Dogma of two natures in one Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
On October 25, 451, at the solemn meeting of the IV Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, the famous oros (dogmatic definition) was signed. It said:
“Following the holy fathers, we all teach in agreement to confess one and the same Son of our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, true God and true man, the same from the rational soul and body, consubstantial with the Father in divinity and the same consubstantial with us in to humanity, in everything similar to us, except for sin, born before the ages from the Father according to divinity, and in the last days for our sake and for the sake of our salvation from Mary the Virgin Mother of God according to humanity, one and the same Christ, the Son, the only begotten Lord in two natures, unconfused, invariably, inseparably, inseparably cognized in such a way that the union does not in any way violate the difference between the two natures, but all the more the properties of each nature are preserved and are united into one person and one hypostasis, not into two dissected or divided, but one and the same Son and the only begotten God - Words of the Lord Jesus Christ. In ancient times, the prophets taught about Him and as the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us and as he gave us the Symbol of the Fathers.”
A.V. Kartashev explains 4 adverbs:
1. Unmerged . For the extreme Monophysites poured the water of the flesh into the fire of the deity, and the water evaporated, disappeared, or, like grass, burned, only the fiery element of the divine nature remained, i.e. one nature.
2. Unconverted . For for the more crafty, supposedly moderate Monophysites, humanity was transformed in its essence, lost its reality, became only an apparent shell.
3. Indivisible . Against the Nestorians, for whom two natures are placed side by side only in an illusory union.
4. Inseparable . Against the Marcellian heresy. Among the Marcellians, on the day of the last judgment, the God-man will separate himself from himself, throwing into nothing the role of human nature that has served him.
Dogmas should not be confused with Church Canons and Theological Opinion
It is necessary to remember forever that church dogma is a doctrinal definition that is not subject to doubt. It may have a different dogmatic formula, but the content remains unchanged.
We must always remember this and not confuse dogma with a private theological opinion or telogumen. Theologumen is a doctrinal position that does not contradict dogmas, but is not obligatory for all believers. It is necessarily based on Holy Scripture and the sayings of the Holy Fathers of the Church.
Church book Canon 1910 to the Holy Martyr Boniface. Church dogma should not be confused with church canons and theological opinion
As for private theological opinion. Then it is a reflection, the opinion of an individual theologian, which does not directly contradict dogmas, and is not necessarily found in the Fathers of the Church. Dogma, therefore, stands above theologumena and private theological opinions.
Also, do not confuse dogmas with church canons - the basic church rules that determine the order of life of the Orthodox Church (its internal structure, discipline, private aspects of the life of Christians).
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Dogma of the VI Ecumenical Council on two wills and actions in the Lord Jesus Christ
The VI Ecumenical Council, convened by Emperor Constantine Poganat, took place in 680–681 in Constantinople. It had 18 meetings, and the purpose of the Council was to study and refute the heresy of monothelitism. The Monothelites, of which Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople was a prominent representative, formally accepting the Chalcedonian Oros with its dogma of two natures in the single hypostasis of Christ, actually refused to recognize the presence of a natural human will in Christ. Monothelitism clearly contradicted the story of Christ's prayer in Gethsemane. The Lord prayed: “Abba Father! everything is possible for You; carry this cup past Me; but not what I want, but what You want” (Mark 14:36). “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Lk. 22:42).
From these gospel quotations it is clear that the human will of Jesus Christ differs from His divine will, which is identical with the will of God the Father. The Oros of the IV Ecumenical Council regarding the question of wills and actions in Christ says the following: “We preach, according to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, that in Christ there are two natural desires or wills and two natural actions, inseparably, unchangeably, inseparably, unfused, and two natural wills...”. The council anathematized the leaders of the monothelitism, the Patriarchs of Constantinople Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul and Peter and the Patriarch of Alexandria Cyrus.
In Orthodoxy, dogmas became a response to the distortion of Christian teaching
Orthodox dogma identifies the following properties of dogmas:
- Theological.
- Godliness.
- Churchness.
- General obligation.
The content of these properties is revealed above in relation to the writings of the Church Fathers dedicated to dogmas. It should be noted that each religious movement may have its own dogmas.
So, for example, the Orthodox recognize the dogmas adopted by the resolutions of the Ecumenical Councils as a response to certain fundamental distortions of church teaching. Catholics recognize the need for new dogmas to emerge without this condition.
