God wants all believers to know His will in their daily lives. Pray especially for young people who are seeking God's plan for their lives. May they be "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10). As they seek to serve the Lord in different vocations, pray that they will "put on the whole armor of God" and that they "may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11). |
For most of its history the Slavic world was divided into three religious camps — Greek Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism and Islam. In more recent times Protestantism has become the fourth spiritual force among the Slavs. The greater majority of Slavs, primarily Belorussians, Russians and Ukrainians, trace their religious roots to Greek Orthodoxy emanating from Byzantium.
The Kievan State (Kievskaya Rus), ruled by Vladimir from AD 980 to 1015, existed from the sixth to the twelfth century and was one of the mightiest kingdoms in medieval Europe. It stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and from Carpathia to the Volga River. Most historians agree that the Kievan State was the cradle of three contemporary Slavic nations — Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
Early Slavs worshipped the forces of nature. Mother earth was the main object of their devotion. The deepest stratum of Slavic religious belief was the worship of clan ancestors (the cult of the dead which has survived into modern times). Perun (god of thunder and lightning) was traditionally considered the supreme god in the Slavic pantheon. The Slavs did not have a war god. Byzantine writers stressed the peaceful nature of the Slavs.
The Christianization of the Kievan State was as much a social-political event as it was religious. In the tenth century paganism was on a decline. Vladimir found himself surrounded by Roman Catholicism in the West, Greek Orthodoxy in the South, Judaism in the East and Islam in the Southwest. He had to choose one of these religions or become totally isolated. The Kievan "Chronicle" records the legendary account of Vladimir's choice of religion. His envoys, sent to investigate all three religions, found Jewish and Islamic worship distasteful. They were not impressed by Roman Catholic liturgy. In Constantinople the Emperor sent Vladimir's envoys to a solemn mass organized especially for their benefit in Saint Sophia's Church. Unable to understand the words, they were, nevertheless, overwhelmed by its beauty and, supposedly, reported to Vladimir: "We went on to Greece, and the Greeks led us to the edifice where they worship their God, and we knew not whether we were in heaven, or on earth."
Vladimir, a shrewd and unscrupulous politician, was a pagan. He strongly opposed Christianity. Pagan idols stood outside of his palace in Kiev. Human sacrifices were brought on the hill of Perun. However, Christianity had already been established in the Kievan State, at least, by AD 867. In AD 955 Princess Olga, Vladimir's grandmother, converted to Christianity. This, no doubt, helped sway Vladimir to turn toward Greek Orthodoxy.
The strongest enticement to embrace Christianity probably came from the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. In return for Vladimir's military help, he promised the hand of his sister Princess Anna if Vladimir would agree to convert to Christianity and be baptized. Vladimir accepted Basil's offer and in February of 988 was baptized together with his bodyguards and soldiers. He then ordered the entire populace of Kiev into the Dnepr River and thus the Kievan State became "Christian." The pagan idols were toppled and destroyed. Perun's golden-bearded image was bound to a horse's tail and dragged into the Dnepr. Similar orders were given in Novgorod and other cities over which Vladimir ruled. The Kievan State was Christianized "palace to people." The people were subjected to "forced chistianization" and the nation was acclaimed as "Christian" by its ruler.
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