The role of Orthodoxy in Russian culture
Completed work: student 63gr.
Evening faculty SGAP
The culture of Russia was historically formed under the influence of Orthodoxy, and all its spheres are deeply connected with Orthodoxy. Historically the core of traditional Russian culture, Orthodox culture is closely linked with the national cultures of many peoples of Russia in their historical development and current state.
In the Russian Federation, the Orthodox Christian religion is the main traditional religion, the affiliation or preference to which is expressed by the majority of Russians. In the scientific community, the Orthodox religion is characterized as a culture-forming religion in relation to the Russian culture that has historically developed over more than a thousand years, since it had a decisive impact on the formation of Russian national and cultural identity, the specificity of our country's culture in the space of world civilization.
Orthodox culture embraces a wide range of social phenomena that affect practically all the main spheres of social life, primarily the sphere of the spiritual life of society. The spiritual sphere of the life of society and culture is, in a narrow sense, the worldview phenomena of culture: religion, philosophy, ideology, and in a broad sense - all specifically human forms of life and culture. Personality outlook, system value orientations, the adopted attitudes and behaviors determine the direction and results of a person's purposeful activity in society. The spiritual and worldview sphere of culture has a decisive influence on the content and specifics of human activity, creativity, any material and spiritual production. This circumstance is associated with the importance of Orthodox culture in the moral, aesthetic education of children and young people, the upbringing of the qualities of citizenship, patriotism, and the culture of interethnic and interfaith communication.
The significance and influence of Orthodox culture in society is not limited to the sphere of spiritual life. Within the framework of the Orthodox cultural tradition in its historical development, a unique civilizational phenomenon has been formed - the Orthodox way (way) of life. This is the area of culture and everyday life of millions of Russians over tens of generations, interpersonal and civil relations, stable stereotypes of social behavior that have become an integral part of Russian reality. The Orthodox culture of relation to nature, work and production has received a large-scale material embodiment. Most of our national cultural heritage, expressed in the material culture of the Russian people - historical buildings and structures, material monuments of history and culture, items of everyday life and production, folk art, art, etc. belong to the Orthodox culture or bear its imprint.
Each national culture is a form of self-expression of the people. It reveals the peculiarities of the national character, world outlook, mentality. Any culture is unique and goes through its own, unique path of development. This fully applies to Russian Orthodox culture. It can be compared with the cultures of the East and West only to the extent that they interact with it, influence its genesis and evolution, and are connected with Russian culture by a common destiny.
In the spirit of Russian culture, the breadth and extreme in the expression of the emotional state. A.K. Tolstoy, the author of the novel "Prince Silver", one of the co-authors of "the works of Kozma Prutkov" perfectly expressed this feature of the national character:
If you love, so without reason,
If you threaten, it's not a joke,
Kohl swear, so rashly,
Kohl hack, so from the shoulder!
If you argue, it's so bold
Kohl punish, so for the cause,
If you forgive, so with all your soul,
If there is a feast, then a feast like a mountain!
“Among the primary, basic properties of the Russian people is its outstanding kindness,” writes N.O. Lossky, "it is supported and deepened by the search for absolute goodness and the religiosity of the people associated with it." Noting the importance of national spiritual values for understanding the specifics of national culture, N.A. Berdyaev wrote: “The nation includes not only human generations, but also stones from churches, palaces and estates, gravestones, old manuscripts and books. And in order to grasp the will of the nation, you need to hear these stones, read the decayed pages "
Scientists have always focused on the phenomenon of Russian religiosity, a special type of folk spirituality, which was also called “dual faith,” “ritualism,” etc. Indeed, folk religiosity is contradictory: on the one hand, Orthodoxy for the peasants was clearly a fairly high spiritual value, on the other hand, weak interest and knowledge of church dogmas, liturgical texts, etc. and strict adherence to the ritual side of the doctrine.
Russian culture has always found recognition, appreciation and a worthy place in world culture, being its significant and integral part. The greatness of Russian culture over ten centuries of development was determined by its deep spiritual content, going back to Orthodox morality and the history of Christianity. The spiritual structure, as well as the ideas and the figurative language of the best works of contemporary art in Russia, have the same basis.
Orthodoxy has been a traditional and culture-forming (culture-forming) religion in the Russian land since 988. This means that since the end of the 10th century, Orthodoxy has become the spiritual and moral core of society, shaping the worldview, character of the Russian people, cultural traditions and way of life, ethical norms, and aesthetic ideals. For centuries, Christian ethics has been regulating human relations in the family, everyday life, at work, in public places, defining the attitude of Russians towards the state, people, the objective world, and nature. Legislation and international relations are also developing under the strong influence of the Orthodox Church. Christian themes nourish the creative sphere with images, ideals, ideas; art, literature, philosophy use religious concepts and symbols, periodically return to Orthodox values, study and rethink them.
The Orthodox Church unites the people on weekdays and holidays, in years of trials, hardships, sorrow and in years of great constructions and spiritual rebirth. For any people, the ideas of state structure and social, civil, national ideals are inextricably linked with the spiritual and moral ideals. The great Russian writer and philosopher F.M.Dostoevsky wrote about this very accurately:
“At the beginning of every nation, every nationality, the moral idea always preceded the birth of nationality, for it also created it. This idea always proceeded from mystical ideas, from the convictions that man is eternal, that he is not a simple earthly animal, but is connected with other worlds and eternity. These convictions were always and everywhere formulated in religion, in the confession of a new idea, and always, as soon as a new religion began, a civilly new nationality was immediately created. Take a look at the Jews and Muslims: the nationality of the Jews was formed only after the Law of Moses, although it began from the Law of Abraham, and Muslim nationalities appeared only after the Koran. (...) And note, as soon as after times and centuries (because there is also a law here, unknown to us), its spiritual ideal began to loosen and weaken in a given nationality, so immediately the nationality began to fall, and at the same time its entire the civil charter, and all those civic ideals that had time to take shape in it faded. In what character the religion was formed in the people, in this character the civil forms of this people were born and formulated. Therefore, civic ideals are always directly and organically linked with moral ideals, and the main thing is that undoubtedly only one of them is emerging. "
Ideals of Orthodoxy in Russian culture
People who are not familiar with the basics of Orthodox culture have many questions about the attitude of Russians to other peoples and to the material world. Why is patriotism and loyalty to Orthodoxy among the Russian people so naturally combined with tolerance for other religions and with a certain indifference to material losses? Why does Orthodoxy not force anyone to convert to the Orthodox faith and at the same time so openly? Why does the Orthodox Russian people not close themselves off from communication with other peoples and nationalities, but hospitably receive them into their church, state and civil community, despite the fact that this is often completely “unprofitable”?
The origins of a respectful and benevolent attitude towards all people and at the same time a willingness to come to the aid of those in need of protection go back to the teaching of Christ:
“... whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your outerwear as well. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it is said: love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who offend you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Heavenly Father, for He commands His sun to rise over the wicked and the good and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what is your reward? Do not the tax collectors [*] also do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing special? Do not the Gentiles do the same? Therefore, be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect ”(Matthew 5:40, 42 - 48).
These great Christian ideals are carried by the Russian people through all trials, trying to show mercy and patience towards each person, sacrificing material goods for the sake of the highest, universal, all-brotherly in the name of Christ.
At the same time, for the Russian people, the defense of Orthodoxy and the Fatherland has always been considered the sacred duty of a Christian, because in this case shrines were defended.
It is very difficult to carry and embody these highest ideals in the human world, where many other personal, national, political and socio-cultural ideas are realized. On this occasion, F.M.Dostoevsky wrote:
“... the vast majority of the Russian people are Orthodox and live by the idea of Orthodoxy in full, although they do not understand this idea clearly and scientifically. In fact, in our people, apart from this "idea", there is no one, and everything comes from it alone, and at least our people want it so, with all their hearts and deep convictions. He just wants everything that he has and that is given to him, from this only one idea and proceed. And this is despite the fact that a lot of the people themselves appear and come out to the point of absurdity not from this idea, but stinking, disgusting, criminal, barbaric and sinful. But even the most criminal and barbarian, although they sin, nevertheless pray to God, in the highest moments of their spiritual life, to suppress their sin and stench and everything would come out again from that favorite "idea" of them. "
It speaks of the presence of forces for the revival of the people and each (even perishing) person. These powers are in the correct understanding of salvation as deliverance from sins by the grace of God, in the ability to repentance as a necessary condition for salvation, and in fervent prayer as a manifestation of the will of the soul to salvation.
Formation and development of Orthodoxy
Before the 10th century our ancestors were pagans, but not Christians. The year 988 went down in the history of the Russian people as the year of the baptism of Rus.