The dogma of the Church is not subject to condemnation or change.
The dogma of the Church is a doctrinal truth that is not subject to discussion. That is why, if a conscious departure from a dogma is recorded in the form of its complete rejection or a different interpretation, we can talk about the presence of heresy in the judgments of this or that person.
Thus, answering the question: who is a dogmatist, we can say that this is the person who does not deviate from the teachings of the Church, shares and observes all its dogmas.
Icon Symbol of Faith. Orthodox dogmas are contained in the Creed and the Catechism
The dogmatic provisions of Orthodox teaching are set out in the Creed. In addition, they can also be found in the Catechism and educational literature on the Law of God. Dogmas are designed to help every person have an accurate, unambiguous understanding of God and his relationship with the world, and clearly understand where Christianity ends and heresy begins.
That is why the doctrinal truths of Catholicism and Protestantism recognize different provisions than in Orthodoxy, which led to a split between the largest Christian denominations.
Holy Trinity
The truth that there are truly three Persons in God is clearly revealed in the New Testament. However, there were some indications of it in the Old Testament. But since these instructions are obscure and hidden, they can only be properly understood in the light of the New Testament. All indications of the Old Testament on the mystery of the trinity can be divided into three classes.
I. General indications of the plurality of persons in God without a specific number. These include:
a) the initial words of Genesis: “In the beginning God (bara Elohim) created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1 :1). “In this place of the Jewish text,” says Metropolitan Philaret, “the word Elohim, actually Gods, expresses a certain plurality, while the saying “created” shows the unity of the Creator;
b) The words of God before the creation of man “in our image and likeness” (Gen. 1:26).
Before the expulsion of the fallen ancestors from paradise: “And the Lord God said: Adam became like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" (Gen. 3:22).
Before the confusion of languages and the scattering of people through pandemonium: “And the Lord said: “Behold, there is one people, and they all have one language; and this is what they began to do, and they will not deviate from what they decided to desire. Let us go down and confuse their language there, so that one does not understand the speech of the other” (Gen. 11:6-7).
If we do not recognize in all these expressions a hidden indication of the trinity of Persons in God, then it is difficult to give a satisfactory explanation of them. Thus, they cannot be explained as a remnant of the polytheism of the Jewish religion, because this religion never taught about the existence of many gods. It is also impossible to see here an image of God’s conversation with the Angels, because the persons with whom God confers seem to be equal to Him, possessing creative power, which cannot be said about the Angels. In addition, man in Scripture is called created precisely in the image of God, and not in any other image.
II. The second group of evidence consists of those sayings of Holy Scripture in which there are indications that there are precisely three Persons in God, but without naming or distinguishing them. This includes, first of all, descriptions of the appearance of God to Abraham in the form of three strangers, as we read about in the book of Genesis ( 18 :1-3). “And the Lord appeared to him at the oak grove of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance to the tent, during the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood against him. Seeing, he ran towards them from the entrance to the tent, and bowed to the ground. And he said: Lord! If I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass Your servant by.” According to the interpretation of St. Augustine, Abraham meets three, but worships one. Having seen the three, he understood the mystery of the Trinity, and having worshiped, as it were, the One, he confessed the One God in three Persons.” This Epiphany is understood in the same sense in the “Orthodox Confession”, in some church hymns and in the iconography of the Orthodox Church.
Another general indication of the mystery of the Holy Trinity is given in the threefold appeal of the Seraphim to God: “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (Is. 6 :3), which the prophet Isaiah heard when he was elected to the prophetic ministry. In itself, the threefold “holy”, of course, does not imply the thought of the trinity of God, but if we consider these words in the context of speech and especially in comparison with parallel passages in the New Testament, then one cannot help but see in them an indication of the trinity of God. The prophet Isaiah says that he “heard the voice of the Lord, saying: whom I will send and who will go to this people” (from the Hebrew original: “Who will go to Us or for Us” - plural). Thus, Isaiah saw and heard the voice of the One God, and he must go on behalf of many. The fact that these many are divine persons is evidenced by the Apostle John when he says: “Isaiah said these things when he saw His glory and spoke of Him” (John 12:41 ), and the Apostle Paul testifies that Isaiah heard the voice of the Holy Spirit , Who sent him to the people of Israel (see Acts 28 :25-26). From this it is clear that the threefold holy has an internal state with three Persons of the Godhead.
