Orthodoxy. History of Orthodoxy. Adoption of Christianity in Rus'. History of the Russian Orthodox Church. Peculiarities of doctrine and cult. Symbol of faith. Orthodoxy: features of doctrine and cult Characteristic features of Orthodox culture in brief

Features of Orthodox Christianity.

Introduction

Religion (from the Latin religio - piety, shrine, object of worship), worldview and attitude, as well as corresponding behavior and specific actions (cult), is based on the belief in the existence of a god or gods, the supernatural. Historical forms of development of religion: tribal, national-state (ethnic), major world religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam 1.

Christianity is based on faith in Jesus Christ as the God-man, the Savior, the incarnation of the 2nd person of the triune Godhead. The introduction of believers to Divine grace occurs through participation in the sacraments. The source of the doctrine of Christianity is Holy Tradition, the main thing in it is the Holy Scripture (Bible); as well as the “Creed”, decisions of ecumenical and some local councils, individual works of the church fathers. Christianity has three main directions: Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism 1.

Orthodoxy, one of the main and oldest movements in Christianity 1.

The Heavenly Ideal of Holy Rus' was Christ, the Savior. The earthly guardian of this Ideal is the Orthodox Church. And it was Orthodoxy at all times that was for foreigners the main riddle of the “mysterious Russian soul”, which was so difficult for them to unravel.

The influence of Christianity on Russian culture was extremely multifaceted. Let us note the contribution of Orthodoxy to the formation and development of “literate” culture, to the formation of ancient Russian literature.

Christianity not only stimulated the development of ancient Russian writing and literature. Outstanding figures of Orthodoxy have made a huge contribution to enriching the culture of the ethnic group and expanding the spheres of artistic creativity.

The topic of Orthodoxy has found significant coverage and development, both in domestic and foreign literature. Authors such as A.A. Alov, M.M. Bessonov, N.V. Davydova, G.P. Fedotov. consider the history of the emergence and development of Orthodoxy, problems associated with it, in their works. Russian life, Russian way of life were closely connected with both art and religion. All this filled them with high spirituality and purposefulness, which was manifested in the education system, in family relationships, and in the holding of Russian religious holidays. The feeling - that “Christ is everywhere” - was the basis of stability and world order. Its disappearance in people’s consciousness and art inevitably led to negative consequences for both society and culture.

To date, there are 160 million followers of this movement of Christianity in the world. By the beginning of 1996 in Russia there were 7,195 associations under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate and 164 Old Believer associations, which emphasizes the relevance of this topic.

The object of study of this course work is such a direction in Christianity as Orthodoxy. The subject is the study of Orthodox dogma, Orthodox sacraments, icon veneration, Orthodox worship and holidays. To answer the question posed objectively, it is necessary to consider the history of the emergence and spread of Christianity and note the reasons for the schism. Then highlight the main differences between Orthodox Christianity.

Chapter 1. History of Christianity.

The emergence of Christianity.

1.2. Spread of Christianity.

Christianity arose as a religion of the humiliated and insulted, oppressed by slavery, embodying a protest against existing relations in society, against social oppression. Having spread widely, this religion began to seem dangerous to the official authorities and could not help but cause a feeling of alarm, and to a certain extent also met with a hostile attitude from the state. As historical sources testify, Christianity in the first three centuries of its existence was a persecuted religion. Christians were originally identified with Jews. At first, the hostility of the local population of different provinces towards Christians was determined not by the essence of their teaching, but by their position as strangers who rejected traditional cults and beliefs. The Roman authorities treated them in approximately the same way. Under their own name, Christians appear in the minds of the Romans in connection with the fire of the city of Rome under Emperor Nero. Nero blamed Christians for the arson and, as a result, many Christians were subjected to cruel torture and execution. One of the main reasons for the persecution of Christians was their refusal to make sacrifices in front of the statues of the emperor or Jupiter. Refusal meant disobedience to the authorities and, in fact, non-recognition of these authorities. Christians of the first centuries, following the commandment “thou shalt not kill,” refused to serve in the army. At that time, there was an active ideological struggle against Christians. Rumors spread in the public consciousness about Christians as atheists, sacrileges, immoral people who performed cannibalistic rituals. Incited by such rumors, the Roman plebs repeatedly carried out massacres of Christians. From historical sources, cases of martyrdom of individual Christian preachers are known: Justin the Martyr, Cyprian and others. Under these conditions, early Christian authorities sought to encourage their adherents, to instill in them the idea of ​​their special position, God's chosen one. They presented fanatical self-sacrifice and suffering for the faith as the most godly deed. However, these persecutions only led to the falling away of some wavering elements from Christians, while the church itself and its organization strengthened and hardened in the fight against the state. Individual emperors and provincial rulers sometimes tried, and not without success, to rely on Christian communities in their activities. At first this happened occasionally; in 311, the Roman Emperor Galerius ordered the persecution of Christians to be abolished. Two years later, the Edict of Milan of Constantine and Licinius recognized Christianity as a tolerant religion. According to this edict, Christians had the right to openly practice their worship, 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 this, Christianity finally ceased to be the religion of slaves and the oppressed: it became the dominant religion, supported by the state. The main provisions of the Christian doctrine, 12 dogmas and seven sacraments, were adopted at the first (Nicene) council in 325 and the second (Constantinople) council in 381. In the period from the 4th to the 8th centuries. The Christian Church was strengthened, with its centralization and strict implementation of the instructions of senior officials. Having become the state religion, Christianity also became the dominant worldview of the state. Naturally, the state needs a single ideology, a single teaching, and therefore it was interested in strengthening church discipline, as well as a single worldview. The Roman Empire united many different peoples, and this allowed Christianity to penetrate into all its remote corners. However, differences in the level of culture and lifestyles of different peoples of the state gave rise to different interpretations of contradictory passages in Christian doctrine, which was the basis for the emergence of heresies among newly converted people. And the collapse of the Roman Empire into a number of states with different socio-political systems raised contradictions in theology and cult politics to the level of irreconcilable 1 .

