1. Religion
1. Christianity
3. Buddhism
Religious situation in the modern world
Trends in the development of religion
Conclusion
References
1.Religion
First, let's understand for ourselves what it is religion.
Here are some of the popular definitions:
One of the forms of social consciousness, a set of spiritual ideas based on faith in supernatural powers and beings (gods, spirits) who are the subject of worship.
Faith, spiritual belief, confession, worship, or basic spiritual beliefs.
A set of ways for a person to achieve unity with the highest ideal being, which can be understood differently. For example, as a certain force (spirits of nature, higher intelligence), a universal law (dharma, Tao) or a divine personality (God, Elohim, Allah, Krishna).
A special form of awareness of the world, conditioned by belief in the supernatural, which includes a set of moral norms and types of behavior, rituals, religious activities and the unification of people in organizations (church, religious community).
Thus, we come to one general and sufficient brief definition: Religion is people’s belief in supernatural forces and beings, a set of norms of behavior, cults, rituals and spiritual beliefs.
In the modern world there are several tens of thousands of religions and various religious cults. Not one source can give the exact figure, because... some beliefs and cults are not recorded in writing, but are passed on orally from generation to generation, some religions and cults cease to exist or merge into one belief, many religions have several different varieties and movements.
However, from the total mass of a huge heterogeneous diversity, three World Religions(not to be confused with the religions of the world, of which there are thousands of types and movements), how do they differ and stand out from the diversity of religions of the world?
World religion- a religion that has spread among the peoples of various countries and continents. Currently this term refers to:
Christianity
Unlike national and nation-state religions, in which the religious connection between people coincides with ethnic and political ties (for example, Hinduism, Confucianism, Shintoism, Judaism), world or supranational religions unite people of a common faith regardless of their ethnic, linguistic or political connections.
In addition, when considering religion as a world religion, its influence on the course of history and the scale of its spread are taken into account.
It is these three religions that have gathered the majority of the planet’s believing population under their banners, and it is their role, influence and development trends that are considered as a standard. For better perception and understanding, we will conduct a brief overview and make a brief description of the three world religions.
1.1 Christianity
World monotheistic Abrahamic religion (monotheistic religions originating from an ancient tradition dating back to the patriarch of the Semitic tribes Abraham; all Abrahamic religions, to one degree or another, recognize the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament).
Christianity is the world's largest religion, both in terms of the number of adherents, of which there are about 2.1 billion, and in terms of geographical distribution - almost every country in the world has at least one Christian community.
It arose in the first century AD in Palestine among the Jews. Based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as described in the New Testament. Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God and the Savior of mankind.
Initially, Christianity spread among the Jews of Palestine and the Mediterranean diaspora, but already from the first decades, especially thanks to the work of the Apostle Paul, it acquired many followers among other peoples (“pagans”).
Christianity accepts the Old Testament tradition, dating back to Abraham, of the veneration of one God (monotheism), the creator of the Universe and man. At the same time, the main directions of Christianity introduce into monotheism the idea of the Trinity: three hypostases (God the Father, God the Son, the Holy Spirit), united in their divine nature.
Today in Christianity there are the following main directions:
Catholicism
Orthodoxy
Protestantism.
Catholicism- the largest branch of Christianity in terms of number of adherents (about 1 billion 147 million people as of the end of 2007), formed in the 1st millennium AD. e. on the territory of the Western Roman Empire. In historiography, the Schism with the Eastern Christian Church, to which the name Orthodox was assigned, dates back to 1054. However, breaks in the Eucharistic communion between the Sees of Constantinople and Rome occurred repeatedly starting from the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e., but they were all overcome.
The Catholic Church has a centralized government - the Vatican, where the Pope or Roman Pontiff, which means “High Priest,” has full power to govern all Catholic churches. The Roman Church for a long time subjugated the temporal power of the kings of Western Europe, based on the charter “Donation of Constantine,” which was allegedly presented by Emperor Constantine to Pope Sylvester I and proclaimed papal power above the temporal power of kings. In the 15th century, the philosopher Lorenzo Valla proved its falsity, and since then secular power gradually began to free itself from papal influence.
Catholic teaching is based on Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. The canonical translation of the Bible into Latin is called the Vulgate. Only members of the clergy have the right to interpret the Bible.
Sacred Tradition is the decrees of the twenty-one Councils and the reflections of the popes on various religious and secular issues. The difference between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church is its understanding of the creed. The stumbling block was the so-called felioque, which translated from Latin means “and from the Son.” In 589 at the Council of spanish city Toledo, the felioque was added to the official creed of the Council of Nicaea (325). Now the Catholic creed about the procession of the Holy Spirit was that the Holy Spirit proceeds from God the Father and from God the Son.
Catholicism is the main religion in many European countries (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Ireland, Malta, etc.). In only 21 European countries, Catholics make up the majority of the population, in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland - half.
In the Western Hemisphere, Catholicism is widespread throughout South and Central America, Mexico, Cuba, Canada and the United States.
In Asia, Catholics predominate in the Philippines and East Timor, with large numbers of Catholics in Vietnam, South Korea and China.
In the Middle East there are many Catholics in Lebanon (Maronites, etc.)
According to various estimates, from 110 to 175 million Catholics live in Africa.
Before 1917, according to official data, more than 10 million Catholics lived in the Russian Empire (mostly in the Kingdom of Poland). According to the 1897 census, the total number of Roman Catholics was 11 million 468 thousand people. In modern Russia (2005) there are 426 parishes, a quarter of them do not have church buildings. Estimates of the total number of Catholics in Russia vary from 200 thousand to one and a half million people. The catholic-hierarchy directory gives a figure of 789 thousand.
Orthodoxy- a direction in Christianity that took shape in the east of the Roman Empire during the first millennium AD. e. under the leadership and with the main role of the department of the Bishop of Constantinople - New Rome. Orthodoxy professes the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and recognizes the decrees of the seven Ecumenical Councils.
Orthodoxy does not have a single center to which all churches submit. In Orthodoxy there are autocephalous (independent) and autonomous churches that have concluded an agreement on independence with one of the autocephalous churches. The main and largest Orthodox autocephalies are Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Russian, Georgian, Hellenic, Cypriot, Bulgarian, Serbian, Czechoslavak, Polish, Romanian, etc.
These churches are headed by patriarchs. The Patriarch of Constantinople is recognized as ecumenical, but this only means that he is first among equals, that is, he does not have powers that give him the right to interfere in the affairs of other churches.
The Orthodox Church, which initially developed within the framework of the Byzantine Empire, immediately took a subordinate position in relation to the strong imperial power. The emperor was in fact the head of church and state.
As you know, Orthodoxy came to Rus' in the 10th century. Kievan Rus makes Orthodoxy the official state religion in 988. The Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir I decides to accept Christianity in its Orthodox interpretation after much deliberation. The adoption of a monotheistic religion contributed to the strengthening of centralized grand-ducal power and united scattered tribal associations on a spiritual level. Also, the grand ducal power was attracted by such points as the subordination of the church to secular power and the right to conduct worship in the national language. The adoption of Byzantine Orthodoxy contributed to the strengthening of trade ties Kievan Rus and the Byzantine Empire.
Orthodoxy is historically traditionally widespread in the Balkans - among the Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Romanians and part of the Albanians; in Eastern Europe - among the East Slavic peoples, as well as Georgians, Gagauz, Abkhaz, Ossetians, Moldavians and, along with the Russians, among a number of other peoples of the Russian Federation: Chuvash, Mari, Udmurts, Komi, Karelians, Mordvins and some others.
In the modern world, countries with a majority of Orthodox populations include: Belarus, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Cyprus, Macedonia, Moldova, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Montenegro. Orthodoxy is also noticeably present in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Kazakhstan, and the Aleutian Islands of the US state of Alaska. In addition, Orthodoxy is practiced by part of the population of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Albania, the Czech Republic, Poland and Japan.
Since the end of the 20th century, sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Southeast Asia and South Korea, have become one of the zones of relatively rapid spread of Orthodoxy.
Estimates of the early 21st century usually put figures in the range of 225-300 million people, making Orthodoxy the second largest Christian denomination after Catholicism.
Protestantism- one of the three, along with Catholicism and Orthodoxy, main directions of Christianity, which is a set of independent Churches, church unions and denominations associated by their origin with the Reformation - a broad anti-Catholic movement of the 16th century in Europe.
The doctrine of Protestantism arose during the Age of Reformation, which actually got its name because of the attempt to reform the Catholic Church. Those dissatisfied with the policies of the Catholic Church openly protested and therefore received the name Protestants.
Most Protestants advocated the moral and religious purification of the Catholic Church and called for a return to evangelical ideals.
The beginning of the Protestant movement is associated with such names as John Wycliffe (1320-1384) in England, Jan Hus (1369-1415) in the Czech Republic, Martin Luther in Germany, etc.
Protestantism shares common Christian ideas about the existence of God, His trinity, the immortality of the soul, heaven and hell (while rejecting the Catholic doctrine of purgatory). Protestants believe that a person can receive forgiveness of sins by faith in Jesus Christ (by faith in His death for the sins of all people and in His resurrection from the dead).
Currently, Protestantism is the predominant religion in the Scandinavian countries, the USA, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. In Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, and Switzerland, Protestantism is one of the two predominant religions (along with Catholicism).
Protestantism is one of the few religions spreading throughout the world today. To date, 15-20% of the population of Brazil, 15-20% of the population of Chile, about 20% of the population of South Korea have adopted Protestantism.
1.2 Islam
Monotheistic world religion. The word “Islam” is translated as “submission”, “submission” (to the laws of Allah).
In Sharia terminology, Islam is complete, absolute monotheism, submission to Allah, his orders and prohibitions, and exclusion from polytheism. Followers of Islam are called Muslims.
From the point of view of Islam, peoples moved away from the original path that was shown to them by Allah, and the sacred texts of ancient books were gradually distorted. Each time, from the point of view of Muslim believers, in order to return to the true faith (meaning Islam), Allah sent his prophet-messengers to different nations, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus. The last prophet-messenger among the prophets, from the point of view of all Muslims, is Muhammad, who brought faith to humanity in its original form from the perspective of Muslim believers.
The main holy book of Islam is the Koran. The language of worship is classical Arabic. Islam was finally formulated in the sermons of the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century.
Islam is a relatively young religion. At the time of its inception, from the point of view of a number of European and American scientists, it was a syncretic religion that absorbed elements of pre-Islamic ancient beliefs and cults of the Arabs, Hanifism, Judaism, Christianity and Mazdaism.