Since that time, Orthodoxy has become officially the state religion in Russia. Only an Orthodox monarch, crowned to reign or reign according to the Orthodox tradition, could stand at the head of the state. Official acts of the state (birth, marriage, wedding to the kingdom, death) were registered only by the Church, in connection with which the corresponding Sacraments (Baptism, Wedding) and divine services were performed.
All state ceremonies were accompanied by prayers (special services). The Orthodox Church played a crucial role in state affairs and in the life of the people.
In the 16th - 17th centuries, many heterodox (professing other religions) and heterodox (Catholics, Protestants) peoples and states became part of the Russian state. The Russian Orthodox Church did not carry out the forcible conversion of peoples to Orthodoxy, but the transition to Orthodoxy was supported and encouraged. People who were baptized in the Orthodox Church were given various benefits, in particular, taxes were removed.
The concepts "Russian" and "Orthodox" in Russia until the XX century were inseparable and meant the same thing, namely: belonging to the Russian Orthodox culture.
A person of any nationality, ready to accept an Orthodox worldview and way of life through Holy Baptism and faith in Christ, could become Orthodox, and therefore belonging to the Russian Orthodox culture. And this happened often: representatives of other nationalities and religions accepted Orthodoxy as a faith, worldview and, accordingly, Christian life and became true sons of the Orthodox Fatherland, which was new for them. Often these people left a bright mark in the history of our culture, striving to serve the new Motherland for the glory of God with faith and truth, as they said in Russia, which meant honest service not for the sake of personal gain and self-interest, but for the glorification of the Lord. Thus, the civic community in Russia was formed not according to nationality, but according to belonging to Orthodoxy and attitude to the Orthodox state.
After the October Revolution, January 23, 1918, a new Soviet government adopted the Decree "On the separation of the Church from the state and the school from the Church." The principle of "freedom of conscience and religious conviction" was proclaimed, which in fact turned into a real terror against the Orthodox Church, priests and parishioners. The state and society were declared atheistic (atheism is the denial of God), and instead of ensuring the rights of citizens to freedom of conscience and religious beliefs, a policy of combating religion was pursued. Temples were closed and destroyed, priests were arrested, tortured, killed. In monasteries they arranged concentration camps... Bell ringing was banned in Moscow in 1930. Such terrible, cruel and immoral pages of our history were caused by a new atheistic ideology, completely alien to traditional Russian culture, which had been formed for centuries on the Orthodox ideals of love, kindness and humility.
However, the Orthodox traditions were deep, and the Orthodox religion remained the most widespread in Russia. And in closed churches, time itself did not seem to dare to touch the faces of the saints with corruption.
Since the 90s of the XX century, Orthodox culture in Russia began to revive intensively. Both the official attitude towards the Church and the consciousness of citizens have changed. The bells rang again, and divine services began to be held in the open and restored churches and monasteries. Thousands of Russians came to churches for the first time, gaining spiritual protection and support.
The revival of Orthodox culture could not be prevented and even "promoted" by the activities of sectarian preachers, various kinds of "healers", as well as missionaries (distributors) of other religions. Since the beginning of the 90s, they have actively promoted their "ways to salvation", "educational programs", methods of "healing and spiritual help", distributed literature and various fetishes (a fetish is an object allegedly endowed with supernatural properties). The manifold harm caused by them drew many Russians for the oven protection to their native traditions.
At present, the traditions of the Orthodox religion have been preserved in Russia and have been reflected in all spheres of life of Russians, including legislation, social, family, everyday relations, as well as literature and art.
In Moscow and other primordially Russian cities, among the predominantly Russian population, both before and at the present time people of various nationalities and religions live and continue to actively settle and do not seek to return to the homeland of their ancestors. This means that the great Russian culture, based on Orthodox traditions and morality, attracts other peoples not only with its high spiritual, aesthetic and scientific achievements, but also with the wonderful traditions of human community, peacefulness and brotherly attitude towards all people. It is very important in the modern world to show nobility, hospitality, kindness and the ability to comprehend and subordinate even everyday worries and personal problems to the highest spiritual ideals.
Without God, a nation is a crowd
United by vice
Or blind or stupid
Or, what is even worse, cruel.
And may anyone ascend the throne
The verb is in a high syllable.
The crowd will remain a crowd
Until he turns to God!
Whoever does not understand in our people its Orthodoxy and its ultimate goals will never understand our people themselves.
F. M. DOSTOEVSKY
List of used literature
Milyukov P.N. Essays on the history of Russian culture: In 3 volumes. M., 1993.Vol. 1.P. 61.
Klyuchevsky V.O. Vol .: In 9 volumes. M., 1987.Vol. 1.P. 315
Berdyaev N.A. The history and meaning of Russian communism. M., 1990.S. 7.
Lossky N.O. Conditions for absolute goodness. M., 1991.S. 289.
Berdyaev N.A. New Middle Ages. Berlin, 1924, p. 28.
Tolstoy L.N. The path of life. M., 1993.S. 157.
Milyukov P.N. Essays ... M., 1994. V.2, h. 2. S. 467-468.
Essay on the development of Russian philosophy. M, 1989.S. 28.
Cit. Quoted from: Voloshina T.A., Astapov S.N. Pagan mythology of the Slavs. Rostov n / D., 1996.S. 26.
Shpet G.G Op. M., 1989.S. 28-29.
Ekonomtsev I. (Abbot John) Orthodoxy. Byzantium. Russia. M., 1992.S. 28.
Lotman Yu.M. The problem of the Byzantine influence on Russian culture in typological coverage // Byzantium and Russia. M., 1989.S. 229, 231.
Literature of Ancient Russia. S. 190-191.
Stepun F.A. Thoughts about Russia // New World. 1991. No. 6. P. 223.
Foundations of Orthodox culture. A. V. Borodin.
Textbook for basic and senior levels of secondary schools, lyceums, gymnasiums.
2nd edition, 2003, Moscow, Pokrov Publishing House, 288 p., Tver. per.
Introduction 3-4
1. Orthodoxy: its origin and role in history 4-19
Conclusions 19-20
List of used literature 21
"Orthodoxy is a false opinion about God and creation, or a true concept of everything, or a doctrine of existence as it is."
Prelate Anastasios Sinait
Introduction.
The purpose of this work, on the basis of the studied methodological and periodic educational literature, to describe the process of the origin of Orthodoxy and its role in history.
Orthodoxy (from the Greek - literally "correct judgment" or "correct teaching") is one of the three main, along with Catholicism and Protestantism, Christian denominations. It is in this sense that this word has been used since the era of the Ecumenical Councils (IV-VIII centuries), when representatives of all churches, protecting Christian doctrine from ideas and doctrines (religious and philosophical) that distort it, formulated the position of the original faith. These formulations expressed the Orthodox teaching, and the churches containing it were also Orthodox.
Christianity is a collective term for describing three main areas: Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism. Each of these major areas, in turn, is subdivided into a number of smaller faiths and religious organizations. But all of them are united by common historical roots, certain provisions of the doctrine and cult actions.
In order to make this work more complete, we will give a brief historical background on the emergence and spread of Christianity.
The history of the Christian religion has more than two thousand years, Christianity itself has the largest number of adherents in the world and is now perhaps the most widespread world religion, dominant in Europe and America, with significant positions in Africa and Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand), as well as in several regions of Asia.
Christianity (from the Greek. Christos - "anointed one", "Messiah") is the second most common of the world's religions. It originated as one of the sects of Judaism in the 1st century. AD in Palestine. This initial kinship with Judaism - extremely important for understanding the roots of the Christian faith - is also manifested in the fact that the first part of the Bible, the Old Testament, is a sacred book of both Jews and Christians (the second part of the Bible, the New Testament, is recognized only by Christians and is for them the most important). The New Testament consists of: four Gospels (from Greek - "evangelism") - "Gospel of Mark", "Gospel of Luke", "Gospel of John", "Gospel of Matthew", Epistles of the Apostles (letters to various Christian communities) - 14 of these Epistles are attributed to the Apostle Paul, 7 - to other apostles, and the Apocalypse, or Revelation of John the Theologian .
The Church considers all these teachings to be divinely inspired, that is, written by people under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Christian should respect their content as the highest truth.
1. Orthodoxy: its origin and role in history.
The basis of Christianity is the thesis that after the Fall, people themselves could not return to communion with God. Now only God himself could come out to meet them. The Lord goes out in search of a person in order to return himself to us.
