How religion influences culture examples. Culture and religion: is there a connection between these areas of spiritual life? As the medieval proverb says, “the air of the city makes it free”

Religion has always been of great importance for the development of culture in the process of human civilization. Religion and culture are closely and inextricably linked, and changing beliefs affects the development of culture in the most direct way. For example, the influence of religion on ancient culture revealed to the world ancient Greek mythology, which, in turn, gave rise to the ancient theater and had a great influence on European culture. Titian, Shakespeare, Mozart, Rubens have referred to her more than once in their creations. gave birth to new images in art, and the gospel stories became inexhaustible inspiration for many artists, poets and musicians.

Religion and culture have been one and the same since the dawn of human history. And the influence of a change in religion on the development of culture is very clearly demonstrated by the adoption of Orthodoxy in Russia, which brought the country to a completely new level of development. Orthodoxy left its legacy in culture in the form of temple building, printing books, writing icons, making vestments. All this relates to In addition, the church has left a big mark on the spirituality of the people. Here, sacred music, sermons and doctrines had a great influence on the formation of consciousness.

Religion as reflected in Rublev's Trinity, The Last Supper and other subjects in painting; in many beautiful temples in architecture; and also in sculpture and music. As for literature, here the influence of religion is especially visible, especially for the greatest books - the Bible, the Koran and the Vedas, which are a repository of wisdom, kindness and truth, a source of creative inspiration. In ancient Russian literature, the lives of the righteous were described, and later images of people who were examples of holiness began to appear in fiction.

The role of religion in culture is undeniable and there is such an opinion that without religion there can be no real culture. A Christian of high culture should be like Jesus Christ, who did not see the differences between nations, for him there were only people as such. He must have true mercy, which is the movement of the soul, and not the fulfillment of his duty and the path to salvation. He must be a highly moral, tolerant and humble person, the main thing for whom in life is love for all people, not condemnation and forgiveness.

We have already found out that religion and culture have common roots. Culture is a connection between generations, ancestors. had a great influence on the Christian church, the Roman, in turn - on the Catholic, took a significant place in the Orthodox. This is reflected in the architecture of temples, in the writing of icons, in religious music and literature. Through religious culture, the church introduces people to the world of art, develops artistic perception in them.

Religion and culture are inseparable, since religion has a fairly large impact on secular culture, to which it gives artistic images and plots from its history. The absence of these images would significantly impoverish this very culture and deprive it of artistic expression. Since ancient times, a person has realized that he does not go through life himself, that there are those supernatural forces that guide and control the world. That is, from the very beginning, culture was under the influence of religion, first primitive and purely intuitive, then higher and more conscious.

Religion keeps society within certain boundaries of the cultural model; it is the key to history. It is impossible to understand the culture of a society without knowing the religion that stands behind it. The first in the construction of temples and the manufacture of sculptures were created by religious inspiration. The desire for higher powers and their patronage in primitive religions gave rise to shamans and sacred dances, in the higher - the creation of temples, icons and divine liturgy. Therefore, every great culture is a tandem of the divine movement and the human.

In the history of culture, the emergence of three world religions was of particular importance: Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. These religions made significant changes in culture, having entered into a complex interaction with its various elements and aspects. For primitive culture there was a characteristic indivisibility of social consciousness, therefore in ancient times religion, which was a complex interweaving of totemism, animism, fetishism and magic, was merged with primitive art and morality, and together they were an artistic reflection of the nature surrounding a person, his labor activity. Religion had a huge impact on ancient culture, one of the elements of which was ancient Greek mythology. From myths we learn about the historical events of that time, about the life of society and its problems. Ancient Greek mythology had a great influence on the culture of many modern European peoples. Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Rubens, Shakespeare addressed her. Mozart and many other composers, writers and artists. Biblical myths, including the myth of the God-man Jesus Christ, were the most attractive in art. For centuries, painting has lived with interpretations of the birth and baptism of Christ, the Last Supper, the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. On the canvases of Leonardo da Vinci, Kramskoy, Ivanov, Christ is presented as the highest ideal of Man, as the ideal of purity, love and forgiveness. The same moral dominant prevails in Christian icon painting, frescoes, and temple art. The Bible is a monument to Hebrew literature (Old Testament) and early Christian literature (New Testament). The Bible reflects the life of the peoples of the Ancient Mediterranean - wars, agreements, the activities of kings and military leaders, the way of life and customs of that time. Therefore, the Bible is one of the largest monuments of world culture and literature. The Koran includes the Islamic teaching about the fate of the world and man, contains a collection of ritual and legal regulations, edifying stories and parables. The Koran presents ancient Arab customs, Arabic poetry, folklore. In the literature of the 19th century, images of people of the Christian spirit of holiness appear: Dostoevsky has Prince Myshkin in his novel The Idiot; Leo Tolstoy - Platon Karataev in "War and Peace". Later, Christ appeared in M. Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita under the name Yeshua.

Europe. The most important feature of medieval culture is the special role of the Christian doctrine and the Christian church. In the context of a general decline in culture immediately after the destruction of the Roman Empire, only the church for many centuries remained the only social institution common to all countries, tribes and states of Europe. The Church was the dominant political institution, but even more significant was the influence that the Church exerted directly on the consciousness of the population. Christianity offered people a harmonious system of knowledge about the world, about its structure, about the forces and laws operating in it.

The medieval European was certainly a deeply religious person. As S. Averintsev aptly put it, the Bible was read and listened to in the Middle Ages in much the same way as we now read fresh newspapers.

Byzantium. Byzantine culture became the first in the full sense of the Christian culture. It was in Byzantium that the formation of Christianity was completed, and it first acquired a complete, classical form in its orthodox, or Orthodox, version. Byzantine temple differs significantly from the ancient classical temple. The latter acted as the abode of God, while all the rituals and festivities took place outside, around the temple or in the adjacent square. Therefore, the main thing in the temple was not the interior, but the exterior, its appearance. On the contrary, the Christian church is built as a place where believers gather. Therefore, the organization of the internal space comes to the fore in it, although the appearance does not lose its significance. It is in this vein that the church of St. Sofia in Constantinople (532-537), which became the most famous monument of Byzantine architecture. Its authors are the architects Anfimiy and Isidor. Outwardly, he does not look too grandiose, although he is distinguished by severity, harmony and splendor of forms. However, inside it seems truly immense. The effect of boundless space is created, first of all, by a huge dome with a diameter of 31 m located at a height of 55 m, as well as adjacent sub-domes, expanding the already huge space. Icon painting reached a high level in Byzantium. representing a type of easel cult painting. The period of the first heyday of Byzantine icon painting falls on the 10th-11th centuries .. when the image of a human figure occupies a dominant position in the icon, and other elements - the landscape and the architectural background - are rendered rather conditionally. Among the outstanding examples of icon painting of this period is the icon of Gregory the Wonderworker (XII century), which is distinguished by deep spirituality, delicate drawing and rich color. It is especially necessary to note the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God (XII century), which became the main icon of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia and remains it to this day. The Mother of God and Child depicted on it is endowed with a heartfelt expression and, for all its holiness and spirituality, is filled with deep humanity and emotionality.

Moscow Russia. Russia officially adopted Christianity in 988, in the act of the famous baptism of the inhabitants of Kiev on the Dnieper. The change of faith in Russia took place without foreign interference. This was her internal affair. She herself made her choice. Most of its neighbors adopted Christianity from the hands of missionaries and crusaders. The choice of the eastern branch of Christianity - Orthodoxy - was determined by a number of reasons, internal and external. Paganism had to give way to a new religion, since it reflected the democratic life of the ancient Slavic society, which was disappearing under the onslaught of nationwide feudalism. The decisive factor in turning to the religious and ideological experience of Byzantium was the traditional political, economic, cultural ties between Kiev and Constantinople. For Prince Vladimir it was important that baptism and the associated borrowing of Byzantine culture did not deprive Russia of its independence. Despite the fact that the Orthodox Church was headed by the Byzantine patriarch and emperor, Russia was a completely sovereign state. This was the goal of Vladimir's reforms, which were aimed at changing the cultural foundations of Kievan Rus. And another moment attracted him. Christianity according to the Orthodox model did not bind theology with linguistic canons. In Catholicism, divine services were held in Latin. Kiev defended the national worship, emphasizing the exaltation of the Slavic language to the level of the divine. The Byzantine Church allowed religious worship in the national language. Christianity, borrowed from the Greeks, ultimately turned out to be neither Byzantine nor Western, but Russian. This Russification of Christian belief and the Church began early and went in two directions. The first is the struggle for their national church at the top. The Greek metropolitans met in Russia with a tendency towards identity. The first Russian saints were exalted for political reasons that have nothing to do with faith, contrary to the opinion of the Greek Metropolitan. The second stream came from the people. The new faith could not supplant what was part of the people themselves. Along with the Christian faith, which was not strong enough among the people, the cults of the old gods were alive. There was no dual faith, but a new faith as a result of the Russification of Christianity. Christianity was adopted by the Russians in a peculiar way, like everything that came from outside.

23. The culture of the Italian and Northern Renaissance. Reformation.

Renaissance culture is divided into three periods:

1. Early Renaissance (14th century-15th century)

2. High Renaissance (15-16 centuries)

3.North Renaissance

The term "Renaissance" indicates the connection of a new culture with antiquity, the Society of Italy is interested in the culture of Ancient Greece and Rome, manuscripts of philosophers-writers (including Cicero, Livy, etc.)

During the Early Renaissance:

*** Secular motives are strengthening, various spheres of life, society, philosophy, literature, art, architecture, education, science, are becoming more and more independent from the church.

**** The focus is on the person, and the worldview of this culture is humanistic.

**** The era of the Early Renaissance was of a pronounced secular character, opposed the domination of the church, opposed feudal privileges, and defended the place of man in life.

**** The humanists of the Renaissance believed that in a person the origin and his social origin are not important, but personal qualities: intelligence, knowledge, creative energy,

Ability, self-esteem. A strong, talented and all-round developed personality was recognized as an ideal person.

Early Italian Renaissance - Dante, Francesco, Giovani Boccacho - famous poets of the Renaissance, the famous work "DECAMERON" by Boccacho Great geographical discoveries played a huge role in this breakthrough In 1456 Portuguese ships reached Cape Verde, In 1492 a great event happened - H. , who moved to Spain, in search of a way to India, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and landed near the Bahamas, discovering a new continent - America.

In 1498, the Spanish traveler Vasco da Gama, having rounded Africa, successfully brought his ships to the shores of India. Since the XVI century. Europeans infiltrate China and Japan, about which they previously had only the most vague idea. The conquest of America begins in 1510

In the XVII century. Australia was discovered. The idea of ​​the shape of the earth changed: the trip around the world by the Portuguese F. Magellan (1519-1522) confirmed the hunch that the earth was round. The sharpest artistic outlook on things, professional independence, and special skills are most valued, hence the motives of tragedy found in the works of W. Shakespeare, M. Servantes, Michelangelo and others.

The connection between art and science is one of the most characteristic features of the culture of the Renaissance.

Artists began to see the world differently:

planar, seemingly incorporeal images of medieval art gave way to a three-dimensional, embossed, convex space.

Raphael Santi (1483-1520), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) sang with their creativity a perfect personality, in which physical and spiritual beauty merge together in accordance with the requirements of ancient aesthetics.

The Italian gums Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457) and L. Alberti (1404-1472) considered the accumulated knowledge that helps a person to make a choice between good and evil as an indispensable condition for this.

Suffice it to recall the heroic images created by Michelangelo, and their creator himself - a lyricist, artist, sculptor. People like Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci were real examples of the limitless possibilities of man.

Reformation.

Germany became the homeland of the Reformation. The events of 1517 are considered its beginning, when the doctor of theology Martin Luther (1483-1546) came out with his 95 theses against the sale of indulgences. From that moment, his long duel with the Catholic Church began.

The Reformation quickly spread to Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, England, Italy. In Germany, the Reformation was accompanied by the Peasant War, which went on on such a scale that no social movement of the Middle Ages can compare with it.

The Reformation found its new theorists in Switzerland, where its second largest center after Germany arose. It was there that John Calvin (1509-1564), who was nicknamed the "Pope of Geneva", finally formalized the reformatory thought.

Ultimately, the Reformation gave birth to a new direction in Christianity, which became the spiritual basis of Western civilization - Protestantism. A part of the population of Europe departed from Catholicism: England, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Finland, Switzerland, part of Germany, the Czech Republic, etc. Yes, and in Catholicism itself there were significant changes. Protestantism freed people from the pressure of religion in practical life ... Religion has become a personal matter. Deprived of the mediation of the church, a person now had to take responsibility for his own actions, that is, he was entrusted with a much greater responsibility. The Reformation elevated the significance of worldly life and activity, preaching the possibility of communication with God through an appropriately organized society.

In the project "The Influence of the National and Religious Traditions of the Russian People on the Modern Life of Russia", we want to show the significance and diversity of national traditions that formed the basis of the culture of the people. The traditions of any nation have been taking shape over the centuries and are passed down from generation to generation, both orally and in writing. Some traditions have no longer survived, since modern trends (education, television and the geopolitical situation in the world, etc.) are forming a person of a new generation.

In its history, each nation carries out spiritual - creative achievements that survive through the centuries - this is ancient art, music, features of national dress, cuisine, etc. Each generation brings its own into culture, and it becomes an achievement of the people, is common to all mankind.

