The essence of religion. Religion, its origin and essence. The main social functions of religion. Earliest Forms of Religion

Man’s desire to understand the world, society, himself, individual phenomena and processes of the world is eternal and not exhaustive. Religion appeared at a certain stage of society; its origin and formation were determined by the development of human consciousness.

The first stage in the development of human consciousness is associated with the appearance of ape-men and lasted until the era of Neanderthal man (the formation of a tribal community). This was a period of sensually concrete herd consciousness, directly involved in the labor process. It did not go beyond material practice, since the spiritual sphere was not yet separated. There is no point in talking about religion at this stage.

In the clan community, the consciousness of man was already the social consciousness of a social man. Man had a worldview on the basis of which he interacted with the world around him. Primary social consciousness was synthetic, had the beginnings of future forms of social consciousness, naive realistic views of the world, which were intertwined with unrealistic, fantastic ones. All of them were reflected in myths.

And myth at that time was the main carrier of information; it was easily remembered and passed on from generation to generation. Myth played the role of a worldview: it formed value orientations, norms of behavior and activity, and gave a general assessment of the world. The basis of the mythological worldview was the personification of nature, which consisted in comparing nature with man. At the same time, all human qualities were “transferred” to nature, first of all, the ability to think consciously.

The mythological worldview was formed in the process labor activity person. At this time, thinking developed and the conditions were laid for the formation of a systemic worldview.

The ancient ancestors of man were the archanthropes (skillful man), who lived 2.5-3 million years ago. Unfortunately, their graves have not survived, so there are no traces of a religious cult. The next human ancestor, Pithecanthropus, lived 1 million years ago, at the beginning of the Paleolithic. They also had no religion.

After another few hundred thousand years of human evolution, the Neanderthal appeared. There is an opinion among researchers that Neanderthals did not have any religion. Religious imaginations were inherent in Cro-Magnon man. During this period, matriarchy reigned. Remnants of the Cro-Magnon culture make it possible to assert that clear religious ideas humans appeared approximately 30 - 50 thousand years ago.

This did not happen instantly, the process lasted for 20 thousand years, covering the last period of primitive social order and the initial period of class society.

Religion as a phenomenon of the spiritual life of society arose as a result of the action of various factors in difficult conditions the formation of humanity. By its nature it is social phenomenon, is closely related to social life and development of society.

The word “religion” (from Latin religio) is derived from the Latin verb religare - to bind, to unite. Religious people use it to denote their belief in their two-way connection with some higher power, supposedly primary in relation to the real world, which stands above nature and society and is not only not subject to their laws, but is capable of creating or abolishing these laws.

This imaginary force is perceived by believers as something supernatural (going beyond the natural-social, natural) and is differentiated by them into beings (spirits, gods, angels), objects (the afterlife, heaven, hell), properties (the incorruption of the remains of saints, the miraculousness of icons and prayers), actions (the creation and end of the world, all kinds of miracles), etc.

Religious people believe not only in the reality of the supernatural and their dependence on it, but also in the possibility of influencing the supernatural in order to receive help from it or neutralize the adverse consequences of its influence. Belief in the supernatural and the possibility of contact with it is the main distinguishing feature of religion.

The same understanding of religion as a real connection between man and the supernatural is characteristic of clergy, as well as religious theorists - theologians (theologians), idealist philosophers, and religious scholars. In most modern religions, the supernatural is personified primarily in God, whose existence is declared absolute and taken for granted. That's why religious people call themselves believers.

To understand the essence of religion, it is necessary to identify the main reasons for the emergence and reproduction of religiosity. These reasons are usually called the roots of religion. There are at least three types of roots of religion: social, epistemological and psychological.

The social roots of religion are the features of social existence that give rise to and nourish religiosity. The reason for their occurrence is the low level of development of the productive forces and the corresponding production relations, which makes a person dependent on some part (initially very significant) of natural and social phenomena that have a decisive influence on his life and activities. Often this dependence acquired the character of powerlessness: in a primitive society - in front of natural phenomena, and in a class society - in front of social ones. As the productive forces developed, the means of people's practical influence on the world around them improved. Such improvement is characteristic of all socio-economic formations that followed the primitive communal system. It weakened man’s dependence on natural elements, due to which the latter ceased to be perceived as a manifestation of the supernatural. Thus, one of the most ancient social roots of religion was undermined - powerlessness in relation to nature.

In the slaveholding feudal society the person was in constant dependence. The slave was completely dependent on the slave owner, and he, in turn, was in slavish obedience to the pharaoh, king, and emperor, whose dominance was also fragile and could be undermined at any moment by defeat in the war or a palace coup. Unable to radically change the existing order, people perceived it as given from above, influenced supernatural powers.

The epistemological roots of religion are the features cognitive activity, giving rise to and nourishing religiosity. They are identical to the epistemological roots of idealism. The process of cognition is complex and multi-stage. Its basis is the ability of human consciousness to reflect external world. The higher the form of such reflection, the more generalizations it allows. Elements of communication are already present in perception, there are much more of them in representation, and in abstract thinking they predominate.

Generalization includes the possibility of fantasy, the flight of thought from an object, the mental connection of what is actually incompatible (for example, fantastic images of a mermaid, a siren, a centaur). Operating with ready-made concepts, abstract thinking can take them for independent objects that exist next to the real objects and phenomena reflected in it. Hence the possibility of the emergence of such false abstractions as various manifestations of the supernatural, for example, in the image of God, spirit, devil, angel, etc.

The process of cognition is internally contradictory, since the results of cognitive activity represent a unity of opposites: relative and absolute, particular and general, random and necessary, finite and infinite, subjective and objective. The process of cognition has no end, since the knowable world is infinite. There was, is and will continue to be a lot of unexplored, incomprehensible, unclear things. It is his religious consciousness that includes him in the sphere of the supernatural, making him the object of blind and thoughtless faith.

Thus, the epistemological roots of religion are a person’s inability to correctly and fully use their cognitive capabilities, an absolutized inability, acting as a manifestation of intellectual impotence.

The psychological roots of religion are the characteristics of a person’s emotional state that give rise to and nourish religiosity.

This feature is the predominance in psychological state a person of negative emotions (feelings of fear, grief, grief, despair, sadness), caused by unfavorable circumstances of his life and perceived as a consequence of social impotence and intellectual helplessness. Finding himself unable to either understand the reasons for these circumstances or eliminate them, a person becomes desperate and finds himself in a stressful situation from which he must get out at any cost. Not finding, for one reason or another, real means and ways to overcome the despair that has gripped him, he turns to illusions, hopes for help from above, for the assistance of supernatural forces.

It should be borne in mind that neither the ability of consciousness to separate abstraction from reality, nor the difficulties of the process of cognition, nor the predominance of negative emotions lead to the emergence of religion automatically, by themselves. Epistemological and psychological factors create only the possibility of such an occurrence. And what turns religion from a possibility into reality are social factors - powerlessness before nature and society.

RELIGIOUS STUDIES is a branch of knowledge that studies the patterns of the emergence, development and functioning of religion, its structure and various components, its diverse phenomena as they appeared in the history of society, the relationship and interaction of religion and other areas of culture. Religion is an integral component of human history at all stages of its development. Therefore, regardless of the personal attitude towards religion, for every educated person, whatever his beliefs - religious or atheistic - it is necessary to be able to navigate the knowledge of religion as a socio-cultural phenomenon in general and in individual faiths, to understand the role and functions of religion as a specific form public consciousness and as a socio-historical phenomenon, to understand the peculiarities of the influence of religion on various spheres of spiritual culture.

