRL, L” 1926; or in book. “Literature of Ancient Rus' 1X-KhP ev”. M., 1978. Translation by B. Kresen. 6488 (980). And Vladimir began to reign in Kiev alone, and set up idols on a hill outside the courtyard of the tower: Perun of wood - a silver head, and a golden mustache, and Khors-Dazhbog, and Stribog, and Simargl, and Mokosh ... Vladimir planted Dobrynya, his uncle, in Novgorod . And, having come to Novgorod, Dobrynya placed an idol over the Volkhov River, and the Novgorodians offered sacrifices to him as to a god<…>. Vladimir was defeated by female lust, and these were his spouses: Rogneda, whom he put on Lybid<…>, from her had four sons: Izeslav, Mstislav, Yaroslav, Vsevolod, and two daughters; from a Greek woman he had - Svyatopolk; from Czech - Vysheslav; from the other - Svyatoslav and Mstislav; and from the Bulgarian - Boris and Gleb, and he had 300 concubines - in Vyshgorod, 300 - in Belgorod and 200 on Berestov<…>. And he was insatiable in fornication, he brought married wives to himself and corrupted maidens. He was the same womanizer as Solomon, for they say that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He was wise, but in the end he died. This one was ignorant, but in the end he found salvation. In the year 6496 (988), Vladimir went with an army to Korsun, a Greek city.<…>And he sent to the kings Basil and Constantine, and so he conveyed to them: “Behold, your glorious city has taken; heard that you have a virgin sister; if you do not give it for me, then I will create for your city (capital) the same as I created for this city. And when they heard this, they (Vasily and Konstantin) were sad, and sent him a message, and answered like this: “It is not proper for Christians to give wives to infidels. If you are baptized, then you will receive it, and you will receive the kingdom of heaven, and you will be of the same faith with us.”<…>By God's providence, at that time, Vladimir's eyes ached, and he did not see anything, and he grieved greatly, and did not know what to do. And the queen (Anna) sent to him and conveyed: “If you want to get rid of this disease, then be baptized sooner; otherwise you will not get rid of this disease.” Having heard, Vladimir said: “If this is truly fulfilled, then the Christian God will be truly great.” And he ordered to be baptized. The bishop of Korsun with the tsarina's priests, having announced, baptized Vladimir. And when he laid his hand on him, immediately he received his sight. Vladimir, feeling his sudden healing, glorified God: “Now I have seen the true God:”<…>After that, Vladimir took the queen and the Korsun priests with the relics of St. Clement<…>, took both church vessels and icons for his blessing.<…>He also took two copper idols and four copper horses, which still stand behind the church of St. Mother of God. Korsun gave the Greeks as a vein for the queen, and he himself came to Kyiv. And when he came He ordered the idols to be overthrown - some to chop, and others - to put on fire. Perun also ordered to tie a horse to the tail and drag him from the mountain along the Borichev vozvoz to the Brook, and ordered twelve men to beat him with rods. This was done not because the tree feels, but to mock the demon.<:>. Yesterday he was honored by people, and today we will scold him. When Perun was dragged along the Creek to the Dnieper, unfaithful people mourned him.<…>. And, having dragged him, they threw him into the Dnieper. And Vladimir said to those accompanying him: “If he landed somewhere, you push him away from the shore until he passes the rapids, then just leave him.” They did just as he ordered. As soon as they left him outside the rapids, the wind brought him aground, which was later called Perunya Mel, as it is called to this day. Then Vladimir sent throughout the city to say: "If someone on the river does not turn tomorrow - whether it be rich, or poor, or a beggar, or a slave, it will be disgusting to me." Mazurin chronicler. PSRL. v. 34, M., 1968. Translation by B. Kresen. 