Christ, the Son of God, born through the Holy Spirit from the earthly girl Mary (Mother of God), the God-Man, took upon himself not only all the hardships of human life, having lived among people for 33 years. To atone for human sins, Jesus Christ voluntarily accepted death on the cross, was buried and rose again on the third day, foreshadowing the future resurrection of all Christians. Christ took upon Himself the consequences of human sins; that aura of death, with which people surrounded themselves, isolated from God, Christ filled with Himself. Man, according to Christian teaching, was created as a bearer of the "image and likeness" of God. However, the fall, committed by the first people, destroyed the likeness of man, laying on him the stain of original sin. Christ, having accepted the torment of the cross and death, "redeemed" people, suffering for the whole human race. Therefore, Christianity emphasizes the cleansing role of suffering, any limitation by a person of his desires and passions: “accepting his cross,” a person can overcome evil in himself and in the world around him. Thus, a person not only fulfills God's commandments, but he himself is transformed and ascends to God, becomes closer to him. This is the purpose of the Christian, his justification for the sacrificial death of Christ. Associated with this view of man is the concept of the sacrament, which is characteristic only of Christianity - a special cult action designed to really introduce the divine into the life of man. The sacraments were introduced gradually, with the creation and strengthening of the Christian church organization. Moreover, initially the Christian church introduced only two sacraments into its cult - baptism and communion, since only they are mentioned in the text of the canonized Gospels. Only later did the other five sacraments appear among the Christian rites, as indicated in the epistles of the Apostles and in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, as well as in the testimonies of the apostolic tradition preserved in the writings of the fathers and teachers of the Church of the first centuries of Christianity (Justian Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Origen , Tertullian, Cyprian).
1. Baptism - immersion of the baptized person in water or pouring water over him, performed on a person as a sign of his communion with the Church and cleansing him from sins;
2. Confirmation - the consecration of a person by smearing him with an aromatic mixture (myrrh);
3. The Eucharist (communion), during the celebration of which believers, according to the Christian doctrine, partake of Christ and thereby are freed from sins (in the Orthodox Church and laity, and the clergy receive communion with bread and wine, in the Catholic: the clergy - with bread and wine, laity, as a rule, only bread);
4. Confession (repentance) - revealing to the believers of their sins to the priest and receiving forgiveness, “remission of sins,” on behalf of Christ;
5. Marriage (wedding) (in the Catholic Church it is not subject to dissolution);
6. Blessing of the Holy Oil (unification) of the sick (according to Orthodox teaching, the sick is forgiven for sins that he forgot or did not have time to confess);
7. Priesthood (ordination) - ordination to the priesthood performed by the bishop (formed in the process of the formation of the clergy class). In addition to the sacraments, the Orthodox cult system includes prayers, worship of the cross, icons, relics, relics and saints, participation in divine services.
Holidays are one of the most important elements of the Orthodox cult. In addition to the most solemn of them, dedicated to the resurrection of Jesus Christ - Easter - the Orthodox Church solemnly celebrates the twelve and great holidays, church and anniversary memorable dates. Among the twelve feasts, the Nativity of Christ is celebrated; Trinity, or Pentecost, is dedicated to the New Testament story of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles on the fiftieth day after Easter; The Meeting of the Lord, the main plot of which was the gospel story about the blessing of the born Jesus in the Jerusalem temple as God; Baptism of the Lord (Epiphany) - established in honor of the baptism in the Jordan of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist; The Transfiguration of the Lord - dedicated to the gospel story of the transfiguration of Christ on the mountain in the presence of his disciples; The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) - which is based on the Gospel story about the visit of Christ and his disciples to the Jerusalem Temple, from where he expelled the money changers and merchants; Ascension of the Lord - celebrated as the ascension of Christ to heaven on the fortieth day after the resurrection; Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord - dedicated to the found cross, on which Christ was crucified on Calvary; The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Annunciation and the Dormition of the Mother of God - four twelve feasts dedicated to the mother of Jesus Christ. Among the great holidays, the Orthodox Church considers the Circumcision of the Lord, the Nativity of John the Baptist, the apostles Peter and Paul, the Beheading of John the Baptist, the Protection of the Mother of God.
Christianity develops the idea of one God, matured in Judaism, the owner of absolute goodness, absolute knowledge and absolute power. All beings and objects are his creations, everything is created by a free act of Divine will. Two central tenets of Christianity speak of the trinity of God and the Incarnation. According to the first, the inner life of a deity is the relationship of three "hypostases" or persons: the Father (beginningless principle), the Son, or Logos (the semantic and formative principle), and the Holy Spirit (the life-giving principle). The Son is "born" of the Father, the Holy Spirit "proceeds" from the Father. Moreover, both "birth" and "procession" do not take place in time, since all persons of the Christian Trinity have always existed - "eternal" - and equal in dignity - "equal in honor."
Christianity is a religion of redemption and salvation. Unlike religions where God is viewed as a formidable Lord (Judaism, Islam), Christians believe in God's merciful love for sinned humanity.
Spreading among the Jews of Palestine and the Mediterranean, Christianity has won adherents among other nations for the first time in decades of its existence. Even then, the universalism characteristic of Christianity was revealed: the communities scattered over the vast expanse of the Roman Empire, nevertheless, felt their unity. People of different nationalities became members of the communities. The New Testament thesis "no, not a Greek, not a Jew" proclaimed the equality of all believers before God and predetermined the further development of Christianity as a world religion that does not know national and linguistic boundaries.
With the emergence of Christianity, it met the greatest opposition on its way. Judaism immediately revolted against him. Pagan philosophy was a strong enemy. Gnostic influences sought to distort the inner meaning of Christianity. At the same time, the state put forward against the new faith restrictions on the rights of its supporters and the most severe persecutions of a destructive nature. All this turned out to be powerless to stop the development of the new life brought by Christianity, because it gave the human soul more than all the forces that opposed it.
Georg Schuster gives an excellent description of this historic moment. “Numerous secret cults,” he says, “skillful deceptions of Eastern sorcerers could not maintain their prestige for a long time. These empty ghosts, born of superstition, took away the last ray of hope from believers and, deceiving them, filled their souls with hopeless despair. And when the last attempt to bring light into the ancient world outlook through Christian ideas and to enrich the human spirit with the new Christian, Egyptian, and Persian wisdom, and the Chaldean astronomical teaching about the stars and Syrian magic failed, then the timid conscience began to look for the last refuge in the Christian communities. where the eternal striving of the human spirit to merge the divine with the human could find reassurance. In particular, all the oppressed, suffering and burdened, the poor and slaves listened with delight to the joyful news of a new religion that brings joy and consolation, and with all their souls rushed to meet it, since with her teaching about freedom, brotherly love and equality of all people she gave them a worthy place in civil society ”.
Spurred on by rumors, the Roman plebs massacred Christians on several occasions. From historical sources we know of the martyrdom executions of individual Christian preachers: the aforementioned Justin the Martyr, Cyprian and others. Under these conditions, early Christian authorities strove to cheer up their adherents, to instill in them the idea of their special position, God's election. Fanatical self-sacrifice, suffering for the faith, they presented as the most pious deed. However, these persecutions only led to the falling away from Christians of some of the wavering elements, while the church itself and its organization became stronger and hardened in the struggle against the state.
Individual emperors and governors of provinces sometimes tried, and not without success, to rely on Christian communities in their activities. At first this happened from time to time, in 311 the Roman emperor Galerius ordered the abolition of the persecution of Christians. Two years later, by the Edict of Milan, Constantine and Licinius, Christianity was recognized as a tolerant religion.
According to this edict, Christians had the right to openly perform their cult, communities received the right to own property, including real estate. And in 324, Christianity was recognized as the state religion of the Roman Empire.
After that, Christianity finally ceased to be the religion of slaves and the oppressed: it turned into a dominant religion, supported by the state. By the 10th century, almost all of Europe had become Christian.
Since the 4th century, the Christian Church periodically gathers the higher clergy for the so-called ecumenical councils. At these councils, the system of doctrine was developed and approved, canonical norms and liturgical rules, determined the methods of combating heresies. Basic Provisions Christian doctrine 12 dogmas and seven sacraments were adopted at the first (Nicene) council in 325, the First Ecumenical (Nicene Council) represented in the highest degree large, important and unprecedented phenomenon in church life... There was nothing like it in the church history of the preceding centuries. This was the first open, solemn meeting of bishops, a meeting not only permitted by the government, but officially approved by it. At the call of the emperor Constantine the Great, bishops gathered not of any one region, but of all countries and peoples, bishops of the entire world of that time, from the extreme borders of the upper Thebais to the countries of the Gothic, from Spain to Persia. The most important result of the dogmatic activity of the First Ecumenical Council was the compilation of the Symbol, known with the name of Nicene, which affirmed faith in the true Divine essence of the Son of God. At the second council in 381, (both in the East and in the West it is also recognized as Ecumenical), the dogma of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father, of the equality and consubstantiation of God the Holy Spirit with other persons of the Holy Trinity - God the Father and God was approved Son; supplemented and approved the Symbol of Faith in the edition called Niceo-Constantinople (Niceo-Constantinople).
In the period from IV to VIII centuries. there was a strengthening of the Christian church, with its centralization and strict implementation of the orders of senior officials. Having become the state religion, Christianity has also become the dominant worldview of the state. Naturally, the state needs a unified ideology, a unified teaching, and therefore it was interested in strengthening church discipline, as well as a unified worldview.