1.3. Division of Christian churches. Causes and conditions for the emergence of a split.

The threat of schism, which translated from Greek means “schism, division, strife,” became real for Christianity already in the middle of the 9th century. Usually, the causes of schism are sought in economics, politics, and in the personal likes and dislikes of the popes and patriarchs of Constantinople. Researchers perceive the peculiarities of the doctrine, cult, and lifestyle of believers of Western and Eastern Christianity as something secondary, insignificant, preventing them from explaining the true reasons, which, in their opinion, lie in economics and politics, in anything but the religious specifics of what is happening 2 . Meanwhile, Catholicism and Orthodoxy had 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 formed between the Catholic and Orthodox worlds. Christianity did not represent a single religious movement. Spreading across numerous provinces of the Roman Empire, it adapted to the conditions of each country, to existing social relations and local traditions. A consequence of the decentralization of the Roman state was the emergence of the first four autocephalous (independent) churches: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Soon the Cypriot and then the Georgian Orthodox Church separated from the Antiochian Church. However, the matter was not limited only to the division of Christian churches. Some refused to recognize the decisions of the ecumenical councils and the dogma they approved. 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. The preconditions for the schism arose at the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th centuries. 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 the First Council of Constantinople, it appeared relatively unified, despite internal divisions and theological disputes. However, this unity was based not on everyone’s recognition of the authority of the Roman bishops, but on the authority of the emperors, which extended to the religious area. Thus, the Council of Nicea was held under the leadership of Emperor Constantine, and the Roman episcopate was represented at it by 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 Rome’s claim to possess the apostolic see in memory of the apostles Peter and Paul. Cash handouts from Constantine and the construction of a temple on the site of the “martyrdom of Peter” contributed to the exaltation of the Roman bishop. In 330, the capital of the empire was moved from Rome to Constantinople. The absence of an imperial court automatically brought spiritual power to the forefront of public life. By deftly maneuvering between warring factions of theologians, the Roman bishop managed to strengthen his influence. Taking advantage of the current situation, he gathered all the Western bishops in Sardica in 343 and achieved recognition of the right of arbitration and actual supremacy. The Eastern bishops never recognized these decisions. In 395 the empire collapsed. Rome again became the capital, but now only of the western part of the former empire. Political turmoil in it contributed to the concentration of extensive administrative rights in the hands of bishops. Already in 422, Boniface I, in a letter to the bishops of Thessaly, openly declared his claims to primacy in the Christian world, arguing that the relationship of the Roman Church to all others was similar to the relationship of “head to members.” Beginning with the Roman bishop Leo, called the Great, Western bishops considered themselves only locums, i.e. actual vassals of Rome, administering their respective dioceses on behalf of the Roman high priest. However, such 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 with each other for primacy. They all sought to justify their claims by the will of God, received from the hands of the high priest. This further increased the authority, influence and power of the Roman bishops. With the help of political intrigue, they managed not only to strengthen their influence in the Western world, but even to create their own state - the Papal States (756-1870), which occupied the entire central part of the Apennine Peninsula. Since the 5th century. The title of pope was assigned to the Roman bishops. Initially, 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 Roman bishops. Having strengthened their power in the West, the popes tried to subjugate all of Christianity, but without success. The Eastern clergy was subordinate to the emperor, and he did not even think of giving up even part of his power in favor of the self-proclaimed “vicar of Christ,” who sat on the episcopal see in Rome. Quite serious differences between Rome and Constantinople appeared at the Council of Trulla in 692, when out of 85 rules, Rome (the Roman pope) accepted only 50. Collections of Dionysius and others came into circulation, which accepted papal decritals, omitted rules not accepted by Rome, and thus increasingly emphasizing the split line. In 867, Pope Nicholas I and Patriarch Photius of Constantinople publicly cursed each other. The cause of the discord was Bulgaria converted to Christianity, since each of them sought to subordinate it to their influence. This conflict was resolved after some time, but the enmity between the two highest hierarchs of Christianity did not stop there. In the 11th century it flared up with renewed vigor, and in 1054 the final split in Christianity occurred. It was caused by the claims of Pope Leo IX to the territories subordinate to the patriarch. Patriarch Michael Kerullariy rejected these harassments, which was followed by mutual anathemas (ie, church curses) and accusations of heresy. The Western Church began to be called Roman Catholic, which meant the Roman universal church, and the Eastern Church - Orthodox, i.e. true to dogma. 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 struggle for power. Other differences in doctrine and cult were also discovered, but they were more likely a consequence of the mutual struggle of church hierarchs than the cause of the split in Christianity. Thus, even a cursory acquaintance with the history of Christianity shows that Catholicism and Orthodoxy have purely earthly origins. The split in Christianity was caused by purely historical circumstances. It is also necessary to note that the ministers of the Orthodox Church themselves think differently: “The dismemberment of Christianity was fatally connected with the difference in the transmission of thought in different languages. This radically affected the translation of Greek texts into Latin. If, when expressing a thought in a word, its spirit is largely lost, then during translation these losses only intensify. The structure of a language is the structure of the soul of a nation, its worldview, and when presenting a thought or translating it, a projection of thought onto the worldview of the language occurs.” 1

Chapter 2. Orthodoxy.

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Introduction

2.1 The concept of religion

2.2 Origin of religion

2.3 Revelation

2.4 Old Testament religion

Conclusion

Introduction

Orthodoxy, as one of the main directions of Christianity, finally took shape in the 11th century as the Eastern Christian Church. Today in Russia many people want to learn the foundations of the Orthodox faith. Ozhegov S.I. Shvedova N.Yu. Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. - M., 2001. Orthodoxy is called “the science of sciences” - it is more complex than all sciences. This is a special worldview, based on many of its concepts, without consciousness of which it is not possible to perceive the faith of our ancestors.

For nine centuries, the Orthodox Church has been the main creative, protecting, invincible spiritual force in our country thanks to the education of morality and love for the Fatherland among the people.

The Orthodox faith gave everyone who acquired it an awareness of the highest meaning of life, helped the growth of the best qualities - kindness and beauty of the soul, creative and constructive abilities, perseverance and heroism. This force gathered and united disparate peoples into a single Russian nation, created the Great Russian culture; basically peacefully captured a huge territory (one-sixth of the land on the planet) and successfully defended it from being captured by other peoples.

The phenomenon of spiritual strength can only be felt through comprehension of the multilateral spiritual power of Russia, which is created thanks to several factors:

Church Sacraments of Baptism, Repentance, Communion, Wedding;

the patronage of Christ, the Mother of God and the saints through the heartfelt prayers of the people to them;

selfless love for God, neighbors and the Fatherland;

beautiful churches with miraculous icons, holy relics and ringing bells;

veneration of the Cross of Christ and its life-giving power;

the best works of Russian literature and art, imbued with Orthodox spirit and content.

Russia had and still has such special invincible spiritual power. The strength of Rus' was that it invariably believed in God. Now Russia is again experiencing the scourge of a multilateral crisis. As in previous times, the Orthodox Church is becoming and should be the main force in overcoming the next historical crisis.

The current state of Russia and the path to its salvation were deeply and accurately expressed in 1990 by the famous Orthodox poet Hieromonk Roman (Matyushin):

Without God, a nation is a crowd,

United by vice

Or blind or stupid

Or what’s even worse - she’s cruel.

And let anyone ascend to the throne,

Speaking in a high syllable.

The crowd will remain a crowd

Until he turns to God!

In the 90s in Russia, many people who had a godless, atheistic upbringing awakened spiritually. They developed respect for the faith of their ancestors and for God, or they accepted Baptism, began to wear a cross, put the sign of the cross on themselves, or assisted in the revival of the faith and the Church. They took the first step towards God, but have not yet reached the temple, because they do not have the necessary strength for this. Today, the majority of the people of Russia belong to them. They require special missionary education and spiritual nourishment. And yet, for a person who has always been in the darkness of unbelief and lack of faith, the first step towards God is a real spiritual feat Polovinkin A.I. ABC of Orthodoxy: Textbook / VolSTU, Volgograd, 2002..

The Gospel says about this: “And Jesus sat opposite the treasury and watched as the people put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in a lot. When a poor widow came, she gave two mites. Calling His disciples, Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who put into the treasury.” For they all contributed out of their abundance; but out of her poverty she put in all that she had, all her food” (Mark 12:41-44). This refers to the scarcity and richness of the faith and deeds of people who have taken the first step towards God, compared to those who constantly pray and go to church.

The Orthodox faith has its own system of fundamental concepts, its own worldview. Without knowing them, it is difficult to gain heartfelt faith in God. Here are some of them.

The Sacrament of Baptism is the spiritual birth of a person for eternal life, when the person being baptized is cleansed of the sins of a past life, is fully united with God and can have comprehensive protection and patronage from him.

The body cross is a shrine that connects a person with God and conveys his strength and help; protecting and protecting us from dark forces and demonic attacks; comfort and support in sorrows and sorrows; evidence of God's love for us, Christ gave himself up on the cross for us. Every worthy person carries his own cross of good deeds and trials throughout life. And the pectoral Cross of Christ helps to cope with them. Therefore, our ancestors never took off the cross.