6498 (992). Dobrynya, Vladimir's uncle, went to Veliky Novgorod, and that was all. he crushed idols, and ruined the ruins, and baptized many people, and erected churches, and placed priests in the cities and villages of the Novgorod region. The idol of Perun was flogged, and thrown to the ground, and, having tied the ropes, they dragged him along the feces, beating him with rods and trampling. And at that time a demon entered that soulless idol of Perun and cried out in him like a man: “Oh woe to me! Oh me! I fell into unmerciful hands.” And people threw him into the Volkhov River and commanded that no one take over him. He, swimming through the great bridge, hit the bridge with his club and said: “Here let the people of Novgorod amuse themselves, remembering me,” and here crazy people worked for many years, converged on certain holidays and staged performances, and fought. Joachim Chronicle. Ancient text in the book. Tatishchev V.N. History of Russia, 1 vol. M., 1963. Translation by B. Kresen. 6499(991). In Novgorod, people, seeing that Dobrynya was going to baptize them, made a veche and swore all of them not to let them into the city and not to let them refute the idols. And when he arrived, they, having swept away the great bridge, came out with weapons, and no matter what threats or affectionate words Dobrynya exhorted them, they did not want to hear, and they brought out two large crossbows with many stones, and placed them on the bridge, as on their real enemies. The highest above the Slavic priests, Bogomil, who because of his eloquence was named the Nightingale, forbade people to submit. We stood on the trading side, walked through the markets and streets, and taught people as best we could. But perishing in wickedness the word of the cross which the apostle spoke was foolishness and deceit. And so we stayed for two days and baptized several hundred people. Skinny thousand Novgorod Ugony went everywhere and shouted: “It is better for us to die than to give our gods to reproach.” The people of this country, having become angry, ruined the house of Dobrynya, plundered the estate, beat his wife and relatives. Thousand Vladimirov Putyata, a smart and brave man, having prepared a boat and choosing 500 people from Rostov, crossed over the city to the other side at night and entered the city, and no one was careful, since everyone who saw them thought they saw their soldiers. He, having reached the court of Stealing, immediately sent him and other first husbands to Dobrynya across the river. The people of that country, having heard about this, gathered up to 5000, surrounded Putyata, and there was an evil slaughter between them. Some went and the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord was swept away and the houses of Christians began to be robbed. And at dawn, Dobrynya arrived in time with the soldiers who were with him, and he ordered some houses to be set on fire near the shore, which people were very frightened of, and they ran to put out the fire; and immediately they stopped whipping, and then the first men, having come to Dobrynya, began to ask for peace. Dobrynya, having gathered soldiers, forbade robbery, and immediately he crushed the idols, burned the wooden ones, and broke the stone ones and threw them into the river; and there was great sorrow for the wicked. Men and women, seeing this, with a great cry and tears, asked for them, as if for real gods. Dobrynya, mocking, said to them: “What, madmen, do you regret those who cannot defend themselves, what good can you expect from them.” And he sent it everywhere, announcing that everyone should go to baptism.<…>And many came, and the soldiers dragged those who did not want to be baptized and baptized, men above the bridge, and women below the bridge.<…>And so baptizing, Putyata went to Kyiv. That is why people vilify the Novgorodians, they say, they He baptized Putyata with a sword, and Dobrynya with fire. Laurentian Chronicle. Translation by B. Kresen. 6532 (1024). In the same year, the Magi rebelled in Suzdal, they beat the old child at the devil's instigation and demons, saying that they were hiding supplies. There was a great rebellion and famine throughout the country<…>. Yaroslav, having heard about the Magi, came to Suzdal; having captured the sorcerers, he expelled some, and executed others, saying this: “God sends famine, or pestilence, or drought, or other execution on every country for sins, but a person does not know for what.” 6779(1071).<…>At the same time, a sorcerer came, seduced by a demon; having come to Kiev, he said and then told people that in the fifth year the Dnieper would flow back and that the lands would begin to change places, that the Greek land would take the place of the Russian, and the Russian would take the place of the Greek, and other lands would change. The ignorant listened to him, but the faithful laughed, saying to him: "The demon is playing with you to your destruction." Which happened to him: one of the nights he went missing. 