Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation

Ural State Academy of Veterinary Medicine

Abstract on the topic:

"The role of world religions in the modern world"

Completed by: graduate student...

Checked by: Professor Golubchikov A.Ya.

Troitsk - 2003

Introduction

1. Buddhism

3. Christianity3

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

During the communist system in the Soviet Union, religions as state institute didn't exist. And the definition of religion was as follows: “... Any religion is nothing more than a fantastic reflection in the heads of people of those external forces that dominate them in their everyday life - a reflection in which earthly forces take the form of unearthly ones...” (9; p. 328).

In recent years, the role of religion has been increasingly increasing, but, unfortunately, religion in our time is a means of profit for some and a tribute to fashion for others.

In order to find out the role of world religions in the modern world, it is necessary to first highlight the following structural elements, which are basic and connecting for Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.

1. The original element of all three world religions is faith.

2. Doctrine, the so-called set of principles, ideas and concepts.

3. Religious activity, the core of which is a cult - these are rituals, services, prayers, sermons, religious holidays.

4. Religious associations are organized systems based on religious teachings. They mean churches, madrassas, sanghas.

1. Describe each of the world religions;

2. Identify the differences and relationships between Christianity, Islam and Buddhism;

3. Find out what role world religions play in the modern world.

1. Buddhism

“...Buddhism is the only true positivist religion in all history - even in its theory of knowledge...” (4; p. 34).

BUDDHISM, a religious and philosophical doctrine that arose in ancient India in the 6th-5th centuries. BC. and transformed in the course of its development into one of the three, along with Christianity and Islam, world religions.

The founder of Buddhism is Sidhartha Gautama, the son of King Shuddhodana, the ruler of the Shakyas, who left a luxurious life and became a wanderer on the paths of a world full of suffering. He sought liberation in asceticism, but having become convinced that the mortification of the flesh leads to the death of the mind, he abandoned it. Then he turned to meditation and after, according to different versions, four or seven weeks spent without food or drink, he achieved enlightenment and became Buddha. After which he preached his teachings for forty-five years and died at the age of 80 (10, p. 68).

Tripitaka, Tipitaka (Sanskrit “three baskets”) - three blocks of books of the Buddhist Holy Scripture, perceived by believers as a set of revelations of the Buddha as presented by his disciples. Designed in the 1st century. BC.

The first block is the Vinaya Pitaka: 5 books characterizing the principles of organization of monastic communities, the history of Buddhist monasticism and fragments of the biography of Buddha-Gautama. The second block is the Sutta Pitaka: 5 collections expounding the teachings of the Buddha in the form of parables, aphorisms, poems, and also telling about last days Buddha. The third block is the Abhidharma Pitaka: 7 books interpreting the basic ideas of Buddhism.

In 1871, in Mandalay (Burma), a council of 2,400 monks approved a single text of the Tripitaka, which was carved on 729 slabs of the memorial in Kuthodo, a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists around the world. Vinaya occupied 111 slabs, Sutta - 410, Abhidharma - 208 (2; p. 118).

In the first centuries of its existence, Buddhism was divided into 18 sects, and at the beginning of our era, Buddhism was divided into two branches, Hinayana and Mahayana. In the 1st-5th centuries. The main religious and philosophical schools of Buddhism were formed in the Hinayana - Vaibhashika and Sautrantika, in the Mahayana - Yogachara, or Vij-nanavada, and Madhyamika.

Originating in Northeast India, Buddhism soon spread throughout India, reaching its greatest flowering in the mid-1st millennium BC - early 1st millennium AD. At the same time, starting from the 3rd century. BC, it covered Southeast and Central Asia, and partly also Central Asia and Siberia. Faced with the conditions and culture of the northern countries, Mahayana gave rise to various movements, mixed with Taoism in China, Shinto in Japan, local religions in Tibet, etc. In its internal development, breaking into a number of sects, northern Buddhism formed, in particular, the Zen sect (currently most widespread in Japan). In the 5th century Vajrayana appears, parallel to Hindu Tantrism, under the influence of which Lamaism arises, concentrated in Tibet.