In the year 610 of Ramadan, when the Prophet Muhammad was 40 years old, he retired to the cave of Hira. One night the angel Jibril appeared to him and told the Prophet Muhammad: “Read!”, but Muhammad answered him that he could not read. Then the angel grabbed his chest to the limit and ordered him to read again. Muhammad again replied that he could not read. Then the angel again squeezed him to the limit and once again ordered him to read. Muhammad again replied that he could not read. Then the angel squeezed it a third time and recited the first five verses of the Koran. This year (610) can be considered the year of the emergence of Islam.
For 3 years after the start of his messenger mission, the Prophet Muhammad preached secretly among his friends and relatives. During this period, about 40 people accepted Islam, among whom were his wife Khadija, Ali ibn Abu Talib, Abu Bakr and others. In 613, Muhammad appeared publicly in Mecca as a prophet. The ruling circles of Mecca were hostile to Muhammad, his position in Mecca became precarious, and in 622 he was forced to migrate (hijra) to Medina. The Aus and Khazraj tribes that inhabited Medina converted to Islam and became the main group of followers of Muhammad. By the end of Muhammad's life, an Islamic theocratic state had formed that occupied the entire Arabian Peninsula - the Arab Caliphate.
Soon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (632), a group of Shiites arose in Islam who recognized his son-in-law Ali ibn Abu Talib as the legitimate successor of Muhammad and rejected the Umayyad dynasty. Their opponents began to be called Sunnis.
Allah is God, Creator, Creator and Organizer of all things. Apart from him, according to Muslim views, no one possesses these qualities. According to the Qur'an, Allah is eternal, neither begotten nor begot. The existence of Allah is necessary for the universe, and his absence is impossible. He, as described in the Koran, has no equal, and this expresses his uniqueness.
According to the Koran, the essence of Allah is incomprehensible to the human mind. Valeria Porokhova, in her comments to the canonical Koran, characterizes Allah as “the starting element of all things, the primary source of all life and in His unconditional perfection does not have an essence...”. Allah gave everything that exists from nothing and endowed it with measure. I endowed everything with an algorithmic component, organized all processes and events. He can control everything and change at any time everything that he has created. Allah is the creator of all forms of life.
Koran (Qur an) is the holy book of Islam. According to the teachings of most Sunnis and Twelver Shiites, the Qur'an is the direct, eternal and uncreated word of God. The Koran was sent down by God to the Seventh Heaven, and then the angel Gabriel transmitted it in parts to the Prophet Muhammad through Revelation during the 23 years of his prophetic activity. The Koran is Amanat for all Muslims.
Muhammad (c. 570 - June 8, 632) is the prophet of Islam, directed by God to all humanity. Muslims believe that through Muhammad God sent down to the peoples of the world a new religion - Islam - in its completed form, as well as the Koran - the last Divine Revelation. According to the tenets of Islam, Muhammad is the last messenger of God, after him there will be no messengers until the Day of Judgment. Muhammad came from the Meccan Quraish tribe. His ancestry went back to the prophet Abraham and his son Ismail.
A mosque (masjid) is a building for collective prayer and other types of worship in Islam. Muslims visit the mosque to perform the obligatory five daily prayers as well as Friday prayers. Also, the mosque can serve as a meeting place for people to make common decisions and as a training center. Usually mosques are specially built buildings, often with domes and minarets. With unity of functional elements, the layout and decoration of the mosque reflect national traditions.
Islam, according to its adherents, aims to create a virtuous individual, a healthy family and a harmonious society. Islam is the second largest religion; according to various sources, it is professed by 1.2 to 1.5 billion people. Only 18% of Muslims live in Arab countries. Almost half of all Muslims live in North Africa, about 20% in Pakistan and Bangladesh, more than 10% in India, and Indonesia holds the first place among countries in terms of the number of Muslims.
1.3 Buddhism
Religious and philosophical teaching (dharma) about spiritual awakening (bodhi), which arose around the 6th century BC. e. V Ancient India. The founder of the teaching is considered to be Siddhartha Gautama, who later received the name Shakyamuni Buddha.
The followers of this Teaching themselves called it “Dharma” (Law, Teaching) or “Buddhadharma” (Teaching of the Buddha). The term "Buddhism" was created by Europeans in the 19th century.
It is believed to be one of the world's oldest religions, recognized by the most different peoples with absolutely different traditions. “Without understanding Buddhism, it is impossible to understand the great cultures of the East - Indian, Chinese, not to mention the cultures of Tibet and Mongolia, permeated with the spirit of Buddhism to their last foundations.”
Buddhism originated in the northeastern part of India, where the ancient states of Magadha, Koshala and Lichchhavi were located, in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e.. The paucity of scientific data about Indian society of that time does not allow us to give clear answers to many questions, but we can assume enough obvious reasons emergence and strengthening of Buddhism in ancient Indian society:
Mid-1st millennium BC. e. was a time of acute crisis in India for the ancient Vedic religion, which caused the emergence of new unorthodox alternative teachings. They were created by wandering philosophers, ascetics, and sramanas. One of them was Siddhartha Gautama, the historical founder of Buddhism.
At the same time, intensive processes of strengthening state power took place, which required increasing the authority of kings and warriors (varna kshatriyas) as opposed to the brahmanas (the presence of such a conflict between secular power and the priesthood is indirectly indicated by the works of late Vedic and Puranic literature). Since Buddhism was a teaching in opposition to Brahmanism, it was chosen to strengthen the power of the kshatriyas. That Buddhism in India was a “royal religion” is demonstrated by this example. In the VII-XIII centuries. the kings of some Indian states stopped supporting Buddhism and it began to disappear there. But in countries whose rulers continued to patronize Buddhism (the Pala dynasty), its flourishing continued.
After several years of observing his consciousness, Buddha Shakyamuni came to the conclusion that the cause of people’s suffering is their own actions and that one can stop suffering and achieve nirvana through the practice of self-restraint and meditation. Buddha argued that his Teaching was not a divine revelation, but was received by him through meditative contemplation of his own spirit and all things. The teaching is not a dogma, and the results depend on the person himself.
Over two and a half thousand years in the process of spreading, Buddhism has absorbed many different beliefs and ritual practices. Some followers of Buddhism emphasize self-knowledge through meditation, others - on good deeds, and others - on the worship of Buddha. Differences in ideas and rules in different schools of Buddhism force "to recognize" Buddhism any teaching considered Buddhist by the tradition itself.” But they are all based on the following doctrines:
Four Noble Truths
the doctrine of causal origin and karma,
doctrine of anatmavada (principle of immateriality, “no-soul”)
the doctrine of kshanikavada (the doctrine of instantaneity),
Buddhist cosmology.
All Buddhists believe that these principles were proclaimed by the Buddha himself, but their interpretations can vary greatly.
Unlike monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), in Buddhism there is neither an omnipotent God nor an eternal soul. These same provisions and the denial of the caste system distinguishes Buddhism from Hinduism and Brahmanism, although it recognizes the doctrine of karma.
Estimates of the number of Buddhist followers worldwide vary greatly depending on the method of counting, but the most minimal figures range from 350-500 million people. The majority of Buddhists live in the countries of South, South-East and East Asia: Bhutan, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, China (as well as the Chinese population of Singapore and Malaysia), Korea, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Japan. In Russia, Buddhism is traditionally practiced by the inhabitants of Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tuva, and in last years Buddhist communities arose in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large cities of Russia.
2.Religious situation in the modern world
The position of religion in modern society is quite contradictory, and it is simply impossible to assess its role, possibilities and prospects with any certainty. It can definitely be said that a characteristic and natural process for modern times is the development of secularization (in sociology, the process of reducing the role of religion in the minds of people and the life of society; the transition from a society regulated primarily by religious tradition to a secular model social order based on rational (non-religious) norms, state policy aimed at reducing the influence and role of religion (for example, the secularization of education ) social consciousness, as a result of which religion loses its former influence on the life of society and the individual. However, secularization determines only a general trend, which does not exclude the possibility of strengthening the position of religion, under the influence of factors favorable to it. All the experience of the 20th century. showed the inconsistency of one-sided forecasts regarding the future fate of religion: either its inevitable and imminent extinction, or the coming revival of its former power. Today, it is obvious that religion plays a prominent role in the life of society and that it is undergoing profound and irreversible changes.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, at the beginning of the third millennium, the number of Christian believers was 2 billion people, of which 968 million were Catholics, 466 million Protestants, 218 million Orthodox, 275 million other Christian denominations; professing Islam - 1 billion people, Hinduism - 780 million, Buddhism - 324 million. These are not all of the traditional religions, but in addition to them religious market offers today hundreds of cults and religions.
If we judge the state of religiosity today by the number of people who believe in God, the picture turns out to be impressive. However, the number of believers, although important, is not the only and, perhaps, not the main indicator of the actual level of religiosity. Surveys conducted in the 80s of the last century in the USA showed that only 6% deny the existence of God, and more than 80% believe in God, how do they understand it . But it turned out that most of them imagine God not as the church teaches - not as a person who can answer prayers addressed to her, but as a kind of goodness, humanity, reason, the Universe, etc. Those those who believe in such an abstract principle can deny everything supernatural and, in essence, be not religious people at all. American sociologists provide data according to which, under the influence of science and education, the share of believers in God as a person has fallen over the past 300 years, from 1700 to 1980, by about one third.
Religions entered our century with the burden of traditions of resistance to new knowledge and movements for the renewal of society. The dominant churches enjoyed state support and official recognition, strongly opposing democratic movements. As a result, there was a widespread belief among large sections of the population in many countries that religion did not help the oppressed and exploited in the struggle for better conditions of existence, but often hindered their efforts.
Against this background, the influence of Marxism strengthened; his criticism of religion as a reactionary social force resonated with certain social strata. Religion, as it existed at the beginning of the century, was rightly criticized for being concerned with otherworldly problems, while man suffers here and now. This criticism was also directed at Catholichierarchy of European and Latin American countries, and into Russian Orthodoxchurch that served the autocracy, and on Protestantchurches that defended the interests of the upper and middle classes in England, North America, Belgium, Germany, and Muslimulema, concerned primarily with the interests of large landowners.
The First World War, which claimed 10 million lives, undermined faith in the all-good God, the rationality and justice of the social orders established by him. It significantly undermined confidence in the church authorities who justify their governments , their participation in the war. Churches, and above all Roman Catholic, discredited themselves by supporting odious and anti-people regimes in various countries.
After the First World War, religion suffered very significant losses. In Soviet Russia, the Bolsheviks launched an active anti-religiouspropaganda, debunking the church and clergy as the support of the hated order overthrown by the revolution. The progressive transformations that took place in many countries took place under anti-religious slogans. Thus, in Turkey, Sharia, Muslim law, was replaced by Western legal codes and customs. China's anti-religious movements have had a significant impact on the social life of other Asian and Latin American countries.