6579(1071). There was a famine in the Rostov region, and then two wise men rebelled near Yaroslavl<…>. And they came to Belozero, and there were 300 people with them. At the same time, it happened to come from Svyatoslav to Yan, the son of Vyshatin, who was collecting tribute<…>. Yang ordered to beat them and pull out their beards. When they were beaten and pulled out with a split beard, Yan asked them: “What do the gods say to you?” They answered: “We stand before Svyatoslav!” And Yan ordered them to put rubles in their mouths and tie them to the mast of the boat and let them go in front of him in the boat, and he himself went after them. They stopped at the mouth of the Sheksna, and Yan said to them: “What do the gods say to you now?” They answered: “So the gods say to us: we will not be alive from you.” And Yan told them: “Then they told you the truth.”<…>And they seized them, killed them, and hung them on an oak tree. 6579 (1071) Such a sorcerer appeared under Gleb in Novgorod; he spoke to people, pretending to be a god, and deceived many, almost the whole city, assuring that “he knows and foresees everything”, and blaspheming the Christian faith, assured that “the Volkhov will cross in front of everyone”. And there was a rebellion in the city, and everyone believed him and wanted to destroy the bishop. The bishop, however, took the cross and put on robes, stood up and said: “Whoever wants to believe the sorcerer, let him follow him, whoever believes, let him go to the cross.” And the people were divided in two: Prince Gleb and his retinue went and stood near the bishop, and the people all went for the sorcerer. And a great rebellion began between them. Gleb took the ax under his cloak, went up to the sorcerer and asked: “Do you know what will happen tomorrow morning and what will happen until evening today?” “I foresee everything.” And Gleb said: “Do you know what will happen to you today?” “I will do great miracles,” he said. Gleb, taking out an ax, cut the sorcerer, and he fell dead<…>. Nikon chronicle. PSRL, vol. 10., M., 1965; sings. SPb., 1862. Translation by B. Kresen. 6735 (1227) Magi, sorcerers, accomplices appeared in Novgorod, and many sorceries, and indulgences, and false signs worked, and did much evil, and deceived many. And the assembled Novgorodians caught them and brought them to the archbishop's courtyard. And the men of Prince Yaroslav stood up for them. The Novgorodians brought the Magi to the courtyard of Yaroslav's husbands, and laid down a great fire in the courtyard of Yaroslav, and they tied all the wise men and threw them into the fire, and then they all burned up. Material from the resource “Slavic Paganism” history, culture, philosophy *************** And also, for the champions of Christianity, it was useful to get acquainted with the available chronicles of the period of the 10th-12th centuries, archaeological research and documents of that era, for example, by the works of Arab and Byzantine authors dedicated to the baptism of Rus' ... No, this is a lie, of course. For it is precisely from these data, not counting the annals of the 10th century written on paper in the 16th font of the 17th, that the extinction, impoverishment and degradation of Rus' is just visible. Just compare the descriptions of Russia and its influence on Byzantium by Byzantine authors in the 10th and 12th centuries, the geography of the campaigns and conquests of Svyatoslav the Brave with Vladimir Monomakh, customs documents on trade with Russia of the Arabs in the 10th and 12th centuries, attitudes towards us in that the same period of the Germans and Poles, the words of the Arab historian about hundreds of Russian cities in the 10th century (and according to him, in Byzantium then there were only THREE settlements that could be called a city) and the Scandinavian name of Russia - Gardarika (country of cities) with the fact what the Mongols found here in the 13th century - devastated by constant civil strife, fragmented, depopulated land. Moreover, there were NO external enemies in Rus' during that period. Only baptism ... In general, I can recommend the works of L. Prozorov to everyone who is interested in this topic, where the whole tragedy of the arrival of ALIEN faith in Rus' is described in a generally accessible language. Source: http://rodonews.ru/news_1279695299.html