A characteristic feature of Buddhism is its ethical and practical orientation. Buddhism put forward as central problem– the problem of being a person. The core of the content of Buddhism is the Buddha's preaching about the “four noble truths”: there is suffering, the cause of suffering, liberation from suffering, the path leading to liberation from suffering.

Suffering and liberation appear in Buddhism as different states of a single being: suffering is the state of being of the manifested, liberation is the state of the unmanifested.

Psychologically, suffering is defined, first of all, as the expectation of failures and losses, as the experience of anxiety in general, which is based on a feeling of fear, inseparable from the present hope. In essence, suffering is identical to the desire for satisfaction - psychological reason suffering, but ultimately simply to any internal movement and is perceived not as some kind of violation of the original good, but as a phenomenon organically inherent in life. Death, as a result of Buddhism's acceptance of the concept of endless rebirths, without changing the nature of this experience, deepens it, turning it into inevitable and devoid of end. Cosmically, suffering is revealed as an endless “excitement” (appearance, disappearance and reappearance) of the eternal and unchanging elements of the impersonal life process, flashes of a kind of vital energy, psychophysical in composition - dharmas. This “excitement” is caused by the absence of the true reality of the “I” and the world (according to the Hinayana schools) and the dharmas themselves (according to the Mahayana schools, which extended the idea of ​​unreality to its logical conclusion and declared all visible existence as shunya, i.e. emptiness). The consequence of this is the denial of the existence of both material and spiritual substance, in particular the denial of the soul in the Hinayana, and the establishment of a kind of absolute - shunyata, emptiness, which is not subject to either understanding or explanation - in the Mahayana.

Buddhism imagines liberation, first of all, as the destruction of desires, or more precisely, the extinguishing of their passion. The Buddhist principle of the middle path recommends avoiding extremes - both the attraction to sensual pleasure and the complete suppression of this attraction. In the moral and emotional sphere there appears the concept of tolerance, “relativity”, from the standpoint of which moral precepts are not binding and can be violated (the absence of the concept of responsibility and guilt as something absolute, a reflection of this is the absence in Buddhism of a clear line between the ideals of religious and secular morality and, in particular, the softening and sometimes denial of asceticism in its usual form). The moral ideal appears as absolute non-harm to others (ahinsa) resulting from general gentleness, kindness, and a feeling of complete contentment. In the intellectual sphere, the distinction between the sensory and rational forms of cognition is eliminated and the practice of contemplative reflection (meditation) is established, the result of which is the experience of the integrity of being (non-distinction between internal and external), complete self-absorption. The practice of contemplative reflection serves not so much as a means of understanding the world, but as one of the main means of transforming the psyche and psychophysiology of the individual - dhyana, called Buddhist yoga, is especially popular as a specific method. The equivalent of quenching desires is liberation, or nirvana. In the cosmic plan, it acts as a stop to the disturbance of dharmas, which is later described in the Hinayana schools as a motionless, unchanging element.

At the heart of Buddhism is the affirmation of the principle of personality, inseparable from the surrounding world, and the recognition of the existence of a unique psychological process in which the world is involved. The result of this is the absence in Buddhism of the opposition of subject and object, spirit and matter, the mixing of individual and cosmic, psychological and ontological, and at the same time emphasizing the special potential forces hidden in the integrity of this spiritual-material existence. Creative beginning, the final cause of existence turns out to be the mental activity of a person, which determines both the formation of the universe and its disintegration: this volitional decision of the “I”, understood as a kind of spiritual-physical integrity, is not so much a philosophical subject as a practically acting personality as a moral and psychological reality. From the non-absolute significance for Buddhism of everything that exists regardless of the subject, from the absence of creative aspirations in the individual in Buddhism, the conclusion follows, on the one hand, that God as the highest being is immanent to man (the world), on the other hand, that in Buddhism there is no the need for God as a creator, savior, provider, i.e. in general as, undoubtedly, a supreme being, transcendent of this community; This also implies the absence in Buddhism of dualism of the divine and the undivine, God and the world, etc.