The sign of the cross is the making of a cross over oneself or someone else. It sanctifies a person, gives him protection and help in various circumstances.

Prayer. Our ancestors, in difficult life circumstances, resorted to protective prayer. They asked God, the Mother of God or the saints for help and often received what they asked for.

Orthodox priest-doctors claim that almost all diseases begin with sins. And if sin is not the root cause of the illness, then violations of God’s commandments during illness make recovery difficult. For treatment to be successful, it is necessary, firstly, to be cleansed of committed sins at Confession, and secondly, to refrain from violating God’s commandments. According to priests, the following sins are common in modern society:

Judging people when we say bad things about a person, even if it is true;

Evil words and thoughts about someone, the presence of resentment, anger, hatred in the heart (all this affects oneself first of all);

Disrespectful attitude towards God, saints, parents, the Church, obscene language;

Unchastity and adultery;

Reading corrupting books, watching similar television and theater shows, etc.

From the point of view of Orthodox priests, the disease takes on an ambiguous interpretation. In the book by Polovinkin A.I. “The ABC of Orthodoxy” says: “You need to know and remember that illness is also a benefit for a person. The Lord allows it for protection from future possible sins or cleansing from violations of God’s commandments already committed in the past, in order to justify a person at the Judgment.”

The Orthodox faith and the Church are the greatest wealth of the Russian person. Acquiring faith and an Orthodox lifestyle helps strengthen conscience, correct sins and, accordingly, increase kindness and love for people. Regular reading of the Gospel and Psalms increases a person’s wisdom. The sharpening of faith contributes to the discovery and growth of the highest kind of creativity. A person needs the Orthodox faith in order to perceive Russian culture more fully and deeply and to continue its best traditions. Orthodoxy is a culture-forming faith - the basis of Russian culture. Therefore, it is not possible for a non-believer to deeply and fully perceive and feel the works of Dostoevsky and Pushkin, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov and other famous creators.

2.1 The concept of religion

Modern man is surrounded by a large number of different faiths and ideologies. But they all ultimately unite around two main worldviews: religion and atheism.

Speaking about religion, we can immediately point out one significant logical difference from atheism. The main subject of their disagreement, as is known, is the question of the existence of God. From here, depending on the approach to solving this issue, it is already possible to draw very serious conclusions about the logical validity of both worldviews.

Religion can be considered from two sides: external (as it appears to an outside researcher) and internal (which is revealed only to a person living religiously). The etymology of this word itself gives an understanding of religion.

There are several points of view on the origin of the word “religion” (from the Latin religio - conscientiousness, holiness, piety, and so on). The origin of the word “religion” indicates its two main meanings - blessing and union, which speak of religion as a mysterious spiritual union, a living unity of man with God.

From the outside, religion is a worldview defined by several specific characteristics, without which it loses itself, degenerating into shamanism, occultism, Satanism, and so on. All these pseudo-religious phenomena, although they contain individual elements, in reality are only products of its decay.

One of the first and main truths of religion is the confession of a personal, spiritual Principle - God, who is the source (reason) of the existence of everything that exists, including humans. Recognition of God in religion is always combined with belief in spirits, good and evil, angels and demons, and so on.

The next most important element inherent in religion is the conviction that a person is capable of spiritual unity with God, but the special character of the entire life of a believer, corresponding to the dogmas and commandments of this religion.

An important feature of religion, which directly follows from the previous ones, is its assertion of the primacy of spiritual and moral values ​​for a person in comparison with material values. History shows that the weaker this principle sounds in a religion, the rougher and more immoral it is. And on the contrary, the more forcefully the need for the dominion of the spirit over the body, the power of the individual over his lower animal nature is affirmed, the purer, higher and more perfect the religion is, the more humane it is.

2.2 Origin of religion

The question of the origin of religion is one of the main ones in the debate between religion and atheism. In response to the assertion of religious consciousness about the original religion in humanity and the supernatural nature of its emergence. Negative criticism has presented many different versions of the so-called natural origin of the idea of ​​God.

There are several atheistic origins of hypotheses: naturalistic, animistic, L. Feuerbach, social.

The naturalistic (from Latin natura - nature) hypothesis, expressed by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius (1st century BC), claims that the idea of ​​God and religion arose as a result of people's fear of menacing natural phenomena, not understanding them, ignorance laws of nature.

This psychological explanation, however, does not take into account the fact that fear rather causes the desire to avoid a given phenomenon, to hide from it, rather than to personify it and turn to it with a prayer. Man was afraid a lot, but nevertheless he idolized not all objects of fear: predators, the elements, his enemies - people, etc., but only some of them, and often the most harmless ones (stone, tree). Apparently fear was the reason for the religious attitude towards them.

The inconsistency of the naturalistic hypothesis lies in the fact that it does not explain at all how fear (or, on the contrary, delight, admiration) of the surrounding earthly, material world could evoke in the primitive, “primitive” consciousness of man the idea of ​​​​the existence of a completely new, spiritual Being, existence of a fundamentally different - invisible, inaudible and intangible-spiritual world. But if the phenomena of this world by themselves are not capable of giving rise to ideas of God and the other world in the human mind, that is, giving rise to religion. On the contrary, if there is such an idea and feeling in the soul, a person is able not only to believe in the One God, but under certain conditions to deify any natural phenomenon, any creature, even his own imagination. And then the religiosity of both ancient and modern man becomes completely understandable.

The animistic hypothesis (from the Latin animus - spirit), expressed and developed in detail in the last century, sees the source of the origin of religion in dreams, fainting, hallucinations, death and other phenomena, observations of which led the “underdeveloped person” to the idea of ​​the existence of another equally real world, just like this one.

The flaws of this hypothesis are so significant and undeniable that even in serious atheistic circles it has ceased to enjoy any credibility.

Feuerbach's hypothesis. A slightly different idea of ​​the origin of religion was expressed by one of the Hegelians of the last century, Feuerbach (1872). He bases his hypothesis on the old position about man’s personification of the forces of nature as the basis of ancient religious beliefs. Religion, in his opinion, directly grew out of the personification of individual aspects and properties of the abstract nature of man and its false explanation. “What is spirit,” asks Feuerbach, “if not spiritual activity that has received independent existence thanks to human imagination and language, if not spiritual activity personified in the form of a being?” He divides religions into “spiritual”: Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and “natural”: all primitive and ancient pagan beliefs. In “spiritual” religions, “God, different from nature, is nothing other than man’s own being,” and in natural religions, “God, different from man, is nothing other than nature or the being of nature.”

Briefly, Feuerbach's point of view can be stated as follows: the secret of theology is anthropology. This thesis for him directly followed from his understanding of the essence of religion, which is defined by one word - man-godliness. Feuerbach tried to create a new, in his opinion, religion with the cult of man. His mistake is in asserting that religion is a fantastic reflection in human consciousness of consciousness itself and all reality. The creation of abstractions and the belief in their objective reality, especially in their divinity, are things too far apart to be united as easily as Feuerbach did. This hypothesis is only suitable for unifying the origin of various pagan types of religion, but not the origin of the idea of ​​God itself.

The social hypothesis is the last word of negative criticism on this issue. Its main idea is revealed quite clearly from the following statements.

“As a form of social consciousness, religion is initially a social product, the result of the historical development of society. Its difference from other forms of social consciousness lies in the fact that the attitude of real life is reflected in it illusory, in the form of ideas about the supernatural. The religious form of reflection of real life is, in turn, conditioned socially: in primitive society by the feeling of man’s powerlessness in the fight against nature, in class societies by the feeling of powerlessness in the face of social oppression.”