However, already in the 20-30s of the last century, and especially after the end of World War II, factors came into play that contributed to the strengthening of the position of religion and the growth of its influence. The crisis of European civilization that followed the First World War undermined faith in science and progress, in the effectiveness of secular humanistic values. The inhumanity of totalitarian regimes is becoming increasingly obvious. Christianhumanism was integral part, the spiritual support of part of the anti-fascist resistance.
In the 20th century behind revival of religion Part of the intelligentsia speaks, including some prominent writers and figures of European culture. G. Chesterton, Graham Greene, and A. Maurois called for the revival of medieval values and Christian ideals.
In Russia, at the beginning of the last century, religious philosophy (N. Berdyaev, S. Bulgakov, S. Frank, etc.), God-seeking sentiments are reflected in poetry, literature, and painting. The radical atheism and hostility towards religion characteristic of the intelligentsia at the beginning of the last century are beginning to give way in scientific circles to, if not the acceptance of religion, then at least an interested and tolerant attitude towards it.
Religion managed to strengthen its position in the post-war world by joining the movement for national revival and liberation in different regions. Christian Democratic parties played an important role in the post-war structure of Europe. Christianchurches began to become more and more actively involved in resolving the most pressing problems of our time - economic, political, social, spiritual.
Played an active role in national movements Islam, Buddhism. For example, a religiously motivated orientation towards the reconstruction of society, which has become especially widespread in Latin America liberation theology , which comes from the fact that it is impossible to be Christianwithout engaging in the fight against social evil and injustice, against neo-colonialism and imperialism. Or islamic revolution1978 in Iran, whose leader Ayatollah Khomeini was guided by the ideas of Islamic revival.
A characteristic feature of the ideological life of Western society in the 20th century. - the ongoing struggle between Christianityand Marxism, which played a particularly important role in cold war , the confrontation between two systems in the post-war world. Although the political positions of religious organizations and various churches were ambiguous, the Christian faith was perceived as an alternative atheistic communism.
Theological modernism- a direction in religion that sets the task of updating religion, adapting it to modern realities, in particular, is looking for opportunities demythologize Christianity, to overcome the opposition of God as an otherworldly, supernatural entity to this world. Position moderate update becomes dominant in the second half of the twentieth century. not only in Christianity, but also in Islam, and in Buddhism.
The old idea of God as a miracle worker and deliverer whom we call upon to help only when we are not satisfied with the answers of science or when we cannot cope with our own problems, the idea of God as a being who lives somewhere outside the world, above the stars , has outlived its usefulness, admits the Catholic theologian G. Küng. God must be sought not outside the world, but in the world itself. Theological modernism brings God closer to the world, sometimes so much that they merge, it happens secularization of faith.
Along with the growth of social activity, dialogue between religions is also sign of the times . IN post-war years The ecumenical movement became widespread, uniting most of the Protestant and Orthodox churches. In 1948 it was created World Council of Churches (WCC), who organized the ecumenical movement. In the 60s, the Russian Orthodox Church also joined it. The ecumenical movement strives to overcome differences in the interpretation of the doctrine of equal branches of Christianity, although it does not set the task of creating one church. Within the framework of the WCC, programs are actively being developed to combat hunger, poverty, injustice, racism, protection environment etc. Roman Catholic Churchalso proclaims ecumenical goals, but is not a member of the WCC.
Be that as it may, today it has become obvious that the old enmity between Christianconfessions causes serious damage to the interests of faith and must be overcome. The need for dialogue between the world's major religions, which has been increasingly developing in recent years, is becoming obvious. If the churches themselves do not yet see a real prospect of establishing a universal unified organization, then many secular thinkers are increasingly beginning to speak out in favor of creating some kind of Organization of United Religions, which would help states and international organizations with their moral authority in the pursuit of the common good. A number of thinkers speak out in favor of the point of view that the future belongs to a pan-human, universal, united religion for all mankind.
3. Trends in the development of religion
Each of the major sociological theories of religion presented, as the results of its analysis, a forecast about the future fate of religion, one way or another, defining its attitude towards the issue at the center of the discussion. evolutionary model humanity moving from the sacred to the secular .
Isn't religion losing its former significance, its influence on society? If this is the case, could the end result of this process be completely irreligioussociety? This question arises primarily in connection with the development of two spheres of social life that have the strongest impact on religion - SciencesAnd politicians.
The first sociological forecast regarding the future of religion was given by O. Comtebased on his famous law of three stages : Religion will eventually be supplanted and replaced by science. This idea formulated by O. Comte has become very widespread outside scientific circles. Many took it for granted, without requiring special proof, that religion and natural science are incompatible, and that the victory of science over religion is inevitable.
O. Comte called his point of view - positivism. True, O. Comte himself, as a sociologist, was clearly aware of the social function of religion. He understood that society needs an ideal that goes beyond what has already been achieved and exists, capable of inspiring, encouraging altruism, self-sacrifice and generosity. That is why O. Comte proposed a new, rational religion for the positive, scientific stage of history: the object of religious veneration should be the future, the state towards which the human race is moving and for the sake of which it exists.
On this occasion, E. Durkheim subsequently noted that O. Comte forgot an important circumstance - religions never arose as a result of the conscious efforts of man: they, as it were, happened , arose by themselves, as a product of people’s social life. Religion is the least like a rational construct.
This positivist mentality and pessimistic view of the future of religion is supported by the fact that at present science really has a decisive influence on all of our lives. First of all, as a result of modern technology created on the basis of science, which has changed the very way of life of people, but also the way of thinking, the former willingness to accept on faith as truth what cannot be proven or visually confirmed. Modern man, who has mastered scientific methods of cognition, according to one of the most influential theologians of this century, D. Bonhoeffer, no longer sees the need to turn to God to explain the world.
There are estimates showing that, under the influence of science and the growth of education, the proportion of people who believe in God in his traditional form is God the Father , God as a person etc. has decreased by one third over the past three centuries. As sociological studies show, many believers today believe in God as a kind of embodiment of goodness, a rational principle, etc., i.e. as a kind of abstract principle, not necessarily supernatural, often impersonal.
But, generally speaking, this kind of data only records the decline of traditional religion. They may indicate that the sources that previously fed it are drying up. But they by no means exclude the possibility that new ones may appear and that the religious need itself may remain urgently necessary, capable of nourishing religious creativity in some updated forms. In any case, the 20th century - age of science - did not confirm O. Comte’s forecast: religion continues to exist, it has not been supplanted by science.
In the political sphere, the development of a modern state, a secular state separated from the church, has pushed aside religion and contributed to the fact that it has largely lost its former influence.
Another sociological theory that predicted the disappearance of religion was the theory of K. Marx. In religion, K. Marx saw, first of all, a manifestation of the phenomenon of alienation, and therefore believed that to the extent that economic oppression and its accompanying forms would be overcome perverted world , religion will give way to an adequate, realistic understanding public life. For K. Marx, religion is one of the forms false consciousness , covering up the cruel truth, violence and exploitation of man by man with illusions. Religion, reduced to its single model, in which it directs a person’s energy to gain kingdom of heaven and in this regard opposes socialism as building a decent life already here, on the ground , - religion as a result of the transition from class to classless society, the leap from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom must die off . With the establishment of humane, truly human principles in the life of society, there is a steady decline, like shagreen leather , the space in which religion exists. There is a relationship of inverse proportionality between social progress and religion: to the extent that a truly progressive transformation of society occurs, religion is eliminated by the social dynamics itself.
Indeed, in a number of respects sociological research fix the loss of religion in this century of its former influence. Not only in those countries where the secular nature of the state and education is constitutionally enshrined, but even where there has historically been a close connection between religion and the form of government. The influence of religion undermines those values consumer society that guide people towards worldly benefits. People often do things that the church forbids(for example, laws in the vast majority of developed countries Abortions are allowed, but the Catholic Church prohibits them). Many religious holidays turned out to be secularized And commercialized (primarily Christmas and Easter, if we mean Western countries). Often, in general, what was a religious property, for example, ethical principles, are removed from the religious context and become an integral part of the general culture, i.e. there is a transfer of religious content to the worldly sphere.
In general, K. Marx’s forecast cannot yet be verified, since human alienation has not been overcome. Nevertheless, in the twentieth century, especially in its first half, progressive reforms in many countries took place under anti-religious slogans (Russia, Turkey, China, etc.). After the First World War, religion suffered very tangible, but still temporary, losses. Already in the second half of the 20th century. religion managed to strengthen its position by joining the movement for national liberation and revival in many regions (India, the Arab world, Israel, etc.). Religious organizations have become increasingly involved in activities aimed at resolving the most pressing problems of our time (ecology, apartheid, anti-war movement, etc.).
Theoretical insolvencysociological theories that clearly viewed religion as an obstacle to social progress were shown by M. Weber. If we see in religion the force that helps a person, each time in changing conditions, redefine the meaning of his life, then we should recognize that it contains the potential for social changes, including the most radical ones.
M. Weber, following O. Comte and K. Marx, also predicted the decline of religion, the death sacred . However, M. Weber substantiated this forecast in a different way, and the assessment of its consequences was exactly the opposite. M. Weber saw a threat in the dominance of technology and bureaucracy in the modern world, the result of which is the limitation of human experience, the narrowing of its horizon. The consciousness of a person living in such a society is closed by pragmatic interests of utility and material comfort. An organized, everything-integrating, fully planned society is likened to an iron cage. Technocracyextinguishes the greatest human impulses and passions, the poetic power of imagination, love of beauty, heroic feelings and religious ecstasy. M. Weber calls development in this direction the disillusionment of the world, its disenchantment. If O. Comte considered the decline of religion as a result of the liberating and enlightening action of modern natural sciences, then according to M. Weber, the scientific picture of the world leads to the triumph of banal calculation.
All the forecasts we examined that predicted the decline and overcoming of religion, although justified from different positions, did not find final confirmation: religion continues to exist and exists as part of the cultural baggage of humanity in the third millennium.
E. Durkheim gives a different forecast for the future of religion. His approach allows us to consider religion as a specifically human phenomenon that persists in one form or another. Like M. Weber, E. Durkheim realized that for his contemporaries, formed under the influence of social institutions and experimental science of modern times, traditional religions were of little interest.
He formulated the idea that traditional religions no longer correspond to the social experience of modern man in 1912 as follows: The old gods are dying or have already died, and new ones have not yet been born . Does this mean that religion will cease to exist? E. Durkheim does not claim this. His understanding of religion allows him to assume that there is something in religion eternal, something underlying all the transitory symbols in which religious consciousness is expressed in different historical eras. E. Durkheim sees in religion an inherent human way of perceiving society.