Having started with the denial of external religiosity, Buddhism, in the course of its development, came to its recognition. The Buddhist pantheon grows due to the introduction into it of all kinds mythological creatures, one way or another assimilating with Buddhism. Extremely early in Buddhism, a sangha-monastic community appeared, from which, over time, a unique religious organization grew.

RELIGION IN THE MODERN WORLD

P L A N

1. Introduction:

1.1 Religion in the modern world.

1.2 Structure of society. Social relations

2. Christianity

2.1 Foundation of Christianity

2.2 Church and Christianity

2.3 Geography of Christianity

2.4 Early Christianity

2.5 The first Christian communities

2.6 Wave of persecution of Christianity

2.7 Statistics on Christianity

2.8 Schism of Christianity

3. Orthodoxy

3.1 Definition of Orthodoxy

3.2 Orthodox Church of Byzantium

3.3 Basic Law of Orthodoxy

3.4 Russian Orthodox Church

3.5 Orthodoxy and modernity

3.6 Old Believers

4. Catholicism

4.1 Definition of Catholicism

4.2 Catholic Church

4.3 Statistics and geography of Catholicism

4.4 Reformation and Catholicism

5. Protestantism

5.1 Statistics on Protestantism

5.2 Protestantism in Russia

5.3 Protestant denominations

6. Islam

6.1 Holy book of Muslims

6.2 "Five Pillars of Faith"

6.3 The mosque and its functions

6.4 "Muslim World"

7. Buddhism

7.1 Buddha's Teachings

7.2 "The Eight-Part Path"

7.3 Commandment of mercy

7.4 Modern Buddhism

Religion in the modern world.

Religion is integral part modern world, since it performs three blocks of social functions. Firstly, religious institutions carry out the spiritual formation of believers, which is manifested in the organization of the connection “man - God”, in the education of religiosity and citizenship, in saturating a person with good and removing evil and sins. Secondly, religious organizations are engaged in religious and special secular education, mercy and charity. Thirdly, representatives of churches actively participate in public activities, contribute to the normalization of political, economic and cultural processes, interethnic and interstate relations, solving global problems of civilization.

A kind of key to understanding the role of religion in ongoing processes is freedom from extremes, scientific presentation about this phenomenon. The concept of "religion" comes from the Latin " religare ", which means “to connect, unite, unite.” Religion is a person’s idea of ​​​​universal world connections, expressed through specific behavior. Consequently, religious teaching is nothing more than a person’s systematized idea of ​​​​universal world connections.

There are world and national religions. Religious scholars include Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam as world religions, i.e., religions that are supranational in nature and develop outside the specifics of the mononational self-awareness of a certain ethnic group.

The formation of national-national religions - Judaism, Confucianism, Shintoism, etc. - is possible only on the basis of a mono-ethnic community (no more than 10-15 percent of foreigners) due to the presence of national exclusivity in the public consciousness of this ethnic group of people.

Developed religions form religious systems with the following structure: 1 - faith in God; 2 - dogmatic theology; 3 - moral theology and the corresponding moral imperative of behavior; 4 - historical theology; 5 - system of cult (ritual) practice; 6 - presence of churches (mosques, houses of worship, etc.), preachers, ministers.

Dogmatic theology deals with the systematic presentation of religious views, as well as the interpretation of religious dogmas. Dogmas (from the Greek verb “to think, believe, believe”) are undoubtedly true and indisputable principles about God and man, constituting the symbol of faith in every religion. Features dogmas: 1) speculativeness or contemplation: they are comprehended by faith and do not require rational evidence -, 2) revelation. dogmas were given to man directly by God, therefore they are sincere, indisputable and unchangeable, once and forever recorded in the sacred scriptures; 3) churchliness dogmas are recognized by all churches of a given religious system, it is the churches that preserve and interpret dogmas as divine revelation, convince believers of their immutability and truth, 4) universally binding for all church members, all believers must unconditionally believe in the truth of the dogmas and must be guided by them in life, otherwise excommunication will follow.

The main differences between religious systems are the peculiarities of the perception of God (God is, as it were, “dissolved” in Buddhism, trinitarian in Christianity, one in Islam, etc.). Each religion dogmatically solves its own important problem. There are also differences in historical theology (i.e., the interpretation of the history of the Universal Church and specific churches), in the system of cult or ritual practice, manifested in the activities of priests and laity.