“Due to the low development of productive forces, people did not have sources of regular means of obtaining the necessary means of subsistence. This gave rise to man’s complete dependence on the forces of nature and the idea of ​​the latter as standing above him and having a supernatural character.

It is in the independence of social production that the social roots of the religion of primitive people lie. But for the emergence of religion, certain epistemological prerequisites had to exist. A religious explanation of the world presupposes, firstly, a person’s awareness of his personality as something separate from the surrounding nature; secondly, the ability to formulate very abstract concepts about the general properties of phenomena and objects.”

Religion “could arise only at a certain stage of development of society and man himself,” that is, it is not an original phenomenon in human society.

The emergence of religion is due to:

social factor - “due to the underdevelopment of social production” (in primitive society, a feeling of powerlessness of man in the fight against nature, in class societies - a feeling of powerlessness in the face of social oppression);

epistemological fact - the ability to “formulate very abstract concepts”, when “a person develops the ability for abstract thinking”, Abstract thinking makes it possible for “fantastic reflections of real reality” to arise in human consciousness, that is, supernatural, religious ones.

Even at the first glance at the main provisions of this hypothesis, its eclectic nature becomes obvious. It is only a new attempt to find the earthly sources of religion on the basis of old ideas.

Anyone who wants to be convinced of the existence of God must seek faith not only rationally, by studying and comparing different worldviews, but also purify themselves morally accordingly, which presupposes the implementation of gospel morality in oneself, which is characterized by the following main features:

complete and sincere repentance for everything evil, unjust and dishonest that was done before, that hurts and kills the conscience and soul - repentance within oneself.

The law of life should be the determination to fulfill all those moral principles and requirements that are contained in the New Testament and which can be expressed in the words of the Apostle John the Theologian: “Beloved, Let us love one another!”

Confidence in the existence of God or something supernatural does not yet make a person a member of the Church. It is necessary to know the foundations of the Orthodox faith and the principles of spiritual life that flow from them. However, the path to this world for a person in the conditions of modern religious pluralism is much more difficult than when the main choice was between atheism and religion (which, as a rule, meant Orthodoxy).

2.3 Revelation

One of the essential elements of the Christian worldview is the conviction of the possibility and necessity for man of Divine Revelation. Christianity is based entirely on Revelation and owes its emergence to it.

It is necessary to distinguish supernatural Revelation from the so-called natural knowledge of God, often called revelation. Revelation means the special gracious action of God on man, giving him true knowledge about God, about man, about salvation. It has two types: general and individual.

General Revelation was given by God through specially chosen people - prophets and apostles - for the proclamation of those fundamental truths, the confession and fulfillment of which is necessary for the salvation of each person, the whole world or an individual nation.

Individual revelation is such a supernatural visit by God to individuals, especially saints, during which the Kingdom of God, the soul of man, and the world were revealed to them. Most of these revelations are of such a nature that they cannot be retold to another person who does not have the corresponding spiritual experience. Therefore, in the patristic writings and hagiographic literature, although the facts of revelation to the saints are reported, however, as a rule, only their external side is conveyed. At the same time, individual revelations do not communicate any fundamentally new truths in comparison with the Gospel ones, but provide a deeper, more experienced knowledge of what has already been given in general Revelation.

2.4 Old Testament religion

The monotheistic religion that the forefathers had and which acquired its full definition through the Revelation received by Moses and the prophets before the coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, is called the Old Testament.

The main features of this religion, information about which we draw from the Bible, include, firstly, its unconditional monotheism. The statements of some researchers about the polytheistic nature of the Old Testament religion do not stand up to criticism upon careful consideration of the arguments presented, the main of which are the following:

in the Hebrew text of the Bible, from the very first lines it speaks of “Elohim”, that is, Gods (the suffix “them” indicates the plural), and not of God, as it is translated into other languages;

the Bible mentions the names of various gods that Jews are ordered to worship: Adonai, Yahweh, Hosts and others;

numerous biblical anthropomorphisms in relation to God speak of the primitive, characteristic of polytheists, ideas about God in the Old Testament religion.

Regarding these objections, the following may be noted:

The suffix "im" in Hebrew indicates not only the plural, but is also used to express the superlative degree. For example, in the Bible the sky sounds like “shamayim”, water (as an element) - “mayim” and so on. Regarding the use of “Elohim”, some fathers are even inclined to believe that this in the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament indicated the Trinity of Persons in God. This use was meant to emphasize that we are talking not just about a Semitic deity, but about the highest God;

Yahweh, Adonai and other names of God found in the Bible do not mean different deities, but different names of the one God, indicating certain properties of God;

anthropomorphisms in themselves cannot serve as any sufficient indication of the polytheistic nature of a given religion, since anthropomorphisms are inherent in all religions and all human knowledge.

The indicated objections to the monotheism of the Old Testament religion, it turns out, do not have any basis. But the obvious fact is that the commandment to honor the one God comes first in the ten words of Moses and is repeated persistently and repeatedly in various versions and situations throughout the Bible.

The Old Testament religion was a kind of bright ray in the darkness of the pre-Christian pagan world. Its monotheism in that era was an exceptional phenomenon, since it represented the prohibition of human sacrifices, the moral purity of the cult, the relative severity of life regulations and many moral precepts.

The Old Testament Revelation retains a certain meaning in the Christian era. Its main point, which has lasting value for a New Testament person, is the prophetic and educational instructions of Christ the Savior. These instructions, many of which are striking in the accuracy of their chronological, geographical and genealogical predictions, having been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, provide an exceptional opportunity for every impartial seeker of truth to see in Him the Messiah and Lord promised by God.

The Old Testament Revelation also gives the most complete picture of the creation of the world, the origin of man, and the history of the Fall. However, in other elements of the doctrine it is essential and sometimes fundamentally replenished (Matt. 5:17) or even canceled by the Gospel of Christ, for the law had only “a shadow of future benefits, and not the very image of things” (Heb. 10:11).

In the doctrine, it is necessary to note the following most important provisions, “completed” by the New Testament. The Old Testament was virtually unknown to the mystery of the Trinitarian God, revealed to the world only in the incarnation of the One Son of God.

The Old Testament Revelation retains a certain meaning in the Christian era. Its main point, which has lasting value for a New Testament person, is the prophetic indications of Christ the Savior. These instructions, many of which are amazingly accurate in their chronological, geographical and genealogical predictions and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, provide an exceptional opportunity for every seeker of truth to see in Him the promised Messiah and Lord.

The blessing of the New Testament makes it possible to see how imperfect the very principle of the Old Testament religion was. She focused entirely on the law, on the “slave-mercenary” psychology, on the external execution of established regulations.

Facts confirming the imperfection of the Old Testament religion:

The covenant was educational and temporary, preparatory to the coming of Christ;

this imperfection is explained by the fact that the Old Testament moral and ritual institutions were ethnically limited, they were not intended for all of humanity, but for one tribe chosen to perform a specific task;

The Old Testament religion could not be perfect, since perfection is associated with the very appearance of God in the flesh and the implementation by him of the mystery of human salvation through the sacrifice of love.

Conclusion

The most important aspect that makes up the essence of Christianity is the correct spiritual structure of man. Christianity offers something that fundamentally distinguishes it from the teachings of all other religions. Firstly, the doctrine of God, secondly, an understanding of the essence and purpose of human spiritual life, then the doctrine of the Resurrection and much more.

