Returning from Byzantium with his bride in AD 990, Vladimir also brought to Kiev a Greek priest, relics of saints, sacred vessels and icons. It was not the Gospel but the religious tradition of Byzantium that Vladimir embraced. Christianity in the Kievan State, at its best, was replete with pagan customs. Recorded sermons and canons from the eleventh century describe Christianity in the Kievan State of a "dual faith," a belief in Christ and a continued adherence to pagan customs and superstitions. The "stone women" idols from the eleventh century attest to this belief.

The beginnings of Christianity among Eastern Slavs have no similarities with its beginnings in Europe where the apostle Paul and his companions proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. According to Fedotov, some Russian church historians date the true "conversion" of the lower classes to Christianity in Kievan Rus in the fifteenth century, while speaking of deeply-rooted pagan customs that survived even into the nineteenth century.

The brothers, Cyril and Methodius, two Greek missionaries, translated the Greek sacred books into the Old Slavonic language. Most of the literature in the Kievan State was translated from the Greek. The first complete copy of the Bible in Old Slavonic was prepared at the end of the fifteenth century. However, this Bible was accessible only to the clergy.

The first Russian New Testament was printed in 1821 and the entire Bible in 1876. Even then the Orthodox Church did not encourage the reading of the Bible. Today, the Russian Orthodox Church adheres more to the authority of the church than to Scripture. The oral tradition and church canons supersede the authority of the Bible.

With time, pagan elements became so intertwined with Christian Orthodox ritualism as to become indistinguishable from it. To quote Fedotov: "The Russian Orthodox Church, which formerly waged a merciless war against a dual faith and had redoubled its efforts in the eighteenth century - the age of enlightenment - gave up the struggle in the nineteenth century." This can be said of the Orthodox Church in all of the Slavic nations.

The spiritual bankruptcy of the Russian Orthodox Church was clearly revealed during the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "Holy Russia," as it was then called, crumbled overnight and became the champion of atheism throughout the world. This strongly suggests that the Kievan State and the succeeding Slavic kingdoms were never truly Christianized. This process will not be completed until the Slavs have access to the Scriptures and understand the true Gospel message. The task for evangelical believers is to complete the process, which began under Prince Vladimir in AD 988.

In Vladimir's time, Christianization was a "palace to people" movement. Byzantine Christianity was forced upon the people by its ruler. It didn't work. People were baptized but they still clung to their pagan traditions. Today, with access to the Scriptures, the Slavic nations are experiencing a "people to palace" movement.

As evangelical believers we have a golden opportunity to complete the task of Christianizing the Slavic nations, which began with Prince Vladimir Sviatoslavich one thousand and twenty-five years ago!

Dr. George Boltniew