Religious studies collaborates with such sciences and disciplines as philosophy, history, archeology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, ethics, aesthetics, ethnography, astronomy, and linguistics. Depending on the approach to the study of religion, two types of religious studies are distinguished: religious (internal), which studies religion based on the positions of religious consciousness and focusing on the tenets of a particular religion, and secular (external), neutral, which aims at maximum objectivity and does not seek to express the interests of believers or non-believers. Theology (theology) is not identical to religious studies - a systematic presentation, justification and defense of the doctrine of God, his attributes, a set of proofs of the truth of dogma, religious morality, rules and norms of life for believers and the clergy, established by a particular religion.

The structural elements of religious studies are:

Philosophy of religion giving general interpretation the essence and nature of religion, revealing its intellectual basis (not identical to religious philosophy, based on the basic principles of the doctrine of a particular religion).

Sociology of religion, which studies the mechanisms of the functioning of religion in various social environments and groups of believers, the structure and interaction of elements of religion, the place, functions and its role in a particular social system, as well as the peculiarities of the influence of a given social system on religion.

Psychology of religion, exploring psychological characteristics believers, their inner world, religious ideas, feelings, experiences. Particular attention is paid to the issues of adaptation of a believer to modern conditions.

The history of religion, which reveals the history of the emergence and evolution of individual religions in all the diversity of their features, in chronological order, and covers the entire complex of social phenomena associated with religion: ideology and dogma, cult, church institutions. It collects and stores information about all religions that exist or have ever existed.

Religious cultural studies focuses on religious art that had a religious ideological orientation and which, through artistic means, propagated the idea of the supernatural and dependence on it human destiny, asserted religious consciousness. Religious cultural studies include temple architecture, sculpture, painting, music and other forms of religious art.

The geography of religion studies the role of natural factors in the emergence and spread of religions, reveals the autochthony of certain religious formations of geographical regions, clarifies (through historical retrospective) the emergence of new religions in them and the fate of local ones, illuminates the process of the spread of world religions, reveals the relationship between ethnic and confessional in religious mobility, carries out mapping of religions.

The doctrine of freethinking reveals the content of ideological trends that proclaim the right of reason (to one degree or another) to free critical perception and analysis of the provisions of religion.

The phenomenology of religion generally reflects attempts to study the phenomenon of religion as an unusual phenomenon, creates a systematic description of the phenomena of religion, and classifies them on the basis of comparison and comparison.

RELIGION (lat. religio- piety, shrine, object of worship; option - lat. religare - to bind, tie) is one of the forms of social consciousness in which reality is reflected in specific, illusory, fantastic images, ideas, and concepts. It is estimated that over the entire existence of mankind, about 5,000 religions have arisen, and new ones continue to emerge (about 200 significant religious movements are currently active). There are many definitions of the concept “religion”, such as: “Religion is the experience of the sacred” (i.e., religious feelings), “Religion is an intellectual phenomenon”, “Religion is the aspirations and actions of a person to restore communication with God” , “Religion is the general theory of this world... its universal basis for consolation and justification” (i.e., religion, as it were, compensates for the disorder of earthly existence) and so on. Religion in a special way reflects real relationships in nature and society, endows them with special qualities and properties. Religion is an obligatory stage in the formation of spiritual culture. Religion is a natural and logical form of mythological worldview. Religion develops primarily not according to the rules of logic, but according to the laws of psychology.

The main feature of religion is belief in the supernatural: in God or gods, in the other world, in reward after death, in the immortality of the soul, in the resurrection of the dead, etc. It should be noted that the concepts of faith and religiosity are not identical. Every faith has its own subject. Faith is an element of human consciousness. The subject of religious faith is the supernatural, which, according to believers, does not obey the laws of the surrounding world and violates their natural course. A religious person believes in the exceptional nature of supernatural beings or phenomena, and does not apply the usual criteria of empirical reliability to them. God, angels, the afterlife, the immortal soul, miracles - everything that for a non-religious person seems to be a product of imagination, for a believer is reality, an organic part of his picture of the world, and not an additional detail, but its compositional basis. At the center of the picture of the world is the idea of God, the core of religiosity, which organizes, orders and colors many manifestations of the mental life of a believer. Religious faith, in contrast to faith-trust, as a situational state, is a stable and almost constant state of the human psyche (which, however, may not be the same in intensity: it may intensify when performing any particularly impressive cult acts, religious holidays). This state is difficult to express even for the most believer; it can be described as a kind of elation, similar to inspiration. Faith in God is a special state of consciousness, inseparable from one’s own self-awareness, interests, expectations, hopes, and includes thoughts, imagination, will and personal experiences. Therefore, the idea of God largely determines the behavior of a believer. The feelings he experiences are best conveyed by the term “reverence,” which includes awareness of contact with some secret, fear of the object of worship, hope for his mercy and help, and readiness to follow his instructions and instructions. In addition to belief in God, religion includes a set of religious actions, rituals, and religious cults.

In religious studies there is the concept of a “minimum” of religion, that is, what constitutes distinctive feature religion, on what basis do we call certain views, ideas, actions, organizations religious. There are three approaches to solving this issue, to defining the specific: 1) “minimum religion”, associated with the sphere of religious consciousness: in the particular views, ideas, feelings and experiences of believers, as well as the behavior caused by them; 2) with religious activities; 3) with religious organizations. These three elements constitute the basic components of religion.

Regarding religious consciousness, it is customary to distinguish between ordinary religious consciousness, which exists in the form of images, ideas, attitudes, moods, feelings, experiences, habits, traditions, and theoretically formulated, conceptual (conceptual) religious consciousness, which exists in the form of a systematized and codified doctrine. In developed forms of religion, these two types of consciousness are interconnected and interact.

The source of beliefs, as a rule, are religious texts, perceived as sacred scriptures. The Holy Scriptures, in the understanding of most people, are: a) comprehensive, that is, containing answers to all questions that believers may have; b) divinely inspired, that is, written, if not by God himself, then at least under his dictation; c) unchangeable - supporters of the faith do not have the right to change a single sign in the Holy Scriptures, regardless of what time and for what people they were intended; d) canonical, that is, the leaders of a given religious movement approved at one time. Jews (Torah), Christians (Bible), Muslims (Koran) claim to possess such writings; None of these books provides an answer to absolutely all questions; only adherents of these religions are convinced of their divine inspiration, and the immutability of the postulates does not prevent their different interpretations and does not prevent the emergence of disputes between in various directions within specific faiths.

Religious cult (Latin cultus - veneration, worship) is a set of religious actions, the implementation of religious faith in the actions of a social group or certain individuals. It is based on the belief that it is possible to establish certain relationships between a person and the object of his faith. This is most clearly revealed in propitiatory actions. The religious cult includes the following components:

2) objects – supernatural beings and real objects supposedly endowed with supernatural properties

3) subjects - a religious group (a person in charge of the action and a group of believers) or an individual

4) elements - bowing, kneeling, bowing the head, raising or crossing arms, making the sign of the cross, etc.