Many different peoples were united by the Roman Empire, and this allowed Christianity to penetrate into all its distant corners. However, differences in the level of culture, lifestyles different nations states caused different interpretations of conflicting passages in the doctrine of Christians, which was the basis for the emergence of heresies among the newly converted. And the disintegration of the Roman Empire into a number of states with different socio-political systems elevated contradictions in theology and cult politics to the rank of irreconcilable.
Separation of Christian churches.
One of the largest divisions of Christianity was the emergence of two main directions - Orthodoxy and Catholicism. This split has been brewing for several centuries. It was determined by the peculiarities of the development of feudal relations in the eastern and western parts of the Roman Empire and the competitive struggle between them.
Christianity was not a single religious movement. Spreading over the numerous provinces of the Roman Empire, it adapted to the conditions of each country, to the prevailing social relations and local traditions.
The threat of schism, which in translation from Greek means “split, division, strife,” became real for Christianity already in the middle of the 9th century. Usually, the reasons for schism are sought in economics, politics, in the personal sympathies and antipathies of the popes and patriarchs of Constantinople.
Researchers perceive the peculiarities of the doctrine, cult, lifestyle of believers in Western and Eastern Christianity as something secondary, insignificant, preventing them from explaining the true reasons that, in their opinion, lie in economics and politics, in anything but the religious specifics of what is happening.
Meanwhile, Catholicism and Orthodoxy had such features that significantly influenced the consciousness, life, behavior, culture, art, science, philosophy of Western and Eastern Europe. Not only a confessional, but also a civilized border has developed between the Catholic and Orthodox worlds. In the III century. the Alexandrian and Antioch churches (Syria, Lebanon), then the Jerusalem ones, stood out. In the V century. leading position acquires the Church of Constantinople. At the end of the III century. Eastern Christianity was adopted by Armenia, in the IV century. - Georgia, in the IX century. - Moravia and Bulgaria. The Cypriot and then the Georgian Orthodox Church separated from the Antiochian Church.
However, the matter was not limited to the division of Christian churches. Some refused to recognize the decisions of the ecumenical councils and the dogma they had approved. In the middle of the 5th century. the Armenian clergy did not agree with the condemnation of the Monophysites by the Council of Chalcedon. Thus, the Armenian Church placed itself in a special position by adopting a dogma that contradicts the dogma of orthodox Christianity.
The preconditions for the split appeared at the end of the 4th early - 5th century. Having become the state religion, Christianity was already inseparable from the economic and political upheavals experienced by this huge power. During the Councils of Nicaea and I of Constantinople, it looked relatively uniform, despite internal strife and theological disputes. However, this unity was based not on the recognition by all of the authority of the Roman bishops, but on the power of the emperors, which extended to the religious area. Thus, the Council of Nicaea was held under the leadership of the Emperor Constantine, as mentioned above, and the Roman episcopate was represented by the presbyters Vitus and Vincent.
As for the strengthening of the power of the Roman episcopate, it was associated, first of all, with the prestige of the capital of the empire, and then with the claim of Rome to the possession of the apostolic throne in memory of the apostles Peter and Paul. Monetary donations from Constantine and the construction of a temple on the site of "Peter's martyrdom" contributed to the exaltation of the Roman bishop. In 330, the capital of the empire was moved from Rome to Constantinople. The absence of the imperial court, as it were, automatically pushed spiritual power to the fore in public life. Deftly maneuvering between warring factions of theologians, the Roman bishop was able to strengthen his influence. Taking advantage of this situation, he gathered in 343 in Sardica all the Western bishops and achieved recognition of the right of arbitration and de facto supremacy. Eastern bishops never recognized these decisions. In 395 the empire collapsed. Rome again became the capital, but now only the western part of the former empire. Political turmoil in it contributed to the concentration of extensive administrative rights in the hands of the bishops. Already in 422, Boniface I, in a letter to the bishops of Thessaly, openly declared his claims to the headship in Christendom, arguing that the attitude of the Roman Church to everyone else is similar to the attitude of the "head to the members."
Beginning with the Roman bishop Leo, called the Great, Western bishops considered themselves only locum tenens, i.e. the de facto vassals of Rome, administering the respective dioceses on behalf of the Roman high priest. However, this dependence was never recognized by the bishops of Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch.
In 476 the Western Roman Empire fell. On its ruins, many feudal states were formed, the rulers of which competed among themselves for primacy. All of them sought to justify their claims by the will of God, received from the hands of the high priest. This further raised the authority, influence and power of the Roman bishops. With the help of political intrigues, they managed not only to strengthen their influence in the Western world, but even to create their own state - the Papal Region (756-1870), which occupied the entire central part of the Apennine Peninsula.
Since the V century. the title of pope was assigned to the Roman bishops. Originally in Christianity, all priests were called popes. Over the years, this title began to be assigned only to bishops, and many centuries later, it was assigned only to the Roman bishops.
Having consolidated their power in the West, the popes tried to subjugate all of Christianity, but to no avail. The Eastern clergy obeyed the emperor, and he did not even think to sacrifice at least part of his power in favor of the self-proclaimed “viceroy of Christ,” who sat in the episcopal see in Rome.
Quite serious differences between Rome and Constantinople appeared even at the Council of Trull in 692, when out of 85 rules Rome (Pope) accepted only 50. more and more clearly emphasizing the split line.
In 867, Pope Nicholas I and Patriarch Photius of Constantinople gave each other a public curse. The reason for the discord was the converted to Christianity Bulgaria, since each of them sought to subjugate it to their own influence. After a while, this conflict was settled, but the enmity of the two highest hierarchs of Christianity did not stop there. In the XI century. she broke out with new strength... Patriarch of Constantinople in the middle of the XI century. was Michael Kerullarius, and in 1053, due to the increase in the number of services according to the Western model, Kerullarius ordered the closure of Roman churches and monasteries in Constantinople. Pope Leo IX sent legates to Constantinople, led by Cardinal Humbert. Neither Cerularius nor Humbert sought reconciliation. Cerullarius declared the legates heretics. In turn, the legates cursed the Patriarch of Constantinople; On July 16, 1054, the final break of Western and Eastern Christianity took place. The Western Church began to be called Roman Catholic, which meant the Roman World Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church, i.e. faithful to the dogmas.
Thus, the reason for the split in Christianity was the desire of the highest hierarchs of the Western and Eastern Churches to expand the boundaries of their influence. It was a power struggle. Other differences in doctrine and cult were also found, but they were more likely the result of the mutual struggle of church hierarchs than the cause of the split in Christianity.
Currently, Orthodoxy is represented by a number of autocephalous (independent) churches: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch (Syria, Lebanon), Jerusalem, Russian, Georgian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Cypriot, Greek (Greek), Polish, Romanian, Czechoslovakian, American, etc. , there are autonomous Orthodox churches.
All Orthodox Churches have in common the doctrine, cult, canonical activity.
A distinctive feature of Orthodoxy is that since the time of the first seven ecumenical councils it has not added a single dogma to its doctrine, unlike Catholicism, and has not abandoned any of them, as was the case in Protestantism. This is what the Orthodox Church considers one of its main merits, testifying to its fidelity to the original Christianity.
Orthodoxy - one of the three main directions of Christianity - has historically developed, formed as its eastern branch. It is distributed mainly in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Balkans. The name "Orthodoxy" was first encountered by Christian writers of the 2nd century. The theological foundations of Orthodoxy were formed in Byzantium, where it was the dominant religion in the 4th - 11th centuries.
As mentioned above, on May 11, 330, an event took place that for millennia ahead determined the course of European, and therefore world history. On this day, the Roman emperor Flavius Valerius Constantine the Great, solemnly announced the transfer of the capital of the empire from Rome to Byzantium, which was immediately renamed Constantinople and later became known as Constantinople in medieval Russian texts. Constantine the Great not only recognized Christianity and adopted it as the official religion of his empire. He did a lot more. The transfer of the capital from a corrupted, dirty cynical and corruptly depraved Eternal City to a new place, steeped in paganism, to the marrow of bones, laid the foundation for the construction of a new empire.
Byzantium adopted the banner of the civilized, cultural and thus educational tradition of the ancient Greco-Roman world. She, this tradition, in Byzantium was never interrupted - neither in philosophy, nor in art, nor in literature, nor in education. This made possible the very existence of a properly organized education in European countries, eastern and western, laid its foundations for millennia ahead. In our civilization, all education was built, moreover, our entire civilization is built on the basis of Greek and Latin languages, Greek and Latin authors. Apparently, it is far from coincidence that the well-known fact that for two millennia in all countries that alternately took the position of world leader, the formation of the national elite was based on the study ancient greek and Latin.