III. The third group of evidence is an indication of the personality and deity of each of the Persons of the Holy Trinity. The deity of the Father and the Son is spoken of in the book of Psalms: “The Lord said to Me: You are My Son; Today I have begotten You” (Ps. 2 :7), or even in Psalm 109: “The Lord said to my Lord: sit at My right hand” (verse 1), “from the womb before the star... Your birth” (verse 3 ). For example, the prophet Isaiah testifies to the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, crying: “and now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent me” ( 48:16 ); and again: “And the Spirit of God (the Spirit of Jehovah), the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, will rest on Him (that is, on the Messiah). Spirit of knowledge and piety; He will be filled with the Spirit of the fear of God” (Isa. 11 :2-3).
The main purpose of Christian dogmas is to introduce the human mind to the knowledge of God
Dogmas are the doctrinal definition of the Orthodox Church. Their task is to introduce the human mind to the knowledge of God. The basic tenets of Christianity embody three fundamental rules:
- The existence of the Almighty in three persons;
- The incarnation of God's Son into a representative of the human race;
- Delivering humanity from sins.
Video: “Truth, dogma and faith.” At 4 minutes 22 seconds, the author says that the truth was given in the Church initially and cannot change or increase.
The term “dogma” in its proper meaning is used primarily in Christianity and denotes theological, revealed truth, containing the teaching about God and His economy, which the Church defines and professes as an unchangeable and indisputable position of faith.
It should be noted that Orthodoxy is characterized by two approaches to where dogmas are accepted.
Dogma
this is the doctrinal Definition of the Orthodox Church on the issue of its teaching
According to the first approach, only those indisputable provisions of the Orthodox faith that are approved at Ecumenical Councils are called dogmas. On them they receive a dogmatic formulation. The second approach suggests that every indisputable and obligatory provision of Orthodox dogma should be called dogma.
Based on these two approaches, Christian dogmas are divided into:
- General (dogmatic formulations of the Ecumenical Councils) and specific (derived from the general).
- Revealed , that is (discussed and approved at the Ecumenical Councils), and not revealed. The latter are not discussed in detail at ecumenical councils and are not defined in detail, but are recognized by the entire Orthodox Church.
- Pure , based on Divine Revelation and mixed, based not only on such Revelation, but also on natural reason.
New Testament Evidence of the Trinity of Persons in God
The evidence of the New Testament about the trinity of Persons in God can be divided into two classes: in some of them the reality of the trinity of God and the personality of all three Persons of the Divine together are indicated, in others - the personality of one or another Divine Person in particular.
I. The first part includes, first of all, the testimony of the Holy Trinity, revealed at the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan. Here the world was revealed: the Father , who spoke from heaven: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3 :16-17); The Son , baptized by John and testified by the Father; The Spirit descending in the form of a dove on the Son is clear evidence of the three Persons of the Divinity, as the Holy Church confesses in the troparion for Epiphany (“I am baptized in the Jordan...”).
We have the second evidence of the trinity of Persons in God in the last conversation of Jesus Christ with his disciples before His suffering on the cross. Comforting the disciples in their upcoming separation from Him, Jesus Christ told them: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name , He has given you... When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will testify, because you were with Me from the beginning” (John 15:16 ; 26-27). Here all three Persons of the Holy Trinity are even more clearly distinguished as Persons: the Son, Who says of Himself: “I will pray the Father,” the Holy Spirit, who is called “another Comforter,” therefore, different from the Father, sent to replace for the apostles Son and teach them everything. Consequently, He is the same Divine Person as the Son.
The third, most important evidence of the Holy Trinity is contained in the Savior’s commandment about baptism. Sending the apostles into the world to preach after His resurrection, the Savior says: “...go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen" (Matthew 28 :19-20). Here the three Hypostases are clearly named and distinguished - Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and all of them are given a single name.
Having commanded the apostles to baptize people in the name (and not in the names) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Savior thereby designated both the personality of each Divine Hypostasis and the single, indivisible dignity of the three Divine Persons; thus, their single and indivisible being. Baptism, which replaced the ancient circumcision, means accepting an obligation, entering into an alliance, and one can enter into an alliance only with persons, and not with abstract concepts or forces.