Another feature of Christianity (at present it is more correct to say Orthodoxy) concerns the essence of human spiritual life. Christianity is entirely aimed at healing the soul, and not at earning bliss and paradise. The Monk Simeon the New Theologian points out: “Careful fulfillment of the commandments of Christ teaches a person (that is, reveals to a person) his weaknesses.” Let us pay attention to what is emphasized by the Monk Simeon: fulfilling the commandments makes a person not a miracle worker, a prophet, a teacher, not worthy of any awards, gifts, supernatural powers - which is the main consequence of the “fulfillment” of the commandments in all religions and even the goal. The Orthodox path leads a person to something completely different - to a person seeing the deepest damage of the human being, for the sake of healing of which God the Word became incarnate and without the knowledge of which a person is in principle incapable of either correct spiritual life or accepting Christ the Savior.

Perhaps the most important thing that Christianity speaks about and what distinguishes it from other religions and without which Christianity cannot exist is its greatest dogma, expressed in the main Christian holiday, Easter, - the dogma of the Resurrection. Christianity does not simply say that the Christian soul is united with God, that the soul will experience certain states. It asserts that man is a soul and a body, a single spiritual-physical being, and deification is inherent not only in the soul, but in the soul and body. In a renewed person, everything changes, not only the soul, mind, feelings, but also the body itself.

Orthodoxy speaks of resurrection as a fact that will follow as a result of the Resurrection of Christ. The message of the Resurrection permeates all Christian consciousness throughout all 2000 years. The greatest saints, who achieved insight and enlightenment of the mind, affirmed this truth with all the strength and categoricality. It is unique in the history of the religious consciousness of mankind.

List of used literature

1. Polovinkin A.I. ABC of Orthodoxy: Textbook / VolSTU, Volgograd, 2002.

2. Osipov A.I. Basic theology. - M., 1994.

3. Ozhegov S.I. Shvedova N.Yu. Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. - M., 2001.

4. http://www.zavet.ru

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At a time when Orthodoxy was included in the code of laws, and apostasy or “blasphemy” was considered a crime, it was customary to commit lawlessness; at that time it was most likely considered something of a “tradition.”

We are talking about Jewish pogroms. There have been quite a lot of pogroms in the history of the Russian Empire, but in this case I would like to dwell on the most typical one - the Chisinau pogrom.

The attitude towards Jews in the Russian Empire was, understandably, negative. They were blamed for almost all the troubles, although in terms of work they were still not averse to receiving significant “shares” and taxes from the possible earnings of Jewish moneylenders and artisans.

Intolerance was generally characteristic of the entire period, but it was expressed in different ways. Once upon a time, Jews could have been burned for their faith (before Peter I), and then for a long time they tried to “involve” them in Orthodoxy. In many ways, this achieved some success, although such Jews were still not considered full-fledged people anyway.

As is known, at the beginning of the 19th century, by decree of Catherine II, Jews were identified in the so-called. "The Pale of Settlement". Interestingly, Jews were strictly forbidden to live in rural areas. One gets the feeling that, in fact, the usurious and handicraft activities of the authorities were imposed on them. Moreover, it is important to understand that these lucrative positions were not given to all Jews, and therefore the majority had a very bad time, because places were limited, and about 5 million Jews lived in the Russian Empire. It is not surprising, therefore, that in some “towns” they lived from hand to mouth.

Despite such facts, the “Orthodox community” still did not lag behind them. The religious literature of those years constantly contained speeches that literally incited hatred against Jews. In particular, the famous forgery called “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” was distributed with the help of government funds, sold in church shops and incited hatred of Jews.

It is clear that in general the government was trying to prove a simple “truth” in this way. Problems in economics and politics are not related to socio-economic relations in society. It's all about Jews and some other “pests” who supposedly prevent the country from being ideal. Plus, of course, we should not forget about religious intolerance, since Orthodoxy claimed absolute power, moreover, there were laws that could punish for the transition from Orthodoxy to any other “faith.” Thus, Christian gentlemen tried to convert Jews, and especially their children, to their faith.

Now about the “manifestation” of spirituality in general. So, in the small town of Dubossary in 1903, teenager Mikhail Rybachenko disappeared. He was soon found dead. There were no special details about this. But then “notes” about this murder began to appear in the Bessarabets newspaper, an organ of state anti-Semitism and Orthodox propaganda, with references to anti-Semitic works of the Middle Ages, when Jews were accused of ritual murders.

In particular, the newspaper's editor-in-chief Pavel Krushevan was an active anti-Semite, so he literally made up the details of the murder on the fly. There is nothing surprising in this; previously, this publicist was repeatedly convicted of slander, insults and threats of various levels, i.e. he was a typical “yellow journalist” of that period. Probably, if we cite some historical parallels, then in general he resembles clerical deputies, only even more radical.

He wrote every day about the murder of Rybachenko and blamed the Jews for it. He pointed to the “ritual nature” of the killing. That the Jews sewed up the murdered man’s eyes, then his mouth, or bled him out for a satanic ritual, etc.

Moreover, the liar Krushevan did not stop there. The climax of the lie was when Krushevan reported that allegedly “one of the killers” had been caught. It is clear that the killer was a Jew who relished all the details of the murder and talked about its ritual nature.

It is important to note that this rioter touched on the topic constantly, and in the end it bore fruit. At first, people simply refused to enter into any contact with the Jews, then the beatings began, and then everything took on organized forms, when groups of citizens actually “patrolled the streets.”

It is important to say right away that the Rybachenko case was solved. As it turned out, Rybachenko was killed by his uncle because of his inheritance. And there was not even a hint of “ritual” in the murder. The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a circular according to which it is forbidden to publish anything about the Rybachenko case, i.e. The pogromist was never recognized as a slanderer. Soon it was he who published the notes: “The program for the conquest of the world by the Jews” and “the protocols of the Elders of Zion” in the same newspaper.

Actually, what’s interesting is that as soon as they admitted that it wasn’t the Jews, Krushevan realized that it was the authorities, under pressure from the Jewish public, who refused to “recognize” the ritual nature of the murder. After which the case started with renewed vigor. The same anti-Semitic newspaper began publishing calls for “active action” against Jews.

The concerned Jewish community tried to resolve this issue as peacefully as possible, since there were still hopes that this was the beginning of the 20th century, and not the middle of the 15th century. The Jews did not come up with anything smarter than to turn to the Bishop of Chisinau and Khotyn Jacob. The Jews hoped that Jacob would publicly address his supporters and reassure them. But he told his supporters:

“It makes no sense to deny the fact that the Jewish sect “Khuzid” practices drinking Christian blood in secret from their fellow religionists.”

Those. it only fueled the hatred even more. And his “brothers in Christ” generally adhered to a simple position: “Orthodoxy or death,” so one argument that these people were not Orthodox was enough.

In general, during Orthodox Easter in 1903, when the Orthodox gentlemen were walking with religious processions, they began to throw stones at Jewish houses and shops. All this lasted almost the entire day, and the police did not react to what was happening, as if this was in the order of things. The next day, troops and police arrived in the city. However, no one received orders, and so people just stood and watched what was happening.

Meanwhile, Christians gathered and actually began not only to throw stones at buildings, but also began to beat Jews. They, in turn, began to form self-defense units, since, apparently, there was no hope for power. From the countdown of prosecutor V.N. Goremykin it follows:

“In different parts of the city, numerous parties of 15-20 Christians each, almost exclusively unskilled laborers, with boys in front of them throwing stones at the windows and shouting, began to completely destroy Jewish shops, houses and dwellings, breaking and destroying the property located there. These groups were replenished with walking people. ...the property was immediately and completely destroyed. ...[the goods] were partly destroyed on the spot, partly plundered by persons following the thugs. ...the Jewish houses of worship were completely destroyed, and their sacred scrolls (Torah) were thrown into the street in tatters. ...some of the wine [from the wine shops] was released onto the street, while some was drunk on the spot by the rioters"

The thugs believed, of course, that they could do everything with impunity, that this was in the order of things. However, the Jews still responded, although the forces were not equal:

“The Jews, fearing for their lives and property, were completely confused and mad with fear... Some of the Jews, armed with revolvers, resorted to self-defense and began shooting at the thugs... aimlessly and ineptly.”