Byzantium had its own historical mission, which it fulfilled to the end and thus entered world history as the greatest empire and invincible stronghold. Of course, we are talking about Orthodoxy, cherished by Byzantium and transferred to the world for movement towards the Path, Truth and Life. Byzantine statehood rested on three whales, three unshakable foundations: this is the Roman political tradition, Greek language and the Orthodox faith. Each of these three components was an integral part Byzantine civilization... Its level was extremely high - Byzantium could rightfully be called the most civilized state in the world.
Until its fall, the Byzantine Empire was the largest center of culture and education in medieval Europe. People from many European countries came here to join the preserved ancient heritage and the original Byzantine culture created on its basis.
The Byzantine Empire played a multilaterally important role in world history. She defended a large, most delicious part of Europe from the barbarians and from such eastern invaders as the Arabs and Turks. The Byzantines preserved ancient Greek literature and philosophy, as well as Roman state and legal traditions. Christianity, Greek culture, and Roman customs flourished in the empire, which thus served as a surprisingly strong connecting thread between ancient and modern European civilizations. The possible complete preservation and reasonable development of everything Roman consisted in early middle ages the advantage of Byzantium in comparison with other European countries. The Roman continuity of Byzantium was so strong that this empire realized the reception of Roman law, and long before the first barbarian truths of Western Europe were recorded.
An example of the creative development of the ancient heritage in the further development of the theory of Roman law is the famous Code of Justinian - evidence of the greatest take-off of legal thought in the 6th century. There is an opinion that the code of Napoleon, the quintessence of bourgeois law, is seriously inspired by the code of Justinian, if not even based on it.
The Eastern, Byzantine Empire was destined to exist until the middle of the 15th century. The Byzantines themselves called themselves "Romei", their state - "Romeian" power, and Constantinople - "New Rome". From the time of its foundation until the second half of the 12th century, it was a powerful, richest and most cultured state in Europe. The Byzantine Empire, spread over three continents - in Europe, Asia and Africa - included the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, part of Mesopotamia and Armenia, the islands of the Eastern Mediterranean, possessions in the Crimea and the Caucasus. Its emperors tried to act as the supreme overlords of Christendom. The wealth and splendor of the Byzantine imperial court was legendary. From the moment of its birth, Byzantium was a "country of cities" (with an almost universal literate population) and a great maritime and commercial power. Its merchants penetrated to the most remote corners of the then known world: to India, China, Ceylon, Ethiopia, Britain, Scandinavia. The Byzantine gold solidus played the role of an international currency.
Until the 7th century, Latin was the official language of the empire, but there was literature in Greek, Syrian, Armenian, and Georgian. In 866, the "Solun brothers" Cyril (c. 826-869) and Methodius (c. 815-885) invented the Slavic letter, which quickly spread in Bulgaria and Russia.
Byzantium gave the Slavic world an invaluable gift, the creation of the Slavic alphabet - the Cyrillic alphabet. The simple and graceful graphics of the Cyrillic alphabet made it easy to remember the alphabet and just as easy to read the statutory letter of a thousand years ago, just as easily we read a modern font, which undoubtedly facilitates communication with the sources of our antiquity.
The emergence of the Slavic alphabet paved the way for the development of national written literature. The Orthodox Slavs were able to create literary monuments of world significance, "The Word about Law and Grace" by Metropolitan Hilarion and "The Word about Igor's Host". Literature has become a form and way of expressing national identity and in this capacity it still exists, once again confirming the divine meaning of the word and the spirituality of the literature of the Slavic peoples.
Finally, Cyrillic writing together with the Greek alphabet in Europe long time clearly separated Orthodoxy from Catholicism and, later, Protestantism. It was a manifestation of the belonging of the language and the people to the Orthodox world, facilitating the mutual understanding of peoples.
Byzantium was not only the heir to ancient culture and Roman statehood. Having enriched herself with the Orthodox faith, Byzantium enriched the world with Orthodox culture. Thanks to Byzantium, Orthodox culture became the property of not only Ancient Rus, but also Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania and many other countries. Since the beginning of the second millennium of the Christian era, Orthodox culture has already acquired a universal significance.
The main center of artistic life was the city of Constantinople, but the Byzantine provinces of that time also preserved important monuments of art - the Church of Skripu (874) in Boeotia; a group of churches on Mount Athos dating from the 10th to the beginning of the 11th century; church of st. Luke Styris at Phocis (early 11th century); the church of Nea Moni in Chios (mid-11th century); the church of the Daphni monastery in Attica (late 11th century). In Asia Minor, numerous rock-cut churches in Cappadocia have preserved a large number of very interesting frescoes, some of which date back to the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries.
And what ascetics and spiritual warriors overcame temptations and built an impregnable Orthodox stronghold! One listing of names is striking with the power of spirit that the Byzantine Empire possessed: Athanasius the Great, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Maxim the Confessor, John Climacus, John Damascene, Roman the Slavic singer, Ephraim the Syrian, Gregory the New Palamas, Mark the New Palamas Ephesus.
And how many saints, confessors, instructors, preachers, prayer-books were given by Byzantium to the world as a witness of Orthodoxy and its triumph! The empire was truly a state that nurtured Orthodoxy, helped to establish the doctrine. In the struggle against heresies and deviations in Byzantium, dogmas, rituals and Orthodox theology of that depth and that perfection were established, which, even after centuries, remain unshakable, indisputable and irrefutable.
However, “Byzantium can in no way be considered only the past, the completed chapter Church history... She not only continues to live in the Orthodox Church, but, in a sense, still defines Orthodoxy itself, constituting its historical form ” .
Glorious feat of the Saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril, Methodius and Prince Vladimir contributed to the formation of a great Orthodox culture in pre-Mongol Russia. This culture was life-affirming, humane, warm and light, possessed some amazing ability to spread in breadth and depth, created great works of world significance and provided incomparable happiness of human communication to thousands of ordinary people.
Constantinople in the middle of the 9th century launched an unprecedented missionary activity outside the Byzantine Empire, in which researchers rightly see the merit of Saint Photius. Saints Cyril (Constantine) and Methodius successfully operated in Khazaria (c. 860) and Great Moravia (from 863); along with the Bulgarians, another dangerous neighbor of the empire was introduced to the Christian faith - the people "grew", who had threatened Constantinople itself shortly before (860); the first Baptism of Rus under Patriarch Photius (before 866/7) marked the beginning of a long process of Christianization, which ended a century later under St. Equal to the Apostles Prince Vladimir (Vasily) Svyatoslavich.
Also in the middle of the 9th century, according to the "Book of Ways and Countries" by the Arabab geographer Ibn Khordadbeh (c. 846/7), the merchants of the Rus ("ar-Rus"), one of the types of Slavs ("as-Sakaliba"), deliver hare skins, skins of black foxes and swords from the most remote outskirts of the country of the Slavs to the Rumian Sea; the ruler of the Romans ("Sahib ar-Rum") collects tithes from them. Coming to trade in Baghdad, "the Russians called themselves Christians." .
Kostomarov N.I. in the book "Russian history in the biographies of her key figures”Writes that:
In the middle of the 9th century, the Russians, after an unsuccessful campaign against Byzantium, when a storm destroyed their ships, were baptized, but after that paganism prevailed in the country; however, even after that, many of the Russians served in the service of the Byzantine emperors in Greece, adopted Christianity there and brought it into their homeland. In the middle of the 10th century, the Kiev princess Olga took holy baptism... All these, however, were only preparatory moments.
The adoption of Christianity was a revolution that renewed and revitalized Russia and showed her the historical path.
This coup was carried out by Vladimir, who received the title of Saint, a great man in his time.
In 988, Vladimir converted to Christianity. Vladimir was baptized and at the same time married the Greek princess Anna, sister of the emperors Basil and Constantine. His baptism, in all likelihood, took place in Korsun, or Chersonesos, a Greek city on the southwestern coast of the Crimea; and from there Vladimir brought to Kiev the first spiritual and necessary paraphernalia for Christian worship. In Kiev, he baptized his sons and people.
Vladimir was actively involved in spreading the faith, baptizing the people in the lands under his control, building churches, appointing spiritual ones.
To firmly strengthen the newly accepted faith, Vladimir set out to spread book education and for this purpose in Kiev and other cities ordered to recruit children from significant householders and send them to literacy training. Thus, in Russia, in some twenty years, a generation of people has grown, in terms of the level of their concepts and the outlook of their information, they have stepped far ahead from the state in which their parents were; these people became not only the founders of the Christian society in Russia, but also the conductors of education, which passed along with the religion, fighters for the principles of state and civil. This trait alone shows in Vladimir a truly great man: he fully understood the surest way to a lasting establishment of the beginnings of a new life, which he wanted to instill in his half-wild people, and carried out his intention, despite the difficulties encountered. In the complex hierarchy of states that the medieval world represented, Russia after baptism took a new, high place.