That is why the national genius and his work turn out to be the subject of special patriotic pride and love: in his work the life of the national spirit finds concentration and embodiment. Genius creates from himself, but at the same time for his people. His work was often passed from mouth to mouth by our ancestors. National memory preserves the peculiarities of holidays, traditions, folklore, arts and crafts, but the trends of the new time, of course, affect the formation of a person of a new generation. Therefore, our task is to collect and generalize the material that keeps the national memory of the people.

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Administration of Education of the Administration of the city of Yurga

Municipal autonomous educational institution

"Gymnasium of the city of Yurga"

Project

« The influence of the national and religious traditions of the Russian people on the modern life of Russia»

student of grade 10 A

Leader: V.V. Serova

Yurga 2017

Project passport …………………………………………………………… .... 2

Risks and ways to minimize them ……………………………………………… .4

Stages of project implementation ………………………………………………… ... 5

Relevance of the project ……………………………………………………… ... 6

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………. 7

1.1. Culture and national traditions ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ..... 8

1.2. Birth and baptism ………………………………………………… .8

1.3. Wedding ………………………………………………………………… 9

1.4. The ceremony of remembrance ……………………………………………………… 10

2. Holidays

2.1. About the concept of a holiday ………………………………………………… .12

2.2. Slavic holidays and customs in modern life …………… ... 13

2.3. Traditional holidays in the life of modern Russians …………… 14

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… 16

List of sources ………………………………………………………… ... 17

Appendix ………………………………………………………………… ... 18

Risks and ways to minimize them

While working on this project, I run the risk of not reworking a large amount of information on this topic, as well as “getting away” from the main topic of my project. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to consult with the teacher and use various sources of information to compare the data.

Stages of project implementation

Preparatory (September-October 2016)

• Choosing a project theme

• Statement of the problem, formulation of the research topic.

• the formulation of the goal and objectives of the research, the definition of the object and subject of research, the choice of research methods.
• Preparation of a preliminary list of sources of information for the implementation of the project.
• Establishing a project deadline, writing a work plan.

Organizational (November - January 2016-2017)

• Planning, identification of specific sources of information.
• Research work with text, with materials on the Internet: study, analysis, comparison, generalization.

Implementation;

• WITH structuring of the found information
• Drawing up a questionnaire
• Conducting a student survey
• Analysis of survey results
• Presentation of results: presentation, site page.

Final (April 2017)

• Defense of research work.
• Self-analysis of results.
• Placement of project materials on the site.

Relevance of the project

Despite the fact that the concept of "tradition" is known to everyone, their role in the life of society is far from fully understood. Tradition is the transfer of certain values ​​and experiences from generation to generation. Modern Russians know insultingly little about their customs and traditions; their knowledge of the cultures of other peoples is often more extensive. “Those people are bad who do not know and do not value their history,” said the Russian artist Vasnetsov.The rich cultural and spiritual heritage of our past remains practically unclaimed.

The younger generation today, to our deep regret, has practically a very weak understanding of the moral culture of the people, examples from the historical past of their homeland. Drugs, violence, violation of moral and cultural values ​​are widespread among young people. That is why mastering cultural and moral knowledge will help fight an unhealthy and dangerous tendency that needs to be eliminated. Turning to the past and following ancient traditions and moral norms is a return to the origins of the culture of the people.

Hypothesis : for most of the youth and adult population, national and religious traditions are terra incognita (unknown land) - just as obscure and unexplored.

Introduction

V the project "The influence of the national and religious traditions of the Russian people on the modern life of Russia" we want to show the significance and diversity of national traditions that formed the basis of the culture of the people. Traditions of any peopleadd up centuries and passed down from generation to generation both orally and in writing. Some traditions have no longer survived, since modern trends (education, television and the geopolitical situation in the world, etc.) are forming a person of a new generation.

In its history, each nation realizes spiritually - creative achievements that survive through the centuries - this is ancient art, music, features of national dress,kitchens etc. Each generation brings its own into the culture, and it becomes an achievement of the people, is common to all mankind.

That is why the national genius and hiscreation turn out to be the subject of special patriotic pride and love: in his work, the life of the national spirit finds concentration and embodiment. Genius creates from himself, but at the same time for his people. His work was often passed from mouth to mouth by our ancestors. National memory keeps featuresholidays , traditions, folklore, arts and crafts, but the trends of the new time, of course, affect the formation of a person of a new generation. Therefore, our task is to collect and generalize the material that keeps the national memory of the people.

1.1 Culture and national traditions.

Why does modern society need knowledge of cultural and historical traditions, moral norms that guided our distant ancestors? Do you need it? After all, now is a completely different time and different laws. There are no simple answers to such questions.

The culture - the totality of the achievements of human society in industrial, social and spiritual life.

Traditions Are historically established customs, norms of behavior and tastes passed down from generation to generation. Oral transmission of any historical information, tradition.

Culture expresses the totality of knowledge, ideals, spiritual experience of the people on the centuries-old path of the formation of society. Throughout the thousands of years of history of the development of the people, on the basis of folk traditions, an understanding of spirituality, reverence for the memory of ancestors, feelingcollectivism , love for the world, nature. Any nation takes its moral roots, its origin in ancient times. Knowledge of their historical and cultural roots instills in a person pride in the past of their homeland, patriotism, a sense of responsibility, duty to the state and family.

Since Russian people at all times paid special attention to their life, family and home, especially interesting are those traditions and rituals that directly relate to this area. Moreover, most of them are associated with the birth of children, christenings, weddings, and funerals.

1.2 Birth and baptism

In the 10th century, Prince Vladimir recognized Christianity as the state religion of Russia and today is an example of the synthesis of the foundations of the Christiancreeds and Slavic traditions.

Everyone knows that Orthodoxy is one of the largest religions preached in Russia. According to the survey results, about 73% of Russia's residents are Orthodox Christians. Therefore, in the future, it will be about them.

Having adopted Christianity, the people did not abandon their grandfather's customs, but, on the contrary, preserved them, giving them a different, religious form. Since paganism corresponded to the practical and spiritual needs of man, it did not perish, but took root in a new religion, forming something new, a unique alloy - everyday Orthodoxy. His own aesthetics and ethics were clearly manifested in him, it was Christianity of a new kind, with its saints and holidays.
Pagan representations and actions began to take Christianized forms: thus, declaring a source or a tree holy, they explained this by the appearance of an icon here; the healing properties of the tree by the fact that the saint is buried here. According to the most ancient tradition, children were taught, standing on the ground, not to say a bad word about it, because they believed that "mother earth will not forgive this." In early spring, it was impossible to hit the ground with a stick, because at that time she was "in a state of pregnancy," that is, was preparing to give birth to bread and revive all the plants. With the adoption of Christianity, this pagan belief even fell into the church's bookishness: "If the ground beats ... 15 days of penance," that is, church punishment. When meeting with adults, one should bow and touch the ground with a hand, which expressed a wish for prosperity. And the land was called nothing other than "mother", "nurse". In folk holidays, both "demonic" and Christian principles were combined. On Christmastide days, bonfires were burned and it was explained as follows: “dead parents come to warm up and from this the wheat will be fertile”.

On the occasion of the Christian holiday of Christmas, fortune-telling is done, a number of magical pagan actions are performed: in the evening they put kutya and honey in a cup, each puts his spoon downward, cover it. In the morning, coming from the church, they look whose spoon has turned over - expect trouble.

And the most interesting thing is that we still adhere to many traditions - for example, most expectant mothers become very superstitious and are afraid to cut their hair, sew or knit, hang clothes on a string, etc. And also women can remember old Russian traditions immediately after giving birth - that is why, for example, it is not customary to show a newborn baby to strangers for forty days.

As for the christening ceremony, it appeared quite a long time ago - just when the Russian people switched from paganism to Christianity. Moreover, washing the baby in sacred water, as well as giving him a new name, have always been integral components of the rite in question.

1.3. Wedding

Many customs are devoted to holding a wedding celebration, this will be discussed further. Moreover, these traditions can be associated with everything that concerns this holiday. But as much as people want to follow all the customs, they usually stick to the most basic ones.

Previously, a Russian wedding was held strictly in accordance with customs and traditions, all stages followed each other.

Today wedding traditions have changed. Some of them from time immemorial belonged to the Russian people, but they were greatly transformed, some were borrowed from others.

The ransom of the bride. The ceremony was inherited from the times of paganism. This mini-performance is about how the groom rescues his betrothed from the otherworldly kingdom, although today this symbolism is completely lost. But even now he must overcome obstacles, carry out the tasks of the bridesmaids, and bargain. The more fierce the struggle and bargaining, the stronger the marriage will be, the beliefs say.

Blessing. Refers to the late, already Christian, tradition of the Russian people. This custom has survived: before leaving for the registry office, the bride's parents bless the young with icons, which are later kept in the new family as a relic. Before entering the registry office, young people are showered with grain, sweets, rose petals, confetti.

Walk. Earlier, the wedding train, for which, by the way, they took other people's horses, drove along the main streets and went around the whole village or city in a circle. Now young people take a walk, visiting memorable or even just beautiful places where you can make beautiful weddings..

Wedding. Surprisingly, some hundred years ago, the wedding ceremony was mandatory for all couples who decided to unite their destiny. And the point here is not in increased religiosity, but in the fact that until 1917 the wedding ceremony was the only way to register a marriage! The situation changed dramatically after the October Revolution, when the church gave up almost all of its positions. It was then that the registry office, which is familiar to all of us, came to replace the church altar - the department of civil registration.

Now the 21st century is in the yard, but the number of couples dreaming to appear before God on the most important day of their lives is growing inexorably. It is believed that the wedding ceremony makes the family strong and united, helps to find compromises and forgive each other's little weaknesses, keeps them from rash acts, jealousy and betrayal.

Those couples who came to church not for the sake of a beautiful ceremony, but out of mental need, tune in to a long and happy life, for the sake of which they are ready to make any sacrifices.

The wedding ceremony also has a great influence on the upbringing of children, because people close to the church strive to bring peace and grace into their lives. In such families, you will not hear screams and insults, children respect their elders, and parents try to be the perfect role model.

Loaf ... After the wedding, the newlyweds were showered with rain of grain and hops, which should have made their marriage happy and rich. The bride's parents blessed the young family with the icon, and the groom's parents greeted the young with a loaf. Most often, the groom's parents still meet the young with a loaf. True, it is not baked, but bought in a store or cafe.

"Bitter!" Previously, guests with this word confirmed that they did not have water in their glass, but by presenting gifts, they could kiss the bride. Then this custom turned into a demand for kisses from the young. Many couples are giving up this ritual these days.

Bachelor and bachelorette parties... The bachelorette party from the point of view of rituals was of greater importance. There was a tradition that the bride and her friends went to the bathhouse. So she said goodbye to the girlish life. A broom was made for her, decorated with ribbons and flowers. It was believed that if one of the girlfriends was the first to take a steam bath after the bride, then she would be the next to marry. Nowadays, stag and hen parties are still held, albeit in a different form.

1.4 Rite of remembrance.

Several centuries ago in Russia there were two types of commemoration of the deceased: secret and explicit.

In the first case, relatives for forty days laid out alms on the windowsills, porches of neighbors. It could be eggs, bread, matches, cloth, towels. Having accepted such a donation, the neighbors had to pray for the soul of the deceased. It was also believed that they take on part of the sins of the deceased.

With a clear commemoration, relatives of the deceased ordered his funeral service in the church. After that, at the gates of the church, it was customary to distribute pies and other sweets to children and beggars. To prevent the soul from going to hell, relatives donated money for a church bell, which in the future, with its ringing, could call the sinner from hell. Or you could donate a rooster to the neighbors so that it sang daily for the sins of the deceased. Also, sometimes at the end of the commemoration, women who provided special assistance in their organization are given handkerchiefs that must be kept.

Some of these traditions persist today. For example, remembering the deceased, they distribute sweets.

2. Holidays

2.1. About the concept of a holiday.

Holidays exist in all societies and cultures, from ancient times, when events of the cosmic cycle were celebrated with their help, and ending with modern times. They are a prerequisite for social existence and a specific expression of a person who, unlike animals, has a unique ability to celebrate, i.e. to include in your life the joys of other people and the experience of the culture of previous generations.

Holidays are the most ancient and constantly reproduced element of culture, which in certain periods of history is able to experience decline, but cannot disappear altogether. With its loss, society would apparently lose one of the essential components of its humanity and a source necessary for its normal existence. After all, this element of culture is designed to organize and aesthetically design free time. Holidays have always been and still remain an important means of forming and establishing a community, contributing to the socialization of a person.

As the analysis of historiography has shown, researchers substantiate the reasons for the emergence of holidays as a cultural phenomenon in different ways. Many adhere to a simplified approach to the analysis of the cultural aspects of holidays, believing that holidays as a cultural phenomenon were the result of the desire of people to rest after strenuous working days, a kind of protection from physical and mental fatigue. We can only partially agree with this statement.

The true reason for the emergence of holidays as an element of human culture is the result of the accumulation of cultural experience by people, humanity as a whole, which objectively needs manifestations that are qualitatively different from ordinary life.

While agreeing with other culturologists who believe that people's festive culture is a defensive reaction to the severity of labor, it should be emphasized that this argument is not the only one. Recently, however, it has begun to play an increasing role. This is due to the increase in the intensity of labor, its intellectual and physical tension in recent years. As a result, the number of stressful situations is growing rapidly; fatigue, increased wear and tear of the human body are becoming one of the most common "diseases". For objective reasons, the intensity of social life has grown disproportionately; the information flow has sharply increased, outstripping the biological capabilities of a person. A person as a biosocial being develops more slowly than the technologies of life activity created by him. This determines the conscious and unconscious desire of people for biosocial protection, one of the most striking manifestations of which is reflected in the festive culture.