5) means – temple, religious art, various objects.

6) ways of using means of religious activity (determined by the content religious beliefs)

7) the result is an intensification of religious consciousness.

A cult system is a set of certain rituals, which is the most important element of religion.

Rituals are a set of stereotypical actions established by the custom or tradition of a particular social community, symbolizing certain ideas, norms, ideals and ideas. One of the main social functions of the ritual is the accumulation and transfer of experience both by individuals to each other and from generation to generation. The most important feature of the ritual is its symbolic nature. Among the rituals, prayer occupies a special place - a person’s verbal (verbal) appeal to the object of his faith, an element of the magic of words, the most important component of the cult of many religions of the world.

Religion – social institution, i.e. historically established, stable form of joint activity of people. Religion performs a number of functions. Functions are the ways in which religion operates in society:

Worldview: includes worldview (explanation of the world as a whole and individual phenomena and processes in it), worldview (reflection of the world in sensation and perception), worldview (emotional acceptance or rejection), attitude (evaluation). Giving meaning to existing existence provides an opportunity for those who believe to break out of limitations and support hope for achieving a “bright future”, for deliverance from suffering, misfortune, loneliness, and moral decline.

Compensatory function: compensates for the limitations, dependence, and powerlessness of people - both in terms of restructuring consciousness and changing the objective conditions of existence. Real oppression is overcome by “freedom in spirit.” The psychological aspect of compensation is of great importance - stress relief, consolation, catharsis, spiritual pleasure, even with the help of illusion.

Communicative function: provides communication. Religious consciousness prescribes two plans of communication: 1) believers with each other; 2) believers with God, angels, souls of the dead, saints.

Integrating-disintegrating function: in one respect it unites, and in another it separates individuals, groups, institutions. The integrating function is fulfilled within the limits to which a more or less unified, common religion is recognized. If there are different, and even opposing, confessions, then religion performs a disintegrating function.

Culturally transmitting function: religion, being a part of culture, contributes to the development of certain layers of it - writing, printing, art, ensures the protection and development of the values of religious culture.

Legitimating-delegitimating function: legitimizing certain social orders, institutions (state, political, legal, etc.), relations, norms, models as proper, or vice versa, asserting the illegality of some of them.

Regulatory function: with the help of certain ideas, values, attitudes, stereotypes, opinions, traditions, customs, institutions, the activities and relationships, consciousness and behavior of individuals, groups, and communities are controlled. Of particular importance is the system of norms (religious law, morality), models (numerous examples to follow), control (monitoring the implementation of regulations), rewards and punishments (“rewards” actual and promised in pre-death existence). The concept of sin is closely related to the implementation of the regulatory function of religion.

The concept of sin is one of the most important in most religions. Its essence is that a person willfully violates some laws established by the Creator of the world. If everything in the world - both living and non-living - naturally follows the rules that are laid down in the foundation of the universe, then a person can do this or not. He's free. This freedom is not unlimited. In some ways, like all living beings, a person instinctively obeys the natural law - he is not able to freely refuse to drink, breathe, or sleep, although he can, through an effort of will, significantly limit his needs and desires. But somewhere, and in a very vast area of his actions, a person is completely free. He can do nasty things to other people, or he can help them, he is able to sacrifice himself for the sake of his neighbor, his loved one, and he can demand sacrifice for himself from other people. Each of us makes many times a day, often without noticing it, such choices between good and evil, good and bad. For the religious mind, good is not simply what people agree to regard as such. Good is an objective establishment of God to man, this is God’s will in relation to man, this is, if you like, the law prescribed to him by the Creator, following which he will certainly achieve happiness, since God is good. On the contrary, evil is a departure from God into self-will, contempt for the law given to man by the Creator. Since God is the only primary source of life, departure from Him is death, transformation into nothingness. Sin is such self-destruction, although from the point of view of the person committing the sin, he asserts himself, realizing the goals he has set for himself. A person cannot fully understand with his mind why this is good and this is bad; moreover, the desire for bad often blinds his eyes. Hence, the law is the objectified, but not explained, will of God. In many religions, it is the divine law that is the thread that leads man to his Creator, to bliss and immortality.

There are several main theories about the origin of religion. Naturalistic theory believed that the sphere of the spiritual, and above all, religion, is a derivative of the material world, a fantastic reflection of this world in the minds of people, fear of natural phenomena (the Roman writer Petronius argued: “Fear created the first gods on earth”). The astral-mythological (natural mythological, naturistic) theory of the origin of religion consists in deriving it from the deification of celestial phenomena, which man did not understand and tried to explain to himself through personification (in human or animal form). Animistic theory derives religion from primitive animism. Animism arose as a consequence of the experience of those special states that primitive man or his environment experienced from time to time: sleep, fainting, hallucinations, illness, death, and which were explained by the presence of the soul as a small double in the human body, capable of leaving it temporarily or forever. Souls gradually turned into spirits, and then into gods. The pre-animistic theory believed that faith in souls was preceded by more primitive, pre-animistic (pre-animistic) ideas: either faith in the magical power of man himself, or faith in an impersonal mysterious force, or ideas about the universal animation of nature. The magical theory expressed by D. Fraser explains spiritual development humanity as a process going through three stages: magic, faith, science. A person first tries to fight for his well-being with the help of magical means, having become convinced of their ineffectiveness, he turns to faith, religion arising from magical images, and having become convinced of the powerlessness of religion, he “invents” science. Therefore, magic, religion and science are elements of the same series, different spheres of thinking and spheres of human activity. According to psychological theory (also called Freudianism), religion is based on neuroses, neurotic states. “Religion is a universal collective neurosis,” Freud argued. The subconscious drives of an individual conceal a huge destructive force that is dangerous for society: therefore, society, trying to curb this force, creates social norms and forms of satisfaction of the “subconscious” that would not contradict social reality. Suppression of instincts leads to a painful state of mind, to neuroses; in this state, a person is not able to adequately perceive the world around him and is immersed in a world of illusions, and religion is one of the forms of illusory consciousness. Sociological theory assumed that religious beliefs arise exclusively in society and are forcibly imposed on the human consciousness social environment; society seems to deify itself in certain images. Within social theory We can distinguish the political-state concept, according to which religion is an invention of legislators, a conscious conspiracy to achieve the interests of the ruling elite or general social order and tranquility, as well as euhemerism (on behalf of the author - the ancient Greek philosopher Euhemer), which believes that the source of religion was reverence and adoration the most ancient kings. The pragmatic theory explains the emergence of religion by the fact that it was simply necessary - to organize society, to overcome social chaos. The proto-monotheistic (clerical) theory derived the emergence of ancient beliefs from the remnants of the ancient faith in a single creator god, to whose image mythological, magical and other elements were allegedly subsequently mixed. The traditionalist theory claims that religion (faith) was revealed to people directly by God. This theory does not require proof, does not rely on any arguments, since it is based on selfless faith. Theistic theory recognizes the existence of God as a being fundamentally different from the world of things and phenomena, an absolute, superhuman and supernatural being, the source of everything, including faith. Contemplative theism assumes that religion, as a relationship between God and people, is a complex of feelings born of a person’s awareness of the finitude of his existence and attempts to overcome it spiritually. The concept of innate ideas (innate knowledge) is based on the fact that the idea of God is inherent in man initially, that consciousness contains knowledge that exists when the soul, even before the birth of the body, contemplates entities outside the physical world, that is, God; the idea of God as a most perfect being presupposes the recognition of his existence: a person thinks about God, therefore, God exists. And a person thinks about God because the idea of him is a leading innate idea, exists in the consciousness of a person from birth and manifests itself as knowledge of God (more precisely, as a desire for knowledge of God). The Orthodox-academic theory of the emergence of religion explains the emergence of religion through the action of two sources: 1) objective, existing outside of man and manifested in the influence of God on the human spirit; 2) subjective, which depends on the person, on his assimilation of this influence.