Although E. Durkheim does not deny the ideological factor in religion as one of its components, he does not reduce religion to it. He considers it incorrect to view religion as a false consciousness that makes mistakes in solving the mysteries of existence and therefore opposes science and is destroyed by it. He also does not accept the psychological explanation of religion as a projection of the unconscious that meets various mental needs.
How far can religion go along the path of seeking agreement with the world, along the path of compromise? The analysis of religion in this aspect takes as a basis its connection with a social group, i.e. one or another inherent attitude towards this group as a bearer of religion to the world . This issue is considered by the sociology of religion, within the framework of the dichotomy proposed by Troeltsch and M. Weber church - sect.
As we have already seen, a religious group, a sect, arising on the basis of specifically extra-mundane motivations, in the course of its development undergoes an ever greater evolution in relation to to the world - from rejection of the world to reconciliation with it. Sectdevelops into churchwalking along the path secularization, entering into a compromise with the world. To what extent is this evolution possible? Where is the border, crossing which religion turns into a secular philosophical or ethical teaching?
In general, one way or another, all questions concerning the future of religion boil down to the fact that society is becoming more complex, people’s lives are changing in some significant ways, and they are striving for new spiritual values, including an understanding of the meaning of religion. Religious consciousness manifests itself in new, often unexpected and unusual forms. Important is the growing conviction among social scientists that it is impossible to make a radical division between the sacred and the secular if we are to understand today's gods.
Conclusion
religion faith spiritual cult
In the future, it seems most likely that religion will integrate into the secular aspects of life, that religion will play the role of a kind of arbitrator, given the conflict situations between states that often arise in the modern world, it is unlikely that religion will become a serious political force, although various negative uses of religion are possible by various political organizations in personal purposes, this fact already suggests that the role of religion is not only not falling, but is becoming quite stronger, because a person needs moral support in difficult times, which religion provides and will provide in the future. Therefore, the forecasts of prominent scientists about the obsolescence of religion not only did not come true, but apparently will not come true in the future.
In a number of regions, the adherence of certain segments of the population traditional forms religions ( Christianity, Islam) marks a challenge, resistance to the spirit of the times, the renewal of life, critical scientific thought and its humanitarian orientation. Religion in this form symbolizes the adherence of its followers to the political or cultural models of the past. In such cases, it often receives support from people who are essentially devoid of religious consciousness, but are interested in defending the old order of things. The ideological component of this form of religion, which, as a rule, enjoys support from conservative or downright reactionary political forces, is absolutely obvious. Religiosity of this type reflects the experience of the past; it is tied to the stages of development that society has passed through.
Today in religious consciousness there is represented, and quite widely, the opposite tendency, a type of religiosity that can be characterized as open , - open to contacts with other religions (interreligious dialogue, ecumenism) and even with such a phenomenon as humanism. This tendency is represented in Russian religious thought of the beginning of the century, which put forward a program of religious revival and renewal, in modern Catholic and Protestant thought, which discovered religious meaning in the humanistic desire to help a person be a person, gain a sense of solidarity with other people and share responsibility for their fate. This trend - the religious discovery of humanism - is deeply in tune with the spirit of the times of birth planetary consciousness , the ethics of universal human solidarity, overcoming those traditions that separate and contrast people.
Renewal of religion in the modern world is possible only on the path of gaining new religious experience, human experience in man. Such religious experience today has a serious social basis, that basis which, according to E. Durkheim, nourishes religion and allows us to see in it a constant value, a certain eternal content hidden behind the transitory forms of its expression.
This social basis is the formation of human community on a global scale. The lives of all people on Earth today are connected into a single whole by a common technical base, new means of communication and transport, an intercontinental network of scientific and information connections, trade and industry, common threats that cast doubt on the very continued existence of humanity, and a common destiny.
Today, people living on our planet have common problems, and they are equally looking for ways to solve them. They can solve many of these problems only together, only by finding an opportunity to unite. But this is not an easy problem. The explosion of ethnic self-awareness these days testifies to the living fear of leveling tendencies, the fear of losing identity and national traditions. This is one of the factors counteracting the formation of the world community and at the same time is an indicator of how necessary the spirit of solidarity and cooperation is today.
If the most important thing on which the fate of humanity depends is the human qualities of the billions of people who inhabit it, then the future of religion depends on the extent to which its contribution to the search for an answer to the question of what it means to be human can be socially significant.
References
Garadzha V.I. Religious studies: Textbook. manual for higher students textbook institutions and teachers Wed schools. - 6th ed., supplemented. -M.: Aspect Press, 2005.- 351 p.
It is generally accepted that religion on different stages history of mankind has fulfilled an essential position in the socio-political structure of the state, gradually leveling out in the industrial and post-industrial eras. The influence of religion in the modern world is based on certain norms; they are different in different cultures and have (or hinder) different effects on the development of society.
One of these “functions” of religion is to justify social inequality. In principle, in all world religions (including national ones) there is an idea of personal salvation, punishment and reward, which distracted the population from the problems of everyday life. For example, in Christianity, the concept of hell and heaven serves as an incentive for an honest lifestyle, which encourages the rejection of unnecessary material wealth. Hinduism determines the caste structure of Indian society, and without the possibility of changing it. The ban on alcohol and gambling in Islam and a kind of “directive” to war with other religions. Abstinence from passions in Buddhism. Judaism, on the contrary, to a certain extent stands apart from other religions, without making any prohibitions on the achievement of socio-economic and political goals.
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A post-facto look at the influence of religions allows us to state that Christianity (especially the Protestant branch) achieved the greatest success, which had an overall positive effect on the intensity of the socio-economic and political development of Europe. From this point of view, Buddhism and Islam can be recognized as religions that have achieved much lesser achievements, primarily in material terms. History knows at least one case where religion became an important mechanism economic development. England is a classic example of such development. It was Protestantism that created the prerequisites for the formation of elements of democracy and capitalism: civil society, entrepreneurship, private property, separation of powers. One of the well-known studies of this phenomenon is Max Weber’s work “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”, which analyzes countries (USA, England, Germany) with a Protestant population. As a result, Weber concludes that economic growth is due precisely to the presence of Protestantism.
Of course, it is worth recognizing that in the modern world religion no longer plays the role that it played, for example, during Antiquity or the Middle Ages (crusades, confrontation between Catholics and Protestants, jihad), being, however, more often just a pretext for war . In many ways, this situation is true for Western countries, where the church does not encroach on political power. A different situation is observed in the countries of the East, where religion, albeit to varying degrees, influences the life of society: from Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East, which directly determines the nature of the political process, to religious India and China, where religion permeates the life of society, affecting politics.
Why does religion still play an important role in some states, while in others it occupies a secondary position? The civilizational division or, in Samuel Huntington’s terminology, the “clash of civilizations” takes place against the backdrop of the export of Islam to Europe, the connection between the problems of the world community (terrorism) and the radicalization of the political regimes of the Middle East. However, two countries are of greatest interest - India and China. Both are the most populated with a low standard of living. Jared Diamond notes that, despite its technological advantage over the rest of the world, China remained an object of expansion until the 20th century. Not least because of the significant influence of Confucianism on politics, which formed a passive type of social outlook. India, with its passive-contemplative religion and the division of society into castes, also remained (backward by the standards of European states) an agrarian colony until the 20th century.
Thus, the role of religion in the modern world is not definitely decreasing, but rather is being modified in an implicit form. On the surface, religion ceases to perform the function of strengthening interstate relations, with the exception of Muslim countries. Traditional religion has competitors in the form of sects and various subcultures, which in modern conditions continue to perform the function of an alternative vision of phenomena, lost by traditional religion. In the internal context, the role of religion is to form a certain perception of the world - a mentality that determines a holistic vision of the world.
Practice shows that the religious component, forming one or another type of mentality, mindset at a certain historical moment leads to a transformation of the existing order. Such changes occur in the combination of elements necessary for a high-quality transition. For example, the economic rise of China, in principle, is not compatible with the ideas of Confucianism, but the fact remains a fact. Another example is India with a similar type of religion is also a fast growing economy.
An interesting and unique historical example is Russia, the development of which demonstrates the dual influence of religion on society and the state. Today, Russia is the only country of a sovereign nature that officially professes the Orthodox branch of Christianity. This allows us to consider Russia in terms of comparison with European civilization, mainly Protestantism. Such a comparison is akin to comparing Protestantism with Catholicism or any other religion, that is, it will be in favor of Protestantism. Under the influence of Orthodoxy and then geographical expansion, a mentality was formed that united Western and Eastern types of cultures. Interestingly, the philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev also defined psychological type Russian people as eastern.
In our opinion, it was precisely the features of national character similar to the Eastern mentality (paternalistic worldview) that allowed Russia to remain an independent state, despite the fact that until the Revolution of 1917 it remained predominantly an agrarian country.
Western civilization today is demonstrating a development crisis. The sharp breakthrough associated with the strengthening of scientism, rationalism, and technology was short-term. There has been a castling of subjects of the world order - the place of developed states is taken by yesterday's developing countries. In Western countries, a scientific revolution is taking place and the role of religion is declining. This process continued until the present century. On a global scale, the activity of European civilization has decreased against the backdrop of the rise of non-Western societies (including Russia, to a certain extent).
State educational institution
Vocational education
Regional government agency
Vocational School No. 15
Review lecture on the topic: “The role of religion in modern society.”
History teacher
Strezhevoy
"The role of religion in modern society"
Introduction
1. The origin of religion, its early forms
2. World religions
3. Religion in the modern world.
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
Religion is an integral part of the modern world, since it performs three blocks of social functions. Firstly, religious institutions carry out the spiritual formation of believers, which is manifested in the organization of the connection “man - God”, in the education of religiosity and citizenship, in saturating a person with good and removing evil and sins. Secondly, religious organizations are engaged in religious and special secular education, mercy and charity. Thirdly, representatives of churches actively participate in social activities, contribute to the normalization of political, economic and cultural processes, interethnic and interstate relations, and the solution of global problems of civilization.
This is especially necessary in our multinational country, where believers belonging to various faiths and atheists coexist. For prosperous and peaceful living in such conditions, tolerance to any points of view, mutual respect between people of all views and beliefs is necessary. Religion is a system of established beliefs. In order to respect any form of religion, you need to know religious traditions, otherwise, out of ignorance, unwillingly, you can hurt the religious feelings of people living nearby. For self-respect and preservation cultural traditions you should know the historical and religious foundations of culture and your people.
Religious slogans are often used by various kinds of extremists who, in fact, are pursuing far from religious goals. To separate the chaff from the wheat, it is also necessary to know not only the basic religious postulates, but also how they arose and why they were transformed.