The Church has always seen in these words of the Savior the teaching about the mystery of the Holy Trinity. From the very beginning she performed baptism in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as three Divine Persons, and, in order to more clearly express the confession of the Trinity, the baptized person was immersed in water three times. At the same time, she denounced heretics who, considering the Son and the Spirit inferior to the Father or only His powers and properties, attempted to perform baptism in the name of the Father alone or the Son alone, humiliating the Holy Spirit before Them. Those who were baptized were first taught the faith in the Trinity, as three Divine Persons, and at baptism they had to accurately and firmly confess this faith. “Our faith,” wrote the fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council, “teaches us to believe in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, that is, in the One Divinity, and the power, and the being of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
We have no less clear evidence of the actual personality of all three Persons of the Divine in the apostolic epistles. Thus, the Apostle Paul writes: “The grace of the Lord (our) Jesus Christ, and the love of God (the Father), and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:13 ). The Apostle desires spiritual benefits for believers both from the Son of the Lord Jesus Christ and from the Holy Spirit, just as from the Father, and moreover, from each of them he desires special benefits; therefore, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the same Persons as the Father, all equal and all different from each other.
The Apostle John the Theologian also testifies to the mystery of the trinity when he writes: “For three bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one” (1 John 5 :7). This saying also indicates the trinity of Persons in God and the unity of being.
The Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit are called three witnesses, therefore they are different from each other; consequently, the Word and the Spirit, presented as witnesses on an equal basis with the Father, are not only two of His properties or powers or actions, but are the same Persons as the Father: “And these three are one.” Consequently, the Word and the Holy Spirit have the same Divine nature and essence as the Father, since if they had a lower and created nature, then there would be an infinite distance between Them and the Father, and then it would be impossible to say that “these three are one.”
II. There is a lot of evidence in the New Testament that indicates the identity of one or another Person of the Holy Trinity and his separation from other Persons.
Thus, Holy Scripture depicts the personality of the Father when it ascribes to Him:
a) knowledge : “no one knows the Son except the Father” (Matthew 11:27 );
b) will : “I do not seek My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30 );
c) activity : “My Father works until now” (John 5:17 ), and also when he says that the Father sent the Son into the world, then the Holy Spirit, that He loves the Son and the world, reveals the truth to people, gives good things to those who ask Him, forgives sins, etc. In general, that God the Father is a Person, and not an impersonal principle, is already clear from the fact that God, not only according to the teaching of revelation, but also according to the requirement of sound human thought, must be represented as nothing other than a person.
Therefore, even the heretics who rejected the person of the Son and the Holy Spirit did not reject the person of the Father.
The Son of God is also a Person distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit, and not the same Father, only hidden in the image of the Son, and also not His power or property. Holy Scripture depicts the personality of the Son when it also assimilates to the Son as Father:
a) knowledge : “As the Father knows Me, so I know the Father” (John 10:15 )
b) will : “Father! whom You have given me, I want them to be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory, which You have given Me, because You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24 );
c) activity : “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17), or again: “But so that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded Me, so I do” (John 14 : 31);
The Holy Spirit is also depicted in the sayings of the New Testament as a person, when it is attributed to Him, as the Father and the Son:
a) knowledge : “...who among men knows what is in a man, except the human spirit living in him? Likewise, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11 );
b) will : “For it pleased the Holy Spirit and us not to lay on you any more burdens than these necessary” (Acts 15:28 );
c) activity : “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for the benefit... all this is done by one and the same Spirit, distributing to each individually, as He pleases” (1 Cor. 12 :7,11).
In this last saying, the apostle, indicating various spiritual gifts, clearly distinguishes from them their dispenser - the Holy Spirit, and, moreover, in such a way that he shows in the Distributor understanding, free will, power - a personal property.
The doctrine of dogmas was developed by ancient scientists and the Fathers of the Church
The history of the word “dogma” comes from ancient literature, but at that time it was not used in the theological sense. Thus, Cicero used the word dogma to designate those well-known doctrines that had the meaning of undeniable truth.
In the same sense, such Christian writers as Origen and Saint Isidore called Socrates the legislator of Attic dogmas, and the teachings of Plato and the Stoics - dogmas. According to Xenophon, dogma is an order of command to which everyone, both commanders and ordinary soldiers, must unquestioningly obey
Xenophon. Bust. The word “dogma” is already found in ancient authors, who define it as an administrative order that should be obeyed without discussion.