2.2 Slavic holidays and customs in modern life

Now a huge layer of Orthodox culture is returning to our lives. And sometimes we hear that a religion worthy of being called a religion appeared in our country only after the adoption of Christianity - a thousand years ago. And before that, they say, there were only barbaric, primitive cults, in addition, sometimes associated with human sacrifice. In a word, "the darkness of paganism." Spiritual primitiveness. However, this is not true. Sometimes they say that nothing is known about Slavic paganism. In fact, only those who are too lazy to read books by archaeologists, ethnographers, historians of religions, experts on the beliefs of the ancient Slavs and related peoples, think so. But these scientists have been deciphering ancient manuscripts, interpreting rituals, explaining archaeological finds for more than a century. In scientific libraries, you can find a great many books in which these scientists talk about what they managed to find out.

However, the ancient religion of our ancestors, which some consider forgotten, continues to live in our daily customs to this day. There is plenty of evidence for this. For example, why is it impossible to shake hands across the threshold? Why is a plate broken at a wedding? And why, when moving into a new house, is the cat allowed in first? Many will answer: for happiness. But is this an explanation? But all the listed customs are from there, from our pagan times. There, in this mysterious and interesting world, our worldview is rooted. Is it really fair that we study the Egyptian, Greek, Roman gods in every detail, but we don't even know what to call our own? .. Besides, scientists have no doubt: in the era when myths were formed, people knew how to think no worse than now ... They just thought and expressed their knowledge in another language - the language of myths.

Undoubtedly, the ancient people, including the ancient Slavs, had very great knowledge. Wise, intelligent, educated people have been in spiritual search for thousands of years and shared their mystical experience with others, passed on the accumulated knowledge from generation to generation.

But in the last few centuries, events have taken place that have turned out to be destructive for the entire world culture and the entire spiritual heritage of the ancients. The ancients - they knew, now - much is irretrievably lost.

The easiest way to conquer any people is to separate the country from its centuries-old history, to destroy its past, its heroes. When a gap is artificially created between a people and its history, such people are deprived of their roots and their strength.

The disaster of any nation is when it loses touch with its ancient knowledge.

The real foundation of all cultures is the sources of their knowledge. If the history of two or more generations is removed from the history of a country, it loses the possibility of further development.

The progress of mankind directly depends on the transfer of knowledge accumulated over millennia from generation to generation. The continuity of generations is not an empty phrase. When the chain of knowledge is broken, people become ignorant.

This is the case with the holidays. People celebrate them not because they know and understand their meaning, but because it is so accepted. They don't know what it is for.

When the connection with genuine knowledge is destroyed, people continue to mechanically observe the rituals for some time. These rituals will last for some time and will disappear forever.

But there is also a reverse line. If educated people want to restore ancient knowledge, they will carefully study the rituals that are now mechanically performed by the illiterate and ignorant masses. These rituals are symbols (remnants) of ancient knowledge. Using symbols, you can try to restore ancient knowledge, give it a new life, restore lost traditions.

2.3. Traditional holidays in the life of modern Russians

It should be noted that modern Russians have many original, distinctive holidays that are not celebrated anywhere else in the world (or are celebrated, but in a completely different way). This applies, for example, to Easter, Christmas and Epiphany, as well as such famous pagan holidays as Ivana Kupala and Maslenitsa. We know how to celebrate them from our ancestors, and all traditions are observed by our contemporaries quite accurately, which allows us to speak about the clear preservation of the traditions of the Russian people.

Consider, for example, the famous holiday Ivan Kupala , in which Christianity and paganism are closely intertwined. It should be noted that even before the proclamation of Christianity in Russia, our ancestors had a fertility deity named Kupala. It was he who was revered by the Russian people, when in the evenings they had fun, sang songs and jumped over bonfires. And after some time, this holiday became annual, and it was timed to coincide with the summer solstice. And today, every person who is interested in folk traditions and rituals of ancient ancestors knows what is customary to do on this holiday, and takes part in it with pleasure.

Well, as for such a pagan holiday as Pancake week , then it is also very ambiguous. On the one hand, Shrovetide has always been considered a day of remembrance for the dead (that is why, in essence, we cook pancakes for Shrovetide). But at the same time, this particular holiday in the understanding of many of our ancestors is associated with the onset of spring. It is not for nothing that on this day it is customary to burn a straw effigy, which personifies the outgoing winter. And always on Shrovetide people had fun, sang songs, entertained each other and participated in various competitions.

As for Christmas, as everyone knows, this is a church holiday, which is celebrated in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated in many countries of the modern world, but Orthodox Christmas does not coincide with Catholic, and our compatriots celebrate the holiday differently from foreigners. In addition, a very interesting time for Russian men and women (especially for women) comes immediately after Christmas. It's about Christmastide.

In fact, Christmastide - a pagan holiday. These days, our distant ancestors put on home-made masquerade costumes in order to deceive evil spirits, which supposedly acquired special power on Christmastide and became a real threat to people. In addition, it was customary to have fun on Christmastide - this was also done in order to scare away the dark forces. And of course, at all times on Christmastide people used to guess (mostly girls) and sow (as a rule, boys).

Conclusion

In order to determine the influence of traditions, I conducted a survey among the students of our school (the results of the survey, as well as the questionnaire itself, see Appendix 1.2).

The results of the survey showed that the majority of children (65%) consider it necessary to know the traditions of their people, because this will help them to survive and survive for centuries. Only 13% believe that knowing them is not necessary at all. Such responses indicate that most students understand the importance of traditions and customs. To the question: “What does the study of traditions and customs lead to?” The majority (43%) answer: “to knowledge and understanding of the culture of their people”.

None of the respondents thinks that the study of traditions and customs leads nowhere.

The respondents correctly understand the word “tradition” and name such traditions as “baking pancakes for Shrovetide”, “sitting on the path”, “painting eggs for Easter”, etc. Answering the question: “what holidays did you take part in” , the disciples named both Orthodox and Slavic holidays. For example, Easter and Shrovetide, Christmas and New Year, etc.

All respondents generally know the traditions of their people, although most of them believe that they are in conflict with their views on life. Thus, the survey showed that at the moment the influence of national and religious traditions is quite large, customs and traditions are not erased from memory, but are still passed down from generation to generation. This conclusion refutes the hypothesis put forward.

However, to the question: “Do you know the traditions of your people?” The majority (78%) answered: “I know a little,” and only 22% know them well. These answers show that this topic still remains relevant, and the problem of the continuity of the traditions of the people exists today, since the very concept of "tradition" is understood rather superficially. While doing this research, I came to the conclusion that for our ancestors, customs were an integral part of life, they were considered important and mandatory. Their meaning was clear to people and accessible. Nowadays it becomes a fun game, a "cool" pastime. Many traditions and rituals are observed out of habit rather than consciously.

I hope that the product of this project will be able to help young people understand this issue at least a little.

List of sources:

Vataman V. P. "The world of folk culture", Moscow, publishing house "Uchitel", 2009

Mythological dictionary. P. 159, 16

Rybakov B. A. "Paganism of the ancient Slavs", Moscow, publishing house "Science", 1980.

Stepanov N.P. Folk holidays in Holy Russia. Moscow: Russian rarity, 1992

Annex 1

1 By the word "tradition" you mean:

1. what is passed on or passed down from one generation to the next
2. certain norms of behavior, values, ideas, customs, rituals, etc.
3. custom, ingrained order in something (in behavior, everyday life, etc.)
4. a certain way of life, coming from ancient times
5. "Tradition" combines all of the above
6. Your option

2 What do you consider the traditions of the Russian people:

1. national holidays, rituals and customs
2. national cuisine, language
3. national costumes, dances, songs, fairy tales
4. together
5. Your option

3 What does the study of traditions and customs lead to:

1. knowledge and understanding of the culture of their people
2. love for their homeland
3. cultural development
4. leads nowhere

• Your option

4 Do you know the traditions of your people:

1. yes, I know well
2. know a little
3. Do not know

5 List the traditions you know well:

6 List in which holidays you took part:

7 Is it worth knowing and following the traditions of your people:

1. yes, it will help my people survive and survive for centuries
2. no, it is not necessary at all
3. find it difficult to answer

8 The next question: "Do you think that the old, well-established traditions of your people can come into conflict with your modern outlook on life?"

1. find it difficult to answer

Appendix 2

Religion “bodily” and spiritually enters the world of culture. Moreover, it is one of its constructive foundations, fixed by historians almost from the appearance of "Homo sapiens". On this basis, many theologians, following the outstanding ethnographer J. Fraser, assert: "All culture is from a temple, from a cult."

The power of religion in the early stages of the development of culture went beyond the boundaries of the measurement of the latter. Until the late Middle Ages, the church covered almost all cultural spheres. It was both a school and a university, a club and a library, a lecture hall and a philharmonic society. These cultural institutions are brought into being by the practical needs of society, but their origins are in the bosom of the Church and in many respects are nourished by it.

Spiritually dominating the flock, the Church at the same time exercised custody and censorship over culture, forcing it to serve the cult. This spiritual dictatorship was especially felt in the medieval states of the Catholic world, where the Church dominated politically and legally. And almost everywhere she dominated over morality and art, education and upbringing. Church tutelage and censorship, like any diktat, by no means stimulated cultural progress: freedom is the air of culture, without which it suffocates. Noting the positive aspects of religious influence on the realities of culture, one should not be 6 * 7 about this either.

Perhaps, religion most of all influenced the formation and development of national identity, the culture of the ethnic group.

The church rite often continues in the institutions of folk life and the calendar. At times it is difficult to separate the secular principle in national traditions, customs and rituals from the religious. What, for example, are Semik and Maslenitsa among the Russian people, Navruz among Azerbaijanis and Tajiks? The secular-folk and the church-canonical are inextricably intertwined in these holidays. Save God (thank you) - is this a religious or secular formula for a commemoration - is this a purely church ritual? And caroling?

The awakening of national consciousness is usually associated with the revival of interest in the national religion. This is exactly what is happening in Russia.

Monastery schools for monks have become cultural islands in Europe. In the Middle Ages, architecture took the leading place. This was primarily due to the urgent need for the construction of temples.

A further cultural stimulus was the growth of cities, trade and handicraft centers. A new phenomenon was urban culture, which gave rise to the Romanesque style. The Romanesque style arose as a strengthening of the authority of the Roman Empire, necessary for royalty and the church. Best of all, the Romanesque style was personified by the large cathedrals located on the heights, as if towering above everything earthly.

The Gothic style denies the ponderous, fortress-like Romanesque cathedrals. Pointed arches and slender towers rising to the sky became the attributes of the Gothic style. The vertical composition of the building, the rapid upward rush of pointed arches and other architectural structures expressed the desire for God and the dream of a higher life. Geometry and arithmetic were understood abstractly, through the prism of knowing God, who created the world and arranged everything "by measure, number and weight." Every detail in the cathedral had a special meaning. The side walls symbolized the Old and New Testaments. Pillars and columns personified the apostles and prophets carrying the vault, portals - the threshold of paradise. The dazzlingly shining interior of the Gothic cathedral personified heavenly paradise.

Early Christianity inherited from antiquity admiration for the products of creativity and contempt for the people who created them. But gradually, under the influence of Christian ideas about the wholesome, uplifting meaning of labor, this attitude changed. In the monasteries of that time, it was ascribed to combine activities leading to communication with God, to penetration into his essence, such as divine reading, prayers, manual labor. It was in the monasteries that many crafts and arts were developed. Art was considered a godly and noble occupation; not only ordinary monks, but also the highest church elite were engaged in it. Medieval arts: painting, architecture, jewelry - were laid within the walls of monasteries, under the shadow of a Christian church.

In the 12th century, interest in art increased significantly. This is due to the general technical, economic and scientific progress of society. The practical activity of a person, his intellect, the ability to invent something new begins to be valued much higher than before. The accumulated knowledge begins to be systematized into a hierarchy, at the top of which God continues to remain. Art that combines high practical skills and the reflection of images of sacred tradition receives a special status in medieval culture.

The attitude towards art in the Middle Ages underwent great changes. So, during the early Middle Ages (V-VIII centuries), antique ideas about art dominate. Art is classified into theoretical, practical and constructive. Since the 8th century, Christian ideas have been actively intertwined and interact with non-religious ones. The main goal of art is the pursuit of divine beauty, which is embodied in the harmony and unity of nature.

Artistic creativity, limited art to their dogmas. Artistic creativity could not spread beyond them. It was substantially limited by the iconographic tradition. The main goal of creativity was the preservation and elevation of Christian teaching. The entire medieval culture was subordinated to a single reality - God. God has genuine subjectivity; the person striving for the ideal, depicted in works of art, must submit his will to God. Everything is in God: destiny is determined by God, the world is explained by God. Christianity determined preferred themes and art forms. In literature, the favorite genre is the lives of the saints; in sculpture - images of Christ, the Mother of God, saints; in painting - an icon; in architecture - a cathedral. The themes of heaven, purgatory and hell are also common. The artist was supposed to capture the beauty of the divine world order in his works, harmonizing his vision with the ideas of the Christian clergy. Human creativity is relative, limited and therefore must be subordinated to the will of God. There can be no creativity outside of God. The main theme in art is Christ and his teaching.