The topic is especially relevant in our time, as the role of religion in modern society is increasing. The role of religion is felt not only in the political life of the state, but in the economy and sports. There is not a single area where the influence of the church is not felt. For example, at the state level the issue of introducing a new subject “Orthodox culture” in Russian schools is being decided; in the army there is the position of an army priest. It is not necessary to profess any religion, the main thing is to know about it. It is religion that is the lifeline that will lead our country from lack of spirituality and aggressiveness towards each other to the path of mercy and tolerance.
1. The origin of religion, its early forms
Before talking about the role of religion in modern society, it is necessary to remember what religion is and how it originated. The word “religion” is derived from the Latin “religio” - “piety, piety, shrine.” It is believed that the first religious views appeared during the formation of the tribal system. Since humanity arose earlier, scientists have found it possible to assume that religiosity is not a natural human condition. In order for a religious worldview to arise, a certain level of development of human thinking is necessary - abstract thinking. Religious thinking thus arises simultaneously with abstract thinking.
The main feature of the religious worldview of the people of the early primitive community was that they did not separate themselves from their environment. Human properties were attributed to nature, and nature's properties were attributed to people. This affected all early types of religious ideas. TO early forms religions include magic, fetishism, totemism, animism.
Scientists attribute the emergence of magic to the Stone Age. Magic rituals probably already existed among the Neanderthals, who lived 80-50 thousand years ago. In magic the supernatural has not yet been separated from the natural. Magical beliefs implied belief in a supernatural (i.e., illusory) connection between real phenomena or objects.
The term "magic" comes from the Greek word for "witchcraft." There are many types of magic (malicious, industrial, healing, educational, etc.). Magic has survived to this day as an element of modern religions and in an independent form (for example, fortune telling with cards).
Modern people often perform magical acts without even knowing it - for example, when women use gold jewelry. Gold, according to the ancients, has magical powers that give longevity and immortality. Gold has long been perceived as a noble metal, as an attribute of the gods.
Magical thinking is based on the law of similarity and the law of contact. The law of similars means that like produces like. The Law of Contact means that things, once in contact, continue to interact at a distance after direct contact has ceased.
In those days when the main occupation of people was hunting, a belief appeared in the supernatural kinship of human groups with animals (less often with plants) - totemism (from the Indian words “totem” - “his kind”). The clan bore the name of its totem; relatives believed that they were related by blood to the totemic ancestor. The totem was not worshiped, but was considered an ancestor helping its descendants. The latter, for their part, should not have killed the totem animal, harmed it, eaten its meat, etc.
Totemism could take other forms. For example, there were personal totems. Totemism in the form of various rituals entered into modern religions. Thus, believing Christians, under the guise of bread and wine, eat the body and drink the blood of God; Christ is identified with the lamb, the Holy Spirit with the dove.
Fetishism (from the Portuguese "fetico" - "enchanted thing, idol, talisman") is the worship of inanimate objects endowed with supernatural properties. Among the ancient Germans, the role of a fetish was played by the spruce; among Christians, by the cross and relics. The fetish could be a cave that saved people or a mining spear.
Already the earliest types of religion contained the beginnings of not only fantastic ideas - faith, but also sacred rites - cult practice, which usually constituted a secret, protected from the uninitiated. With the development of beliefs and the complication of the cult, its practice required certain knowledge and experience. Religious rituals began to be performed by specially trained people.
The evolution of primitive beliefs led to the fact that the supernatural in the minds of people was separated from the natural and turned into an independent (immaterial) entity. It is the illusory doubling of the world, the recognition, along with natural and social existence, of the existence of the other world that constitutes the essence of religious consciousness.
Gradually, a belief in spirits and souls arose - animism. Special people also appeared - shamans (from the Evenki word meaning “frantic”), whose social function was to communicate with spirits.
Animistic beliefs are associated with the animation of nature. The beginnings of them were already present in early primitive communities. The Tasmanians, Australians and other tribes of hunters, fishermen and gatherers had vague ideas about the souls of dead people, about evil and good spirits, usually thought of as physically tangible beings. The later transformation of animism is represented by spiritualism, that is, communication with the dead.
There are many religions in the world, many variants of their classifications. If we base the classification social conditions functioning of religions, it is possible to distinguish the following types of religions:
Tribal religions that arose in primitive society;
National religions that developed within a certain nationality, for example, Confucianism in China or Shintonism in Japan;
World religions.
2. World religions
Religion is a specific form of reflection of reality. It still remains a significant force in the world. The religious worldview in the form of the three world religions is widespread in different countries of the world.
World religions include Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Let's consider each of them separately.
Buddhism is the most ancient world religion. This religion arose in the 1st - 1st centuries. BC e. in India. Currently, it is common in Burma, Vietnam, China, Japan and Korea.
Tradition connects the emergence of Buddhism with the name of Prince Siddhartha (Gautama), who was called Buddha, which means “enlightened by knowledge.” Gautama lived in luxury, married his beloved woman, who bore him a son. The impetus for the spiritual upheaval for the prince, as legend says, was three meetings. Gautama caught the eye of a decrepit old man, then a cruelly suffering patient, and finally he watched as they carried out the burial of the dead man. This is how Gautama first learned about old age, illness and death - the lot of all people. The prince secretly left the palace and family. At the age of twenty-nine he became a hermit and died as an eight-year-old man on the day of his birth.
1. Identification of life with suffering. Life is suffering, the cause of which is the desires and passions of people. To get rid of suffering, you need to renounce earthly passions and desires. This can be achieved by following the path of salvation indicated by the Buddha.
2. After death, any living creature, including a person, is reborn again, but in the body of a new creature, whose life is determined not only by its own behavior, but also by the behavior of its “predecessors”.
H. The desire for nirvana, that is, for a higher existence, which is achieved by renouncing earthly attachments.
Unlike Christianity and Islam, Buddhism does not have the idea of God as the creator of the world and its ruler.
The body of sacred books of the Buddhist religion is called Tipitaka, which means “Three Baskets”. A written statement of Buddhist teachings was compiled by the monks of the island of Ceylon in 80 BC. e.
Christianity
Christianity arose in the 10th century. BC e. in the eastern part of the Roman Empire - in Palestine. The Christian religion is a religion addressed to all peoples. It is based on the ideas of messianism, associated with hopes for a divine deliverer, and eschatology, i.e. belief in a supernatural end existing world. The name Christ is a translation into Greek of the Jewish religious term “messiah” - “anointed one, savior of people.”
Christianity absorbed the ideas and ideas of a number of other religions, primarily Judaism, from which it borrowed several basic ideas (which underwent a certain transformation).
1. The idea of monotheism, i.e. recognition of one God who created the world and rules it. In Christianity, this idea is weakened by the doctrine of the Divine Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit).
2. The idea of messianism, the idea of a Divine messenger called to save people. Christianity develops the doctrine of the salvation of all people (and not just the Jewish people) through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
H. The idea of eschatology is the idea of the death of the existing world as a result of Divine intervention. In Christianity, this idea is associated with the belief in the second coming of Christ, which is borrowed from the ideological views of the Qumran community - a Jewish religious sect. Members of this sect believed that the Messiah was by nature a man whose first coming had already taken place and whose second was awaiting. The purpose of the first coming is to bring true religion to people and to atone for their sins. The Second Coming means the end of the world, the end of life on Earth, the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment.
The main tenets of Christian doctrine:
1. Dogma of the Trinity. One God exists in three persons. All persons exist eternally, but the Holy Spirit comes from God the Father (or, as Catholics believe, from the Father and the Son). One God in three persons is an image incomprehensible to the human mind.
2. The basis of Christianity is faith in the Savior - Jesus Christ. The second person of the Trinity, God the Son, is Jesus Christ. He has two natures at the same time (Divine and human).
H. The third dogma is associated with belief in an afterlife.
4. Acknowledgment of existence supernatural creatures, for example, angels - disembodied good spirits, evil spirits, demons, and their ruler - Satan.
The holy book of Christians is the Bible. The origin of this word is often associated with the name of the city of Byblos, where papyrus was sold and where, perhaps, alphabetic writing was first used. The material for writing was called in Greek “biblion” - book. Literally translated from Greek, “Bible” means “books.”
The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament (39 books) and the New Testament (27 books). The first books of the Bible were called Torah (Law) by the Jews; these books are also called the Pentateuch of Moses (it includes the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy).
The Old Testament is the oldest part of the Bible, the sacred books of Judaism. The New Testament itself Christian works, includes the four Gospels (the story of the life of Jesus Christ, the Gospel of the Savior), the acts of the Holy Apostles, the Epistles and, or the Apocalypse. The Apocalypse dates back to 68 AD. e.
Already in the 4th century, Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. Nowadays Christianity is not a single religious movement. It splits into many currents. In 1054 Christianity was divided into the Western, or Roman Catholic (the word “Catholic” means “universal”) Church, and the Eastern, Orthodox Church. In the XVI century. The Reformation began in Europe - an anti-Catholic movement. As a result, the third main direction of Christianity appeared - Protestantism.
Both Orthodoxy and Catholicism recognize seven Christian sacraments: baptism, worldview, repentance, communion, marriage, priesthood and consecration of oil. The source of the doctrine of Western and Eastern Christians is the Bible. The differences are mainly as follows: in Orthodoxy there is no single head of the church, there are no ideas about purgatory; Western and Eastern Christians do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity in the same way.
Catholics view purgatory as a place of temporary afterlife for souls who then go to hell before going to heaven. The head of the Catholic Church is the Pope (from the Greek “papas” - “ancestor, elder, paternal grandfather”). Pape is elected for life. The center of the Roman Catholic Church is the Vatican, a state that occupies several city blocks in Rome.
There are three main movements in Protestantism: Anglicanism, Calvinism and Lutheranism. Protestants consider the condition for the salvation of a Christian not the formal observance of rituals, but his personal atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. During the Reformation, Protestants proclaimed the principle of universal priesthood, which means that every layman can preach. Protestants are characterized by asceticism in rituals, for example, the number of sacraments is reduced to two.
Islam arose in the 2nd century. n. e. among the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula. This is the youngest religion among the world. Followers of Islam, Muslims, live mainly in Africa and Asia (the word “Islam” is translated as “submission”; the word “Muslim” comes from the Arabic “Muslim” - “faithful”). The founder of Islam, Muhammad, is a historical figure. He was born around 570. in Mecca. Mecca was a large city at the crossroads of trade routes (Muhammad was engaged in trade in his youth). In Mecca there was a shrine that was revered by most tribes - the pagan temple of the Kaaba.
Muhammad was orphaned early. His father died a month after his son was born. His mother died when Muhammad was six years old. Muhammad was brought up in his grandfather's family, a noble but impoverished family. At the age of 25, he entered the service of a rich Meccan widow and soon married her. At the age of 40, around 610, Muhammad acted as a religious preacher. He declared that God (Allah) had chosen him as his prophet. The ruling elite of Mecca did not like the sermon, and Muhammad had to in 622. move to the city of Yathrib, later renamed Medina. The year 622 is considered the beginning of the Muslim calendar, and Mecca is the center of the Muslim religion.