The interpretation of the concept of “dogma” from ancient literature migrated to Christian literature. Thus, in the Greek translation of 70 interpreters in the books of the prophet Daniel, Esther, and the books of Maccabees, the word δόγμα is called a royal decree, subject to immediate execution.
In addition, this word also refers to the royal or state law, which is unconditionally binding on every subject.
The word “dogma” is found in the translation of 70 interpreters in the books of the prophet Daniel.
In the New Testament, namely in the Gospel of Luke, the word δόγμα is used to describe Caesar’s order to take a census of the population of the Roman Empire. In the Book of Acts of the Apostles - the royal laws in the epistle to the Collossians and Ephesians - the laws of Moses, which had divine authority.
If we talk about religious dogmas, then first in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, and then in the book of Acts (XV, 20-28) this word denotes those definitions of the church that should have indisputable authority for each of its members.
Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer of Antioch. Saint Ignatius, together with other Church Fathers, developed in detail the concept of Christian dogma
Such Fathers of the Church as Ignatius the God-Bearer, Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom, etc. developed the concept of dogma in more detail. According to their writings:
- Dogma is an indisputable divine truth that is given through Divine Revelation. That is why the dogmas of God’s faith are not recognized as a product of speculative human thinking and personal opinion.
- Dogma is the truth that relates to the theory and essence of religion. This differs from the rules of everyday life for a Christian.
- Dogma, as a truth of divine origin, defined and formulated by the Church, is called dogmas of the Church (τά τής έκκλησίας δόγματα), or church dogmas (τά έκκλεσιαστικά δόγματα).
- A dogma is a truth that a Christian must unconditionally acknowledge in order to consider himself a member of the Church.
Persons in the Holy Trinity
Calling to believe in the Holy Trinity, the Church teaches that “the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is also God.” This means that each of the Divine Hypostases possesses all divine perfections, but they possess these divine perfections inseparably, therefore they are “not three gods, but one God.” Thus, this teaching contains two provisions: the equality of the Divine Persons and the consubstantiality of all the Persons of the Holy Trinity.
Equality consists in the fact that each of the Persons of the Holy Trinity has the same divine dignity and the same divine perfections, which is why each of them is God.
Consistency is that, being equal and independent Divine Persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have a single divine nature, a single power, authority, and greatness. The difference between Them, as three Persons, is based not on the difference in divine means, which are inseparable for all of Them, but on the difference only in personal properties. The essence, which constitutes the Divine, is the same for all of them.
Dogmatist - a person who strictly follows Christian truths
Often believers and atheists ask: who is a dogmatist? The answer to this question can be found in any encyclopedic dictionary: a dogmatist is a person who always follows church dogmas (dogmas).
In a sense, all Orthodox Christians can be called dogmatists, since the Orthodox Church does not allow them to deviate or change. Catholics and especially Protestants interpret church dogma quite freely, which led over time to the fact that they separated from Orthodoxy, entering into a schism of the Christian Church.
Priest Afanasy Gumerov, resident of the Sretensky Monastery, answers:
Dogmas are divinely revealed truths about God and the Economy of our salvation, accepted by the Church as indisputable and binding. Their source is the Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. The Lord revealed the truths necessary for faith and salvation through the prophets and apostles gradually over many centuries. They are given in sacred biblical texts of legal, educational, historical and prophetic content. Therefore, with the birth of the Church, the need arose for their disclosure in theological categories and concepts, for systematization and explanation. This work was begun by the holy fathers and teachers of the Church (Origen, Saints Cyril of Jerusalem and Gregory of Nyssa, Blessed Theodoret, etc.). The work of St. John of Damascus, “An Accurate Exposition of the Orthodox Faith” (VIII century; Russian edition: St. Petersburg, 1894; reprint: M., 1998; Creations, M., 2002) was an outstanding event in the complete systematization of dogmatic teaching. This work continued for subsequent centuries.
Of the domestic authors, the fundamental work in the field of dogmatic theology belongs to Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow (Bulgakov; 1816 - 1882) “Orthodox Dogmatic Theology” (St. Petersburg, 4th ed., 1883; vol. 1 – 2; reprint: M., 1999 ). In recent years, several works have been published in this area: Mikhail Pomazansky, protopresbyter, Dogmatic Theology, M., 2001; archim. Alypiy (Kastalsky-Borozdin), archimandrite. Isaiah (Belov), Dogmatic Theology, Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 2002, etc.