Then it started:

“...wild revelry of passions. The crowd of thugs went wild, and wherever shots were fired, they immediately burst in and smashed everything to smithereens, committing violence against the Jews who came across them.”

And it ended: "a series of murders"

Only when it became clear that no one would stop these insane murders, it was necessary to order troops to calm the rioters. Interestingly, the rioters dispersed quite calmly at the sight of the troops directed at them. And they ignored the troops when they were inactive. Those. the bloodshed could have been avoided immediately if the troops had maintained law and order from the very beginning.

Results of the pogrom: almost 50 people were killed, about 600 were injured, approximately 1,500 houses were destroyed (more than a third of the houses in Chisinau). And this is in less than 2 days of “Christian tolerance”.

It is important to say that in general no one was satisfied with the results of the pogrom, since few calculated the real power of this act. Obviously, the initial plan was to “intimidate” the Jews, as had happened before.

The reaction was quite violent, including from the world community, since this event literally reproduced the Middle Ages. The event was condemned by many cultural figures (including Leo Tolstoy), and even some tsarist officials. The situation, it seems, was provoked by the tsarist secret police, since although the rioters were detained, they were released quickly enough, and mostly only those who caused significant damage to property got it.

It seemed that this tragic event put an end to it. However, there was nothing of the kind. Jewish pogroms only intensified and spread to almost all places where Jews lived. In particular, the words of a major clergyman of Kronstadt in 1905:

“Apparently the culprits are Jews who bribed our hooligans to kill, rob, and burn Russian people”

Those. all these sentiments were actively protected, and the ideologists were truly considered the most important politicians of the Russian Empire. As you know, Emperor Nicholas II personally repeatedly organized banquets together with the Black Hundreds and other Orthodox movements of a similar kind. Moreover, the tsar considered all this rabble to be “truly Russian people,” while the reformer Witte had a sharply negative attitude towards them. In particular, he characterized them this way:

“The Black Hundreds, in the vast majority of cases, pursue selfish goals, the basest, gastric and pocket goals. These are the types of meadows and killers from around the corner... The Black Hundreds hire killers; their army is hooligans of the lowest category... The Tsar fell in love after October 17 most of all the Black Hundreds, openly proclaiming them as the first people of the Russian Empire, as examples of patriotism, as national pride"

And even more frank lines can be found in Witte’s book of memoirs:

“political scoundrels, people dirty in thoughts and feelings, do not have a single viable and honest political idea and direct all their efforts to inciting the lowest passions of a wild, dark crowd. This party, being under the wing of a double-headed eagle, can cause terrible pogroms and upheavals , but cannot create anything but negative... It consists of a dark, wild mass of leaders - political scoundrels... And the poor sovereign dreams, relying on this party, to restore the greatness of Russia... And this is the main thing. thus the result of the influence of the empress"

Surprisingly, today some parallels arise, since modern “pro-government” movements, if they do not adhere to the Black Hundred ideology in the strict sense, still may well be in the future. Moreover, modern officials openly promote religion and even study obscurantist philosophy. Actually, you can look at modern followers of similar views. They directly state (the head of the Orthodox banner bearers Simonović-Nikšić):

“Unfortunately, we cannot yet openly burn heretics, but we will burn books and tapes with the modern Albigensian heresy.”

One of the unique aspects of the spiritual culture of Rus' is the preservation of conciliarity as a mechanism of spiritual self-regulation of society, which meant for the Eastern Christian Church a predominant reliance on tradition, which is practically unchanged religious dogma. This led to the ideological and ritual conservatism of the Orthodox Church, to the predominance of protective tendencies in it, as well as to the fundamental passivity of religious figures of Ancient Rus', especially against the backdrop of the activities of secular politicians. The leading, active beginning of Russian sociocultural history, starting from the very act of the baptism of Rus', becomes secular power.
The national-state attachment of Orthodoxy was established in other Eastern churches. An important cultural result of this situation was the cultural isolation, local isolation of these churches and the stagnation of their doctrine.
The stagnant nature of religious life in Rus' led to the fact that already from the middle of the 17th century. The contradiction inherent in Russian society between the principles of stability and development took on the character of opposition between the originality of “Holy Rus'” and Westernism. Orthodoxy resisted European influences in spiritual life, presenting them as a departure from the true faith. The church orders established by Peter I and his successors (the introduction of the Synod, the secularization of church lands and other measures) strengthened the organizational dependence of the church on the state. However, the content of religion remained unaffected. Any serious attempts at reformation were alien to Orthodoxy. The inviolability of church life, the obsolescence of its language and rituals increased the isolation of the church from the educated part of society. The strong connection between the church and the throne led to the fact that the growing opposition against the authorities was transferred to the church. The official church could not become a reservoir of popular protest against social injustice.
At the same time, the spiritual inertia of Orthodoxy contributed to the strengthening of secularism and unbelief among the educated strata of society. The development of culture passed by religious life. The sources of shifts in culture were: folk, largely pagan culture, represented by folk, ritual, and holiday traditions; influence from outside, from many cultures of the West and East, with which Russia has maintained intensive communication for many centuries; the state as one of the forces that united the population across the vast expanses of Eurasia and contributed to the development of economic and cultural activities.

Thus, starting from the moment of the baptism of Rus', autocracy together with Orthodoxy determine the semantic core of Russian civilization. Each of these two principles of Old Russian culture played its own creative role in Russian sociocultural history, in the formation and development of Old Russian spirituality.

Let us first note the common features in order to then identify the differences in the Russian understanding of holiness. With the establishment of Christianity, the concept of holiness changes significantly: holiness is transferred from natural things and processes to man, to his mental and spiritual aspect; holiness is considered inaccessible to perception through the senses; it begins to be understood as something abstract and “invisible.” And this, in turn, connects “holiness” with such moral characteristics as “integrity”, “virtue”, “righteousness”. All of the above is common to both Russian and Western European culture.

The specificity of the Russian understanding of holiness is that for Russian culture: holiness presupposes the pursuit of a single universal goal, the most cherished desire and the most secret dream and hope - a holy kingdom for man on earth; holiness implies a return to the original state of integrity, untouchedness, purity; it is argued that the holy state can be extremely close in space and time.

Therefore, it is in Russian culture that holiness emphasizes a person’s belonging to another world; sometimes even some foolishness. Saints in ancient Russian culture become a visible image of the Christian ideal; from them comes the word of “truth,” which overthrows everything unrighteous on earth.