The basis of Muslim faith, the Qur'an (literally "reading") is a processed record of the sayings of Muhammad. During Muhammad's lifetime, his statements were perceived as direct speech from Allah and were transmitted orally. It was only two decades after the death of Muhammad that they were written down and compiled into the Koran. The book consists of 114 chapters.
In the faith of Muslims, a large role is played by the sunnah - a collection of edifying stories about the life of Muhammad - and sharia - a set of principles and rules of behavior obligatory for a Muslim (the word “sharia” is translated as “the right path”). The most serious sins among Muslims are usury, drunkenness, gambling games and adultery.
Muslim places of worship are called mosques. Islam prohibits the depiction of humans and animals, so mosques are decorated with a variety of ornaments.
In Islam there is no clear and strict division between clergy and laity. Any Muslim who knows the Koran, Muslim laws (Sharia) and the rules of worship can become a mullah (priest). The cult of Islam is simple. A Muslim must fulfill five basic requirements:
1. Pronouncing the formula of the confession of Faith - “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.”
2. Performing the obligatory five-fold prayer (namaz).
3. Fasting during the month of Ramadan. During this month, you should not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset.
4. Giving alms to the poor.
5. Making a pilgrimage to Mecca.
3. Religion in the modern world.
So, religion is a worldview, attitude and the behavior of people determined by them based on belief in the existence of a supernatural sphere. This is the desire of man and society for a direct connection with the absolute, the universal basis of the world (God, gods, the absolute focus of everything that exists, substance, the main shrine).
The position of religion in modern society is quite contradictory and it is simply impossible to assess its role, possibilities and prospects with any certainty. It can definitely be said that a characteristic and natural process for modern times is the development of the secularization of social consciousness. However, secularization defines a general trend, which does not exclude the possible strengthening of the position of religion under the influence of factors favorable to it.
Religion, due to its universal nature (it relates to all manifestations of people’s lives and gives them its assessments), the mandatory nature of its requirements for the fulfillment of basic moral and legislative norms, psychological insight and vast historical experience, is an integral part of culture.
In history, religion has always coexisted with secular elements of culture, and in certain cases opposed them.
Currently, a fairly stable historical balance is emerging between the main religions of each country, on the one hand, and the secular sector of culture, on the other. Moreover, in a number of countries the secular sector occupies a significant position.
After a long period of atheistic propaganda and the forced displacement of religion from the public sphere during the period of the dominance of Bolshevik ideology in modern Russia, there is a process of restoration of the positions of traditional religions (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and believers who are able to more or less systematically avoid direct analogies with earthly events, experiences and circumstances. Nevertheless, in any religion, even the most refined (i.e. purified), the image of God always has the stamp of the earthly conditions that gave rise to and nourished it. This is also indicated by the personal characteristics of God (holiness, mercy, justice). etc.) in various religious systems. About a thousand similar characteristics of Allah are contained in Islam; in Judaism, God is presented as inaccessible and requiring sacrifice; in Christianity, God appears as the Father for all those who believe in him.
Another feature of religion is a system of religious rites, rituals, actions - cults (veneration), unfolding on the basis of ideas and ideas about God (deities). Such are sacrifices, ceremonies, and various mysteries in world (Christianity, Buddhism, Islam) and many national religions (Judaism, Confucianism, Shinto, etc.). They follow each other in accordance with the order and sequence provided for by the corresponding church and religious calendars. The center of religious worship is a temple, a house of worship with a set of various religious accessories (icons, crucifixes, frescoes or wall paintings with biblical scenes, etc.).
Another feature of religion is the believer’s direct emotional experience of the events of myths and cult actions. This experience is due to the fact that the most important events of human existence are refracted and reflected in religion: the mysteries of birth and death, the self-awareness of a child, the entry of a young man and girl into an independent life, marriage, the appearance of offspring, etc.
Finally, most religions of the modern world have a special organization - the church with a clear distribution of responsibilities at each level of its hierarchy (structure). For example, in Catholicism and Orthodoxy these are the laity, white clergy, black clergy (monks), episcopate, metropolitanates, patriarchies, etc.
The enormous influence of religion on the life of society is due to the fact that its structures are one way or another present in all the most important historical events and events in the private lives of citizens. Therefore, it had a noticeable impact on the sphere public morality, especially in those conditions when it was the dominant spiritual and organizing force of society.
Conclusion
The conclusion is as follows. Science is both a powerful creative and destructive tool in the hands of educated humanity. We are able to direct this tool for good only by maintaining within ourselves a sense of direct involvement in the world, the cosmos and that high reality, which man refers to as the Divine. Science and religion are two scales, and for the balance of forces in this world, their balance is necessary as the unity of knowledge and faith, without which it is unthinkable cultural development humanity.
With the help of religious symbolism, the experience gained by humanity is built into the deep layers of worldviews, forming a religious worldview in its integrity and comprehensiveness. Like science, religion can be understood as a symbolic model of the world, generalizing and according to certain principles ordering the entire experience of a person’s relationship to nature and the cosmos, to himself and all of humanity.
In religion, general humanistic, formational, civilizational, class, ethnic, global and local components are intertwined, sometimes bizarrely. In specific situations, one or the other is actualized and comes to the fore: religious leaders, thinkers, groups may not express the indicated tendencies in the same way. All this is directly related to socio-political orientations; history shows that there were and are different positions in religious organizations: progressive, conservative, regressive. Moreover this group and its representatives do not always strictly adhere to any particular one. In modern conditions, the significance of the activities of any institutions, groups, parties, leaders, including religious ones, is determined, first of all, by the extent to which it serves to affirm universal humanistic values.
As N. Bohr wittily noted, “humanity has made two greatest discoveries, one - that God exists, the second - that there is no God.” And, perhaps, it is not so important which of these points of view each of us adheres to in our self-determination in the world, but what is important is to find the road that will lead us to the Temple.
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Religion has existed as long as humanity has existed. Throughout their lives, people encounter it in one way or another. In the modern world there is no single religion. They differ from each other in dogma and cult, features of doctrine and church structure, in the number of flocks, time and place of origin of the most important conquest of the 20th century. became the principle of freedom of conscience, according to which each person decides whether to profess a religion or remain an unbeliever.
Currently, most religious scholars talk about such established faiths as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Jainism, Taoism and Baha'iism. Not a single world religion has been able to maintain internal unity during its coexistence. Each has undergone numerous splits and consists of different branches with a single historical foundation.
The most ancient religion - Hinduism is the fruit of five thousand years of development of religious thought in India. It has no founder or prophet, no spiritual hierarchy and unified canons. It is more of a way of life or culture than an orderly one religious tradition. Hinduism is a conglomerate of different trends, trends, religious schools and sects, and is a kind of “parliament of religions”. In Hinduism there is no dualistic (dual coexistence of two different states not inherent in unity, for example God and the devil, spirit and matter, etc.) perception of the world. Truth appears to the Hindu as a hierarchical system of small truths. Moreover, in this hierarchy there is no place for lies, since even delusion is only a state of a lower order.
There are no heretical forms in Hinduism, since there is no orthodoxy.
The outgrowth of Hinduism in the public sphere is the caste system. According to its regulations, the entire society is divided into Brahmins-priests, Kshatriyas-rulers and warriors, Vaishyas-farmers and traders, Shudras-artisans and hired workers. The untouchables do the dirtiest work. A person's caste status is assigned to him for life. Each caste has its own truth, its own duty, according to which its life is built. An attempt to change one's social status, according to Hinduism, is meaningless, since it is the objective result of karma - the sum of all actions and their consequences committed by a living being.
Karma is a person's destiny. Therefore, India does not know the peasant wars or workers' uprisings that are well known to us from the history of other countries; there were no revolutions in India. Even the Indian struggle for independence became non-violent.
Hinduism is a religion of polytheism. In the beginning, Hindus worshiped gods who personified the forces of nature. The main carriers of Hinduism in the ancient period - the nomadic tribes of the Aryans - invaded the territory of Hindustan at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The ancient Aryans did not know the temple cult, so the main ritual of Hinduism of that period was the fire ritual. Later, with the transition of the Aryans to sedentary life and with the formation of the first Hindu states, Hinduism also changed. This stage of its development is called Brahmanism. The trinity is put forward as the supreme gods: Brahma the creator; Vishnu is the protector; Shiva is the destroyer of the world. Therefore, Hindus can be divided into several directions: Vaishnavites, who revere Vishnu (these also include the Hare Krishnas, famous in Russia); Shaivites - they worshiped Shiva, as well as Shoktis, who worshiped female deities.
In the IV-VI centuries. Brahmanism undergoes some transformation under the influence of Buddhism. The methods of achieving the spiritual ideal and Hinduism are also changing. If earlier, in order to achieve unity with a brahman, it was necessary to meditate, study scriptures, and be an ascetic, then in modern Hinduism, in order to achieve unity with Krishna, one must be a bhakta (loving), i.e. love god. This path is much more accessible and suitable for both a brahman and a shudra - the lower class.
Hinduism is contradictory: the heights of religious thought are combined in it with absurd (in our opinion) prejudices and the most primitive magic, worldview tolerance - with inertia in ritual and social life.
At the beginning of this century, the number of Hindus exceeded 900 million people. Of these, more than 90% are in South Asia. The largest number of Hindus live in India - 850 million people, or 80% of the country's population.
Buddhism younger than Hinduism and genetically related to it. It arose in the VI-V centuries. BC. as a protest against the norms of the caste system, Brahmanical rituals and the dominance of the priesthood. The founder of Buddhism was a real historical figure - Prince Sizdhartka Gautama, nicknamed Buddha (“enlightened one”). Buddha considered the goal of his religion to be the liberation of man from suffering. According to the teachings of Buddhism, human life in the world is an endless stream of rebirths (samsara), determined by the combination of immaterial particles (drachmas). Buddhists do not believe in transmigration of souls and reincarnation, rejecting the very existence of an immortal soul. The goal of Buddhism is to interrupt the flow of rebirths. Buddhism states that the essence of life is suffering, the cause of suffering is desire and attachment. Therefore, its most important principle is non-resistance to evil through violence. Any resistance to injustice, according to the social teachings of Buddhism, is meaningless, since it arouses passions leading to suffering.
Buddha called on his followers (adepts) to uproot all their desires and attachments, thereby internally freeing themselves from the shackles that human life carries. A state of holiness in which there is no place for greed, intrigue, hatred, i.e. complete inner freedom is called nirvana.