Probably, the emergence of religion was associated with the development of human intellect and the emergence of the ability for abstract thinking, on the one hand, and the impossibility of rationally, that is, with the help of reason, to explain at a certain stage of human development all the complexity and diversity of the surrounding world. This led to an irrational explanation of natural and social phenomena. But, being irrational, religion has external, purely material ways of expression: religious buildings, religious ministers, religious norms and rules. But religiosity is not an indispensable accompaniment of any limitation of our strength and knowledge; on the other hand, uncertainty, suffering, and limitations do not always give rise to religiosity. The primary link of the institution of religion is the religious group. It may be the same in volume as others social groups. Gradually, specialists in carrying out religious activities are identified within it: sorcerers, shamans, forming a professional group engaged in such activities as organizing and conducting rituals. Organizations of clergy are formed - priestly corporations. These are not just professional organizations of people engaged in the same type of work, but a social stratum. With her direct participation and initiative, religious relations are constituted:

Development of a systematized doctrine;

Development of a system for his defense and justification;

Management and implementation of religious activities.

Religion, as a special form of social consciousness, evolved along with society, developed, and underwent various changes. The following stages in the development of this phenomenon can be distinguished:

Early forms of religion.

Religions of developed societies.

World religions.

Types of religious organizations:

CHURCH– a type of religious organization with a complex, strictly centralized and hierarchical system of interaction between clergy and believers, performing the functions of developing, preserving and transmitting religious information, organizing and coordinating religious activities and monitoring people’s behavior. The church usually has a large following. Belonging to a church is determined not by the free choice of the individual, but by tradition. At the church level, the controlling and controlled (mass of believers) subsystems are clearly separated.

DENOMINATION(literally “change of name”) - an intermediate type of religious organization, depending on the nature of education and evolutionary trends, combines the features of a sect and a church. From the church it borrows a relatively high system of centralization and a hierarchical principle of management, a rejection of the policy of isolationism, recognition of the possibility of spiritual rebirth, and, consequently, salvation of the soul for all believers. It is united with the sect by the principle of voluntariness, constant and strict control of membership, claims to exclusivity of attitudes and values, and the idea of being chosen by God.

SECT- arises as a result of the separation of some believers and clergy from the church on the basis of a change in beliefs and cult. The characteristic features of the sect are: a relatively small number of followers, voluntary, constantly monitored membership, the desire to isolate oneself from other religious associations and to isolate oneself from worldly life, claims to the exclusivity of attitudes and values, the belief in the “chosenness of God”, a manifestation of opposition and intransigence towards dissenters , the absence of division into clergy and laity, the proclamation of the equality of all members of the organization.

CHARISMATIC CULT- one of the varieties of sects, distinguished by the process of formation. It is created on the basis of adherents of a specific personality, which recognizes itself and is recognized by others as the bearer of special divine qualities (charisma). The founder and leader of such a religious organization is declared either by God himself, or by a representative of God or some supernatural force (Satan, for example). The charismatic cult, as a rule, is small in number; claims to exclusivity, isolationism, fanaticism, and mysticism are more clearly expressed in it.

CLASSIFICATION OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS

Example	Church	Denomination	Sect	Cult
	Roman Catholicism; Anglican Church	Methodism; Congregationalism	Jehovah witnesses	Heavenly Father; Temple of People; Unity Church
Membership Sources	All or most members of society are devoted to the church	Recruitment through conversion of children of community members; in some cases converting new people	Brotherhood of Devoted Believers; conversion based on belief	Brotherhood of Devoted Believers; treatment as a result of an emotional crisis
Attitude to the state	Closely associated with the state and non-religious organizations	In normal relations with the state, but not part of its structure	Oppose other religions, as well as state and secular authorities	Denial of other religions, as well as state and secular authorities
Manual type	Full-time professional priests	Professional priests	Unprofessional priests with poor training	Charismatic leader
Type of creed	Formal theology	Tolerance of different points of view and debate	Emphasis on purity of doctrine and return to original principles	New principles; revelation and penetration into a new essence
Member Engagement	Minimized or not required at all for many members	Minor involvement, other commitments allowed	A deep sense of devotion is required	Total devotion required
Type of religious action	Presence of rituals	Presence of rituals, poor emotional expressiveness	Deep emotionality	Deep emotionality

One of the most important concepts in religious studies is the concept of “religiosity.” It characterizes the qualitative and quantitative certainty of the subjective assimilation of religious values and norms, their influence on the behavior and life of believers and the religious community. Religiosity is the ideological orientation of an individual and a group, expressed in the totality of religious properties of consciousness, behavior, and relationships; religiosity is an attitude towards religion. Religiosity underlies the typology of social groups in their attitude towards religion. It is customary to distinguish between religious and non-religious people. Among the religious, the following types are distinguished: 1) Convinced believers: religious ideas dominate in their minds; religion plays a decisive role. They carefully observe rituals, holidays and fasts, read religious literature, know the doctrine and cult, take an active part in the life of the religious community; 2) Traditional believers: in their minds, religious ideas are in balance with non-religious ones. Religion plays an important but not decisive role. They observe only the main rituals and celebrate major religious holidays, they know the doctrine in the most general terms, they are informed about the cult; 3) Doubting believers: non-religious ideas dominate in their minds, religion has almost no influence on their actions. They are not familiar with the creed, the cult, and have practically no connection with the religious community. Among the non-religious, the following types are distinguished: 1) Non-believers: they consciously do not accept faith in God, do not recognize canons, dogmas, religious cults, but at the same time do not try to defend their ideological position in their environment; 2) Atheists: they deny the existence of God, the afterlife, and the immortality of the soul. As a rule, atheists are tolerant of the beliefs of others, but defend their point of view on religion; 3) Indifferent: they are equally indifferent both in belief in God and in disbelief in him, they are simply not interested in religion. Religiosity can exist in them in a hidden, latent form and awaken under certain circumstances.

In society as a whole, depending on the dominance of religious or non-religious individuals (as well as the degree of their influence), the influence of religion can develop in two opposite directions: secularization and sacralization.

Sacralization (from the Latin sacer - sacred) is the endowment of objects, things, phenomena, people with “sacred” (in the religious sense) content, the subordination of political and public institutions, social and scientific thought, culture and art, everyday relations to religious influence. The basis of sacralization is the recognition of the sacred in contrast to the worldly, secular, subordination to God, as a result of which the worldly, everyday acquires divine meaning. Sacralization can take on the following forms:

Clericalism (from the Latin clericalis - church) is the denial of the progressive achievements of culture and democracy (at least those that can undermine the dominant position of the church and religion), the consistent persecution of manifestations of free thought.