So, the difference in the understanding of God and his ways of communicating with man leads to the functioning of various religious systems, characterized by specific religious practices and independent religious associations. At the same time, religions have been and remain the spiritual core of the development of earthly civilization.

Structure of society. Social relations. The social sphere is an area of ​​life of human society, covering the system of social relations, as well as connections between society and the individual. The content of the social sphere is the relationship between social groups and individuals regarding their position, place and role in society, image and way of life.

The most important components of the social sphere are various communication problems, which represent a multifaceted process of establishing and developing human contacts, determined by the needs of modern activity. Communication includes the exchange of information, interaction between people, and their mutual understanding.

Human activity unfolds in various fields The life of society, its direction, content, and means are infinitely varied.

Social activity is activity aimed at satisfying social needs. Of course, people engage in self-reproduction, self-healing, self-education, feed and entertain themselves. However, reproduction, preservation of life, stimulation of activity, direct service to a person is such an important public matter that society cannot completely entrust it to individuals or families. Society is included in this process through the systems of education, healthcare, cultural recreation and household and social services for its citizens.

It should be noted that all named types social activities always interconnected, intersecting and interpenetrating each other. Thus, the social sphere really exists and manifests itself in society precisely in diverse and complex human activities. These are its most important features. Therefore, it would be wrong to imagine social life in such a way that somewhere in one dimension there are social communities, their connections, and in another - the diverse activities of millions. No, the entire social sphere is nothing more than a facet, a side , part of human activity.

The social sphere of society is very complex and multifaceted. This is due, first of all, to the fact that relations between people, groups, and societies are very different due to the division of people according to natural characteristics - races, nations, nationalities, ethnic groups, as well as sex and age groups. People differ in social, political, territorial, religious and civic characteristics that determine their membership in certain groups. There are a lot of other signs, because the most unknown, perhaps, is the person himself, located at the junction of two worlds - natural and social

The foregoing allows us to highlight the following meaning of the social sphere: it is an environment where interpersonal relationships are realized. Various areas of activity and needs of a wide variety of social communities are being formed. The social sphere covers the entire space of life of a person, group, community and society as a whole: from the conditions of their work and life, health and leisure to social-class, national and universal values ​​and relations.

The basis (skeleton, frame) of society is its social structure.

A structure is a set of parts, components, elements of an object, as well as connections between them that ensure the stability of this object.

Social structure is extremely complex. Its components are social communities, i.e. groups of people united on some basis, which cover all possible states and forms of human existence. It follows from this that social community is an extremely complex concept. In this manual, a social community is understood as any fairly stable association of people based on various connections, for example, territory of residence, activity, culture, possession of material assets, etc.

Modern society is a collection of social communities at various levels. The global level of society is all of humanity as a whole. Humanity can be divided according to various criteria, for example, into classes based on attitudes towards property, into social layers and groups. The essence of the concepts of “social organizations”, “layers” and “groups” will be discussed further. Here it is important to understand that any communities: classes, nations, social organizations, layers and groups can act as components of the social structure.

To understand the essence of the connections between components social structure society, let us introduce the concept of social relations. Social relations are a specific type of social relations, expressed in the form and nature of the interaction of social subjects regarding their position in society and their role in public life. At the same time, the concept of “social relations” and “ public relations" - this is not the same thing. It is known that social relations develop between social subjects regarding this or that material or spiritual object. If these relations regarding the means of production are economic relations, regarding power - political relations, regarding legal norms - legal relations. Social relations develop regarding the implementation of the actual social interaction that arises between various social communities, classes, strata, groups and individuals. Social relations always express the position of people and their communities in society, because these are always relations of equality or inequality, equality or inequality, justice or injustice

Social relations are realized in the form of:

Social roles and their characteristics (people with a high level of education perform predominantly mental work, with low level- predominantly physical work, those living in cities - mainly in industry, those living in rural areas - are mainly employed in agriculture, etc.);

Social statuses that determine the position of individuals in a community, in a group (turner, shop manager, director, etc.);

Social norms (laws, traditions, customs, etc., regulating the behavior of people in society).