The basic idea of Buddhism was formulated in the Buddha's sermons on the "four noble truths." The first truth says that existence is suffering, which every living being experiences and is eternally doomed to. The second truth states that the cause of suffering is desires, hatred, envy, etc. The third noble truth says that if the causes of worry are removed, suffering will cease. The fourth truth indicates the so-called middle path, which avoids both extreme self-restraint and endless pleasure.
Following this path (the path of the Buddha) leads to the achievement of inner peace, when a person can control his thoughts and feelings, when he is friendly, full of compassion and sympathy for all living beings.
Even during the life of Buddha (Buddha ended his earthly life in the 80th year, in the 44th year of his teaching, near the city of Kushinagar in Nepal), a community of followers - monks - formed around him. For laypeople who have not taken monastic vows, five commandments were defined: do not kill, do not lie, do not steal, do not commit adultery, and do not drink alcohol. Most Buddhists are vegetarians, or abstain from eating meat if possible. There are five vegetables that are not eaten because their smell is believed to attract evil, namely: garlic, onions, leeks, spring onions, and chives.
By the beginning of our era, two main directions emerged in Buddhism, which exist to this day. These are Hinayama (“narrow path”) and Mahayama (“broad path”). Supporters of Hinayama scrupulously follow the principles of early Buddhism, consider Buddha to be a historical figure, and believe that only monks can achieve Nirvana. The rituals in Hinayama are quite simple. This direction is followed by a third of the world's Buddhists (Sri Lanka, Miami, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia).
About two-thirds of Buddhists adhere to the Mahayama direction (China, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, etc.). Lamaism is considered a variety of Mahayama, distinguished by a developed cult, complex rituals, and the deification of Buddha. Here, great importance is attached to rituals, black and white magic, with the help of which one can achieve nirvana. On the territory of Russia - in Buryatia, Tyva, Kalmykia, the majority of Buddhist believers belong to Lamaism.
Jainism- contemporary of Buddhism of the 6th-5th centuries. to yae. Its emergence is another attempt to reform Hinduism, making it more democratic. Jainism rejects the caste system and gender discrimination, does not recognize the authority of the Vedas (the sacred scriptures of Hinduism), opposes the worship of gods, and does not recognize the existence of God the Creator. Most (95%) of them live in India.
Confucianism and Taoism originated in China in the 5th-6th centuries. BC. as philosophical and ethical teachings, which over time were transformed into religion. Confucianism pays its main attention to the formation of norms of human behavior in the family and society, requiring unconditional obedience from the younger to the elder, from the student to the teacher, and from the subordinate to the boss. Confucianism cultivates respect for rank.
The supreme deity of the Confucian pantheon is Heaven (Tian). The ruler of China is perceived as the son of Heaven, the father of the nation. An ideal society, according to Confucius, consists of two layers - the top and the bottom: the first think and govern, the second work and obey. The system of Confucian virtues includes philanthropy, piety for sons, respect for learning, etc. as a result, the desire to get an education.
The founder of Taoism is Lao Tzu. Taoism requires its adherents to obediently follow the general flow of life, without offering resistance to it. Taoist priests practice numerous magical rituals, fortune telling, and are engaged in healing. Taoism attaches particular importance to achieving physical immortality. It is realized by harmonizing the internal forces of the body with the help of proper nutrition, special gymnastics (qigong), and regulation of sexual energy.
Most Chinese are not limited to just one of these religions. The Chinese religion is a combination of three teachings: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Their fusion is called the Chinese traditional religion - San Jiao. The total number of adherents of Confucianism, Taoism and the Chinese form of Buddhism is estimated at approximately 300 million people, accounting for about a quarter of China's population. Confucianism is also practiced by approximately 5 million Koreans in the Republic of Korea.
Judaism- the first monotheistic (recognizing monotheism) religion in human history, which arose in the Middle East in the 2nd millennium BC. Judaism arose and developed among the pastoral tribes of the Jewish people. Jews believe in one God - the creator of the Universe and man, in immortality human soul, posthumous reward, paradise and the kingdom of the dead, God's chosenness of his people. According to the views of Judaism, God entered into a covenant (agreement) with the Jews, according to which he delivered them from Egyptian slavery and settled them in Palestine (the Promised Land). In turn, Jews are obliged to honor God and fulfill his commandments. Therefore, Judaism is a religion of law, and Jews must observe numerous religious precepts. First of all, ethical - the famous ten commandments (do not make yourself an idol, do not kill, do not steal, do not covet your neighbor’s wife and property, etc.). In addition, for them there are complex norms of everyday behavior, marriage regulations, and food prohibitions. Judaizers await the coming of the heavenly deliverer - the Messiah, who will carry out righteous judgment on the living and the dead. The righteous are promised eternal life in heaven, while sinners are doomed to suffer in the afterlife.
The sacred scripture of Judaism is the Tanakh, consisting of three parts: the Torah (Pentateuch of Moses), Nebiima (Prophets) and Ketubim (Scripture). The Talmud, a collection of treatises on cultic and religious-legal issues, also plays a major role in Judaism. The Talmud's prescriptions have almost completely replaced ritual practice, which existed until 70 AD, when the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, built by Solomon, and evicted the Jews from Palestine. Since it was impossible to restore the Temple, the Jews abandoned the complex temple ritual and began to build synagogues - houses of religious meetings, and the place of priests was taken by rabbis - teachers of religious law, who also performed judicial functions.
Currently, more than 14 million Jews live around the world, most of them in the USA, Israel (more than 80% of the population) and the CIS.
Another religion that emerged in the Middle East around the same time as Judaism was Zoroastrianism, the founder of which, who gave it its name, was the prophet Zarathushtra. Zoroastrianism is a dualistic religion, which is based on the idea of confrontation in the world between Good and Evil principles. The world, according to the Zoroastrians, is a battlefield between Good and Evil, and a person must choose which side he is on. After the decisive battle, which, according to the Zoroastrians, is already approaching, the righteous will go to heaven, and evil and its minions will be cast into hell. An important role in the Zoroastrian cult is played by fire, which is credited with a cleansing power, hence the second name for Zoroastrians - fire worshipers.
In the VI-VII centuries. Zoroastrianism was the state religion of Iran; there were many adherents of this teaching on the territory of today's Azerbaijan. The invasion of Islam changed everything. Now there are about 300 thousand Zoroastrians, the majority live in India and Iran. However, this doctrine had a noticeable influence on the spiritual life of many peoples. Elements of Zoroastrianism can be identified in both Christianity and Islam.
About a third of the world's population is Christians. Christianity originated at the beginning of the 1st century. in the Middle East. Its place in the fate of humanity can be judged by the fact that the countdown of the new era began from the Nativity of Christ, from the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, the founder of this religion.
Christianity arose among the Jewish people and is genetically related to Judaism. Christians recognize the God of Judaism (for them this is God the Father), the authority of the Tanakh (Old Testament), and believe in the immortality of the soul, heaven and hell. This is where the similarities end.
If the Jews are still waiting for the coming of the Messiah, then Christians believe that he has already come to them: he was Jesus Christ,
God's Son. The God of Christians is one in three persons: Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. Most followers of Christianity revere Jesus Christ as the God-man, combining two natures: divine and human. They recognize the virgin birth of the Virgin Mary from the Holy Spirit. Thus, Christianity belongs to the idea of incarnation, i.e. combination of the ideal, spiritual, divine principle and the physical in the image of Jesus Christ.
With his martyrdom on the cross, he atoned for the sins of people. God in Christianity is not a dead idol or an unattainable ideal, he was a living person who chose suffering, abuse and gave his life for all people in the world. Unlike other religions that call to come to God, in Christianity God came to man. The main commandment of Christ to people is the commandment of love for others, patience and forgiveness.
Currently, Christianity has split into a large number of competing movements. The first major church schism occurred in 1054 and led to the formation of Orthodoxy and Catholicism, which differ from each other in terms of doctrine, cult and organization. For example, Catholics are organizationally united, the head of their church is the Pope. In turn, Orthodoxy is divided into 15 autocephalous (independent) churches: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Russian, Cyprus, Georgian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Polish, Czechoslovak, Hellenic, Albanian, American. There is no complete unity between Orthodox and Catholics on the calendar issue. There are differences in the dogmatic field.
In Catholicism, all the clergy are celibate, but in Orthodoxy only monks adhere to it.
Catholicism became the spiritual basis of Western civilization, and Orthodoxy - Eastern, Slavic. If Catholicism is a supranational church, then Orthodoxy, on the contrary, has managed to closely merge with each of the peoples that converted it to Christianity. Russians, Greeks, Serbs have a church and national idea, church and state are inseparable, one is perceived as a continuation of the other. A special branch of Orthodoxy is the Old Believers. Disagreements with the official church concern mainly the ritual aspect.
Currently, there are more than five times fewer Orthodox Christians than Catholics. They make up about 9% of all Christians and 3% of the world's population. Followers of Catholicism unite 50% of Christians in the world - this is more than 17% of the planet's population.
In the 16th century As a result of the Reformation, Protestantism broke away from Catholicism. Protestants prioritize the direct communication of believers with Christ through the Bible, without the mediation of priests. The cult in Protestantism is extremely simplified and cheapened; there is no worship of the Mother of God and saints, no veneration of relics and icons. Salvation, as Protestantism teaches, is achieved by personal faith, and not by performing rituals and good deeds. There is no institution of monasticism in Protestantism; it does not represent a single whole either dogmatically or organizationally and is divided into many movements. The earliest Protestant movements are Anglicanism, Lutheranism and Calvinism.
In Anglicanism, the head of the church is the King of England, and in matters of doctrine the decisive role belongs to Parliament, the upper house of which includes Anglican bishops. Lutheranism got its name from its founder Martin Luther (1483-1546). In Lutheran churches - kirches - there are no paintings or images, but the crucifix has been preserved. Pastors and bishops are elected. There is no sharp boundary between the clergy and the laity, since the principle of a universal priesthood is recognized. The centers of Lutheranism are Germany and the Scandinavian countries, as well as the USA.
Calvinism (reformism) occupies the most radical positions in Protestantism. Founded by the French theologian John Calvin (1509-1564). Calvinism completely eliminated church hierarchy. The Calvinist Church consists of communities independent from each other - congregations governed by councils. Images are not allowed in churches, the cross has ceased to be an attribute of cult, there are no sacred vestments, there is no altar. Calvinism adopts a dogma in which the main criterion for a person’s salvation is the role he occupies in society. Therefore, to save the soul, it is not faith or good works that is needed, but work. Thus, if a person is rich, pious and respected, his salvation is already provided. Most Calvinists live in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Scotland, Germany, France (Huguenots), USA, South Africa and Indonesia.
Islam, a religion influenced by Judaism, arose at the beginning of the 7th century. in Hijaz among the tribes of Western Arabia and during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (570-632) became a famous and influential spiritual achievement of the era.