In the Orthodox Church, work on the codification of ecclesiastical legal material has been carried out since the first centuries of Christian statehood. Collections were compiled that included not only canons, but also state laws on church affairs (epithomes - extracts or summaries). These collections were called Nomocanons (Greek nomos - law; kanon - canon, charter). The most famous and authoritative is “Nomokakon in XIV titles” by Patriarch Photius of Constantinople (IX century). It consists of two parts. The first part is a codified collection of canons. There are 24 titles, each divided into chapters. The principle of division is subject-thematic. The chapters contain references to canons and state laws. The second part of the Nomocanon is Syntagma (Greek syntagma - built together, connected). It contains the texts of the canons.
December 23, 2003
About the differences between angels and elves
Divine Liturgy. Angel with ripids (fragment).; Greece.; XVI century
There are different ways in which elves can be depicted - as wise and beautiful creatures, like Tolkien's elves; in the form of creatures that are stupid and ugly, like Rowling’s house elves; in the form of pointy-eared girls with bows, like in Japanese comics, or in some other way. Any person who ardently insists that true elves are like this and only like this, and that any attempts to portray them in any other way are a disastrous delusion, will seem simply crazy.
Most people agree that elves don't exist - what's the point of arguing about the shape of the ears of fictional creatures? Even if a person believes in elves in a certain sense - that is, he is warmed by the idea that somewhere in remote places or in other dimensions elves exist - any dogma in this belief will seem inappropriate to him.
Faith in elves is not at all a matter of life and death: even if a person himself treats it very reverently, he understands that other people get along just fine without it.
If they also have some dreams that warm their soul, then these may be completely different dreams. If you have fallen into the wrong views regarding elves, there is no danger for you; if you faithfully adhere to what is right, it promises you nothing. And does it even make sense to talk about right or wrong views on elves? Everyone is free to choose what they like best. Belief in elves is adogmatic.
When we talk not about elves, but, say, about high voltage current, our views become much more rigid; As you know, a safety instructor is the most boring of people. Regarding the current, you cannot believe what you like best. There are right and wrong views about current, and the wrong views can cost you your life.
Why can one afford an adogmatic approach to elves, but not to electricity? The fact is that electricity actually exists. It relates to the real world. With regard to fictional creatures, everyone is free to fantasize, but reality is what it is, regardless of what we think about it. As the school physics textbook says, “reality is something that exists independently of us and our thoughts about it.” Reality has a certain stubborn “intractability” - it does not depend in any way on our beliefs. This means that some ideas about reality are true, some are wrong. When we have to act in the real world, we are well aware that it is dangerous to be guided by incorrect ideas.
It's not worth trying to dissuade a person who thinks wrongly about elves, but we should certainly try to convince a person who thinks wrongly about high voltage current.
If people have different ideas about a place like Moscow, then some of these ideas are true, some are not. If a person is sure that polar bears walk along the snowy streets of Moscow in search of spreading cranberries, he is mistaken. In real-life Moscow, polar bears do not walk the streets, and cranberries, a creeping and spreading shrub, do not exist, and they do not grow on asphalt.
Is God Real? If the atheists are right and God is no more real than elves or Santa Claus, and faith is just a dream, a fantasy, a fairy tale that can bring a little comfort and perhaps moral instruction, then there really is no point in dogma. But if God is real—and, as the Church believes, more real than anything else, then some statements about Him are true and some are false. Some people hold deeply erroneous ideas about Him, others - less erroneous; the views of others, despite possible unprincipled errors, are generally true. By recognizing this, we do not fall into narrowness; we simply acknowledge that God actually exists. Faith as a dream is adogmatic; faith as a certain relationship with supernatural reality inevitably presupposes some knowledge and certain rules - dogmas.
Introduction
Religion has always been an integral part of the existence of Homo sapiens, it has always been with him since time immemorial, and has been present in all peoples living on our planet. Even in those rare periods of history when religion was officially “abolished” at the state level, it continued to exist in certain strata of society. Moreover, during these periods of history, the powers that be rejected this or that religious teaching still filled the lives of their numerous, sometimes multi-million-strong subordinates with some kind of quasi-religious attitudes. So any more or less significant religion can become a full-fledged object of sociological research.