Religious fanaticism (from the Latin fanaticus - frantic, frantic) is a blind, extreme commitment to religious ideas and the desire to strictly follow them in everyday life, intolerance towards people of other faiths and dissidents.

Religious fanaticism is an extreme expression of fanaticism, which consists in committing, during the performance of a cult, actions that cause harm to the mental and physical health of a person: prayers of a torturous nature (self-flagellation, crucifixion, emasculation, etc.), deliberate reduction to physical and moral exhaustion, the implementation of inhumane methods of religious punishment (stoning), torture or murder on religious grounds.

Secularization (from Latin saecularis - worldly, secular) is the process of liberation of various spheres of social and political life, individual consciousness, activities and behavior of people, social relations and institutions from the influence of religion. The decline in the influence of religion is expressed in the narrowing of the range of functions it performs in society, in the alienation of church property in favor of the state, the removal of education from the tutelage of the church, in the development of secular art and secular morality. As a rule, secularization is a consequence of freethinking.

Religious free-thinking is a direction of social thought that rejects religious prohibitions on the rational understanding of the tenets of faith and defends the freedom of reason in the search for truth. Common features for numerous forms of freethinking are the recognition of the right of the human mind to invade the sphere of religion, a critical attitude towards religion and the opposition of religion to other value guidelines. The following forms of freethinking are distinguished:

Secular Humanism – Upholding Dignity human personality, her right to free spiritual development without the dictates of religion.

Godlessness is the condemnation of the gods for allowing evil and the disorder of the world, for their indifference to human suffering, injustice and cruelty (“I don’t accept God... I don’t accept the world he created, I don’t accept God’s world” (F.M. Dostoevsky “Brothers” Karamazov").

Religious nihilism (often coinciding with moral) is expressed in the daring and cynical rejection of spiritual (primarily in the religious sense) values (“If there is no God, therefore, everything is permitted!”).

Religious indifferentism - indifference, indifference, indifference to religion (can be a consequence of conscious reflection, or simply laziness of thought).

Anti-clericalism - condemnation of the claims of the church to secular power, to dictatorship in the sphere of education and culture (may also be characteristic of believers who are afraid of church tyranny).

Religious skepticism is an expression of doubt about the truth of religion or its individual aspects. It arises as a result of a comparison of religious canons and dogmas with the realities of life, with the facts of church history, even a comparison of canons and dogmas with each other, since they often contradict each other.

Pantheism is a comparison of God with the Universe, a mental identification of God and Nature. There are materialistic (deity dissolves in the universe (“nature is nothing other than God in things”) and idealistic (deity dissolves the universe in itself) pantheism.

Deism is the recognition of God as the creator of the universe and the denial of his participation in natural events, his non-interference in the natural course of events. Supporters of deism are convinced of the presence of some intelligent creator of the universe, complex, but logical and knowable. The Creator does not appear as something supernatural, but as an equally natural and logical root cause.

Naturalism is the denial of everything supernatural, relying exclusively on natural science knowledge: only nature exists, and man and society are an inseparable part of nature.

Atheism is the denial of belief in supernatural forces and beings, criticism of the very foundations of the religious worldview. Militant atheism is not only a denial, but also a persecution of faith, cult and their bearers.

Nowadays freethinking has no such important, for most states are secular and democratic: in them the church is separated from the state and freedom of conscience is proclaimed (can also be called freedom of religion, although this concept is somewhat narrower). There can be various relationships between the state and religion, between society and religion, which can be divided into three types:

1) Tolerance is a privileged position in the state of one of the religions with recognition of the right to practice other religions.

2) Freedom of religion – freedom to choose religion and practice religious worship.

3) Freedom of conscience - the right to profess any religion or to be a non-believer, in a broader sense - freedom from any spiritual violence. The imposition of official free-thinking already violates freedom of conscience (and in fact ceases to be free-thinking).

In historical retrospect, several stages in the relationship between society and religion can be distinguished:

1) Spontaneous religious tolerance of the Ancient world, which was explained by the fact that there was no doubt about the reality of the existence of either one’s own or other people’s gods.

2) Religious monopolization of state and public life, which was characteristic of the Middle Ages, when the church controlled or tried to control all aspects of life, or merged with the higher state power(Papal Power, Caliphates of the Islamic World).

3) Emancipation (liberation) of the state and society from religious monopolization, which began in the Renaissance.

4) Tolerance, freedom of religion and conscience, characteristic primarily of European states since the 18th century.

Currently, compliance with the principle of freedom of conscience is uneven. In some states, with formally declared freedom of conscience, there are privileged religions or religious movements: Islam in Arab countries, Catholicism in Latin American or Western European countries, Orthodoxy in Greece. The special status of a particular religion is fixed in the constitutions of 42 states; in others, legislation requires that when practicing senior positions taking a religious oath or belonging to an established church. In some states (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan), religious influence extends to most spheres of public life, Muslim law operates, and atheism is prohibited. In Israel, the state religion is Orthodox Judaism, and the Israeli Rabbinate has broad powers in the field of politics, government controlled, regulation of marriage and family relations.

Religion is the restoration or reproduction of a person’s sacred connection with the absolute.

The problem of the essence of religion - The history of mankind knows many different religions and belief systems. All of them proceed from the idea of incompleteness and imperfection of man and offer ways to improve man. The main thing in religion is not doctrine, but a way of life and personality transformation.

Variety of definitions of religion. The definition of religion as belief in the supernatural is imprecise. Religion is defined narrowly as belief in God or gods. Various definitions of religion: Religion is a special feeling of human dependence on the infinite (F. Schleiermacher);

Religion - symbolism primitive myths about nature (M. Muller); Religion - belief in invisible spiritual beings (E. B. Tylor); Religion is a fantastic reflection in the form of unearthly forces of such external circumstances that dominate a person (F. Engels);

Religion is a sense of the sacred (J. Huxley); But the real essence of religion cannot be reduced to any of these definitions. Religion is rather an overcoming of forced social alienation, rather than a product of such alienation. Religious spirituality is aimed at bringing believers closer together, at attracting fellow believers to each other and their sacred object.

The integral formulation of religion was substantiated by V. S. Solovyov. Religion is the reunification of man and the world with an unconditional and complete beginning = in other words, religion is the connection of man and the world with the absolute. This formulation is universal.

Entity P. – in the sacralization of basic social connections. Durkheim defined R. as an ideological mechanism, cat. ensures the solidarity of people and the integrity of society. Complementing Durkheim's definition, we can define R. as the search and establishment of sacred connections that provide the individual and (or) social. groups require integrity. This definition makes it quite simple to distinguish R. from all other forms of the common form. spirit, which also consolidates people in their own way: the procedure of sacralization of basic values fundamentally distinguishes R. from fs, art, mythology, NK, and morality. At the same time, R. should not be reduced to social. sacredness, because There is also a relation “individual – absolute”.

Religion as restoration and reproduction of connection. Connection. The word religion (Latin religio) comes from the word league, that is, connection, union = conditionality, conjugation, connection, inseparability, fastening, inseparability, dependence, community, merging into a whole, etc. But in practice, religion does not mean every connection, and the connection is spiritual. There are three aspects to the phenomenon of communication: material, energetic and informational. Religion is an internal, essential, natural, immaterial, informational and energetic union. Being predominantly an invisible, spiritual connection, religion is at the same time accompanied by material embodiments: signs, omens, symbols, objects of worship, social organizations. Therefore, religion is a connection in general, although its core is a spiritual connection.