The listed forms of social relations are the main types of connections in the social structure of society.

For many centuries, the best minds of mankind have sought to find a rational explanation of the reasons for the emergence of a specific, illusory-mystical, irrational form of human thinking and to understand religion as a form public consciousness, as a social phenomenon.

Having arisen at the dawn of mankind and taking shape over the centuries on the basis of inadequate reflection in people’s thinking of real objective processes in nature and society, religious ideas and beliefs, as well as the dogmas, cults, rituals and rituals that reinforced them, entangled human consciousness in a web of unrealizable illusions, distorted his perception of the world crookedly the mirror of fantastic myths and magical transformations, magic and miracles, forced the creation of more and more elaborate and complex metaphysical constructions of the universe and the afterlife. Strengthening in the minds of people, being fixed in the memory of generations, religion became part of the cultural potential of a people, a country, or even many countries.

Ancient people, when creating their religions, cared about purely ethnic needs and counted on the “compatriotic” help of their own gods. Some of the religions “with local registration” faded into oblivion (sometimes together with the peoples who gave birth to them), while others, despite their territorial limitations, live to this day.

But there were religions that corresponded to the dreams and aspirations of not only the people from which came the prophet who once announced the divine will. For these faiths, national boundaries turned out to be narrow. They captured the minds and souls of people inhabiting different states, different continents: Christianity, Islam and Buddhism became world religions.

1.Christianity

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.

1.1. Foundation of Christianity

At the heart of Christianity is the teaching about the God-man Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to people with good deeds and commanded them the laws of righteous life. This is a religion based on the belief that two thousand years ago God came into the world. He was born, received the name Jesus, lived in Judea, preached and accepted great suffering and martyrdom on the cross. His death and subsequent resurrection from the dead changed the fate of all mankind. His preaching marked the beginning of a new, European civilization. For Christians, the main miracle was not the word of Jesus, but He Himself. The main work of Jesus was His being: being with people, being on the cross.

Christians believe that the world was created by one eternal God, and created without evil. The resurrection of Christ marks for Christians victory over death and newfound opportunity eternal life with God blessing. This is where the story of the New Testament with God begins for Christians. This is the Testament of Love. Its most important difference from the Old (i.e., old, former) Testament lies in the very understanding of God, Who “is Love.” Throughout the Old Testament, the basis of the relationship between God and man is the law. Christ says: “I give you a new commandment: love one another, as I have loved you.”

Christianity views history as a unidirectional, unique, “one-time” process directed by God: from the beginning (creation) to completion, the end (the coming of the Messiah, the Last Judgment). The content of this process is the drama of a person who has fallen into sin, who has fallen away from God, and whom only the mercy of God can save, and he can find this mercy in faith in the Savior and the church, which is the bearer of this faith.

Christianity, like no other religion, is based on mystery. Reason does not accommodate the idea of ​​one God, existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. One of the main sacraments of Christianity is communion, based on the Eucharist (the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ), and the communion of believers with God through the partaking of these divine gifts.

The Holy Scripture of Christians - the Bible - is not a statement of 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. The New Testament, which tells about the life and teachings of Christ, was added to the Old Testament (the sacred book of the followers of Judaism). The New Testament includes the four Gospels (from the Greek - gospel), the Acts of the Apostles - the first preachers of Christianity, the Letter of the Apostles to Christian communities and, finally, the Apocalypse, or the Revelation of St. John the Theologian. These works are considered “divinely inspired” i.e. although written by men, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The main idea of ​​Christianity is the idea of ​​sin and human salvation. People are sinners before God, and this is what makes them equal: Greeks and Jews, Romans and barbarians, slaves and free, rich and poor - all sinners, all “servants of God.”

Christianity attracted people by exposing the corruption of the world and justice. They were promised the kingdom of God: those who are first here will be last there, and those who are last here will be first there. Evil will be punished, and virtue will be rewarded, the highest judgment will be completed and everyone will be rewarded according to their deeds. The preaching of the Evangelical Christ called not for political resistance, but for moral improvement.

1.2. Church and Christianity

The peculiarity of Christianity as a religion is that it can only exist in the form of the Church. The church is a community of people who believe in Christ: “...where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them.”