Works of art should not only bring sensual pleasures from the contemplation of beautiful and harmonious beauty, they should educate a person in the spirit of striving for God. Piety is the most important spiritual quality that art evokes.

Art schools appeared in Russia in the 15th century, architecture and icon painting flourished. The famous representative of the golden age of the Novgorod monumental school was the Greek master Theophanes the Greek. He did not use iconographic "writing", his works were deeply original and uniquely individual. He painted over 40 churches. Monumental and decorative works, which have become on a par with other greatest creations of world art, were created in the 15th century by Andrei Rublev. In memory of Sergius of Radonezh, he wrote his most perfect work - the icon "Trinity". So, under Ivan III, the Assumption Cathedral, the Annunciation Cathedral, the Faceted Chamber were erected, the walls of the Kremlin were being built. The original national spirit was embodied in the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed.

FEDERAL EDUCATION AGENCY

State educational institution

higher professional education

"LIPETSK STATE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY"

Humanities and social faculty

Department of Sociology

COURSE WORK

on the subject: Religion and its place in the spiritual culture of society

Lipetsk 2007

Introduction

Chapter 1. The history of the emergence and development of religious beliefs

1 The emergence of religion

2 Traditional and new religious movements

3 Influence of religion on culture

3.1 Religion and art

3.2 Religion and morality

3.3 Religion and Science

Chapter 2. Approaches to the study of the relationship between culture and religion

Chapter 3. Contemporary cultural and religious situation

1 Religion in the minds of the masses

2 Interaction of culture and religion in the modern world

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The culture(from the Latin cultura - cultivation, education) - a historically determined level of development of society, creative forces and abilities of a person, expressed in the types and forms of organization of life and activities of people, in their relationships, as well as in the material and spiritual values ​​they create. The concept of "culture" is used to characterize certain historical epochs, specific societies, nationalities and nations, as well as specific spheres of activity or life. In a narrower sense, culture is the sphere of the spiritual life of people. It includes the objective results of human activity (machines, structures, the results of cognition, works of art, norms of morality and law, etc.), as well as human strengths and abilities realized in activities (knowledge, skills, skills, the level of intelligence, moral and aesthetic development, worldview, methods and forms of communication between people).

Spiritual culture, forming over the centuries and millennia, was focused on performing at least two social functions - identifying the objective laws of being and preserving the integrity of society. In other words, we are talking about the cognitive function that science implements in the system of spiritual culture, and the general logical, regulatory function, which is performed by political, legal and moral culture, religion, and art. These elements of spiritual culture carry out the "theoretical" and "practical-spiritual" assimilation of reality.

Religion played a particularly great role in the development of spiritual culture, and after it the entire system of society as a whole.

The term "religion" is of Latin origin and means "piety, shrine." Religion- a special attitude, appropriate behavior and specific actions based on belief in the supernatural. It appears as such a form of reflection of reality in which a psychological, irrational element prevails - various states of the soul, moods, dreams, ecstasy. However, the basis of religion is belief in God, the immortality of the soul, the other world, that is, myths and dogmas.

Religion is a very multifaceted, ramified, complex social phenomenon, represented by various types and forms, the most common of which are world religions, which include numerous directions, schools and organizations. In the history of culture, the emergence of three world religions was of particular importance: Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, which made significant changes in culture, entering into a complex interaction with its elements and sides.

Taking as the starting point of view that culture is everything that is created by man, we must determine for ourselves whether religion is an element of culture, or, as theologians say, is the result of "revelation". Religion as a system of beliefs, cult and religious institutions implementing it, of course, is a product of the human mind and human activity, therefore it should be considered precisely as a cultural phenomenon inherent in all peoples and unfolding in different cultural environments.

Religion arises in the history of mankind together with a person's awareness of himself and opposing himself to the surrounding reality. For a long time it was believed that religion is the fruit of the ignorance of a primitive man who did not know the laws of nature and felt fear of the unknown, and, therefore, it should disappear with the development of scientific ideas about the world. But it did not disappear with the advent and growth of scientific knowledge. What continues to generate religious faith today? What place does religion occupy in the cultural system? And how does it compare with scientific knowledge that has not supplanted it: do they contradict or complement each other? These questions are more relevant than ever for modern man and for modern society, which with each new round of development reveals more and more contradictions.

The purpose of this course work is to identify the degree of integration of religion into the spiritual life of society and the dependence of the level of culture on the modern religious situation in the country.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks have been set:

o analyze the history of the emergence and development of religion;

o to identify the degree of influence of religion on various components of culture;

o identify different approaches to the study of the relationship between culture and religion;

o assess the level of religiosity of the population of modern Russia;

o analyze the cultural and religious situation in Russia and in the world as a whole;

o draw conclusions about the nature of the interdependence of religion and culture of society.

Chapter 1. The history of the emergence and development of religious beliefs

.1 The emergence of religion

Speaking about religion, first of all it is necessary to find out: was religion originally inherent in man or did it appear at a certain stage of his development? Here we are faced with a problem - what kind of creature can be considered human. If we consider human beings possessing the rudiments of social life, then the history of mankind is about 600 thousand years old. Some scientists argue that homo sapiens - Homo sapiens - has existed for about 80 thousand years.

Archaeological evidence indicates that religious beliefs of people arose somewhat later than homo sapiens appeared. Excavations of the burials of an ancient person, dating back to 80-40 thousand years ago, indicate that people have not yet thought about the existence of some other world than the one they see around them (there are no things for life in the graves). In burials made 30-10 thousand years ago, weapons, jewelry, fruits are already appearing, which testifies to a person's thoughts about the possibility of life after death. He began to consider death as a long sleep, after which a person will wake up and he may need everyday items. This performance also contributed to the consolidation of the tribe in their habitats, since the tribesmen should be near and support those who woke up from a long sleep.

Since the ancestors, buried in graves or burned, became invisible, then they passed into the category of supernatural beings, like those who threw lightning and thundered thunder, and therefore, it becomes necessary to assign both special places where it would be possible to communicate with them. This is how special places for religious actions appear, which tie a person even more to his place of residence (this happens about 10-7 thousand years ago). Unique sanctuaries appear (for example, Stonehenge in Great Britain - stones placed in a circle, arranged taking into account the movement of the Sun and the rotation of the Earth; or statues of long-eared giants from Easter Island).

The existence of a non-religious period in the history of mankind can be concluded on the basis of ethnographic data. In Malaysia, on the island of Ridan, several tribes of the Kubu ethnic group have been discovered. They do not have generally accepted religious concepts, are not afraid of thunderstorms, do not think about death, do not know how the world and its objects arose. True, they presuppose the existence of a world of spirits, which, however, have no connection with the material world. In order to come into contact with the world of spirits, the priests of the Kubu tribe are forced to temporarily leave this world and go into the world of spirits, performing stupid dances, intoxicated with drugs and thus bringing themselves to ecstasy. The vagueness of ideas about the spiritual world suggests that they are just beginning to form in the cube and there was a period when they were not.

So, religious ideas appear at a certain stage in the development of mankind. What are the main reasons for the emergence of religion?

· intellectual: in need of an explanation of natural and social phenomena and not having a sufficient level of knowledge to scientifically substantiate the observed, a person creates a fantastic interpretation that seems plausible to him by analogy with facts that he understands;

· psychological: realizing the world around him as something incomprehensible and hostile, the ancient man looked for the support of powerful forces that could cope with insoluble problems and protect him from imaginary and real dangers. Realizing the finiteness of earthly life, people wanted to get rid of the fear of death and get hope for the eternal existence of at least a part of their personality in the form of a soul or some other other form.

· moral: any social collective needs rules for interaction between its members, and the more complex its organization, the more dangerous it is to rely only on force. A society, in order to be sustainable, must also protect its weak members. Universal consciousness is unattainable, therefore a limiter stronger than physical strength is needed. Religion is a force capable of controlling communication between people, since it declares itself as a higher power, capable of constantly and rigidly controlling everyone and inevitably punishing for deviations from generally accepted norms.

· socio-political: developing statehood, the emergence of strata alienated from society, standing above it, the growing economic and social differentiation led to the fact that the authorities needed ideological support to maintain the stability of political structures and damping the attempts of the lower classes of society to change the socio-political status quo. Religious systems, as a rule, supported the state, however, while the state was loyal to the leading religious structure (a striking example is the emergence of Christianity in the Roman Empire and its path from a persecuted religion to a state religion).

The development of religion took place in parallel with the development of a person's world outlook and reflected the level of his world outlook. In the early stages of this development, religious beliefs were rather primitive. Primitive man perceived all natural phenomena as expedient or, at least, purposeful; they were thought to be caused by rational will. Thus, behind every phenomenon of the world, there was thought to be an intelligent creature driving it, which for a successful outcome of any action should be propitiated, made favorable. This being, or deity, was conceived not as spiritual, but material. Deity was not distinguished by immortality, because man did not have the means to sensibly and verbally represent death as non-being. For him the deceased had passed from life here to life somewhere else; in the same way, the one who was born has passed from life somewhere else to life here.

The oldest religious beliefs of people were totemism and animism. Totemism(in the language of the Ojibwe Indians, "totem" is his kind), the term was first used in European literature at the end of the 18th century. This is a belief in a supernatural kinship that supposedly exists between a certain group of people (primitive genus) and some kind of material objects, most often animals, less often plants, etc. In the process of observing their activities, people drew attention to the similarity of certain character traits of relatives with the habits of animals, a manifestation of the natural elements. Members of this clan considered themselves bound by some special kinship with the totem; he was not revered, but was considered a "father", "elder brother", etc. This was expressed in the prohibition to kill a totem animal, to eat it.

Totemism arises in connection with the need for a person's self-identification, the awareness of their independence, the need for an integrating idea, one for the entire community. Totemism also reflects the inextricable connection between man and nature. This belief was a powerful psychological support: it got rid of the fear of death, since primitive people believed that a person does not stop living, but reincarnates into a totem animal, shedding a weak human shell. Totem animals, in turn, could come to the aid of their kind, turning into people. This was later reflected in fairy tales (for example, the reincarnation of the Gray Wolf in a Russian fairy tale).

Totemism also included the first moral principles (for example, the system of taboo - prohibitions): the killing of totem animals, and even uttering evil words against them. Sometimes it was forbidden to give the name of an animal: a bear is not the name of this beast, but an allegory - an animal that knows where there is honey.

Totemistic beliefs have survived to this day. Cows are sacred animals of the Hindu religion and should not be disturbed when they are resting, even if they are across the road. In Egypt, cats, dogs, crocodiles, snakes and other animals are revered. The division of animals into "clean" and "unclean" in Judaism and Islam has totemistic roots.

Among the primitive beliefs and animism- the belief that the spiritual essence of a person can exist separately from the material. People have noticed that in a dream, when the body remains motionless, they see dreams in which they experience various events. This means that some part of the personality leaves the material shell and is temporarily absent from it, participating in various adventures in a special world. This is how the idea of ​​the land of souls arises (the fields of Ialu among the ancient Egyptians, Elicia among the ancient Greeks, Paradise among Christians). Since people were spontaneous materialists, they believed that in the land of souls, as in our world, souls need food and everyday things, hence objects necessary for earthly life appear in burials. Humanizing spirits, people endowed them with their psychological characteristics, emotions and passions and, in accordance with this, tried to negotiate with them and win favor.

Primitive man was a man of action, for the survival of the whole race sometimes depended on constant and decisive actions, so he could not passively wait for help from the spirits, but tried to make them act as quickly as possible. This desire gave rise to a special form of primitive religion - magic . In this sense, magic is closer to science than to religion, since it is science that is resolutely aimed at transforming the world, although, of course, magic is based on false ideas about the laws of nature and the essence of man. The desire to use special objects in magical rituals gave rise to fetishism (from Portuguese. Fetish - "sacred, magical object"). If any object contributed to the successful outcome of the case, then it was recognized as possessing magical power and became a fetish.

Soon, magicians, priests monopolized control over the production of fetishes, classified this process and even protected them from the touch of strangers. The making of fetishes can be recognized as the process of the birth of religious art, although in relation to any early monument of art we cannot raise the question of its religiosity, but only about whether it is used in a cult or not, since until late antiquity there were practically no other worldviews other than religious existed.

There are a number of points of view regarding the place of fetishism in the process of the formation of religion. One recognizes it as the final stage in the development of primitive religious beliefs, since the manufacture of a fetish required significant knowledge and skills, which the priests kept, since the possession of them made it possible to influence the behavior of people and receive a significant share of the spoils. This was the first step towards the stratification of society, which led to the disintegration of primitive relations.

Another point of view: the emergence of a fetish is the result of insufficient development of abstract thinking of a person who needed a visible, tangible symbol. This assumption is also justified, since even in subsequent eras there are similar material incarnations of the deity: the Greeks revered Hera in the form of a board, Apollo in the form of a pyramid.

It is likely that in the process of labor activity, a person singled out the most successful tools of labor and, having no other support, hoped for his “lucky” tools. He animated them (the beginning of animism), persuaded them to continue to help them well (elements of magic), protected them from outsiders, and if they let them down, he broke them. Thus, it turns out that fetishism is the most ancient form of religion.