Religion is usually understood as a changing spiritual connection (with the absolute Self, ancestral man, God). Each specific religion has its own understanding of this connection:

a) this connection could be initially direct, but then it was broken and it is restored;

b) this connection has yet to be established first indirectly, and then, transferring to higher levels, turned into direct;

c) this connection needs to be reproduced as in different periods the life of one and the same individual, and in a series of generations of people;

d) more and more people will gradually become involved in a particular religion, and it will become all-encompassing.

The first two aspects of religion are the restoration of connection, the last two are the reproduction of connection.

Sometimes the second meaning is missed and religion is understood only as the restoration of a previously lost spiritual connection. The main question of religion, posed in the most abstract form, has three interconnected aspects: 1) does the absolute exist? 2) how can it be known? 3) how to treat it practically? Depending on the direction of the search for the absolute, R. can be divided into: egocentric - establishing or restoring the spirit. the connection of the individual with his true “I” as a self-sufficient microcosm based on the principle “Know thyself” (Nietzsche’s superhuman, existential-zm); sociocentric - the desire of a tribal person or some part of society for the unity of their essential forces and for the embodiment of the sought-after spirit. integrity in the chosen sacred object (cults of personality, state, party, chosen people, class); cosmocentric - establishing a connection between people and God, the gods, His center of the universe, the center of all cosmic. forces (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism).

R. in all variants is usually understood as a changing spirit. connection with the absolute: a) this connection may be initially direct, but then it was interrupted, and it is restored b) this connection has yet to be established first indirectly, and then turned into direct c) this connection needs to be reproduced both in different periods of the life of one person and in a series of generations of people d) c def. R. will gradually involve more and more people, and it will become all-encompassing.

The nature of a specific religious connection significantly depends on the specifics of the solution to this basic issue. Religion contributes to the contradictory process of unification of individuals, small and large social groups = helps to compensate for the harmful consequences of the division of labor and class stratification for the unity of society, although it does not always successfully cope with this task. Not a single form of social consciousness can exist in a culture without interaction with other forms and without relying on them. Each of them is a separate facet of people’s spiritual and mental life. Religion is also one of historical forms worldview. Can you explain the word “ religion "derived from Latin" ”, “piety ”, “shrine ” and define it as a form of worldview in which the development of the world is carried out through its doubling into the otherworldly (heavenly, supernatural) and this-worldly (earthly, natural). This is a worldview and the corresponding behavior and cult that are based on belief in the real existence of one or more gods or some supernatural principle. Can you explain the word “ The basis of the religious worldview, its main feature is belief in the supernatural and its main role in the lives of people and nature. You can consider the word “ “”derived from Latin word

connection ” and define religion as a conscious connection between a person and God (gods), with some supernatural principle, i.e. with the Highest creative, organizing force of world existence, the embodiment of the highest spirituality, the highest Good (or Evil, depending on what religion and what deity we are talking about), Justice (or vice versa), Truth (or False). Religion is based on religious faith. Faith (any kind, not just religious) is a special state of the soul (or mental condition

), in which a person is convinced of the reliability (truth) of something without resorting to theoretical evidence or sensory experience. A person is “simply” confident in something. In the case of religious faith, its subject is the supernatural and its relationship with nature, society and man. People have always wanted to know what they believe. Therefore, religious faith is opposed not to knowledge, but to scientific evidence, scientific theory. The question of the origin of religion is quite complex and depends on from the point of view of what approach - theological or scientific-philosophical - this issue is considered. The theological-theological approach, as a rule, indicates that the world and man were created by a supernatural force or forces (for example, God or gods), which play a fundamental role in their further development. Science prefers to rely on scientific facts, which is drawn from archeology, anthropology, etc. These facts, alas, are not enough, and therefore we can only talk about a probabilistic explanation. It is believed that about 35-40 thousand years ago ancient people are based on the hypothesis that man transferred the features of his nature to the world around him, which served as the basis for the emergence of religious ideas. You can often come across this view of the origin of religion: religious consciousness is generated by the powerlessness of ancient people in the fight against the blind, formidable, mysterious natural and social phenomena that dominated them, which people were afraid of, on which they depended, and the causes of which they did not understand. According to this point of view, religion arises as a compensation for human powerlessness, ignorance in the face of the elements (alien, higher, fate), as a desire to “agree” with a terrible and incomprehensible force about support, help, and not causing harm. Today? Why do physicists and chemists, biologists and anthropologists, winners of various scientific prizes believe in God, because it would seem that they could do without the supernatural in explaining various phenomena and processes, both natural and social. However, they believe, declaring that their religious beliefs do not in any way contradict their scientific views. Both Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg came to the conclusion that religion helps to harmonize life in society, and one of its tasks is a reminder of the great Order of the world. Norbert Wiener believed that the principles of order in the universe are probably not very different from what a religious person means by God. Max Planck stated that there is no obstacle to identifying the world order of science with the God of religion. Deity turns out to be the same in nature as the power of natural laws. The source of religious faith can be seen in the direct sensation of God (deities) by man, in the experience of the reality of the Highest Principle, the desire for this experience, which brings spiritual purification, peace and hope to the true believer, strengthens his spirit and allows him to experience moments of bliss, gratitude, trust, light joy or sadness.

The main theories of the origin of religion should be studied in more detail on your own, based on the recommended literature.

Religious consciousness appears in both sensory and mental forms and has two levels: everyday, which is dominated by emotions, visual and figurative forms, and conceptual (theoretical), which includes a specially developed system of concepts, ideas, principles, argumentation, and concepts. The system includes teachings about God (or gods), about the world, nature, society, man, developed by specialists - theologians, religious interpretation of economics, politics, law, morality, religious philosophy, etc.

External form of manifestation of faith - cult(from lat. “ care”, “veneration"). A cult is a collection of sacred, i.e. sacred, actions by which the believer attempts to influence supernatural or natural objects.

Cult includes rituals, prayers, sacraments, fasting... Means of cult include material objects that are used in cult practice: temples, relics, robes of clergy, temple utensils, etc.

The most ancient cults include:

1. the cult of the Mother Goddess, who rules all natural processes and is the universal progenitor,

2. harmful cults (witchcraft),

3. erotic cult, 4. funeral cult associated with the belief in the existence of the soul and its,

afterlife

5. early tribal cult (initiation) - age-related initiation rites reflecting the age of majority, or initiation into adult members of the tribe,

6. trade cult, originating from totemism,

7. cult of ancestors,

8. cult of leaders,

9. an agrarian cult designed to ensure the fertility of the land,

10. plant cult,

11. animal cult,

12. cult of mountains,

13. shamanism and other cults.

1) The main functions of religion include: compensatory : the idea of an ideal world (or a state of perfection to which a believer should strive) to a certain extent relieves a person from the hardships of life; this compensates for the powerlessness before natural and social forces, the limitations scientific knowledge

2) , imperfection of man and human life in general; ideological

3) : a believer develops a specific worldview based on faith in the real existence of a supernatural principle; regulatory

4) : religion is a means of social regulation, ordering, preservation of morals and traditions, since it directs the believer to follow a certain system of values and norms of behavior; integrating

5) , i.e. unifying (or vice versa - dividing); political

6) : active influence on politics (but not every religion performs this function);: religion influences the development of spiritual culture;

7) therapeutic: religion helps to maintain or restore inner peace, psychological balance, relieve the effects of stress, etc.