However, the word “church” has different meanings. This is a community of believers, united by a common place of residence, one clergyman, one temple. This community constitutes a parish.

Church, especially in Orthodoxy, is also commonly called a temple, which in this case is perceived as the “house of God” - a place for sacraments, rituals, a place of joint prayer.

Finally, the Church can be understood as a form of Christian faith. Over two millennia, several different traditions have developed and taken shape in Christianity, each of which has its own Creed, its own rite and ritual. Therefore, we can talk about the Orthodox Church (Byzantine tradition), the Catholic Church (Roman tradition) and the Protestant Church (16th century Reformation tradition).

In addition, there is the concept of the Earthly Church, uniting all believers in Christ, and the concept of the Heavenly Church - the ideal divine structure of the world. Where the earthly Church follows the covenants of Christ, it forms unity with the heavenly one.

1.3.Geography of Christianity

The first steps of Christianity in the 1st -2nd centuries. limited to the Mediterranean region, then it penetrated into Central European countries and only in the 7th -12th centuries. – to the north-east of Europe. In the era of the Great geographical discoveries The active work of Christian missionaries (conductors of religious teachings) 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 16th century Most of the Philippines was annexed to Christendom. Misfortune befell the missionaries in Africa. Only in the 19th century. as a result of active colonization, it was possible to convert many inhabitants of the “dark continent” to Christianity. The same colonization introduced the bulk of the population of Oceania to it.

1.4. Early Christianity

From its first steps, early Christianity declared itself to be the teaching of the oppressed lower classes, the teaching of the dispossessed and suffering. True, this teaching did not call for struggle - and in this sense it cannot in any way be considered revolutionary in character. Rather, on the contrary, Christianity was an alternative to various kinds of uprisings and wars, starting with the uprising of Spartacus, which shook the powerful Roman Empire at the turn of our era. And as this kind of “pacifying” alternative, directing the energy of the oppressed into the channel of religious illusions, Christianity was quite acceptable, even beneficial for those in power, who soon realized this and accepted Christian teaching as the dominant ideological doctrine. However, this happened later. Early Christianity in the first two or three centuries of its existence, being a religion of the disenfranchised and persecuted, not only stood in opposition to the authorities, being subjected to severe persecution on their part, but was also not devoid of radical elements, even revolutionary pathos. This pathos boiled down, first of all, to a sharp rejection of the established norms of life.

The revolutionary pathos of early Christianity was reflected in the emphasis on two important aspects new religion. Firstly, on her preaching of universal equality. Although this was equality, first of all, only “in sin,” the equality of “God’s servants,” even in this capacity, the slogan of universal equality could not help but attract attention. True, in some evangelical texts slavery was justified and slaves were instilled with obedience to their masters, but nevertheless, the proclamation of the principle of universal equality during the heyday of the Roman Empire cost a lot. Secondly, on the condemnation of wealth and acquisitiveness (“a camel will pass through the eye of a needle sooner than a rich man will enter the kingdom of heaven”), and on emphasizing the universal duty to work (“let him who does not work, let him not eat”). It is not surprising that the members of the first Christian communities were, first of all, the offended and oppressed, the poor and slaves, the poor and outcasts.

1.5. The first Christian communities

The first Christian communities borrowed from their predecessors - sects such as the Essenes - the features of asceticism, self-denial, piety and added to them the ritual rituals of communion of Mithraism and much more, including the solemn act of baptism as a symbol of faith. These communities were quite closed. They were led by charismatic leaders - preachers, “teachers”, prophets overshadowed by “grace”, who usually listened to their “inner voice”, had “visions”, heard the “voice of God” and therefore were considered to have an undeniable right to leadership. Already in the second half of the 1st century. n. e. Two main trends have clearly emerged - the pro-Jewish one, represented by the Apocalypse and genetically going back, apparently, to networks like the Essenes, and the anti-Jewish one, associated with the activities of the Apostle Paul. Unlike the Apostle Peter, whom the Gospel Paul called “the apostle to the Jews,” Paul, according to legend, called himself. "servant of Jesus Christ among the Gentiles." In this sense, it is Paul who can be considered the first patriarch (if not the founder) of Christianity.