The cult of saints in Russian culture is an indicator of the progressive development of spiritual culture and is based on very long-standing religious traditions. This is a special cultural and historical phenomenon. The cult of saints had social roots, like any religious cult. In order to influence minds and souls, it was necessary to rely on the veneration of religious heroes among the wider population. These were heroes endowed with a special kind of exclusivity: a position beyond the orbit of the earth. The saint remained at his border post (between earth and heaven) throughout his entire earthly life.
The saints had to judge “truth” and “falsehood,” which required them to break with the perverse world of violence, exploitation, and all kinds of “untruth.” Hence the hermitage, “desert living” - the entire ideally outlined way of life of the saint, his detachment “from this world.”
The main function of saints is to work miracles. Social reality, in which truth is a miracle, compensates itself by believing in a miracle as truth. Powerlessness saves itself by believing in miracles. Saints are endowed with the ability to summon, depending on need, moisture or solar heat, disperse clouds, and send snow. This reflects the direct interests of working people. The saints work miracles, making the blind sighted, raising the lame to their feet, and generally restoring health to people.
It is no coincidence that in folk utopias, starting from ancient times and up to the 19th century inclusive, we encounter ideas about the “islands of the blessed”, various “distant lands”, where Truth reigns, where labor is rewarded with an abundance of fruits, the population is free, peaceful, devoid of vices and Because of all this, he is distinguished by physical health and enviable longevity. The phenomenon of holiness is characterized by an element of social utopianism, immersed in the sphere of religious-magical consciousness and practice.
The cult of saints developed in two directions.
One came from below - such was the veneration of saints, localized by the territory of a parish or a small area of ​​​​a monastery. Their veneration not only was not all-Russian, but also did not extend to the boundaries of a particular diocese. An even lower level in the cult of saints was the veneration of the so-called “dead ascetics.”
Another direction is the cultivation of saints prescribed from above, the desire of the church to introduce the cult of saints into its own mainstream, without neglecting the saints who were venerated within the parish, and those who were venerated at the initiative of the people as “dead ascetics.” The direction coming from above had the goal of regulating the cult of saints and consolidating it in the service of the interests of the ideology of the church and state.

The process of canonization (enumeration of Russian saints) also has its own characteristics in the history of Orthodoxy. Indicative in this regard is the story of Boris and Gleb (the first Russian miracle workers of the Orthodox Church), who were canonized even before Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir and Olga. The reason for their popular veneration is not the firmness of their faith, not the ascetic principles of pious life, not the steadfastness in affirming the ideals of Orthodoxy, but precisely the fact of the meek, sacrificial acceptance of violent death, organized by their brother - a competitor in the struggle for the Kiev throne - Svyatopolk the Accursed; that is, the ideal of a Christian attitude towards death and suffering, towards power and the struggle for it, non-resistance to violence and forgiveness.
It is precisely the passive way of behavior in the face of ominous forces and trials that seems salutary for the entire Russian land. The moral height of innocent martyrs in the face of inevitable death becomes an ideal guarantee of the material indestructibility and invincibility of the Russian people, who have brought forward saints from their midst who are internally ready for any - even inglorious, meaningless - feat.
Subsequently, the belittlement of the individual and his role in history, the subordination of personal sacrifice to the common good, the defense of long-suffering as a universal means of collectively overcoming a crisis situation - all these features, poeticized by ancient Russian writers and thinkers, gradually became typological features of Russian culture and were included in the very type of ancient Russian civilization. Its key component was the deep belief that truth, goodness and justice would ultimately triumph in Rus' by themselves, thanks only to the holiness of the Russian land.
Throughout the centuries-old sociocultural history of Ancient Rus', situations constantly arose that required either heroic feats or patient sacrifice. Both were poeticized in ancient Russian fiction and glorified in chronicles and journalistic appeals of ancient Russian scribes. Characteristic of ancient Russian culture was the extreme rapprochement between the military feat of the prince and the hermit asceticism of the saint as two equal manifestations of the strength of the spirit, as the achievement of Christian holiness. The Russian land itself gradually began to be associated in the popular consciousness with the embodiment of the spirit of holiness, receiving the name Holy Rus'.

By the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. In Russian Orthodoxy, two different, in many ways opposite, types of holiness have emerged. One type of holiness, which was exclusively spiritual in nature, was closely associated with the personality and teaching of Nilus of Sora, supported by his followers, called “non-covetous.” Nil Sorsky called for a hermit's life, removal from secular temptations and worldly communication; monastic life should be spent in solitude, spiritual self-deepening and silent contemplation; the church must be free from land holdings, material and property values, as well as from interaction with secular authorities, the state, and worldly life.
Another type of holiness was preached by Joseph Volotsky. His disciples and followers called themselves "Josephites." The meaning of the teachings of Joseph Volotsky was a close connection with the current government and all its support - moral, ideological, political, spiritual; in turn, the state, with its contributions to monasteries and land, was called upon to strengthen the position of the church in society, its spiritual, economic, and social status.
Ritual severity, self-denial, and asceticism in the interpretation of the “Josephites” were aimed not at personal self-improvement and the elevation of the individual religious spirit (like the followers of Nilus of Sora), but for the benefit of centralized power - church and state, social and spiritual.
The more pragmatic and powerful position of Joseph Volotsky determined the priority of the line defended by his supporters, which won in Russian Orthodoxy. The very polemics between Nil Sorsky and Joseph Volotsky largely anticipated the future Russian religious schism of the 17th century.

belief religion Islam Christianity

History of Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is one of the three main directions of Christianity (Greek: “orthodoxy”). It is distributed mainly in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Balkans.

The theological foundations of Orthodoxy were formed in the 4th - 11th centuries in Byzantium; its origins took place under conditions of centralization of state power, so the Church turned out to be an appendage of the state, and its de facto head was the Byzantine emperor.

In the 6th century, the Eastern Roman Empire liberated Rome and incorporated it into the Byzantine Empire. The Patriarch of Constantinople began to call himself ecumenical, i.e. head of the Eastern and Western Churches. But in the middle of the 7th century, Byzantium was attacked by the Arab Caliphate and the Slavs, who captured Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, the Balkan Peninsula and the Catholic Church gained independence, initially creating the Papal States around Rome. In the 9th century, a conflict arose between the Western and Eastern Churches over Sicily and Southern Italy. In addition, Moravia, which adopted Christianity from Rome, came under the patronage of Constantinople and Bulgaria leaned towards Orthodoxy. In the 11th century, due to the increase in the number of divine services according to the Western model, the Patriarch of Constantinople ordered the closure of all Roman churches and monasteries in Constantinople, which led to the final rupture of relations between Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

The Turks who conquered Byzantium subjected Christians to severe persecution; the forcible imposition of Islam, the conversion of Christians into slavery, robberies, extortions, bullying and tithes by children were considered a deed pleasing to God. The murder of the Patriarchs of Constantinople became a common occurrence (only in the 17th century were Cyril Lukaris, Cyril II, Parthenius II, Parthenius III strangled). Despite the fact that the Patriarch of Constantinople does not have the right to interfere in the activities of other Orthodox churches, he is still considered ecumenical, and an attempt on his life and dignity is an insult to the entire Orthodox Church.

The formation of the basic provisions of Orthodoxy took place in the struggle against numerous deviations and variants, condemned by the councils as heresies. Disagreements at the Ecumenical Councils can be explained both by the complexity of theological issues and by the existence in the Byzantine Empire of four equivalent religious centers - Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Constantinople autocephalous (independent) churches. Then the Cypriot and Georgian Orthodox churches separated from the Antiochian Church. The Armenian refused to recognize the condemnation of the Monophysites, thereby placing itself in the position of a church that does not recognize the dogma of orthodox Christianity.

Currently, there are 17 autocephalous (self-governing) Orthodox churches in the world: Albanian, American, Bulgarian, Georgian, Cyprus, Constantinople, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Ukrainian, Czech, Alexandrian (Egypt and some African countries), Antioch (Syria, Lebanon), Jerusalem (Palestine), Hellas (Greece).

In addition, there are four autonomous Orthodox churches under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchs: Cretan and Finnish (Constantinople), Sinai (Jerusalem), Japanese (Moscow and All Rus'). The limits of their independence are determined by agreement with the autocephalous churches that granted autonomy. The heads of autonomous churches are elected by local councils and are subsequently approved by the patriarch of the autocephalous church.