The earliest forms of religion include:

1. Fetishism(from Portuguese “amulet”, “talisman”, “magic”) - veneration of various real objects that are endowed with supernatural properties, such as the ability to protect, heal, help... These could be stones, chips, teeth, figurines. Fetishes are prototypes of idols and statues of gods.

2. Totemism(from the word “ototem”, which in the language of one of the North American Indian tribes means “his clan”) is the belief in the existence of a supernatural relationship between a group of people (usually a clan) and a certain type of animal, plant (less often, an object). An animal or plant - a totem was usually considered the ancestor of the clan (later, on this basis, a cult of animals, plants, myths about the transformation of people into animals or plants, and the cult of ancestors arose). Many scientists note that totemism reflected the features of social relations in primitive society (i.e. consanguinity), which were transferred to the outside world. Usually a totem became an animal on which a person in one way or another depended, whose traits or characteristics he wanted to imitate. Gradually, a taboo (prohibition) appeared on eating the totem (as the cult of ancestors intensified). However, sometimes for ritual purposes it was necessary to eat a totem - to strengthen the connection with it. After this, it was necessary to apologize to the totem and punish the murder weapon as the culprit. Initially, the totem was not deified; only later did cults of ancestors, animals, and plants appear.

3. Animism(from Latin “soul”) - belief in the existence of spirits, souls, souls of deceased ancestors. Primitive people they considered nature by analogy with themselves (i.e., they animated, endowed with will, reason...). The cult of ancestors originates from animism.

4. Animatism(from Latin “animate”) - belief in the universal animation of nature, the idea of an impersonal force operating in nature.

Myth and religion can be very difficult to separate from each other. Often in myths the characters are gods and supernatural forces. Myth, in general, in itself, is not religious. It becomes religious due to its connection with religious ideas and rituals, when myth is their description, justification, justification, explanation, and understanding.

The question of the connection between philosophy and religion is also interesting, for which much evidence can be found in the history of philosophy. So, for the French philosopher of the 17th century. For Rene Descartes, the idea of God was the most important both because He created this world and because without God the process of knowledge was impossible. IN philosophical teaching German thinker of the 18th century. According to Immanuel Kant, God is both the Creator of the chaotic cloud of particles, from which the world then naturally arises, and is the supreme moral legislator. And medieval philosophy in general is fundamentally theocentric: God is its central, basic concept, through which and in connection with which everything else is determined. Other examples can be given, especially from Ukrainian and Russian philosophy. However, the idea of God in the philosophical systems of scientists often turned out to be a philosophical abstraction, an abstract symbol of some perfect, eternal, highest reality. Philosophical faith is different from religious faith. The God of a philosopher, as a rule, is not the God of an ordinary believer. Religious faith, unlike philosophy, knows no doubt about its foundations. And a philosopher “by nature” is critical of everything, ready to question everything, including his own views.

In structural terms, religion is an integral unity:

religious consciousness;

religious activities;

religious relations;

religious institutions and organizations.

a) Religious consciousness.

Religious consciousness is characterized by sensory clarity, images created by the imagination, religious faith, linguistic expression using religious vocabulary and other special signs. All these properties are closely interrelated and interact with each other. Religious faith is an integrative feature of religious consciousness. This is a special psychological state of confidence in achieving a goal, the occurrence of an event, in a person’s expected behavior, in the truth of ideas in the absence of reliable information. It contains the expectation that what you want will come true. Vera stands important factor integration of the individual, group, mass, incentive for determination and activity of people.

Religious consciousness has two levels - ordinary and conceptual. Ordinary religious consciousness appears in the form of images, ideas, illusions, moods and feelings, habits and traditions, which are a direct reflection of the living conditions of people. At this level, religion is always directly connected with the individual and always appears in a personal form.

Religious consciousness at the conceptual level is a specially developed, systematized set of concepts, ideas, principles, and concepts. It includes:

teachings about God, the world, nature, society, man, specially developed on a religious basis (theology, theology, creeds);

interpretation of economics, politics, social phenomena carried out in accordance with the principles of a religious worldview, i.e. religious-political, religious-economic, religious-legal and other concepts;

religious philosophy. (5, pp. 49-50).

b) Religious activities

Religious activity occupies a unique place in the system of social activities. There are two main types of religious activity: non-cult and cult.

Non-cult activities are carried out in the spiritual and practical spheres. Some types of non-cult activities: production of means of worship, teaching in religious educational institutions, as well as teaching theology in non-religious educational institutions, participation in missions, in the work of cathedrals, propaganda of religious views in the media. Non-cult activities are closely intertwined with cult activities.

Cult is the most important type of religious activity, the content of which is determined by corresponding religious concepts, ideas, and dogmas.

The subject of religious activity are various objects and forces, embodied in some religious images (for example: objects, animals, plants, the Sun, the Moon, as well as ritual actions - dancing, singing, worship, religious holidays).

The subject of a cult can be either a religious group of believers or a single individual believer.

The means of worship include directly the buildings where religious ceremonies are performed (temples, houses of worship), religious art (painting, architecture, music), religious objects (church utensils, priestly vestments). The totality of the means of worship plays a vital role in creating the appropriate atmosphere necessary when performing religious actions.

The result of religious activity is, first of all, the satisfaction of religious needs and the revival of religious consciousness. A cult can become a factor in the dynamics of the psychological states of believers: a transition occurs from a state of depression, anxiety, sorrow, melancholy to a state of relief, peace, calm and harmony, and a surge of strength. In religious activities, real communication of believers with each other occurs, aesthetic needs are satisfied, because the decoration of churches, icons, frescoes have an indisputable artistic merit, priestly vestments, music, singing are performed in artistic style and can deliver aesthetic enjoyment. (5, pp. 50-51)

c) Religious relations

Religious relations are a type of relationship in the spiritual sphere that develops in accordance with religious consciousness and is realized through religious activity.

Just like religious activity, religious relations are divided into cult and non-cult. Non-cultic ones arise in non-cultic activities. These are direct, actual relationships between individuals and organizations (in theological school - “teacher-student”, in missionary activity - “missionary - individuals”, etc.).

Similarly, cult relationships are formed in the process of cult activity. For example, a wedding ceremony involves the bride and groom in a mutual relationship accepted in the church; Baptism establishes a connection between the “godson (daughter)” and the “godparents.”

Religious relations can have a different character - solidarity, tolerance, neutrality, as well as conflict and struggle (religious fanaticism). However, even with peaceful coexistence, there is usually a perception of superiority this direction religion over all others.

d) Religious organizations

Religious organizations are created to streamline religious activities and religious relations. They also consist of cult and non-cult. Non-cultic ones are called upon to manage non-cultic activities (church councils, rectors of spiritual educational institutions, departments of the religious press, etc.), cultic - in religious activities (clergy, clergy, diaconate, episcopate).

As the social system and division of labor developed, certain religious classes (priests) began to emerge, and with them religious organizations. Religion was divided into faiths, followers of a certain faith formed a religious community, and the existence and functioning of the community was ensured by the organization.

