Russian president Vladimir Putin has been many things in his 72 years: a law school student, KGB officer, member of then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin’s inner circle, and leader of post-Soviet Russia. But a Christian? Is Putin really a Christian as he claims?
The Russian president is shrouded in mystery, and it’s hard to separate the mysteries from reality. But let’s give it a try, all the while knowing our findings will be educated guesses. I’m no expert on Putin, the Kremlin or Russia, but I am an interested observer who studied the country and its government extensively in college and have followed developments there for many years.
One fact I’ve learned is that Russia is a complex country, and western leaders may never understand it. The late British prime minister Winston Churchill once called it “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” The same could be said about the current Russian president.
Trying to Understand Putin
Experts say Putin has spent decades carefully crafting his image as a hard and complex man. At the same time, he’s been selling himself as a Christian. He has made some positive changes such as taking Russia from Soviet atheism to a post-Soviet dictatorship with Christian undertones. And he signed economic reforms into law that may have helped reduce Russia’s poverty rate by more than half while the real GDP rapidly grew.
But he also crushed the democracy that tentatively gained traction in Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed, and he became the latest in a long line of dictators.
What Do We Know about Putin?
The Russian president is much like his Soviet predecessors in that basic information about him remains hidden. You won’t see candid photos of him in the Russian media, and he never does free-wheeling interviews in which he talks about his personal life.
The fact is that Putin rarely talks about himself. Biographies about him rely on information from his enemies, close allies and a small group of trusted journalists. The reliability of these sources is questionable at best.
“There seems to be a consensus that he rarely uses words without a careful consideration of the effect he is creating,” according to Theos, a Christian religion and society think tank.
If you’re interested in a more in-depth look at the role religion plays in Putin’s life, read the Theos post. “Putin and the Orthodox Church: How His Faith Shapes His Politics.” It’s an excellent read and has more information than my blog can provide.
Is Putin Really a Christian?
What do we know about Putin’s religious background? Not much. He was born in 1952 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) to an atheist father and a devout Christian mother – at least that’s the story the world has been told.
His father’s atheism wouldn’t have been surprising, given that the Soviet Union was a communist nation and took drastic measures to suppress religion. His mother’s purported Christianity was a different matter.
If she truly were Christian, she would have had difficulty practicing her religion under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin or the hard-core atheists who succeeded him. She would have worshipped in secret and faced harsh penalties including imprisonment, torture and even death if caught. Nevertheless, the story goes that Putin was baptized as a baby by the Russian Orthodox Church.
With the fall of the Soviet government, the Russian Orthodox Church has reemerged, and unlike his predecessors, Putin “certainly wishes to portray a strong personal faith,” says Theos. “There is some reason to believe that this goes beyond cynical self-image.
“For many years Putin has certainly had a close relationship with Archimandrite Tikhon, the Father Superior of Sretensky monastery. So close, in fact, is this relationship that there are those who would paint Tikhon as an eminence grise,” – i.e., Putin’s unofficial confidant.
Reasons to Doubt Putin’s Sincerity
Why should we doubt Putin’s sincerity about faith? One reason is his background. As a young man, Putin was a KGB agent based in East Germany. The KGB was the Soviet Union’s greatly feared secret police and intelligence agency whose main functions were surveillance, repression of anti-government activities and espionage. While in the KGB, Putin apparently worked in counterintelligence but wasn’t a high-level KGB agent.
The fall of communism apparently hit Putin hard and fueled his desire to see Russia become strong again and regain the world influence it once had. His rise to power began in the 1990s. He worked his way up the career ladder through connections with increasingly powerful people. He eventually assumed the post of prime minister during Boris Yeltsin’s presidency. And as the latter’s health declined, Putin became the top choice to replace the ailing president.
Putin began his term as Russian president in 1999 and served until his second term ended in 2008. At the time, Russia’s constitution limited the president to two consecutive terms, per Britannica. To his credit, Putin didn’t seize office at that point.
He left the presidency to become Russia’s prime minister once again, and when he was eligible to become president again in 2012, he reclaimed his old job. To his discredit, he changed the constitution to allow himself additional terms that will allow him to remain president until 2036.
A Defender of Faith?
Some people think faith plays an important role in Putin’s decisions. Others, of course, disagree.
Some experts point to the silver cross he wears and the fact that he attends church, though it’s unclear how often. They also mention his involvement in the Russian Orthodox Church’s rituals and traditions, such as submerging himself in frigid lake waters to commemorate Christ’s baptism.
More importantly, some experts say faith may have influenced Putin’s actions in Ukraine. The Russian president has consistently said that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people.” A justification for this controversial claim may be that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church, although the former is older than the latter.
According to the former archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, Putin sees himself as the main defender of Christianity against the “godless” West. It’s possible.
Does Putin Use Religion?
Anglican priest Michael Coren disagrees. “There’s a lot of nonsense being written at the moment about the religiosity of modern Russia, and the role of the Orthodox Church in Vladimir Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine.” Coren argues that the war in Ukraine is “more about NATO than the New Testament,” which is a distinct possibility.
Some say Putin uses religion and religious leaders for his own purposes, which is highly likely. It’s apparent, according to experts, that Russia’s religious leaders must do his bidding if they want to retain their power. And it’s true that the Russian Orthodox Church supports Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Noted Russian cultural historian Mikhail Shishkin says the Russian leader is trying to draw “a continuous line” between the present and a pivotal time during the 10th century. The time was 988 A.D., when Prince Vladimir of Kyiv established Christianity as the official religion in the Rus territories. Christianity retained its prominence in Russia until 1917 when Tsar Nicholas II abdicated.
In a post on WorldCrunch, Roman Catholic theologian, historian and priest Hubertus Lutterbach, writes: “At its heart, Putin’s world view and religious outlook are shaped by the words of philosopher Ivan Ilyin (1883-1952), who claimed the world was so corrupt that it needed to be saved by a holy nation, namely by spiritually pure Russian.”
Lutterbach says it’s imperative that the West “consider the role played by religion in shaping international politics.” Politics can be a strong motivator, but religion is an even stronger one for some people.
The Theos think tank explains, “Putin inspires a great deal of fear in the West. The combination of aggressive nationalism, increased military confidence and domestic repression and human rights questions and, of course, the continued nuclear capacity is a dangerous cocktail.”
Is Putin Really a Christian?
Now we return to the main question: Is Putin really a Christian? His outward signs of faith – wearing a cross, attending church at least occasionally and observing some Russian Orthodox traditions – don’t prove he is. American politicians do those sorts of things all the time without being true Christians, but so do many of us.
Putin’s actions regarding Ukraine may give the West a truer window into his beliefs. The Russian president obviously wants Ukraine, and that desire may reflect his connection with the Russian Orthodox Church, which supports his policies regarding that country.
We may never know the answer to my question: Is Putin really a Christian? He may be a believer, but he’s also the dictator of the world’s largest country. It’s likely he’s using religion to manipulate Russians who identify as Christian because he doesn’t have the firm grip on his country that his Soviet predecessors once had.
Putin needs to win over the masses, but he may still have a kernel of faith somewhere deep in his soul. I, for one, hope he does.