Adoption of Christianity in Rus'. Christianity in Rus' was established in the 10th century according to the Byzantine model, thanks to the translation by Cyril and Methodius of almost all biblical books into Old Church Slavonic. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Volga Bulgars suggested that Vladimir convert to Islam, the papal legate - Catholicism, the Khazars - Judaism, but the former did not have the corresponding biblical literature in the Slavic language, and the Khazars were tributaries of the Kyiv prince.

The priest brothers Constantine, who took the name Cyril as a monk, and Methodius lived on the northern coast of the Aegean Sea, where there were many Slavs, and knew Greek, Slavic and Hebrew. In the 860s, they obtained permission to conduct services in the Slavic language (at that time they were conducted only in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, since the translation of the Holy Scriptures required many theologians and language experts) and soon translated the Gospel and almost all biblical books into the Slavic language.

Under Vladimir's son Yaroslav the Wise, a metropolitanate was created in Kyiv, headed by the Greek Leontius. The Tithe Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary with 25 domes with an area of ​​900 m2 was built (destroyed in 1240), the St. Sophia Cathedral with 13 domes, the Kiev Pechersky Monastery on the site of the first settlement of Christian ascetics that arose around the cave cells (“pecher”), which became 1598 Lavra (Greek: “crowded”) and dozens of churches in other cities.

The first Saints appeared in Rus' - Olga, Vladimir, Boris and Gleb, the founder of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, abbot of Feodosia, etc.; the first metropolitan of Russian origin - Hilarion (1051) (Illarion: “They ruled not in a bad and unknown land, but in the Russian one, which is known and heard in all the ends of the earth”); The Holy Scriptures and the Psalter, the works of John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Cyril of Jerusalem, Jewish and early Christian literature not included in the biblical canon - apocrypha (Greek “secret, hidden”), a collection of biographies of church fathers and monks - patericon (Greek. "father").

History of the Russian Orthodox Church - the most numerous of the Orthodox, the fifth among the oldest Eastern Christian churches.

In 1589, more than a hundred years after the fall of Byzantium, on the initiative of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich (1557 - 1598), a Local Council was convened with the participation of the Eastern Patriarchs (Greek “ancestor”), at which the first Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', Job, was elected. Until the mid-17th century, the Russian Orthodox Church was under the tutelage of the state. The first conflict of spiritual power with secular and society occurred during the reign of Patriarch Nikon (1605 - 1681). The bringing of Orthodox rites (the adoption of the three-fingered sign of the cross) and liturgical books into conformity with religious doctrine caused a split within the Church, and the Patriarch's claim to the supremacy of spiritual power over secular power led to his defrocking and exile.

As a result of the split, two groups of Old Believers were formed: priests who had priests (Greek “father, father”) and bespopovtsy (priests were replaced by ustavshchiki). In turn, these groups were divided into many interpretations and agreements, the most significant of which was the teaching of Christ believers, who declared that Christ can dwell in every believer. They were distinguished by extreme asceticism and mysticism, they rejected the church and rituals. The main form of worship of Christ's believers was zeal, which had the goal of unity with the Holy Spirit. The celebrations were accompanied by dancing, singing, going into a trance, divination and ecstasy. The most fanatical used castration as the main means of self-improvement; later they began to be called eunuchs.

In the middle of the 18th century, two new movements appeared among the Old Believers: the Molokans and the Doukhobors. The Molokans believed that a person is saved only by personal faith and declared the Bible to be the only source of Divine truth. The Doukhobors, who considered Jesus Christ to be a man with a divine mind, replaced the Bible with the Book of Life, containing psalms composed by the Doukhobors themselves (God in the Book of Life is interpreted as eternal good). Both of them were evicted to the south of the empire.

In the 18th - 19th centuries there were no Patriarchs in Russia; the highest spiritual power in the country belonged to the emperor. After the February Revolution of 1917, the patriarchate was restored, and Moscow Metropolitan Tikhon (1865 - 1925) was elected Patriarch.

At the end of the 20th century, the state returned to the Church the icons and church valuables that were in museums, the surviving churches and monasteries: the oldest in Moscow Danilov Monastery (in 1930 the abbot and about 50 monks were shot, a children's reception center was set up in the monastery, which existed until 1983; today - an active monastery, the residence of the Patriarch and the Holy Synod), Optina Monastery (located on the banks of one of the tributaries of the Oka; in the 19th century, about 300 monks and novices lived here, the monastery library contained 30,000 books; the elders lived half a kilometer away from the monastery, a monastery surrounded by a wooden fence, inside it there was a thick smell of flowers growing on both sides of a wide sand-strewn path, clean cells, an apiary, a pond, a cypress alley) and others. The Church resumed the canonization of ascetics of the faith (Ignatius Bryanchaninov, Ambrose of Optina, Theophan the Recluse, Patriarchs Job and Tikhon), statesmen (Dmitry Donskoy, the Romanovs) and outstanding representatives of culture (Andrei Rublev, Maxim the Greek).

Peculiarities of doctrine and cult. The fundamentals of the doctrine are set out in the Holy Scripture (Bible), Holy Tradition (decisions of the seven Ecumenical Councils) and the works of the church fathers - Athanasius of Alexandria, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John of Damascus, John Chrysostom and others.

According to Orthodox teaching, God is not only a person, but also an essence. He appears in three persons (hypostases): God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, constituting the Holy Trinity, inseparable in its essence and equal in Divine dignity. God the Father is not born and does not come from another person, He is the Eternal Spirit, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omnirighteous, Unchangeable. He created heaven and earth, the visible and invisible world, out of nothing. He preserves people, directs them to the path of good, suppresses evil, and prevents violation of duty. He predetermined the salvation of people through the Only Begotten Son - Jesus Christ. The Son of God is as eternal as His Father. The Holy Spirit gives rise to the spiritual life of a person, endowing him with the ability of knowledge, inspiration and wisdom.

A brief summary of the main dogmas of Christianity, formulated at the first two Ecumenical Councils, is called the Creed. A Christian must know it by heart. 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, unlike Protestantism. The Orthodox Church considers this to be its main merit.

The main purpose of fasting is to cleanse and renew a person before a holiday or important event. There are four multi-day fasts in Orthodoxy: Strict (before Easter), Petrov (before the day of Peter and Paul), Assumption (before the Dormition of the Virgin Mary), Rozhdestven (before the Nativity of Christ), one-day fasts - every Wednesday and Friday.

The main holidays of Orthodoxy: Easter (the most important holiday in Orthodoxy); Nativity; Meeting (meeting between Simeon the Righteous and the prophetess Anna brought to the temple on the 40th day after the birth of Jesus Christ); Epiphany; Transfiguration (change in appearance of Jesus Christ); Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem; Ascension; Trinity (the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on the 50th day from Easter); The Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord (in 313, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, Saint Helena, opened the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem near Golgotha, built on her orders, in one of the chapels the Throne was placed at the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ); Annunciation (the announcement of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary about the conception of Christ the Lord from the Holy Spirit); Nativity of the Virgin Mary; Introduction to the Temple of the Virgin Mary; Dormition of the Virgin Mary.

Symbol of faith. I believe in One God, the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible and invisible to all. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, uncreated. Consubstantial with the Father, by Him everything exists (“all things were”). For our sake and our salvation, He came down from heaven and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary into man (“and became man”). Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven and sits at the right (“right”) of the Father. And again (“back”) He will come with glory to judge the living and the dead, and His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Life-Giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father, worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son, mentioned by the prophets (“who spoke the prophets”). To the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess only (“single”) baptism for the remission of sins. I am waiting (“tea”) for the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the next century. Amen.