Community with everyone organizational elements represents religious association. In Christianity, for example, there are several types of religious associations: church, sect, denomination, established sect, mystery, etc. But, of course, the church received the greatest spread and real power. It is a relatively broad association, membership to which is determined, as a rule, not by the free choice of the individual, but rather by tradition.

Concept

Religion is a sphere of spiritual life based on belief in a supernatural personal ideal of the highest truth, righteousness, and justice. This ideal is the goal of the spiritual aspirations of the believer. In it he finds meaning and justification for his existence. Russian thinkers and philosophers (Dostoevsky, Soloviev, Berdyaev, etc.) saw in religion the core of culture, its constitutive idea, as the basis and justification of morality. They were the first to point out that all hitherto existing cultures and civilizations were religious in spirit. In addition, they substantiated the opinion that a non-religious culture is impossible in the future. As such, it represents:

Necessary result of formation and development public relations, which has the opposite effect on them;

A way of existing and overcoming human self-alienation;

Reflection of reality;

Public subsystem;

A cultural phenomenon. Probably, the synthesis of various definitions allows us to better understand the essence of religion.

Structure of religion

The structure of religion includes:

1. religious consciousness;

2. religious activity;

3. religious organizations.

1. Religious consciousness. There are two levels of religious consciousness:

a. level of ideology

b. level of psychology.

Religious ideology includes theology, religious philosophy, theological concepts of economics, politics, law, art, etc. At the level of social psychology, religion appears in the form of religious images, feelings, moods, illusions, habits, etc. At this level, religious consciousness , unlike the level of ideologies, does not appear as something integral, systematized, but appears in the form of disparate views and ideas. The dominant role here is played by religious feeling, i.e. the emotional element. 2. Religious activities: a. non-cult - carried out in the spiritual and practical spheres. Spiritual non-cult activity consists of the production of religious ideas and the composition of theological works. Practical non-cult activities include missionary activity, teaching religion, promoting religion through the media, in contact groups, etc. b. religious activity aims to achieve direct communication with God.

The means of religious activity include the temple and various religious objects (cross, candles, priestly vestments, etc.). The methods of religious activity are determined by the content of religious beliefs. These can be elementary religious acts (bows, kneeling, sign of the cross, etc.), as well as more complex ones (sacrifices, divine services, sermons, etc.).

Structure of religion

3. Religious organizations, i.e. associations of followers of a certain faith. There are three main types of religious associations: a. The church is a broad association, membership to which is determined, as a rule, not by free choice, but by tradition. There is no fixed membership. Believers are divided into laity and hierarchically organized clergy; b. sect - arises as a direction in opposition to the dominant teaching. Characteristics: fixed membership, the principle of voluntariness, a claim to exclusivity and chosenness, a pronounced tendency towards isolation from the world, the absence of a special priesthood; c. denomination - arises when a sect gets rid of extremes, isolation and opposition to the world; professional clergy appear; strictly fixed membership is maintained.

Functions of religion

The ideological function is to create a special worldview, at the center of which is belief in the reality of the existence of the supernatural, which plays a decisive role in the fate of man and society. Compensating function. By turning to religion, a person seeks to compensate for his powerlessness before natural and especially social forces hostile to him, before the bitter circumstances of life, to find consolation and relief from suffering. Integrating-disintegrating function. A common religion unites people, while at the same time singling out and, in other situations, opposing them to adherents of other religious teachings. Thus, in some cases the religious factor can be an important element of the stability of society, while in others it can play exactly the opposite role. The regulatory function consists in the fact that, with the help of a certain system of norms, values, and regulations, the activities of individuals and groups are controlled different levels- from parish communities to ethnic groups. It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of “social function” and “social role” of religion. When we're talking about about the role, then an integral assessment of the consequences of religion performing social functions is given. There are extreme points of view: a complete denial of any positive role of religion in society, on the one hand, and, on the other, its unbridled apologetics. Both of these points of view are far from objective. The American thinker E. Fromm believed that in any religion there are both humanistic and analytical tendencies. Which one will dominate is determined historical context. Marxist sociology clearly addresses the issue of the social role of religion. It teaches that the only criterion can be whether religion at a given historical stage promotes or hinders social progress.

RELIGION AND SOCIETY

INTRODUCTION

Structure of religion

1. The essence, concept and structure of religion. 4

2. Religion and society. 9

4. The role of Orthodoxy in the life of Russian society. 15

CONCLUSION. 21

LIST OF REFERENCES USED... 23

INTRODUCTION

The mythological worldview was formed in the process of human labor activity. At this time, thinking developed and the conditions were laid for the formation of a systemic worldview.

After another few hundred thousand years of human evolution, the Neanderthal appeared. There is an opinion among researchers that Neanderthals did not have any religion. Religious imaginations were inherent in Cro-Magnon man. During this period, matriarchy reigned. Monuments of the Cro-Magnon culture make it possible to assert that clear religious ideas of man appeared approximately 30 - 50 thousand years ago.

This did not happen instantly, the process lasted for 20 thousand years, covering the last period of the primitive social system and the initial period of class society.

Religion as a phenomenon of the spiritual life of society arose as a result of the action of various factors in the difficult conditions of the formation of humanity. By its nature, it is a social phenomenon and is closely related to social life and the development of society.

1. The essence, concept and structure of religion.

In a slave-owning, feudal society, a person was in constant dependence. The slave was completely dependent on the slave owner, and he, in turn, was in slavish obedience to the pharaoh, king, and emperor, whose dominance was also fragile and could be undermined at any moment by defeat in the war or a palace coup.

Unable to radically change the existing order, people perceived it as given from above, influenced by supernatural forces.

The epistemological roots of religion are the features of cognitive activity that give rise to and nourish religiosity. They are identical to the epistemological roots of idealism. The process of cognition is complex and multi-stage. Its basis is the ability of human consciousness to reflect the external world. The higher the form of such reflection, the more generalizations it allows. Elements of communication are already present in perception, there are much more of them in representation, and in abstract thinking they predominate.

The psychological roots of religion are the characteristics of a person’s emotional state that give rise to and nourish religiosity.

This feature is the predominance in a person’s psychological state of negative emotions (feelings of fear, grief, sorrow, despair, sadness), caused by unfavorable circumstances of his life and perceived as a consequence of social impotence and intellectual helplessness. Finding himself unable to either understand the reasons for these circumstances or eliminate them, a person becomes desperate and finds himself in a stressful situation from which he must get out at any cost. Not finding, for one reason or another, real means and ways to overcome the despair that has gripped him, he turns to illusions, hopes for help from above, for the assistance of supernatural forces.

14. RELIGION

4. Believing citizens in the amount of 7 people held a meeting in October 2009 and established a religious association at it for the purpose of performing divine services. It was decided to register the association in the form religious organizations. For registration, the founders submitted an application, charter, and minutes of the founding meeting to the registration body. In January 2012, the founders applied for a certificate of registration of the association, but they were refused a certificate because
a) to create religious the organization does not have enough members;
b) for state registration not all documents required by law have been submitted;
c) the association cannot be registered in the form religious organizations.
The founders of the local religious organizations can have at least ____ citizens Russian Federation united in a religious group.

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