There are manifestations of fetishism even now, for example, the cult of holy relics in Christianity and the veneration of the Black Stone in the Kaaba temple by adherents of Islam. The rudiments of primitive beliefs are not so rare in modern life. Animism became the basis of all religious traditions, totemism in some places has survived to this day. According to opinion polls, many contemporaries believe in the power of talismans and amulets, fortune-telling, magical rituals, and this belief is rapidly gaining strength at a turning point for nations and states. Among magical actions, divination by astrologers, palmists, physiognomists, etc. is widespread.

Thus, primitive religious beliefs had a significant impact on the development of human society and culture, contributed to the development and strengthening of human associations and themselves changed under the influence of social development. They served as the basis for all subsequent forms of religion and their elements persist to this day, sometimes having a significant impact on the life of modern society.

.2 Traditional and new religious movements

At the moment, there are many different religions in the world, numbering dozens and hundreds of religious branches or separate religious groups and sects within a particular confession. Usually, the three most widespread world religions are distinguished - Christianity, Islam and Buddhism.

The most widespread and one of the most developed religious systems in the world is Christianity, which appeared in the 1st century AD in Judea, the eastern province of the Roman Empire.

At the heart of Christianity is the doctrine of the God-man Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to people with good deeds and commanded them the laws of a righteous life. It is a religion based on the belief that God came into the world two thousand years ago. He was born, received the name Jesus, lived in Judea, preached and accepted great suffering and martyrdom on the cross as atonement for the sins of people. His death and subsequent resurrection from the dead changed the fate of all mankind. His preaching marked the beginning of a new, European civilization.

Christians believe that the world was created by one eternal God, and created without evil. The Resurrection of Christ marks for Christians the victory over death and the newfound possibility of eternal life with God. This is where the story of the New Testament with God begins for Christians.

Christianity views history as a one-way, unique, “one-time” process directed by God: from the beginning (creation) to the end, the end (the coming of the Messiah, the last judgment). The content of this process is the drama of a person who fell into sin, fell away from God, who can only be saved by the mercy of God, and this mercy he can find in faith in the Savior and the church, which is the bearer of this faith.

The Holy Scriptures of Christians - the Bible is not a statement of the doctrine and not the history of mankind, it is a story about how God searched for man, it is the speech of God addressed to people. In it, the New Testament is added to the Old Testament (the sacred book of the followers of Judaism), which tells about the life and teachings of Christ. The New Testament includes the four Gospels (from the Greek - the gospel), the Acts of the Apostles - the first preachers of Christianity, the Epistle of the Apostles to Christian communities and, finally, the Apocalypse, or the Revelation of St. John the Theologian. These works are considered "divinely spiritual", i.e. although written by people, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The peculiarity of Christianity as a religion is that it can exist only in the form of the Church. The Church is a community of people who believe in Christ. The Church can be understood as a form of Christian faith. Over two millennia, several different traditions have developed and took shape in Christianity, each of which has its own Symbol of Faith, its own ceremony and ritual. Therefore, we can talk about the Orthodox Church (Byzantine tradition), the Catholic Church (Roman tradition) and the Protestant Church (the tradition of the Reformation of the 16th century).

The first steps of Christianity in the 1st-2nd centuries. were limited to the Mediterranean region, then it penetrated into the Central European countries and only in the 7th-12th centuries. - to the north-east of Europe. In the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, active activity of Christian missionaries (conductors of religious doctrine) began, which continues in our time. At the end of the 15th century. they, together with the conquerors, landed on the shores of the newly discovered America.

In the XVI century. most of the Philippines was annexed to the Christian world. Missionaries in Africa failed. Only in the 19th century. As a result of active colonization, it was possible to convert many inhabitants of the "black continent" to Christianity. The same colonization introduced the main part of the population of Oceania to it.

It is not easy to calculate the exact number of Christians today. However, general statistics give the following figures. Today, Christian believers make up 1/3 of the population living in Europe and Australia, North and Latin America, New Zealand and New Guinea. The Orthodox Church has about 120 million people in its ranks, the Roman Catholic Church unites about 700 million believers, the Protestant churches that are members of the World Council of Churches unite about 350 million people.

Christianity has long ceased to be a monolithic religion. Reasons of a political nature, internal contradictions, accumulating since the 4th century, led to the 11th century. to a tragic split. And before that, there were differences in worship and understanding of God in different local churches. With the division of the Roman Empire into two independent states, two centers of Christianity were formed - in Rome and in Constantinople (Byzantium). Local churches began to form around each of them. The tradition that has developed in the West led in Rome to a very special role of the Pope of Rome, the high priest - the head of the Universal Church, the viceroy of Jesus Christ. The Church in the East did not agree with this. Two Christian denominations were formed - Orthodoxy and Catholicism.

Orthodoxy established itself in Europe on the territory that once belonged to the Byzantine Empire or countries under its influence: in most of the Balkan Peninsula and in Russia.

The word "Orthodoxy" is a translation of the Greek "orthodoxy". "Ortos" is "correct" (hence, for example, "spelling"), and the word "doxa" has two meanings in Greek: "judgment", "opinion" and "glory", "glorification". Thus, the word "orthodoxy" could be translated into Russian both as "righteousness" and as "Orthodoxy", i.e. the ability to praise God correctly. The Eastern Church chose the second meaning for itself, thereby emphasizing the predominance of the ethical and aesthetic principle over the rational one. In the ancient Church, the word "orthodoxy" denoted the main requirement for the faith and life of Christians. The definition of "Orthodox" was assigned to the Eastern Church in the late Middle Ages.

In the Orthodox Church as a whole, due to its relative weakness and political insignificance, there have never been mass persecutions of the "holy inquisition" type, although this does not mean that it did not persecute heretics and schismatics in the name of strengthening its influence on the masses. At the same time, having absorbed many of the ancient pagan customs of those tribes and peoples who adopted Orthodoxy (there were many of them, at least in Russia alone), the church was able to rework and use them in the name of strengthening its authority. Ancient deities became saints of the Orthodox Church, holidays in their honor became church holidays, beliefs and customs received official coverage and recognition.

The imperial power supported the desire for church unity and thereby contributed to an ever more harmonious and clear disclosure of the Orthodox faith. The rules of reception - the acceptance of any norms by the whole church "body" - has become one of the basic laws of Orthodoxy. No person, no organ of the Church, no matter how broad in composition it may be, can be completely infallible. In matters of faith, only the Church is infallible — the “body of Christ” —as a whole.

In Orthodoxy, Tradition is understood not only as a collection of sacred books, writings and decisions of councils, but also as a direct action of the Holy Spirit and the earthly Church. It is believed that it is this mystical component of the Church Tradition that has preserved the continuity and purity of the Orthodox Church since apostolic times.

In today's Russia, Orthodoxy is professed by believers of Slavic origin, as well as by the peoples of the North and the Volga region. The residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia is located in Moscow. In addition to the Russian dioceses, the Moscow Patriarchate also has bishops in the CIS countries, a number of dioceses in Western and Central Europe, North and South America. The Russian Orthodox Church also includes the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which received the right to self-government in 1990, and the autonomous Japanese Orthodox Church.

Until the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church dominated the life of Western Europe. There are few dogmatic and liturgical differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy interprets the trinity differently (it believes that the holy spirit comes only from God the father), does not recognize purgatory between heaven and hell, does not practice the issuance of indulgences, gives communion with bread (and not unleavened, but yeast) and wine. But it always held on very tightly to these differences, especially after the final break with Catholicism in 1054.

The term "Catholicism" (or "Catholicism") is derived from the Greek adjective "kapholikos" - "universal." "Ecclesia of the Catholic" means "the universal (catholic) Church."

The Catholic Church means universal, universal, claiming that she, and she alone, is the true and full embodiment of Christianity. The Catholic Church, in contrast to the Orthodox, has a single head - the Pope. The head of the church is considered the vicar of Christ on earth and the successor of the apostle Peter. The Pope fulfills a threefold function: the bishop of Rome, the pastor of the Ecumenical Church and the head of the Vatican State.

The Catholic Church, according to the teachings, carried within itself a "reserve of good deeds" and divine grace, which helped to achieve salvation, to remove sins from the human soul. Catholicism has taken a leading position in many countries of Europe and America. With the blessing of the Roman Catholic Church, many cultural traditions of "pagan" antiquity with its free thinking were consigned to oblivion and condemned. True, the church tradition that cultivated Latin contributed to the preservation of a significant part of the manuscript heritage of ancient culture. The teaching of Aristotle, revived with the help of the Arabs, significantly corrected by the church, even became (along with the Bible) a kind of supreme and almost the last word in spiritual culture. However, much was irretrievably lost, and above all, spiritual freedom. Catholic priests (who took a vow of celibacy and therefore were not bound in their activities by personal and family interests, who devoted themselves entirely to the service, the interests of the church) jealously followed the strict observance of church dogmas and rituals, mercilessly punished heretics, which included everyone who had anything - or dared to deviate from the official teaching. The best minds of medieval Europe perished on the fires of the "holy" Inquisition, and to the rest, intimidated and resigned "sinners", the church willingly sold indulgences for a lot of money - absolution of sins.

In the first half of the 16th century, the reformatory social and religious movement, aimed at changing the very foundations of the structure of the church and associated with the worldview of the emerging bourgeoisie, led to the fact that large areas of Central, Western and Northern Europe split off from Catholicism. The emerging anti-feudal movement turned out to be directed against the Catholic Church as well. The leaders of the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland - Luther, John Calvin and Zwingli - accused the Catholic Church of distorting genuine Christianity, sharply opposed the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope, the practice of selling indulgences, tinsel and splendor of Catholic worship, and finally, against exaggerating the role of the Church as a mediator between people. and god. The Reformation recognized Christ as the only mediator between people and God.

Of course, the Reformation did not mean the death of Catholicism. By resorting to the help of the counter-reformation, the Catholic Church managed to withstand and up to this day, its entire church hierarchy, headed by the Pope, is a serious force, the influence of which is felt in many parts of the world. However, the era of the Reformation dealt to Catholicism and the omnipotence of the Christian Church in general such a blow from which it was already impossible to recover. The times of the "holy inquisition" and total control over thought, over the spiritual life of people by the church began to go into the irrevocable past. This, of course, did not mean that the role of the church was reduced to almost zero. And yet the separation of the church from the state and from various spheres of people's business activity, which was the result of the Reformation, played a huge role in the fate of Western Europe, in its successful development along the capitalist path.

At this time, a new kind of Christianity arose, bourgeois in its spirit - Protestantism. He is characterized by individualism in matters of faith: every believer has the right to read and interpret the revelation of God - the Bible. Protestantism taught that it is not so much rituals that are important, but the conscientious fulfillment of each of his duties, that is, in conscientious work, a person embodies Christian commandments. Protestantism (evangelical teaching) affirms the equality of all believers before God and preaches salvation by faith already in earthly life, denies monasticism, as well as celibacy of the clergy, does not accept church ranks and only recognizes the authority of the Bible. Protestantism is characterized by the desire to separate the spheres of influence of the spiritual power of the church and the secular power of the state. Protestantism shifted the center of gravity of religious life from church forms to the individual, to his improvement.

The most evangelized country (that is, the most Protestant) is the United States. Protestantism is widespread in Russia, where it began to penetrate from economically disorganized Europe from the beginning of the 17th century, together with skilled people who tried here to find an application for their talents and abilities. The most numerous are Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Pentecostals, Lutherans.

Islam- the second after Christianity in the number of followers of the world religion, the religion of humility and complete obedience to the supreme will. It was founded in the 7th century by the prophet Muhammad on the basis of Arab tribal religions. He proclaimed that there is only one great Allah and that everyone should be submissive to his will. In the Islamic religion, Allah is the only God, faceless, supreme and almighty, wise, all-merciful, the creator of all things and his supreme judge. There are no gods next to him, no independent beings whatsoever. There is no Christian trinity here with its intricate relationship between God the Father, his son Jesus and the mystical figure of the god-spirit of the saint. In Islam, there is a teaching about heaven and hell, about rewarding a person in the afterlife for his deeds. At the Last Judgment, Allah himself will interrogate each of the living and the dead, and they, naked, with a book in which their deeds are written, will wait in fear for his decision. Sinners will go to hell, the righteous will go to heaven.

The holy book of Muslims is called the Koran. It contains the main ideas and beliefs of Muhammad. According to the tradition generally accepted in Islam, the text of the Koran was told to the prophet by Allah himself through Jabrail. Allah more than once transmitted his sacred commandments through various prophets - Moses, Jesus, and finally Muhammad. This is how Islamic theology explains the numerous coincidences of the texts of the Koran and the Bible: the sacred text transmitted through the earlier prophets was distorted by Jews and Christians, who did not understand much in it, missed something, perverted, therefore, only in the latest version, authorized by the great prophet Muhammad, the faithful can have the highest and indisputable divine truth.

The Koran consists of 114 chapters, which speaks about all aspects of life, including justice, morality, and ritual prescriptions. About a quarter of the text of the Qur'an is devoted to descriptions of the life and work of various prophets.

The Koran was far from accessible to everyone - it was studied and analyzed by only a relatively few literate and educated Muslims, primarily experts in Islamic dogma, theologians and legal scholars. The commandments of Islam reached the broad masses of the common people, illiterate peasants only in the oral form of sermons and in the form of sacred commandments, which constituted a set of rules of conduct, obligatory for every believer, primarily religious.

The main duties of a Muslim are five in Islam - confession, prayer, fasting, alms and Hajj.

The principle of confession is central to Islam. To become a Muslim, it is enough to solemnly pronounce the phrase that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. Thus, a person becomes obedient to Allah, a Muslim. But, having become one, he had to observe the rest of the duties of a faithful.