These words alone would be enough to justify the need to study religions sociologically. However, to complete the picture, some social functions of religion should still be recalled:
• religion as a means of justifying, inspiring or condemning certain acts of the leaders of a particular state who have a great influence on public consciousness;
• religion as an organizing tool for huge masses of people;
• religion as a means of understanding human existence, his goals and place in the world around him;
• religion as a means of spiritual nourishment of the masses, including their spiritual reassurance;
• religion as a means of maintaining or destroying certain foundations of society, as a means of smoothing out or inciting social confrontations.
Well, the functions are very significant. But what should be understood by religion? Without in any way claiming the accuracy, completeness and categorical nature of his definition, the author still considers it necessary to present it. From a sociological point of view, religion, according to the author, is a system of ideas that organizes people about the world around us, about the place of man in it, about the right (righteous) and wrong (sinful) actions or desires of people, about the proper ways to achieve a better position for the individual (in current life or in the afterlife, for oneself personally, for a community or for all people), a system of ideas that affirms the need to believe in the existence of forces higher than earthly man, in their earthly manifestations, supplemented by the requirement to worship these forces and fulfill a number of typical ones for each specific religion ritual institutions.
The main distinguishing feature-criterion of religion from any other teaching is the recognition of the existence of powers above man that are fundamentally higher in nature. This criterion establishes a clear dividing line between religion and many other teachings, beliefs or purely worldly ideas (for example, about aliens). Another, no less important distinguishing feature of any religion from various beliefs, superstitions, etc. is the presence in it of a system of ideas, and not just a set of individual views and ideas covering individual spheres of human existence. In short, religion is an organized, organizing and all-encompassing faith.
So, the main features of religion are:
• belief in the existence of a higher world than the earthly one;
• the presence of a system of ideas about the universe as a whole and the place of man in it;
• the presence of a system of worship of this world, a system of rituals;
• establishing rules of behavior in the world, moral laws;
• organizing activities to maintain religious faith, including the creation of a church.
In the pages of this book we will not sharply criticize the tenets of any religious teaching, challenge generally accepted facts of religious history, or verify the reliability of certain religious signs or miracles. Let theologians deal with these questions and rack their brains over them. In sociological terms, what is important, first of all, is the following: the duration of existence of a particular denomination, which characterizes the degree of its rooting in the masses and testifies to its vitality, the number of people it embraces, the strength of their faith, the influence of this denomination on world history. Therefore, may many representatives of smaller-scale religious movements forgive the author, only the largest religions, which at one time covered significant parts of our planet with their influence, will be briefly considered here.
Now let us turn our attention to religious tasks of a social nature, which turn out to be the most important for today. One of these tasks is the formation of a set of norms of social behavior, going beyond which is associated for each individual with his social condemnation, lowering of social status, deprivation of support, etc. Fear of punishment for deviating from norms (from society or from the forces above ) and the belief in rewards for fulfilling these norms noticeably “place” a significant part of the planet’s population into the religious and moral mainstream of various faiths. Therefore, an important task of any religion is to form a channel that best suits both the current requirements of today and the most pressing needs of the future.
An equally important task is the formation of a set of ideas that would properly answer a person’s spiritual questions. The questions that form such ideas include the following: what is good and evil, which acts are considered righteous and which are sinful, what will be the reward for the corresponding acts in life or in the afterlife, etc.?
In this regard, it is useful to dwell a little on a number of modern “instruments” of religious influence. These are:
• implementation of religious ritual procedures involving a wide range of people who systematically and scrupulously fulfill all ritual norms, obediences, etc.;
• sermon-explanation-instruction, this “tool” is beginning to play an increasingly important role due to the need to directly influence the large masses of “conditional believers”, the number of which is increasing more and more;
• active propaganda of religious dogmas;
• spreading the practice of individual prayer; prayer is a very insightful “tool” of almost all religions; it is of great importance in the life of a believer, since it not only expresses his aspirations in a concise form, but also organizes him religiously; from a sociological point of view, prayer is, in essence, the concentrated influence of an individual on himself, costless to society.
A religion armed with such “tools” can confidently consider itself an art, including the art of sociological influence.
Another urgent task of religion is to curb or at least weaken aggressive tendencies of the most varied nature and level, from relationships between individuals to the struggle between states. However, it should be noted that in world history religion has often been used as a means of intensifying aggressive tendencies. This proves the high degree of social “polyphony” of religion.