If Christianity began its history as a sect of Judaism, then Islam appeared immediately as a separate religion, and there were no Jews among its followers. Muhammad did not believe that he was preaching a new religion, he believed that he was restoring the original, pure religion, which had been distorted by Jews and Christians. Islam shares with Judaism and Christianity the basic concepts of God the Creator.
In Islam there is one God, Allah. For Muslims, he is incomprehensible and great; all that is known about him is that he is merciful and merciful.
In this religion there is no abundance of strict prohibitions and petty regulations of Judaism and the asceticism and moralism of Christianity. Every Muslim must believe in Allah as the only God and recognize Muhammad as his Prophet. Islam does not know the priesthood - all Muslims are equal before Allah. Clergymen - mullahs are simply experts in the doctrine and are usually chosen by the believers themselves.
Islam is not only a religion and a way of life, but also politics. He does not know the division into secular and spiritual. In an Islamic state, Allah himself must rule. Islam is an integral system of values that shape ideology, psychology, certain forms of culture, way of life and thinking of both each believer and the entire Muslim community.
The holy book of Islam is the Koran, which contains the beliefs of this religion. Based on the meaning of existence - this is faith and worship of Allah - the main dogmas of faith are formed: faith in Allah, faith in the Day of Judgment; belief in predestination; faith in scriptures; faith in the messengers of Allah.
Currently, the number of Muslims exceeds 1 billion people, this is the majority of the population in 35 countries of the world. Islam is the most dynamically developing religion in the world. Over the past 100 years, the share of Muslims in the world's population has increased from 13 to 19%.
This brief overview of the main religions of the modern world shows that the dogmas of each of them place at the forefront kindness, non-violence, the desire to protect their followers from vices (thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, etc.), belief in love for one's neighbor, etc. At the same time, almost from the moment of the emergence of religions, intolerance towards people of other faiths appeared. Intolerance has been the cause of many wars, conflicts, and various types of persecution of a religious and national nature. The intolerance of a society is a component of the intolerance of its citizens. Bigotry, stereotyping, and racial slurs are specific examples of expressions of intolerance that occur in people's lives every day. This phenomenon only leads to counter-intolerance; it forces people subject to it to look for forms of exit, and often such manifestations are aggressive, even cruel acts. The idea of tolerance has a long history. Moses (12th century BC, Middle East): “do not kill; You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his servant... anything that is your neighbor’s.” Confucius (VI-V centuries BC, China): “Do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself, then there will be no dissatisfied people either in the state or in the family.” Socrates (V-IV centuries BC, Greece): How many arguments there were, but all were overthrown, and only one stands firm: that it is more dangerous to commit injustice than to endure, and that it should not seem a good man, but to be good both in private and public affairs is the main concern in life.” The moral commandments of the Gospel are imbued universal human values, respect and a sense of compassion for man, without which there can be no tolerance for all living things. The spiritual emancipation of man, along with his economic and political freedom, was defended by the best thinkers of the past; they are preached by the progressive minds of the present.
The most important task today should be to protect people, primarily the younger generation, from the negative impact of national and religious extremism. The experience of the historical past must be in demand. The structure of Russia before the October revolution can in many ways serve as an example. It is important to maintain unity and stability in our multinational state, strengthening peace and harmony. We make a mistake by repeating the patterns of Western countries when national traditions are eroded. The trend towards integration of developed countries reveals that they are being corroded from within by the rust of separatism, extremism and terrorism. Countering extremism in Russia is about strengthening the national and religious foundations of life. The peaceful coexistence of various faiths with the seniority of the Russian state-forming people must be ensured.
Religion in the modern world
1. Trends in modern religious dynamics
2. New religious movements: general concepts
3. “New Age” as a sociocultural phenomenon
4. Confessional structure of modern Belarus
List of sources used
1. Trends in modern religious dynamics
The era into which a person of the 21st century is entering is characterized by ideological pluralism, confusion of concepts of good and evil, truth and lies, and the secularization of society. The sphere of serious religious thinking and serious theology is sharply shrinking, but at the same time the spheres of esoteric-occult practices and theories are expanding. It is as if a person is invited to a feast, where, unaccustomed over decades to the critical selection of spiritual dishes, he gives preference to the “dishes” offered by false prophets, teachers, gurus, psychics, and sorcerers that are pleasing to the eye, but deadly for the life of the body and soul. And it becomes unimportant in whom and what to believe, the pretentious “faith in the soul” turns into a person’s falling away from the traditional, time-tested active faith in God, which is fully realized only in the sacred church space.
World religions accept the challenge of the atheistically inclined modern world and adapt to the created conditions in different ways.
The main trends of modern religious dynamics include:
– Activation of missionary activities of traditional religions, awareness of the importance of religious education of people, especially young people. Thus, in educational institutions of Belarus, the course “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” has been introduced, in Russia - “Fundamentals of Religious Ethics”, where students and parents can choose to become acquainted with the doctrines of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism.
– A certain erosion, fragmentation of classical religious systems, synthetic forms. For example, the interaction of the cultural systems of black Africa and the emergence of Afro-Christianity and Afro-Islam.
– Religious fundamentalism, preaching a strong rejection of modernity, criticism of secular life, freed from the power of religion, opposing the Western model of development and proclaiming traditional values. For example, the fundamentalist movement in India, Afghanistan, etc.
– Liberation theology, which has become widespread in third world countries. In a region characterized by political instability, dependence on American capital, population growth and poverty, the Catholic Church is both a conservative force and a spokesman for the interests of the common people. In 1968, the Catholic Episcopal Council in Medellin, Colombia, condemned the violence and spoke out in defense of the poor. This marked the birth of liberation theology, which used Marxist analysis to expose social injustice. The ruling elite brutally cracked down on the Church of the Poor, with thousands of its activists, priests and monks killed in a civil war in 1980. During the crisis of communist ideology, theorists of liberation theology began to focus on environmental issues.
– An ecumenical movement aimed at achieving mutual understanding, consolidation, and balancing the positions of large churches and denominations on important issues of modern life. In 1948, the World Council of Churches was created, which today includes about 330 Churches from 100 countries. The highest authority is the Assembly of the WCC, convened every seven years. The purpose of the WCC is to promote the study and discussion of issues of Church unity. The Russian Orthodox Church joined the WCC in 1961, and participates in theological discussions, remaining firm in its commitment to "acribia" - the preservation of the purity of faith. Mindful of the dogmatic line that makes it impossible for Orthodox Christians to communicate with other faiths, Orthodoxy does not extend this line to human communication, the expression of good feelings, mutual assistance and the exchange of people’s life-experience discoveries and experiences. As part of the ecumenical project, the Roman Catholic Church has given priority to achieving unity in matters of faith; There is active dialogue with non-Christian faiths, for example, with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (1969) and the Buddhist Council (1984). In 1986, many religious leaders prayed for peace in the Italian city of Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis.
– Interest in esotericism, mysticism, occult theories and practices. A number of teachings - theosophy, anthroposophy, etc. – claim a large-scale cultural synthesis and the establishment of spiritual dominance in the world.
– Since the last third of the 20th century, new religious movements began to actively multiply like cancer cells on the body of states: totalitarian sects, destructive cults, mystical, satanic and neo-pagan communities.
2. New religious movements: general concepts
Recently, many new religious movements, groups, sects have appeared in the world, more often they are called “new cults”, “non-traditional religions”, “destructive totalitarian sects”, which declare that only they can be saved, know the truth, and defeat evil. Over the decades of atheistic ideology in our country, people were not prepared for the influx of pseudo-spirituality that hit their consciousness after the opening of the Iron Curtain. It is difficult for a person who does not have sufficient information to develop the right attitude towards what is happening. There are many facts showing how the wrong choice is fraught with unforeseen, often unpleasant consequences for gullible seekers of truth: families are destroyed, money and property are lost, mental and physical health are undermined, and even people who leave the sect spend years trying to return to independent life. Sectarians are hunting for the color of the nation: they are interested in talented, energetic, intelligent young people. Thousands of such young men and women left science, industry, family and the sphere of normal human relations in general forever in order to devote themselves entirely to one or another “guru” or “messiah”.
Varieties of new cults
Sects have existed as long as humanity has existed: there have always been groups of fanatics following a certain charismatic leader. But in the 20th century, they developed something new: the systematic use of modern psychological developments aimed at suppressing a person’s will and controlling his thoughts, feelings and behavior. These organizations purposefully undermine the physical and mental health of their members and replace their consciousness. A person who finds himself in a totalitarian sect is constantly subjected to violence: from beatings and rape to exhausting, exhausting work from 15 to 18 hours daily, without necessary nutrition and getting enough sleep. Members of cults become slaves, deprived of both the financial and personal and social resources necessary to leave the group, which, in turn, does everything possible to keep them while they can still be useful. When they get sick or their productivity drops significantly, they are simply thrown out onto the street.
A sect is a closed religious group that opposes itself to the main culture-forming community (or main communities) of a country or region.
A totalitarian sect is an authoritarian organization whose leader, seeking power over his followers and their exploitation, hides his intentions under religious, political-religious, psychotherapeutic, health, educational, scientific, educational, cultural and other masks.
Signs of new cults
– In sects, the worship of God is replaced by the worship of a god-like leader or an organization created by him. At the head is a “guru”, “prophet”, “Father”, “Savior”, “Messiah”, “Teacher”, who forms in those recruited an attitude of fear and slavish love towards him. The leadership of the sect is declared infallible,
- Exist different levels information about the organization and its doctrine: to the outside world, to the newly recruited, to each level of initiation and, finally, to the top. Information corresponding to different levels not only does not complement each other, but simply does not agree with each other. In other words, lies are being told to the uninitiated.
– Followers have a very powerful psychological, often hypnotic, effect. Usually they are told that only they will be saved, and everyone else will perish.
– All people outside the sect, whether they resist it or not, are declared to be under the power of Satan.
– In sects, the consciousness and property of adherents are strictly controlled. At the same time, the leader of the sect lives in incomparably better conditions than his followers, and has a colossal fortune.
Consciousness control includes several stages:
1) Refusal of the entire past and separation from the outside world, breaking of previous ties: a person must admit that everything that happened before he joined the sect was a complete mistake.
2) Separation of a person’s consciousness and will (most often through a mantra, physical activity and lack of sleep, lack of personal space, powerful group pressure).
3) Massive indoctrination - instilling a new teaching, a new faith (attending meetings, listening to the guru in headphones all day, doing homework - memorizing a certain number of the guru's works). The goal is to wean off logical thinking, relaxation of the will, etc.
Purpose of Mind Control– suppression of a person’s will and the creation of a phenomenon that psychiatrists call “dependent personality type syndrome.”