Prayer is an obligatory daily ritual five times. Those who don't pray five times a day are unbelievers. On Fridays and on holidays, solemn services are held, led by imams ("those in front"). Before praying, the faithful is obliged to perform ablution, a ritual of purification (small - washing hands, feet, face; and large, in case of serious uncleanness - complete ablution of the whole body). If there is no water, it is replaced with sand.

Fast. Muslims have only one main and obligatory post-Ramadan, it lasts a month, during which from dawn to dusk the faithful, except for small children and the sick, have no right to eat, drink, smoke or have fun. In addition to Ramadan, Muslims also fast at other times - by vow, in case of drought, in order to compensate for the missed days of Ramadan.

Alms. Each possessor is obliged to share his income once a year, allocating part of it as alms to the poor. Obligatory charity - zakat - was perceived as a cleansing ritual for the possessors and was usually calculated in a few percent of their annual income.

Hajj. It is believed that every healthy Muslim should visit holy places in Mecca and worship the Kaaba once in a lifetime. The pilgrims who performed the ceremony receive the honorary title of khoja.

To these five, one more pillar of faith is often added, the sixth is the holy war against the infidels (jihad or ghazavat). Participation in the war freed from all sins and provided the faithful who fell on the battlefield a place in paradise.

The place of worship, sermons and prayers in Islam is played by a mosque. It is also a meeting place for the faithful on all important occasions, a kind of cultural center. The construction of mosques in Islam has always been considered a godly deed. No money was spared for this, so that mosques, especially in cities and capitals, are often magnificent structures. The interior of the mosque looks modest, even if the closed part of it is covered with rich carpets. There are no idols, no jewelry, no musical instruments.

Unlike Christianity, Islam developed in conditions of religious and political fusion, so that its authorities were the political and at the same time religious leaders themselves - the prophet, caliphs, emirs, local authorities. Any official was obliged to coordinate his actions with the norms of the Koran and Sharia, i.e. reckon with the role of the clergy, with the power of religion. Islam has served as a powerful impetus for the development of such a phenomenon as the "Muslim world", which has grown in a vast territory of the Middle East with a powerful political structure and a highly developed civilization. The successes and achievements of Arab culture influenced many countries, including the cultural centers of Christian Europe. In addition to the Arab countries, Islam is practiced in India, China, Indonesia. From the Arab states of North Africa, Islam has spread to neighboring Negro countries and is moving further south. Of the many religious systems in the modern world, Islam is one of the most significant forces.

World religions also include Buddhism... Buddhism is a religion of overcoming suffering. Buddhism originated in India in the 6th-5th centuries. BC, five centuries earlier than Christianity and twelve - Islam. Siddhartha Gautama Shakyamuni, known to the world under the name of Buddha, i.e. Enlightened, was the son of a prince from the Shakya tribe.

The world, as the Buddha saw it, is an infinite number of separate fleeting entities in a state of beginningless excitement, but gradually heading towards tranquility and absolute destruction of all living things, when its elements are brought one by one to complete rest. Tranquility is the only real bliss that life can give.

Birth and aging, illness and death, separation from a loved one and union with an unloved, an unattained goal and unfulfilled desire - all this is suffering. Suffering comes from the thirst for being, pleasure, creation, power, eternal life. To destroy this insatiable thirst, to give up desires, to abandon the earthly vanity - this is the way to the destruction of suffering. To avoid suffering, a person must suppress all attachment, all desire, become indifferent to the joys and sorrows of life, to death itself. It is behind this path that complete liberation, nirvana, lies.

Developing his teaching, the Buddha developed a detailed so-called eight-step path, a method of comprehending the truth and approaching nirvana, which includes righteous faith, righteous determination, righteous speech, righteous deeds, righteous life, righteous thought, righteous thoughts and righteous contemplation. Following this path, a person achieves enlightenment, becomes a saint and plunges into nirvana - nothingness, when the chain of rebirth ceases and death no longer leads to a new birth, but liberates from everything - from all desires, and with them from suffering, from returning to what -or a form of individual existence.

In the life of modern India, colossal difficulties are associated with religious discord between Hindus and Muslims, Sikhs.

Many Buddhist centers, temples and monasteries arose in India, but nevertheless, Buddhism did not receive wide distribution and turned into a world religion outside its borders - in China, Japan, Central Asia, Korea, Vietnam and a number of other countries, having long lost its position in its homeland. The rejection occurred because Buddhism rejected caste, religious ritualism, and therefore did not fit into the social structure and culture of Indian society, based on a tradition rejected by Buddhism.

In Russia, Buddhism found its followers among the indigenous peoples of Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva. The popularity of Buddhism is growing rapidly, which can most likely be explained by the fashion for Western culture.

Along with traditional faiths, many new religious movements... Religious movements that arose in the 17th - 20th centuries and continue to appear to this day are called new. The exact number of new religious movements is unknown. According to rough estimates, they include about 200 million people. In terms of growth rates, the new movements are ahead of all other religious systems.

Among the latest trends in the emergence of new religious groups, the following areas can be distinguished:

· Protestant movements (Baptism, Adventism,

· Pentecostalism, "Church of Christ");

· pseudo-Christian sects (Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons);

· charismatic sects ("White Brotherhood", "Church of One Faith", "Church of Unification", "Theotokos Center");

· oriental sects (International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Sri Chin Moya movement, Transcendental Meditation);

· commercial and pseudoscientific cults (Church of Scientology);

· occult and spiritual-ecological sects (followers of Porfiry Ivanov, the Roerich Foundation, the Living Ethics movement);

· Satanic sects

New religious movements emerged as a result of changes in social life that took place in the 17th and 20th centuries. First of all, such changes include the decline in the public authority of the Christian Church, both Orthodox and Catholic, and the commercialization of all aspects of life, the transformation of faith and the salvation of the soul into a commodity. In addition, the development of science and technology had a significant impact on the emergence of new confessional teachings, which significantly expanded the capabilities of a person and posed new problems for him, the expansion of ties between different countries, peoples, the interpenetration of cultures and the emergence of a desire for unification between them.

The spread of new religious movements is a serious problem for society and the state in many countries of the world.

.3 Influence of religion on culture

.3.1 Religion and art

In interaction with art, religion turns to the spiritual life of a person and interprets the meaning and goals of human existence in its own way. Art and religion reflect the world in the form of artistic images, comprehend the truth intuitively, through enlightenment. They are inconceivable without a person's emotional attitude to the world, without his developed imaginative imagination. But art has wider possibilities of figurative reflection of the world, which go beyond the limits of religious consciousness.

Historically, the interaction of art and religion was carried out as follows. Primitive culture was characterized by the indivisibility of social consciousness, therefore, in ancient times, religion, which was a complex interweaving of totemism, animism, fetishism and magic, was merged with primitive art and morality, all together they were an artistic reflection of the nature surrounding a person, his labor activity (hunting , agriculture, gathering). At first, obviously, a dance appeared, which was a magical body movement with the aim of appeasing or frightening spirits. Then music and mimicry were born. From the aesthetic imitation of the processes and results of labor, the fine arts gradually developed, aimed at the propitiation of spirits.

Religion had a huge influence on ancient culture, one of the elements of which was ancient Greek mythology. Ancient Greek myths served as the basis for the emergence of the ancient theater. The prototype of theatrical performances was the festivities in honor of the very popular and beloved god Dionysus in Greece. It was from them that the Greek tragedy arose later. A tragic comedy was born from rural festivities with comic songs and dances. Ancient Greek mythology has had a great influence on the culture of many modern European peoples. She was approached by Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Rubens, Shakespeare, Mozart, Gluck and many other composers, writers and artists.

Biblical myths, including the main myth of the God-man Jesus Christ, were the most attractive in art. For centuries, painting has lived with interpretations of the birth and baptism of Christ, the Last Supper, the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. On the canvases of Leonardo da Vinci, Kramskoy, Ge, Ivanov, Christ is presented as the highest ideal of Man, as the ideal of purity, love and forgiveness. The same moral dominant prevails in Christian icon painting, frescoes, and temple art.

The temple is not only a place of worship, it is a fortress, a symbol of the strength and independence of the state (city), a historical monument. Temples, being religious buildings, were of great cultural importance: they embodied the history of the country, traditions and artistic tastes of the people. For each temple, ancient Russian masters found their own unique architectural solution. Knowing how to accurately choose the best place in the landscape, they achieved its harmonious combination with the surrounding nature, which enhanced the expressiveness of the temple structures.

Religion, being a rich, centuries-old layer of world culture, has had a huge impact on literature. She left the Vedas, the Bible and the Koran to the world. The Vedas are a vast fund of ideas, the most valuable source of ancient Indian philosophy and various knowledge. Here we are talking about the creation of the world, many concepts are introduced (cosmology, theology, epistemology, the world soul, etc.), practical ways of overcoming evil and suffering, gaining spiritual freedom are determined. The attitude to the Vedas determined the authority and diversity of ancient Indian philosophical schools (Vedanta, sakhis, yoga, etc.). On the basis of the Vedas, the entire ancient Indian culture arose, giving the world the Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita - one of the most popular parts of the Mahabharata, which deals with the moral aspect of Hinduism, internal freedom, good, evil and justice. Here, the doctrine of yoga as a system of practical improvement of the body, soul and spirit is being developed.

The Bible is a monument to Hebrew literature (Old Testament) and early Christian literature (New Testament). The Bible is one of the largest monuments of world culture and literature. Without Bible knowledge, many cultural values ​​remain inaccessible. Most of the artistic canvases of the era of classicism, Russian icon painting and philosophy cannot be understood without knowledge of biblical subjects.

The Koran includes the Islamic teaching about the fate of the world and man, contains a collection of ritual and legal regulations, edifying stories and parables. The Koran presents ancient Arab customs, Arabic poetry, folklore. The literary merit of the Quran is recognized by all experts in the Arabic language.

The role of religion in the history of world culture was not only in the fact that it gave humanity "sacred" books - sources of wisdom, kindness and creative inspiration. Religion has had a significant impact on the fiction of different countries and peoples. Writers turned to the image of Christ as the ideal of moral perfection, the savior of the world and humanity. In the image of Christ, the writers saw what was common to him and what our era is going through: betrayal, persecution, unjust judgment. When people lose spiritual guidance, break with eternal values ​​and start living only with momentary problems, taking care of food, clothing, housing, then culture and society inevitably find themselves in crisis. This is how it was at the end of antiquity, it was so at the end of the last century, and it is happening now. The way out of the impasse is in the moral revival of people, which has always been accomplished on a spiritual, including religious basis.

.3.2 Religion and morality

Religion has always been a symbol of spiritual search, service to good and the establishment of Christian morality. At the same time, religion comforts, calms those who are lonely and bad in this world, gives examples of the life of the ascetics of the church (Sergei Radonezhsky, Seraphim Sarovsky, Ksenia Petersburgskaya), who rose above the bustle of everyday life and devoted themselves to serving the highest ideal, God, selfless help to people ... Thus, religion is inextricably linked with morality. However, at the same time, one should not at all conclude that believers have always been moral people, and atheists - on the contrary. Among those and others there were and are both immoral and highly moral people. The fact is that man, by nature, is both good and evil at the same time. It all depends on which way in life he will go, he is given a free choice.

The Bible says that for every person there are always two paths open: "the path of eternal life" - the narrow path and "the path of destruction" - the wide one. Many are following the latter path - the path of temptations and satisfaction of the flesh, consumerism and worldly vanity. This kills the essence of a person, his soul, since material needs are put in the foreground, love is directed only to himself. A person becomes an egocentric, guided only by his own whims and desires, he does evil not only to others, but, above all, to himself. As a result, the personality is destroyed. If a person sees the meaning of life in serving people, in love for them and for all living and inanimate surroundings, then he acquires the true meaning of life. The narrow path, the "path of life" is the path of spiritual perfection, the path of spiritual purity, inner peace, the path of peace, righteousness and repentance. This is a difficult path, and few find it.

Moral ideals worthy of man were set forth in detail by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. The first and main commandment is about love for God, who by his martyr's death atoned for the sins of people, conquered everything that is low and evil in them. The second commandment is about love for a person. These two commandments are linked, because God created man in his own image and likeness. This means that faith in God is impossible without faith in man, without high demands on him.

Moral perfection requires the solution of an even more difficult moral problem: to love not only one's neighbors, but also one's enemies. It is very difficult, but it is necessary to strive for this as the highest ideal, because in love for another, a person becomes more moral.

Why do we need moral perfection, high spirituality? After all, life is finite, everything is perishable, death will erase everything. However, wealth, fame, power are all relative in life. In addition, consumerism inevitably leads a person to degradation, disappointment in the goals set and spiritual emptiness come. A person is always looking for the highest meaning of life, strives for something eternal, harmonious, beautiful. Therefore, the main thing in the preaching of Christ is that he came to radically change the natural order of existence, herald the Kingdom of Heaven, a new type of immortal being.

Thus, religion gives a person strength and aspirations to develop spiritually and morally and improve himself. Of course, such a striving for a moral ideal also presupposes a certain improvement in the world, a transformation of the environment for the better.

But if the relations between religion and politics, morality, art were determined by the solution of problems of an ideological regulatory order, then the relationship between religion and science must be considered in a different plane.