The benefits of Byzantine Christian culture are pouring into the life of Christian Russia in a completely new way, in a wider stream. The eternal foundations of European culture, those ancient - Roman and Hellenic - beginnings, the guardian of which was Byzantium, are revealed to Rus along with Orthodoxy adopted from Byzantium. With him, Russia receives from Byzantium the fundamental principles of theological and philosophical thought, the first elements of education, literature and art, basic legal norms and political ideals.
The churches, erected in the 11th century, are still the architectural centers of the old cities of the Eastern Slavs: Sofia in Kiev, Sofia in Novgorod, Savior in Chernigov, Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, etc. No subsequent temples and structures overshadowed what was built in the XI century.
None of the countries bordering Russia in the 11th century could compare with it in the grandeur of its architecture and in the art of painting, mosaics, applied art and in the intensity of historical thought expressed in chronicle writing and work on translated chronicles.
The only country with high architecture, complex both in technique and beauty, which, besides Byzantium, can be considered the predecessor of Russia in art, is Bulgaria with its monumental buildings in Pliska and Preslav.
One of the greatest shrines of Byzantium - the oldest icon of the Mother of God - was brought from Byzantium to Russia in the 12th century. Now this most precious shrine of the Russian land is known throughout the world as the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
From 988 to 1448, the Russian Orthodox Church was the metropolitanate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and most of the metropolitans of Kiev of that period were Greeks. The Metropolitan of Kiev was always elected, or at least confirmed in Constantinople. Of the twenty-three metropolitans of Kiev, whose names are mentioned in the annals of the pre-Mongol period, seventeen were Greeks. During this time, only two metropolitans of Kiev were from the Russian - Hilarion (from 1051) and Clement Smolyatich (1147-1155). Thus, the cultural influence of Byzantium in Russia was also strengthened by the church-administrative dependence of the Russian Church on Constantinople, as Constantinople was called in ancient Russia.
In 1448, after the Russians independently elected Saint Jonah to the cathedra of Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church actually became autocephalous, that is, it was ruled by an independently elected metropolitan. In 1589, the head of the Russian Church, the Moscow Metropolitan, received the dignity of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. This dignity was recognized by all Orthodox patriarchs - Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. As the fifth Orthodox patriarch in the historical and canonical order, the Moscow patriarch actually took the most important place in the Orthodox world, because, on the one hand, he led the Local Orthodox Church, the largest in terms of territory and number of flocks, and, on the other, all the Eastern patriarchates, being under oppression Turks, turned to the Moscow Patriarch for material support. During the period of Turkish rule over the Orthodox population of the East, the Russian Church, while helping her Orthodox brothers, gave a daughter debt to the Orthodox East, from where she adopted her faith.
In Russia, among the immigrants from Byzantium, church builders, icon painters, writers, scientists were famous. The greatest contribution to the formation of the Orthodox culture of Russia was made by the Greek masters who built the Assumption Church of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery in 1073-1089, the great icon painter Theophanes the Greek, who painted icons in the churches of Novgorod and Moscow in the second half of the 14th - early 15th centuries, a great writer and translator Maxim the Greek (died at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery in 1556), as well as the great teachers of the Likhud brothers - Ioanniki and Sophrony (in the world - John and Spiridon).
Orthodoxy was the cement thanks to which the grains of different cultures, fortified and augmented, became a unifying foundation for many nationalities.
We are living in amazing times. After a merciless long-term war against Christianity, we finally began to understand that everyone has the right to make their own choice in matters of faith and religion. But for such a choice, a person needs to know what he chooses. Now many people baptize their children and are baptized as adults. But often their participation in the life of the Church ends with the sacrament of baptism. But Baptism is only the beginning of a Christian's path. This is just birth. A newborn needs food, warmth, and more. And spiritual maturation requires prayer, life in the Church, participation in divine services, in the sacraments, knowledge about faith, about Holy Scripture, Holy history, about all the spiritual wealth that the Church has accumulated over almost twenty centuries. The beginning of this path is knowledge about the Founder of our Christian faith - Jesus Christ. As we learn about Christ, we learn about God. Jesus Himself said about Himself: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father; I and the Father are one."
To say that now is a difficult time is almost nothing to say. Today, at the turn of the millennium, an extremely painful and unpredictable process of changing the worldview paradigm underlying the entire modern culture and the very way of life. I recall the words of Christ: "Now is the judgment (crisis) of this world" (John 12:31). Is it possible now to view the world as an organic whole, despite the terrible catastrophic processes of the 20th century, will the future show, which does not in the least remove from us, as the focus of the created world, universal responsibility.
Today, human rights and freedoms (which are based on freedom of conscience and worldview) are only beginning to be recognized (with great difficulty and with periodic rollbacks) as an initial value in our society. But the immensity and longing of freedom, its apophatism, need the One Who said: "I am the Way, Truth and Life."
Christianity is the force that will help Ukraine to revive the spiritual state of its people. The entire history of the Ukrainian people is inextricably linked with Christianity. For many centuries, Ukraine has remained faithful and respectful to Orthodox faith... And this Great Faith, in turn, helped both the people themselves and many of its leaders. Thus, Christianity greatly helped Danila Galitsky in the struggle against the Mongol-Tatar invasion; with arms in hand, the Ukrainian people defended Orthodoxy during the years of Polish rule and Catholic expansion. Orthodoxy has always had a huge impact on the formation and development of statehood, political and legal ideas, social order... But these two institutions have different tasks. The main task of the Church is to take care of the souls of believers, about their education in the spirit of Jesus Christ, about their approach to Christ, about their union with Christ. The state should take care of peace and well-being in society, protect the rights and freedoms of citizens, ensure that all people are provided with equal rights and obligations, that everyone is equal before the law, and take care of the material well-being of citizens. Church and state differ in the volume of their activities. The state is limited by the territory, the Church is universal. There is also a difference in the ways of influencing the population. The state often uses coercive measures, and the Church should never use violence, it should act only by conviction and example. However, despite significant differences, the Church and the state throughout the history of Ukraine have always existed interconnected.
Orthodoxy in Ukraine today is split into three church organizations. The primates of two of them have patriarchal dignity, the third - the largest - canonically associated with the Moscow Patriarchate. Statesmen In Ukraine, the majority adhere to the idea that Orthodoxy in Ukraine should be the only one. The first President of Ukraine L. Kravchuk wrote in a letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew that the ideal solution would be to grant full canonical independence (autocephaly) to the Orthodox of Ukraine, united in the framework of one church organization.
However, the Orthodox churches of Ukraine are very different in their views, although they represent three links, the only past church. They are brought together by their desire to work for the good of an independent Ukraine and to obtain canonical autocephaly. But the story is unfinished.
We must strive for Christian unity. Orthodoxy is favorable for Christian unity. But Orthodox Christianity the least subject to secularization and therefore it can give immeasurably much for the Christianization of the world. The Christianization of the world should not mean the secularization of Christianity. Christianity cannot be isolated from the world, and it continues to move in it, without separating and remaining in the world, must be the winner of the world, and not be defeated.
conclusions
The scientific study of Christianity began in the 18th century and continues to this day. Attention to religion as the most powerful ideological means of the state is unlikely to dry out, as long as interstate, interethnic conflicts unleashed on religious grounds continue, as long as religion itself exists.
If you look at the result of the impact of Christian ideas on society and the state, then, perhaps, no one doubts that the power of their effect on humanity turned out to be unparalleled. This tells us that the whole history after Christ has become qualitatively different under the influence of Christian ideas. That is, the political and legal nature of these ideas is revealed in their impact on humanity.
We need to summarize. The Orthodox Church is important today. It is necessary, first of all, for instilling moral and ethical qualities in a person, it is necessary as a shelter for those who are tired of the vulgarity of life, it is necessary for the simplest things, for which the Orthodox Church was created, for faith.
At the beginning of the third millennium of modern civilization, all five billion people on earth believe. Some believe in God, others - that he does not exist, people believe in progress, justice, reason. Faith is the most important part of a person's worldview, his life position, conviction, ethical and moral rule, norm, custom, according to which, more precisely, within which he lives, acts, thinks and feels.
Faith is a universal property of human nature.
The entire experience of the XX-XI centuries. showed the inconsistency of one-sided forecasts regarding further destinies religion: either its inevitable and close withering away, or the coming revival of its former power. Today, it is clear that religion plays a significant role in the life of society and that it is undergoing profound and irreversible changes.
Religion as a moral spiritual force has received the opportunity today to enter into a dialogue with the world, the fate of which turned out to be dependent on its moral consistency in the face of real problems of social development. The cultural values shared by most religions are based on universal human values, such concepts as love, peace, hope, justice.