In the conditions of the increasingly rigid dogmatic basis of Christian doctrine, the life of the original sects and communities led by charismatic leaders, full of dangers and persecution, but distinguished by freedom of spirit and action, was becoming a thing of the past. In the new conditions, they were replaced by officials elected by believers (and then approved from above) - deacons, bishops, presbyters.

The replacement of charismatic leaders with a bureaucratic hierarchy is an inevitable phenomenon in the conditions of the emerging church with its strict canons and inviolable dogmas. Cleansed from the “sins” of youth Christian church became an institution quite acceptable to the socio-political elite, the influence of which among the masses made rapprochement with it and its use desirable.

1.6. Wave of persecution of Christianity

Originating in a remote province of the Roman Empire (Judea) in the 1st century, Christianity until the middle of the 4th century. was persecuted by the Roman authorities. First in one province, then in another, or even throughout the entire empire, a wave of persecution immediately arose: temples were destroyed, clergy and ordinary believers were arrested. A Christian slave was persecuted in the same way as an officer or patrician who converted to Christianity.

These three centuries of persecution for all subsequent centuries taught Christians two great truths (with which even those who do not consider themselves believers agree): truth does not depend on the will of the authorities; a humiliated and poor person may turn out to be right.

And after another 17 centuries - in the 20th century - another empire again declared war on Christians. And again - desecrated and destroyed churches, and again hundreds of thousands killed. This time, the land drenched in martyr's blood was Russia. The atheistic empire demanded unconditional agreement not only with its policies, but also with its philosophy, with its worldview. None of the waves of persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire lasted more than ten years. In the Soviet Union, persecution continued for seven decades.

Near one of the Siberian camps there is a grave in which 50 priests lie. They were taken out of the camp and ordered to dig a trench. They lined it up on its edge. And then they approached everyone with a pistol and asked the question: “Well, does your God exist or not?” The answer “yes” was followed by a shot. Not one renounced.

In the 20th century Christians (primarily priests) were killed in Nazi Germany and Mexico, in Kampuchea by the Khmer Rouge and Maoist China, in Albania (where religion was prohibited by the constitution) and Yugoslavia, Romania and Poland...

The relationship between the Church and earthly authorities was so difficult. But within the Church itself, throughout the history of its existence, many dramatic and sometimes tragic events took place. Today Christianity is represented by three denominations, each of which is divided into many denominations, i.e. movements, sometimes very different in their beliefs. But both Orthodox, and Catholics, and most Protestants recognize the dogma (the definition of the Church, which has unconditional authority for each of its members) about the Holy Trinity, believe in salvation through Jesus Christ, and recognize the one Holy Scripture - the Bible.

1.7. Statistics on Christianity

Counting the exact number of Christians is not easy. 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 numbers about 120 million people in its ranks, the Roman Catholic Church unites about 700 million believers, and the Protestant churches that are members of the World Council of Churches unite about 350 million people.

1.8. Schism of Christianity

Christianity has long ceased to be a monolithic religion. Political reasons and internal contradictions that had been accumulating since the 4th century led to the 11th century. to a tragic split. And before this, 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 has led in Rome to a very special role of the Pope of Rome - the High Priest - the head of the Universal Church, the vicar of Jesus Christ. The Church in the East did not agree with this. Two Christian denominations were formed - Orthodoxy and Catholicism.

2. Orthodoxy

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

2.1. Definition of Orthodoxy

The word “orthodoxy” is a translation of the Greek “orthodoxy.” “Orthos” means “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 “right-thinking” 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-aesthetic principle over the rational. 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.

2.2. Orthodox Church of Byzantium

In the Eastern Empire (Byzantium), the church did not receive much independence or political influence. Divided, moreover, into a number of patriarchates (Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem), it found itself almost completely dependent on the state and practically identified itself and its interests with its interests. It is also worth noting that the sphere of influence and mass base of all patriarchates was small, and after the Islamization of the Middle Eastern world it became scanty. In Byzantium, the dogmas and canons of the Orthodox Church were formulated. Within the framework of Byzantine culture, the principles of church art developed, which became canonical for all Orthodox churches.