.3.3 Religion and Science

The analysis of the relationship between religion and science should be carried out not in terms of comparing statements about the world and human existence, but as elements of spiritual culture that serve the various objective historical needs of society. Science in the system of spiritual culture performs a cognitive function. Therefore, it should be considered in several aspects.

First, science appears as one of the forms of social consciousness that arose at a certain stage in human history. The purpose of science is to develop generalizing theoretical knowledge. While religion is based on belief in the supernatural, science creates a system of reliable knowledge, which, due to its impersonal nature, can be used both for good and for evil. This is what characterizes the current situation, when the burden of the global problems of mankind creates a negative attitude towards science at the level of public consciousness. An environment is created when religion not only realizes its ideological function in society, but also claims to perform a cognitive function, to develop its own system of knowledge.

Secondly, science appears as a certain type of human activity, a kind of mental labor aimed at the development of theoretical knowledge. In this case, a comparison of religion and science is possible on the following grounds. Man is a creator of culture, a scientist or religious figure, a martyr of science or an inquisitor. Immediately, the images of G. Bruno, N. Copernicus, G. Galileo, Charles Darwin and other scientists, whose discoveries provoked a sharp protest from the church, arise. Moreover, this protest, say, against the teachings of N. Copernicus was caused not by the fact that it refuted the geocentrism of K. Ptolemy in its own theoretical terms, but because the teachings of K. Ptolemy represented an important element of the Christian picture, the world. But conversely, from the history of culture one can cite numerous examples of how the ministers of the church turned out to be the creators of scientific discoveries (N. Kuzansky, G. Mendel, T. de Chardin, P. Florensky, etc.).

At the same time, a person acts as a consumer of culture. He assimilates scientific knowledge or religious dogmas. There is an objectification of what is already a cultural heritage. The famous American religious scholar D. Hunt distinguishes transformations in the relationship between scientific knowledge and religious faith, which are absorbed by the mind and feelings of new generations of people: mental phenomena. Many mystical powers that were once the trademark of witchcraft and sorcery are now demonstrated by physicists under strict laboratory control and accepted in the name of science. "

The activity of a modern person objectively includes, to a greater or lesser extent, scientific knowledge, replacing traditional, pre-scientific ideas about the environment of reality. In addition, throughout life, a modern person is forced to change the sphere of application of creative talents several times. In such a situation, religion performs a kind of compensatory function, which is assigned to the preservation of traditional, eternal principles in human activity and relationships. And if the accelerated development of science captures the active principle in man's mastering of the laws of being, then religion is turned into the past, retains this past in the present.

Third, science should be viewed as a social institution. Scientific knowledge and scientific activity in society are institutionalized, i.e. are fixed in the system of acquired knowledge, their reproduction, storage and transmission. The state forms scientific policy. Of great importance in this case is the question of how, within the framework of a particular spiritual culture, and more broadly - in the depths of civilization - the production of new knowledge took place and is taking place. Thus, a scientific experiment arose in the process of denying the medieval type of thinking and scholastic science, and positive knowledge concerned mainly the world external to man. Already this attitude excluded any interaction between the science of modern times and religion. At the same time, an appeal to the study of Indian culture showed that it contains knowledge directly related to a person, which has not yet become or is only becoming the subject of development for modern science (acupuncture or methods of mastering the forces of the human body - yoga, meditation, etc.) ).

To some extent, these forms of knowledge, associated in many respects with religious beliefs, mystical ideas and images, have gone even further than modern science. However, it does not follow from this that each culture generates its own science - Western or Eastern, Orthodox or Muslim. This judgment is true in relation to religion, but not to science.

The first project of the state organization of science was drawn up by F. Bacon in 1627. He distinguished between the fields of scientific knowledge and religious faith, believing that religion should not interfere with the questions of science. "Temple of Science" is, rather, a figurative concept that expresses a reverent attitude towards science, rather than assimilating it to a church church.

Fourthly, science at a certain stage of historical development becomes a productive force embodied in the tools and products of labor. In this capacity, science acts as an element of knowledge, skills and organization of human labor and the production team. Understood in this way, science accumulates its definitions discussed above. Science penetrates, thus, all spheres of human activity, social life on the basis of the production of reliable theoretical knowledge. Religion also claims to subjugate these spheres, but on a narrower ideological plane. Therefore, the constant confrontation between science and religion is a consequence of their intentions to subjugate various forms of culture, including the "life world" of a person.

The so-called eternal questions that do not lend themselves to experimental verification using the methods of science, i.e. questions about the meaning of life, ultimate causes, the spiritual being of the highest Reality, are the prerogative of religious faith. These questions are based on a different experience than scientific. It is not tangible facts that are arguing here, but various beliefs and forms of faith. The evolution of culture is inconceivable without this dialogue, discussion of worldview. Thus, religion claims to solve cognitive problems, while science, relying on a rationalistic method, claims to practically spiritual mastery of nature and human existence, which was initially subject to art, morality, and religion.

religion culture belief art

Chapter 2. Approaches to the study of the relationship between culture and religion

There are two opposite understandings of the role of religion and culture in the development of society and civilization: 1) they see the source of social development; 2) the society itself, in the process of its development, renews religion and culture. In the first case, the ultimate cause of the civilization process is considered to be the divine principle, the other world, the sacred values ​​of which act along the mainstream of religious consciousness on all spheres of culture, and then on society as a whole. With this point of view, interfaith rivalry in the struggle for a decisive influence on societies, life and the state structure of the country is almost inevitable. In the second case, we are talking about the self-development of society and the improvement of its relationship with nature, incl. with the natural side of human life. The spiritual factor plays a decisive role here: society must realize its priorities, achieve unity in their understanding and joint implementation. This creative process of societies, self-awareness takes place in various cultural forms, not least in religious forms.

The problem of the relationship and mutual influence of religion and culture is a problem of a worldview, ideological and methodological nature, which largely determines the socio-cultural and socio-political characteristics and development trends of individual countries and the world community as a whole. With all the differences in the levels of development of religion and culture and their relationship with each other, they are always essential factors in personal, social, and state life. The role of cultural and confessional relationships is great not only in the formation of national identity, but also in the elimination of conflicts on ethno-confessional grounds, especially when the development of interfaith dialogue, intercultural ties and cooperation becomes an effective alternative to enmity, cultural disunity and religious intolerance.

In a comparable examination of religion and culture, the problem of their conjugation and interconnection is usually central. In the history of social thought, a number of different socio-philosophical approaches to understanding this problem have been developed. According to the historical-genetic approach, religion is interpreted as a determining factor in the change in the forms of human society, the change of civilizations, or, in relation to the concept of the decline of modern Western society, is the main condition for its revival. Toynbee argued that it was possible to save Western civilization by strengthening the role of the religious-church principle. In D. Bell's concept, the meaning of religion is to reconcile the capitalist system with culture, and all hopes are pinned on the revitalization of the religious impulse.

In systems of objective idealism, in the philosophical views of cosmism, priority is given to the ontological aspect of religion. So, Hegel viewed it as one of the historical forms of the activity of the absolute spirit. Reproaching Hegelian philosophy for its impersonal character, Kierkegaard focused on the ontological meaning of the personal principle. Considering a person as "existence", he analyzes its "existential, ontological structure", establishes three ways of the person's existence, or three types of existence: aesthetic, ethical and religious, of which the latter is considered the highest. In the modern concept, which arose under the influence of the philosophy of the Whitehead system, God is interpreted as an original "event" at the ontological level. With an axiological approach, the main significance of religion is seen in its unique possibilities of orienting a person towards the “last truths”, “sacred values”. With the epistemological approach, religion is correlated with other forms of social consciousness and is regarded, if we turn to extreme points of view, either as false or as the highest form of knowledge. Accordingly, it is declared either as an antagonist of genuine culture, “a source of darkness and ignorance, a defender of social inequality and oppression,” or it is extolled as the only real spiritual culture. Scheler interpreted religion as a necessary knowledge with a "liberating" meaning.

In theology and sociology, much attention is paid to the moral and normative interpretation of the content and social role of religion, designed to give the believer an orientation in the modern world (H. Tillicke). Liberal theology, and later Schweitzer, is characterized by an understanding of Christianity as the main moral doctrine. Psychoanalytic and cultural-anthropological approaches are characteristic of Freudianism, various areas of neo-Freudianism and social anthropology, which regard religion as a culture-developed form of overcoming contradictions in the human subconscious or as a social tool to meet the natural and cultural needs of people. According to Malinovsky, religion is one of the institutionally fixed elements of culture, which carries a vital function for society.

The problem of conjugation and interconnection of religion and culture was downplayed by the ideologists of Bolshevism, and most importantly, it was considered mainly in a negative way. This had grave consequences: religion in the USSR was subjected to devastating criticism, and believers and their associations were persecuted and repressed. The authorities considered religion one of the main obstacles to successful socialist construction, saw in it a source of chauvinistic and nationalist sentiments, branded religious outlook and morality as alien to the spiritual priorities of communist consciousness.

In recent years, the attitude towards religion in Russia has changed significantly.

Chapter 3. Contemporary cultural and religious situation

.1 Religion in the minds of the masses

The process of the growth of religiosity fully fits into the general picture of the evolution of mass consciousness in modern Russia, which can be described using the model of a "pendulum" moving from one ideological position to the opposite and then back to the position from which the movement began.

The "pendulum" character of the modern movement from atheism to religion is visible not only in the picture of the spiritual evolution of society over a relatively long period of its history, but also in the "symmetry" of the spread of new religiosity in certain social strata. This "symmetry" is not complete, but quite obvious: with some deviations, in general, the spread of religiosity proceeds along the same "social paths" as earlier its retreat and the onset of atheism took place.

In order to get a holistic view of the real socio-political role of religion in our current reality, of the sphere of state-church relations, of the peculiarities of the embodiment of the constitutional principle of freedom of conscience, the research center "Religion in Modern Society" of the Russian Independent Institute for Social and National Problems conducted in the fall of 1993. sociological surveys in eight regions of Russia - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Buryatia, Dagestan, Tatarstan, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod and Omsk regions. A total of 1200 people were interviewed. The sample was carried out by random selection. When forming the sample, the national structure of the population, its socio-demographic and professional characteristics, and the prevalence of traditional confessions were taken into account. In addition, formalized interviews were held with 85 experts: leading religious scholars, activists of religious and political movements, prominent religious figures.

Huge changes in all areas of life that have occurred in recent years have led to noticeable changes in the consciousness of the masses. Religiousness increased sharply. According to the studies of the late 1980s, about 10% of adults considered themselves to be believers, while in the course of the latest polls - already 39%. In the pre-perestroika period, among young people, it was significantly lower than among representatives of older ages. This situation is beginning to change, and significantly. If for age groups, starting from 18-20 years old, the previous pattern continues to persist, then in the group of 16-17-year-olds, the opposite picture is observed. Religiousness in it reaches 64%, which is more than 1.5 times higher than the national average and much higher than the level in any other age group, with the exception of the retirement age group (66%).

Two tendencies, identified by researchers in earlier times, continue to operate: 1) with an increase in educational level, the degree of religiosity decreases; 2) its unconventional form attracts mostly educated people. In the group with primary education, there are 89% of believers in God, in the group with 7-8-grade education - 66%, in groups with general secondary and special secondary education - respectively - 47 and 38%, in groups with incomplete higher and higher education - 29%. Non-traditional beliefs are professed by 10% of respondents - primarily young people (from 16 to 30 years old), researchers (20%), medical workers (21%), industrial engineers (14%), students, schoolchildren (18%).

The former conclusion that the dominant group is firmly atheistic is subject to a complete revision. This did not seem to be very accurate before. Now the situation looks like this: 11% called themselves non-believers, a little more than 3% - atheists. At the same time, the latter in the younger generations either do not exist at all or are several times less than in other age categories. The largest share of them falls on the military (21%), teachers (11%), cultural workers (9%). They are almost completely absent among the surveyed collective farmers, office workers, medical workers, businessmen and those employed in the service sector.

In general, the religious activity of the population is low. For example, 1% of believers visit the church every day, 2% at least three times a week, 7% once, only on religious holidays - 11%, “occasionally, when there is time” - 39%. Do not attend services at all - 23%. As for the observance of religious rituals, it can be considered relatively high. 10% regularly perform the rituals, partially - 47%, do not perform them at all - 31%. In terms of the systematic nature of religious rituals, the highest level is occupied by pensioners (31%), followed by 16-17-year-olds (14%).

The attitude of citizens to the Law of the Russian Federation "On Freedom of Religion", adopted on October 25, 1990, is symptomatic. It would seem that there was a lot of time to get acquainted with it. However, we were convinced that only 11% are well aware of its regulations, 45% are superficial, and 44% have no idea about them. Is that why it is so often violated? A significant part of those surveyed found it difficult to answer many questions related to the perception of the law and their practical implementation, showing elementary ignorance.

If we talk about the key provisions of this legislative document, which actually appear as constitutional principles, the respondents nevertheless expressed their very definite opinion. The overwhelming majority of those who have their own position have a positive attitude towards the principle of separation of religious associations from the state - 44%, and 21% - negatively. The problem was revealed in the implementation of the principle of equality of religions before the law. Only 27% of the respondents are sure that it is being implemented in practice, 40% do not agree with this point of view. The conclusion about the privileged position of the Russian Orthodox Church is shared by 35% of Muslims, 47% of Protestants, 63% of Catholics. Even in the ranks of the Orthodox, 17% adhere to this position.