The Baptism of Rus' is a great historical event, which is considered to be very progressive for its time. It is believed that by getting rid of paganism and voluntarily embarking on the path of Christianity, the Russian people made the only right choice. However, was everything as rosy and easy as it is described in history books? How was the new religion planted and why was it done? How did paganism transform into Orthodoxy?

The answers to these questions will make you take a fresh look at the history of our state. The impetus for writing this article in the genre of "historical investigation" was information from the books of the writer Anastasia Novykh, which clearly states that the planting of Christianity took place "with fire and sword", and that the new religion was nothing more than an attempt by Prince Vladimir to assert his sole power, with which the ancient pagan beliefs could not cope. Is there any confirmation of this information in historical science? It turns out there is. According to the official version of history, Orthodoxy came to Rus' from Byzantium during the reign of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun in 988. However, there are still many questions about the concept and term "Orthodoxy".

Modern historians note that the concepts of "Christianity" and "Orthodoxy" are not identical. For example, a modern philosophical dictionary gives the following definition of Orthodoxy: “The Slavic equivalent of orthodoxy (Greek Ortodoxia - correct knowledge). The term was first used in the 2nd century as opposed to heterodoxia (Greek Geterodoxia - delusion of heretics). Orthodoxy means strict adherence to any doctrine, orthodoxy. According to these data, Orthodoxy = orthodoxy = orthodoxy. Another definition from the Old Slavonic dictionary, compiled according to the annals of the 10-11th centuries.

It is interesting that in this dictionary there is no word "Orthodoxy", but there is "orthodoxy", which means: "true, right faith." So what kind of "right faith" came to Rus' in 988?

In 988 there was still a single church and a single Christianity. The division of Christianity into Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic (orthodox) occurred only 60 years later - in 1054. The final choice in favor of the Eastern Christian Church in Rus' was made much later.

But what did “Orthodoxy” mean in Rus', and when was it first mentioned? One of the first sources is the chronicle of the Byzantine monk Belisarius, written in 532, long before the baptism of Rus'. Belisarius unequivocally calls our ancestors "Orthodox Slovenes and Rusyns." So what did the word "Orthodoxy" really mean in those days? It's very simple: Slovenes and Rusyns were Orthodox, because they "praised the Rule", which is quite obvious from the etymology of the word itself.

Recall that Rule in the pagan Slavic religion is the world of the ancient Slavic gods!

The substitution of the terms "Orthodox" and "Orthodoxy" occurred only in the 17th century, when the Moscow Patriarch Nikon carried out the famous church reform. The main goal of this reform was not at all to change the rites of the Christian church, as it is now interpreted.

Surely every person who studied the history of this reform had a natural question: what was the meaning of the reform? Was it really only because of minor changes in the rite that people were exiled and executed ruthlessly and so cruelly? Modern alternative historians believe that this reform was actually the destruction of dual faith in Rus'.

That is, before the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Rus', in fact, there was dual faith - the common people until the 17th century (!) professed not only orthodoxy (Christianity according to the Greek model), but also the old, pre-Christian faith of their ancestors - Orthodoxy! The Christian Patriarch Nikon was worried that the Orthodox Old Believers lived by their own principles and did not recognize his authority. Thus, during the reform, Nikon ordered that all liturgical books be rewritten, replacing the term "orthodox Christian faith" with "Orthodox Christian faith." So the ancient Slavic paganism on paper became Christianity.

In ancient, uncorrected texts (for example, the "Father Menaion"), one can still see the old entry in the form of "orthodox Christian faith", and not Orthodox. Thus, all the achievements of pagan Slavic Orthodoxy began to be perceived in the light of history as the achievements of the Christian religion. Nikon's reform caused strong resistance, as a result of which the patriarch was deposed, and in official documents the Christian church began to be again recorded as "orthodox."

So, the true history of Christianity in Rus' is not at all as unambiguous as it is presented in our textbooks, and modern scholars are increasingly talking about this. Until 988, Rus' had its own, old pagan faith, which was called "Orthodoxy".

At the end of the 10th century, Vladimir baptized Rus' according to the Greek canon, making Christianity the state religion. In 1054, Christianity split into Western and Eastern churches, after which the Eastern Christian Church with its center in Constantinople began to be called orthodox. Officially, the term "Orthodoxy" began to be used by the Christian Church only in the middle of the 20th century (!), During the reign of the Bolsheviks, when the term ROC - "Russian Orthodox Church" appeared. Previously, the Russian Christian Church was called "Russian Greek Catholic Church" or "Russian Orthodox Church of the Greek Rite".