An important task is also to consolidate in the minds of the population a sound idea - man is not the pinnacle of the universe. Without breaking a spear in the debate about the “proof” of this idea, we can still definitely say that many religions of world significance, one way or another, lead the mass consciousness to the need to take care of the environment, to the need to at least recognize the possibility of the existence of higher powers, to the recognition of the fundamental impossibility of human knowledge of absolutely Everything. These truths are needed for the present and future more than ever. The ideas of the desire for unlimited power and unlimited consumption, “taking from nature by force” everything that is not desired, the omnipotence of man can lead him to complete collapse.
Today the world has entered the era of globalization. Three roads have opened up for each religious denomination: either limit itself to the already achieved regional level, based on strong national foundations, and develop its identity, defending it in the fight against other religious denominations (Road 1), or clearly lay claim to global truth and then prepare to answers before the whole world at all levels, from theological to ritual (2nd road), or, using all available means, to establish almost by force the dogmas of one dominant religion as the primary truth, based on the power of a geopolitically dominant social formation (3rd road ).
In history, apparently, there will be attempts to implement all three roads. In any case, several world religions will appear on the world stage. At the same time, their complete peaceful merger with the formation of a full-fledged unity is unlikely to happen in the near future; this is a task for more than one century. And the expediency of such unity, amicable or forceful, is, generally speaking, not proven. Outright separatism (path 1) is also unlikely to be promising. There are middle paths left. Most likely, the following trends are most likely: the consolidation of the main religious faiths, the direct entry of each of them to the global level with the intensification of their struggle among themselves, the emergence of their followers in various corners of the Earth. At the same time, the originality of religious norms in the “mother” geographical zones of each religious denomination will most likely be preserved, with the simultaneous transformation of these norms in newly developed areas. Attempts to create “hybrid” religions that claim to be at the universal level will also continue. Literature corresponding to this trend has long appeared (see,
for example /1/).
Most likely, such activity will not result in the development of a qualitatively new religious teaching - each of the confessions is unlikely to want to give up its basic tenets. Most likely, a certain code of global moral and religious norms will be created, arising from various religious teachings, more or less coherent with each other (for example, the “thou shalt not kill” attitude). This direction is the most expected.
The problem of universal solidarity of religious confessions arises.
One more important problem cannot be forgotten - the problem of limiting needs, which can become unrealistically and even threateningly large.
You don't have to look far for confirmation. Almost each of us cannot help but notice that there are many people in the world who live much, much better than you and me. It would be okay if these people were, for example, great scientists, brilliant composers, high masters of their craft, etc. But the fact of the matter is that many who bathe in the blessings of civilization do not stand out for anything so brilliant and particularly productive . This cannot but push any active person to achieve greater and greater material benefits, without at all being guided by the idea of limiting needs.
How does society limit human needs? Known as:
A) Construction of a system of social hierarchy, leading to social subordination and hierarchical restriction; For most people, it becomes impossible to occupy a high position in this hierarchy, ensuring an equally high level of consumption.
B) Direct force for those who disobey social laws and is too socially dangerous.
B) Economic leverage.
To implement these methods, society maintains numerous apparatuses of servants, including officials, lawyers, police, special security, etc. The costs of society for maintaining the order of social inequality, generally speaking, are very significant. Self-restraint or semi-self-restraint, dictated by moral and religious principles, is a completely different matter. This is a significantly more “cost-free” method.
In this regard, moral and religious influence aimed at limiting individual human needs can today be considered the most important task of modern society, without the resolution of which it will be almost impossible to build a conflict-free global system.
Many world religions, in one way or another, directed their activities to curb human needs. A clear example here is the solution to the so-called sexual issue or the issue of sexual activity. Modern man in this regard is a unique creature. Natural cycles, which play a colossal role in regulating the life of the animal world, have a relatively weak effect on humans today; in humans, sexuality has long ceased to be seasonal. The animal world strictly obeys seasonal cycles, that is, the periods of the generation of offspring, their gestation, birth and upbringing are quite strictly carried out at a certain time. The person here is a complete “mess”. Therefore, religion has long been involved in restrictions in this area. The bonds of marriage, sanctified by almost all religions of the world, the fight against polygamy in a number of religious denominations, with various kinds of perversions - everything is in one way or another covered by religious influence. Interventions of religion in matters of marriage, reproduction and education of younger generations have been proven by history.