Does religion inspire good or are many of the problems of humanity rooted in it? Perhaps God himself is deeply abused by religion, which incites enmity, makes conscience insensitive, evokes fantasies that are far from reality and sows prejudice, superstition, hatred and fear in people! There can be only one way out - to look for a true religion, one that does not contradict his commandments. Faith has the right to be called true only if it encourages compassion in deeds. Everyone should decide for himself this question himself - in reflection, in research, in search.
List of used literature:
1. Polikarpov V.S. History of religions. Lectures and anthology. M., 1997., p. 164
2. Bible. - M .: Publishing house "Russian Bible Society", 2000
3. Deacon A. Kuraev. To Protestants about Orthodoxy. - Wedge: Publishing house "Christian life", 2006, p. 398.
7. Kudryavtsev V.V. Lectures on the history of religion and free thought. Tutorial. M., 1997., p. 58
8. Kudryavtsev V.V. Lectures on the history of religion and free thought. Tutorial. M., 1997., p. 58
9. Eryshev A.A. Religious studies. Kiev. 2003: 140-141.
10. http://www.mirasky.h1.ru/byzhst/brief.htm A short excursion into the history of Byzantium. From Constantine to Constantine.
11. Vasiliev A.A. History of the Byzantine Empire. Time before the crusades. SPb., 1998.
12.http: //www.voskres.ru/kolonka/dar.htm Eduard Volodin Russian Resurrection: Commentator's column: Byzantine gift: Legacy of the Byzantine Empire.
13. Prot. Alexander Schmemann " Historical path Orthodoxy ”, Publishing House named after Chekhov, New York, 1954, p. 243-244.
14. Ibn Khordadbeh. Book of paths and countries / Per. N. Velikhanova. Baku, 1986.S. 124.
15. Kostomarov N.I. Russian history in the biographies of its main figures.-M .: Eksmo Publishing House, 2006. p. 8.
16. Academician Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev Baptism of Rus and the state of Rus New world. 1988. No. 6. S. 249-258.
17. "Light to the world"; Men, A .; Publishing house: Moscow: "Alexander Men Fund", 2003, p. 94.
18.O. Veniamin Novik "Orthodoxy. Christianity. Democracy". Digest of articles. Aletheia Publishing House (St. Petersburg) - 1999, pp. 49-51.
19. Nikolay Berdyayev. Truth of Orthodoxy "Bulletin of the Russian Western European Patriarchate Exarchate", Paris; No. 11, 1952, pp. 9-11.
Traditionally, in Russian historiography, the importance of adopting Christianity was reduced to the development of writing and culture, while in foreign literature this fact was recognized as decisive and paramount for the formation of Kiev statehood. Modern historians consider this event in line with the synthesis of civilizational and class approaches and emphasize special role Orthodoxy in the formation of the East Slavic civilization. For a long time in ancient Russian society, there were customs and rituals associated with the cult of nature and the dead, but gradually they gave way to a more organized cult with an inherent internal hierarchy of various deities. The pantheon of the Slavs' gods included the patron saint of warriors, the god of Thunder and Lightning, Perun, the gods - the embodiment of the Sun - Khors and Dazhbog, the god of Wind and Breath - (spirit) Stribog, the gods of fertility and earth - Simargl and Mokosh. Each tribal union had its own "main" god. But the process of creating an ancient Russian unified state objectively required the establishment of a certain religious and ideological community and the transformation of Kiev into the religious center of the Slavs. In 980, Prince Vladimir made an attempt to officially switch to monotheism based on the cult of Perun, but due to the resistance of the allied tribes who worshiped other gods, the reform failed. After that, the prince turned to world religions: Christian, Mohammedan and Jewish. After listening to the representatives of these cults, the prince, as the chronicler Nestor wrote, made a choice in favor of Christianity, given that this gave way to both Byzantium and Rome. During the period under review, the Christian, Mohammedan and Jewish confessions fought for influence in the Slavic lands. Choosing Christianity, Kiev prince took into account that the Roman Church demanded the subordination of secular rulers, while the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople recognized a certain dependence of the church on the state, allowed the use of various languages in worship, and not only Latin. The geographical proximity of Byzantium and the adoption of Christianity by the Bulgarian tribes kindred to the Russians were also taken into account. The specific historical process of the adoption of Christianity was long. In 987, the Byzantine emperor Basil II begged Vladimir to help him suppress the uprising of Barda Phocas and Barda Sklir in Asia Minor. The prince rendered assistance on the condition that the emperor's sister Anna would be given to him as a wife. This condition was accepted in exchange for a promise to accept Christianity. In 988, Prince Vladimir converted to the Christian faith and it acquired the status of a state religion on the territory of Kievan Rus. The spread of Christianity in Russia proceeded both by persuasion and by coercion, meeting the resistance of converts to a new religion. For a long time, the Slavs, along with Christian rites, secretly celebrated pagan ones and retained their faith in the ancient gods. The adoption of Christianity changed the status of Russia in the system of international relations, making it a civilized subject, adhering to generally accepted norms and rules of behavior. In general, the adoption of Orthodoxy was of great importance, since Kievan Rus entered the Byzantine ecumene and began to assimilate the ancient Judeo-Christian culture. Christianity greatly contributed to the flourishing Kiev state and the spread of a new culture, which manifested itself in the building of churches and the acquisition of writing. An important role was played by the presence of educated Bulgarians who fled to Kiev after the conquest of their country by Byzantium. Having introduced the Cyrillic alphabet into practice, they also passed on their knowledge. Old Slavonic language became the language of worship and religious literature. Based on the synthesis of this language and East Slavic linguistic environment the Old Russian literary language was formed, in which the "Russian Truth", chronicles, "The Word about Igor's Campaign" were written. Russia was not a passive object of application of Byzantine culture; it itself exerted a strong influence, transforming the Byzantine heritage in the spirit of local traditions. Orthodoxy had a huge influence on the formation of the mentality of ancient Russian society. Unlike Catholicism, it was more an artistic, cultural, aesthetic value system than a political one. The Orthodox Church was characterized by freedom of inner life, removal from secular power. The Orthodox worldview is a striving for the unification of the Existing and the Must, understanding the meaning of life not in worldly wealth, but in inner spiritual unity, collective movement towards a better future, social justice. The secondary importance of rationalistic and political elements in the knowledge of the world by the Slavic ethnos and in Orthodoxy, it contributed to the strengthening of the unity of this branch of Christianity and public conscience of the ancient Russian people.
The influence of Christianity on the Slavs manifested itself long before its transformation into official religion Rus. It is known, for example, that the Russian diocese was created by the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius in 867 in Tmutarakan. From the treaty of 945 with the Greeks it is known that among the Kiev Varangians there were many Christians, they even had the Christian Church of St. Elijah. About 955, during a visit to Constantinople, Princess Olga converted to Christianity.
According to some sources, even in the second half of the 9th century. Russia had connections with Christian Bulgaria and the Great Moravian state, where Greek missionaries - the "Solunski brothers" Cyril and Methodius, preached.
The initial chronicle says that in 983 in Kiev an angry mob of pagans killed a Varangian warrior and his son because the father refused to sacrifice his son. pagan gods... This event made a great impression on the prince, who was already trying not only to bring into the system the pagan ideas of the people subject to him, but also to change the ideas of the neighboring rulers about Russia as a barbarian state.
The legend remains a legend, but the main facts are indisputable: Vladimir's campaign against the Greek city of Korsun (Chersonesos) in the Crimea, his baptism in 988 and 989 and his marriage to the Greek princess Anna. After returning to Kiev with Greek and Bulgarian missionaries Vl. baptized the people of Kiev on the banks of the Dnieper. Apparently, the very fact of baptism was of a voluntary-compulsory nature. Initially, Christianity spread mainly along the Dnieper-Volkhov line. In Novgorod, the new faith met resistance from the pagan population, brutally suppressed by the mayor. To the east of the great waterway, in the Volga and Oka basins, Christianity spread slowly. For example, in the Rostov land, resistance continued for almost two centuries. Russia was automatically included in the sphere of Byzantine cultural influence. After the defeat of Zap. Rome. empire barbarians Byzantium remained the main custodian of Christian culture and writing. The Russian Church was headed by the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russian Land. The metropolis depended on the Patriarch of Constantinople, who considered it his right to appoint a Greek metropolitan in Russia. The life of parishioners in matters of morality, family and marriage relations was regulated on the basis of church laws, collected in the collection "The Helm Book" ("Nomokanon"). The Church became the main institution of the feudal culture of the DR, playing a positive role in the development of Russian statehood, enriching social and political experience Old Russian public law. After the adoption of Christianity, the spiritual life of Russia will for a long time be determined by the fusion of Christianity and paganism, the double faith will affect all levels of social consciousness. Why in. j. Vladimir chose Orthodoxy from four confessions? To what extent did it correspond to the mental makeup of the Russian people of that time? The numerous failures of Christian missionaries were often attributed to the fact that the local population that they wanted to bring to catholic faith, many hundreds or even thousands of years lived in a different psychological world. Historians-Marxists, who never took into account the psychological factor, explained the choice of Vladimir by the stable economic ties of Ancient Rus with Byzantium, which functioned on the "Way from the Varangians to the Greeks"? Today it is becoming clear that the prevailing explanation, which is basically correct, is not the only one and does not even determine. In the 10th century, Ancient Russia had very intense ties with the Western world. The evidence of such contacts is the monuments of the Catholic cult, which are found during excavations of ancient Russian churches. Apparently, the Orthodox priests did not see anything reprehensible in them. From the point of view of the chroniclers, the economic factor did not play any role in the choice of faith. The prince and his entourage chose Orthodoxy, for it, to a greater extent than other confessions, corresponded to the Russian character. Apparently, the main reasons that determined the outcome of the choice of faith were the following: The beauty of the cult of the Greeks. The kindness of Orthodoxy. Love for fun, for drinking and food, which Orthodoxy does not prohibit. The cheerfulness of the new faith, about which Metropolitan Hilarion wrote in his treatise "The Word of Law and Grace" (1037). The fact that Orthodoxy was less formalized than other cults, such as Judaism, was also of some importance.