Thus, we see that the Christian faith was planted in Rus' with great difficulty, over many centuries, eventually turning into a mixture of Orthodoxy (Christian paganism) and Greek Christianity. If you search well, then in modern Russian Christianity you can find a huge number of rituals, holidays, and even terms that have come here from paganism. Ordinary people in Rus' did not want to give up the old, Orthodox faith to such an extent that Christianity had to make certain concessions. More about this in Anastasia Novykh's book AllatRa. For example, take a look at this table:

	Russian (Slavic) holiday	Christian (religious) holiday
	Feast of the god Veles	Christmas Eve
		Nativity
	Day of the god Veles (patron of cattle)	St. Day Vlasia (patron of animals)
	Madder Day	St. Day Marianne
	Maslenitsa (celebrated 50 days before Easter)	Annunciation
	Day of Dazhbog (the first cattle pasture, an agreement between shepherds and the devil)	St. Day George the Victorious (patron of cattle and patron of warriors)
	Day of Boris the Khlebnik (the holiday of the first sprouts)	Transfer of the relics of Saints Boris and Gleb
	Day of the god Yarila (god of spring)	Transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas of Spring, bringing warm weather
	Triglav (pagan trinity - Perun, Svarog, Sventovit)	Holy Trinity (Christian trinity)
	Mermaid week	Agrafena Bathing Day (with obligatory bathing)
	Ivan Kupala Day (during the holiday they poured water on each other, swam)	Nativity of John the Baptist
	Day of the god Perun (god of thunder)	St. Day Elijah the Prophet (Thunderer)
	Feast of First Fruits	Feast of the consecration of fruits
	Day of the god Stribog (god of the winds)	Day of Miron Vetrogon (bringing the wind)
	Day of Volkh Zmeevich	Saint Simon the Stylite Day
	Holiday of women in childbirth	Nativity of the Virgin
	Day of the Goddess Mokosh (the spinning goddess spinning the thread of fate)	Day of Paraskeva Friday (patron saint of sewing)
	On this day, Svarog discovered iron to people	Day of Cosmas and Damian (patrons of blacksmiths)
	Day of the gods Svarog and Simargl (Svarog - the god of sky and fire)	Day of Michael the Archangel

Here is just one quote from the old Russian chronicles, which vividly demonstrates the process of forcible planting of Christianity in Rus' "by fire and sword":

“In Novgorod, people, seeing that Dobrynya was going to baptize them, made a veche and swore all of them not to let them into the city and not to let them refute the idols. And when he arrived, they, having swept away the great bridge, came out with weapons, and no matter what threats or affectionate words Dobrynya exhorted them, they did not want to hear, and they brought out two large crossbows with many stones, and placed them on the bridge, as on their real enemies. The highest above the Slavic priests, Bogomil, who, because of his eloquence, was named the Nightingale, forbade people to submit.

In 1227, after a trial by the archbishop, four wise men were burned in Novgorod, despite the intercession of the boyars, and a year later the archbishop was expelled by the townspeople. In the Synodal edition of the church charter of Prince Vladimir, among the offenses subject to church punishment, they list: “or who prays under a barn or in a grove, or by the water” and the same “sorcery, sorcery”.

The Trinity edition of the charter (16th century) also included those who “pray to creatures, the sun, the moon, stars, clouds, winds, wells, rivers, dubia, mountains, stones.”

What is "Orthodoxy" really? This is not a religion, this is faith, but rule is the causal world that gave birth to gods and Slavic-Aryan ancestors, glory is respect and glorification by the people of life

foundations of their ancestors.

What is Christianity? This is a religion created by the Jews (priests), which is based on the works of Moses and for the sake of self-interest, the modified teachings of Christ, who was sent to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." Jesus was sent to the Jews in order to tell about human values, in response, the Jews crucified him, and then destroyed his true followers for a long time - just as they destroyed the Slavic Magi in the process of planting Christianity in Rus'.

Then the practical Saul (the real name of the Apostle Paul) combined the teachings of Christ with the law of Moses and created something like a new religious brand, which began to spread rapidly around the world, oddly enough. This astonishingly successful enterprise served the interests of hidden players, which we will not discuss in detail in this article. To do this, we recommend that you read the book by Anastasia Novykh "Sensei 4", from which you will learn the whole truth about the process of creating the Christian church and religion in general. We recommend that you do this at least for the sake of broadening your horizons, especially since you can download this book for free here, or by clicking on the quote below.

Read more about this in the books of Anastasia Novykh

(click on the quote to download the entire book for free):

Unfortunately, these legends were thoroughly altered when they began to spread Christianity and destroy "pagan", primordially Slavic beliefs, where they replaced information, where they redid it, and where they completely burned birch-bark letters with Old Slavonic records. Then there were serious substitutions with a bias towards the ideology of the Christian religion.

- Anastasia NOVICH - AllatRa