Either strengthening, then weakening, there is a discussion in society about the participation of religious leaders in politics. There are judgments about the need to impose a church ban on their election to the deputy corps or appointment to public service. Speaking mostly positively about the participation of clergymen in political life (46% versus 38%), the respondents were also consistent in their attitude towards the deputies of these (57% versus 32%). By the way, let us note right there - to the question "Do you think that believing politicians should be entrusted with responsible posts in our state?" only 10% answered negatively; 26% believe that it is precisely unbelieving politicians who should not occupy high government positions.

Researchers also asked the following question: "What religion can most contribute to the revival of Russia?" Many respondents from Tatarstan (53%) and Buryatia (60%) believe that all religions can equally contribute to this process. Residents of Moscow (55%) and St. Petersburg (81%) prefer Orthodoxy.

Quite a few of the respondents (34%) believe that each religion should be preached only where it traditionally exists. It is easy to see that this judgment reveals the fears of proselytizing activities of foreign missionaries in Russian territories. At the same time, 48% proceed from the fact that free and unrestricted preaching of religious teachings will help human rapprochement, that all religions need to be given access to any nationality and each person has the right to decide for himself which religion to choose.

The intensified inter-religious and inter-confessional contradictions are of serious concern to the population. Most of it (61%), in search of means of preventing inter-confessional conflicts, advocates the creation of a special organization, consisting of representatives of various confessions, which would be engaged in establishing mutual understanding between them; 10% of the respondents were against this idea.

And now about the possible trends in the development of the religious situation in the country. Based on the material gleaned from conversations with the above-mentioned authoritative experts, it can be assumed that within 20 years the religiosity of the population will stabilize and a certain decrease will begin. The very legitimacy of this forecast is confirmed by the experience of many developed countries and our own history, which testify that the introduction of the main social strata to a particular worldview is a complex process that cannot be carried out artificially, at the behest of fashion.

Experts (60%) are very worried about the prospects of interfaith relations, where contradictions should be expected to intensify in the next three years. Even in the next decade, less than half of the interviewed specialists count on their gradual weakening, and 21% say that they will worsen.

In order to correctly judge the present and future activities of religious associations, and, naturally, to be able to pursue a scientifically based policy, it seems appropriate to implement a number of practical measures both by the state and by religious organizations, the public, and research institutions.

o The multi-confessional and multi-ethnic nature of Russian society, the abundance of conflict factors in it, reveal the need to educate citizens in a spirit of tolerance for different worldviews, national and religious traditions.

o The constant and gross violation of religious rights makes it urgent to organize a system of education on the problems of state-church relations, intended for officials of the state apparatus, law enforcement officials, as well as widespread propaganda of legislation on freedom of conscience by the mass media.

o The interests of strengthening the integrity of Russian statehood and achieving national peace require the development of certain "rules of the political game" excluding the use of religious organizations by state bodies and officials of any rank in a conflict situation within the power structures.

o In order to improve the interfaith atmosphere, it is extremely important to establish close cooperation between followers of all religious trends.

Perhaps, only in the future, in one or two generations, the issues of personal faith or disbelief will be resolved more calmly, balanced, will become a matter of a purely individual conscience, a truly free and conscious choice. By that time, it will probably be possible to overcome the somewhat deformed structure of today's religiosity, which is still characterized by increased attention to its external forms and attributes, and not to the content based on the assertion of the humane principles of human community, deep moral and ethical norms.

Today, more than ever, a scientific understanding of the processes taking place in the bosom of religion, of all that they bring to society and the individual is needed; without this, it is impossible to understand the direction of the country's spiritual life, to form normal interaction between the state and the church, to develop effective measures to prevent and prevent interreligious and interethnic conflicts.

3.2 Interaction of spiritual culture and religion in the modern world

In the recent past - especially during the large-scale celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus - there were many hopes that it was religion that would lead to the moral revival of a society that had lost faith in itself. Indeed, a religious revival seems to have taken place in Russia. At least quantitatively. The number of theological educational institutions, monasteries, and functioning churches has significantly increased. The volume of religious propaganda has increased dramatically. But did the moral improvement of society take place at the same time? Few can answer this question in the affirmative. Only one surge in crime speaks of a spiritual, moral crisis in society. It should also be noted that rudeness, cynicism, selfishness and anger are widespread.

How can this paradox be explained? It would seem that in the face of religious organizations we should have a reliable barrier to immoralism. Why is the positive influence of religion on the minds and hearts not very noticeable? Of course, the souls of people brought up on other ideological foundations are not simply and not so quickly rebuilt. In addition, for many, religion is just another fashion. It is also true that not all clergymen were ready to act in modern conditions. And some of them do not lead an ascetic lifestyle, which hardly works for the authority of the church and religion.

At the same time, it seems to us, we should more realistically assess the very possibilities of religious activists. The actions of an individual at all times were determined not only by lofty ideas, ideological attitudes, but also in many cases by urgent needs, the satisfaction of which is aimed at simply maintaining life, at establishing acceptable relations with people around him. The possibilities of religious organizations have narrowed even more in the modern era. All over the world, there is a tendency towards a decrease in the frequency of attendance at divine services, a weakening of ties between ordinary believers and spiritual mentors.

Finally, one more important circumstance should be highlighted. Scientific and technological progress has not only significantly increased the possibilities of people in cognition and transformation of the world, but also expanded the boundaries of their free choice. A person living at the beginning of the 21st century increasingly comes to the conclusion that his fate depends almost exclusively on himself or on the individuals around him. As a result, the ground for secular sentiments is formed and religious attitudes are eroded.

The world in which a modern person lives is characterized by multidimensionality and diversity, the emergence of global problems and numerous non-standard situations. The human personality is increasingly faced with the problem of painful choice. It is no coincidence that the creative nature of moral behavior has been actively emphasized since the middle of the 20th century.

But not only the significantly changed living conditions make it difficult to objectively assess the ability of religion to influence the moral world, the everyday behavior of our contemporaries. It should also be noted that both in the ordinary and in the "enlightened" consciousness there have long been rather simplified ideas about the nature of the interaction between religion and morality, about the essence of these phenomena.

In their formation and development, religion and morality were closely interconnected, and almost every step in the improvement of religion was at the same time a progress in moral life. It should be recognized that the changes taking place in modern religious consciousness are clearly not carried out without the influence of humanistic moral attitudes.

Religion and morality are also brought together by the fact that not only in religious, but also in moral life, faith in the ultimate triumph of good and justice plays an important role. Without the latter, a full-fledged moral life is simply impossible. In addition, both in religion and in morality, the emotional and sensory sphere occupies a significant, predominant place. Finally, both religion and morality, due to their striving for the ultimate problems of human existence, are distinguished by a certain conservatism. Of course, these two phenomena are subject to certain changes. So, a cult develops, religious organizations move in different directions. But in religions of the modern type, the existence of higher, mysterious forces is always recognized, one way or another determining the fate of a person. In the same way, in the process of historical development, the initial postulates of morality were formulated, which were fixed in the sacred texts.

The points mentioned above bring religion and morality closer together. However, it should be noted that there are significant differences between them, which give rise to known collisions. It must be admitted that moral and religious consciousness are different manifestations of a person's spiritual quest. Morality is the path to goodness, to moral perfection, and religion is the path to God. These two paths can coincide, or they can have different directions. In the religious consciousness there are specific concepts that are absent in morality (God, Satan, hell, heaven, etc.). In addition, some concepts in religion receive a special coloring, direction. Religion has its own feelings: love for God, fear of God, torments of hell, etc. But the believer's moral experiences also acquire their own coloring, peculiarities, which, by the way, under the influence of the ongoing secular processes are increasingly weakened, acquire a universal, non-confessional tonality. In addition, in religion, as you know, there is a cult, which has a certain impact on the moral life of the believer. Worship, individual prayer can catalyze moral experiences, heighten interest in life-meaning issues. However, the formal attitude to religious cult encountered at all times and especially in the present era sometimes gives rise to the so-called ritual belief, i.e. the reduction of the entire religious life to only formal, without proper experience and comprehension, the fulfillment of the prescriptions of the church. As a result, not only the intensity of moral quests decreases, but in a number of cases hypocrisy, bigotry, nihilistic and relativistic sentiments arise.

The second half of the 20th century is characterized by the spread of greater tolerance, balanced assessments and a departure from ideologically categorical, one-sided positions. This is an integral component of democratization taking place in many countries, in various spheres of activity. Currently, philosophers, political scientists, psychologists are trying to identify both the positive and negative aspects of the impact of religion on various aspects of life, including morality.

However, it should be recognized that the ability of religions to have a beneficial effective impact on the moral life of society and the individual to a certain extent also depends on the extent to which it is able to overcome the difficulties that confront ethical thought. This is especially significant for the sophisticated consciousness of a modern person who “groans” under the weight of immense information, is infected with skepticism, requires strong evidence in favor of a particular judgment and does not blindly accept them on faith, as it was in the past.

The problem of freedom is very difficult for modern religious consciousness. At the dawn of Christianity, the issue of human free will was toughly considered in the dispute between Pelagius and Augustine. And it must be admitted that in the end, Pelagius, condemned by the Catholic Church, won, admitting that a person of his own free will can do not only evil, but also good. But such an assumption can have far-reaching and dangerous consequences for the church, for a person is thus able to “become proud”, to recognize himself as self-sufficient. Of course, we can say that a person is free within those boundaries that are predetermined by God. But isn't such a conclusion actually a denial of human freedom?

In recent decades, religious ideologies of various confessions, paying tribute to the claims of modern man, increasingly talk about the fact that he continues the creation of the world, begun by God, becomes an accomplice in the process of creation. But here the question inevitably arises of the commensurability of the divine and human contributions to this process. A person's share may be just insignificant in comparison with what was created by God.

The problem of evil is no less, and perhaps even more acute in the 20th century. Why does the all-good, all-powerful God allow many people to suffer? For more than one millennium, religious thinkers have been trying to "justify" God (theodicy). We will not delve into the details of the numerous constructions - this is a special topic. Let us only note that even the most refined of them are not accepted either by the mind or the heart of a modern person. And this can be fraught with dangerous consequences for the moral world of man. Theologians are often forced to admit that the “from evil” argument is still a powerful “weapon” in the hands of atheists.

The above and some other features of religion - its teachings and cult - that do not correspond to the values ​​of humanistic ethics, the moral attitudes of mass consciousness at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, are one of the reasons for the modern weakening of the authority of religion, the formation of secular orientations. At the same time, of course, it cannot be argued that secular ethics does not face significant difficulties. However, there are those that are generated precisely by the specifics of religious teaching: the recognition of the existence of an almighty God, the afterlife, etc.

While noting the difficulties facing religious and moral thought, one must nevertheless be aware of the fact that religion still exerts a noticeable influence (direct and indirect) on the moral culture of society, is a factor in the preservation and effective functioning of morality. It is in religious thought that the thesis about the moral significance of every human person, about the universal, common human nature of moral values ​​is persistently repeated.

Conclusion

The problem of the conjugation and interconnection of religion and culture is revealed on the scale of the social system as a whole, when analyzing their characteristics as components of this system. If we define spiritual culture as a semantic system of human life, then religion can be considered as its variety, a system of sacred meanings. Religion and culture relate to each other as a part and a whole, but these meanings of them can change under the influence of historical conditions (until the modern era, religion reigned infinitely in society) and under the influence of worldview preferences (sacred meanings dominating in religious consciousness sometimes do not allow us to discern the actual prevalence secular culture in society).

Culture (in one relationship or another with religion) forms one of the three main functional components of society, along with the mutually reversible process of production and consumption and society (a system of societies, connections, institutions, forms of communication and joint activity). At the same time, culture is a kind of governing center of all social life, being a repository of collective social experience, an arsenal of norms, imperatives, goals and values, with the help of which the existence of society is regulated and controlled and its development is directed. Culture is a paradigm of human life at this historical stage of social development. It carries out its regulating function, influencing, on the one hand, on the production-consumption process (and then a "material", "production", "everyday" culture appears, as well as the culture of spiritual production and consumption), and on the other hand, to society, manifesting itself as a "political" culture.

The influence of religion as one of the directions of spiritual culture on society is carried out in two ways: directly and indirectly. On the one hand, religious orientations and norms directly regulate the spheres of production and consumption and society, on the other hand, they indirectly influence them through other areas of culture (moral and ethical consciousness, artistic and aesthetic orientations and even scientific views, which religion seeks to reconcile with its ideas ).

It is quite obvious that people themselves clearly understand the role of religion in modern society and its influence on cultural and spiritual life. That is why in recent years there has been a clear surge of religiosity in the mass consciousness. However, religion itself is understood by the overwhelming majority, including Orthodox believers, “not religiously,” but socially-utilitarian, as a means of maintaining culture and morality. Most of the new believers call themselves believers not so much because they really believe in God and in the fundamental tenets of the religious worldview that are inseparable from faith in God, but because they believe that religion is useful for society, it is good to be a believer.

This understanding is quite consistent with the continuing strong positions of progressivism and humanism, but it cannot be the basis of a real, deep and sincere faith. The worldview of modern society is an eclectic worldview, combining logically unrelated elements: persisting faith in science and progress with a rather vague faith in God, confessional preference for Orthodoxy, but great sympathy for other religions, including those that are very far from Orthodoxy - Buddhism and Hinduism. There are obvious tendencies towards the preservation and subsequent strengthening of religious convictions both in Russian society and in the world as a whole, which leads to the comprehensive influence of religion on spiritual life and culture.

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