In R. P. Ts., In her saints, the Russian people have always seen not only personal intercessors, but also the guardians of the Russian State. In the most difficult years of our history, Russian hierarchs have always defended national interests Russia. Sergei Radonezhsky blessed the Russian regiments and personally V. K. Dmitry Ivanovich to a mortal battle with the hordes of Mamai. During the Time of Troubles, the church, represented by the hierarchs Hermogenes and Filaret, the monks of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, led the struggle against the Polish-Lithuanian invaders. In 1812, R. P. Ts. Actively supported the war of liberation against Napoleon. And it is no coincidence that the liberation of Russia from the Gauls with "twelve languages" is celebrated by the church on the day of R. Kh. - January 7th. Let us note one more feature of the Russian national character, which to some extent was formed under the influence of Orthodoxy. This is the exceptional tolerance of our people to other people's beliefs and the complete absence of an idea of their exclusiveness, superiority over other peoples, and contempt for them. Russians have always lived in a multi-ethnic environment, neighboring with dozens of large and small nations. There is no written or material evidence either from the era of Ancient and Moscow Russia, as well as the Russian Empire about interethnic conflicts on the territory of our Fatherland. It was only Ulyanov-Blank (V.I. Raising Russia to fight the horde, S. Radonezhsky called for crushing the hordes of Mamai, but not the Tatar-Mongols, who brought so much grief, shed so much blood of the Russian people. Nationalism has never been a component of the Russian mentality. German scientist and diplomat Adam Olearius, who visited Russia in 1634, 1636 and 1647, wrote: "Muscovites are tolerant and conduct relations with representatives of all nations and religions: with Lutherans and Calvinists, Armenians, Tatars, Persians and Turks." V national question Russians have always adhered to the Christian dogma formulated by the Apostle Paul in the epistles to the Colossians and Galatians that there is no Greek, no Jew, no Scythian, for everyone is equal before God (Paul - Galatians 3:28; Paul - Colossians-3, eleven). It should be noted that R.P. Ts. Consolidated in the consciousness of the Great Russian those character traits that were formed in ancient times. But the church itself clearly reacted to the changes in the mood of believers. She structured her sermons with these changes in mind. Recognizing the factor feedback, R. P. Ts. Has always been timely and relevant.
1. Consider the process of evolution of the political system of Russia in the XV-XVII centuries. Can we say that the main trends in this process were universal in nature?
Political system in Russia in the 15th - 17th centuries. developed from the estate-representative monarchy to autocracy and from autocracy to absolutism. The word "autocrat" is included in the royal title, the meaning is reduced Zemsky Cathedrals(last convocation - 1653), the role and composition of the Boyar Duma and others are changing.
Yes, we can say that these trends were universal, since in European countries there was also a process of strengthening royal power and the formation of absolutism, which was expressed in the concentration of legislative, executive and judicial power in the hands of the hereditary monarch, building a unified hierarchical system of central and local power directly subordinate to the monarch, in transferring the right to dispose of the tax system and finances to the monarch, the formation and development of the bureaucratic apparatus, which in the name of the monarch carries out administrative, financial, judicial and other functions, etc.
2. How did the territorial growth of the Russian state take place? How, in your opinion, did the expansion of the territory affect the development of the economy and relations between the state and society? What is the ethnographic and economic peculiarity of such territories as the Middle and Lower Volga regions, Siberia and the Left-Bank Ukraine?
The territorial growth of the Russian state took place both as a result of military conquests (Kazan Khanate, Astrakhan Khanate, Left-Bank Ukraine), and by peaceful means of land development (Wild Field, Siberia).
The expansion of the territory had a positive effect on the development of the economy, the country received new sown areas, minerals (Siberia), as well as trade routes.
The Middle and Lower Volga regions were inhabited by Tatars, Turkic-speaking (Chuvash and Bashkir) and Finnish-speaking peoples. Siberia was inhabited by various peoples engaged in hunting and fishing, these were the Yakuts, Siberian Tatars, Evenks, Nanians, Nenets, etc. Left-bank Ukraine was inhabited by Cossacks, Ukrainians, Belarusians, etc.
3. Did the rulers of the Moscow state by the XVIII century. to implement in practice the concept of "Moscow - the third Rome"?
Yes, they did. The essence of this concept is that Moscow was to become the center of "true Christianity", to unite all believers and become a state equal to Rome and Constantinople. In fact, indeed by the 18th century. Russia was able to include in its composition a significant part of the Orthodox population and become the center of Christian and political life in Eastern Europe.
4. How has the role of the church changed in the life of Russian society? What problems have arisen in the relationship between the state and the church? What were the consequences of the church schism in Russian Orthodoxy?
The church played an important role in the unification of the country. Its hierarchs advocated the unity of the land, sought to reconcile the princes. After the fall of Byzantium, the idea was born that the Muscovite state was destined to become the successor of the great Christian empires.
However, the convergence of the interests of the state and the church was hampered by the problem of monastic land tenure. As the grant of land to the nobles increased, the princes began to feel a lack of land.
In the XVII century. important changes have taken place in the position of the church. The church became more and more subordinate to the state. It all began with Patriarch Nikon, who made an attempt to subjugate the secular power to the spiritual.
Idea ecumenical church Nikon used to conduct church reform... The aim of the reform was to "return" Russian Orthodoxy to the canons of the Byzantine Church by establishing a unified order in theology and ritual practice. For the patriarch, the implementation of church reform also meant a guarantee of a close union of church and state. Having approved the reforms, the church council of 1666, held with the participation of Orthodox patriarchs, condemned Nikon's claims to power and removed him from the patriarchate. This was a step in preparation for the subordination of the church to the state.
Nikon's innovations and the decisions of the council provoked resistance from a number of priests and laity, who considered only the old Moscow divine service to be true (they began to call them Old Believers). They believed that it was on Moscow that God entrusted a special mission - the salvation of all Orthodox. And if Greek, Ukrainian or Serbian theologians undertake to correct Moscow liturgical books in their own way, Russian state will be under the rule of the Gentiles. Such representations were condemned by the official church authorities, and the Old Believers began to be considered schismatics. The persecuted Old Believers fled to the outskirts of the country. Fleeing from the onset of the "Antichrist" (at first they considered Nikon, then Tsar Peter), they staged mass self-immolations.
On the whole, the ecclesiastical schism weakened the position of the Orthodox Church, which ceased to be united and fell even more under the influence of the state.
5. What connects the culture of the Old Russian state and Muscovite Russia of the XIV-XVII centuries? What is the manifestation of the continuity and what is the originality of the culture of the Moscow state?
After the Tatar-Mongol invasion of the lands of the Old Russian state, many achievements and monuments of art were destroyed. With the fall of Kievan Rus, the path of inclusion in Christian civilization, introduction to European values was not used. There is a formation of the Moscow subculture, in the formation of which a geopolitical factor played an important role: the middle position between the civilizations of the East and West and non-adherence to any of them, the movement of the center of the country to the northeast. On the new ground, there was a delay in the development of immigrants from Kievan Rus. Under the auspices of the church, national identity is being developed. As a result of the imposition of Orthodox values on pagan culture, a certain type of person is formed.
The socio-political system that was forming in the Great Russian state bore the features of the strongest Eastern influence, especially from the middle of the XIV century, when the Horde converted to Islam. At the same time, the importance of this eastern component in the political and social culture of Moscow Russia, especially in the sphere of worldview, cannot be exaggerated. The country remained Christian, and the dramatic events in the history of the Eastern Christian Church had a decisive influence on the formation of the system of values and worldview that were characteristic of medieval Russia.