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 ancient pagan customs of those tribes and peoples who accepted Orthodoxy (there were many of them, at least in Rus' 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. Only a few are too frank pagan rituals, such as, for example, the worship of idols, which dates back to the fetishism of ancient times, was persecuted and gradually died out, but even here, the church skillfully transformed them, directing the activity of believers to the worship of icons.

2.3. Basic Law of Orthodoxy

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

In Orthodoxy, Tradition is understood not only as a set 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 Church Tradition that has preserved the continuity and purity of the Orthodox Church since apostolic times.

2.4. Russian Orthodox Church

With the strengthening of ancient Rus', the Orthodoxy it borrowed from Byzantium gradually strengthened and the metropolitans appointed from Constantinople finally transformed in the 16th century. into independent patriarchs. The period of independence of the Russian Church from the Patriarchate of Constantinople actually began on December 15, 1448, when the Russian bishops independently elected Metropolitan Jonah as their primate. During the arrival in Moscow on January 26, 1589 of the Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremiah in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, Metropolitan Job of Moscow was elevated to the patriarchal rank. The Russian Orthodox Church not only supported the tsarist power, but also submitted to it and willingly collaborated with it (only occasionally there were exceptions; for example, Patriarch Nikon in the 17th century tried to put the church above secular power).

Orthodoxy brought with it from Byzantium to Rus' a high level of culture, moral experience, philosophical and theological thought, and aesthetic feeling. Church art has left priceless creations of architecture, icon painting, and singing.

During the years of the Tatar-Mongol yoke and unrest, the Russian Orthodox Church reconciled the warring princes and was the guardian national culture. She took patriotic positions during the years of disasters and enemy invasions. This was the case in 1812 and during the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.

2.5. Orthodoxy and modernity

In today's Russia Orthodoxy is practiced by believers Slavic origin, as well as the peoples of the North and Volga region.

The residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' is located in Moscow. In addition to Russian dioceses, under the control of the Moscow Patriarchate there are bishoprics 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 of self-government in 1990, and the autonomous Japanese Orthodox Church.

The Russian Orthodox Church performs services according to the Julian calendar. The main liturgical language is Church Slavonic. In Western European parishes, services are performed in the main European languages.

2.6. Old Believers

The Old Believers are closely connected with the history of the Russian Orthodox Church. Its emergence dates back to the time of the schism of Russian Orthodoxy, the cause of which was the church and ritual reform begun by Patriarch Nikon in the middle of the 17th century. Many priests of various ranks, who found it difficult to retrain and perform rituals according to the new liturgical books and according to the new rules, went into schism. Adherents of the “Old Orthodox rites” who did not accept the changes in the external forms of church life, most of them peasants, fled from persecution. They fled to the deep forests of the Volga region, the North, Siberia, on the southern outskirts of the country, or founded their own communities abroad. Many anti-government movements and various rebellious forces took the form of Old Believers. In 1685, a special decree was issued definitively prohibiting schism. In the 50s and 60s of the 17th century, at the Councils of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Old Believers were cursed, which was lifted only in 1971, when it was recognized that the old rituals were “equally honorable” to the post-reform ones, that is, they were also canonical (legitimate). Thus, the Moscow Patriarchate has taken a serious step towards overcoming the schism of the Russian Church that occurred three centuries ago. To this day, the Rogozhskoe cemetery in Moscow remains one of the leading centers of Russian Old Believers. In its churches, services are conducted as was customary in the Russian Church of the 17th century before Nikon’s reforms.

3. Catholicism

The life of Western Europe was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church until the 16th century. There are few dogmatic and liturgical differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy interprets the Trinity differently (believes that the Holy Spirit comes only from God the Father), does not recognize purgatory between heaven and hell, does not practice issuing indulgences, and administers communion with bread (and not unleavened, but leavened) and wine. But it always held on to these differences very tightly, especially after the final break with Catholicism in 1054.

3.1. Definition of Catholicism

The term “Catholicism” (or “Catholicism”) is derived from the Greek adjective “katholicos” - “universal”. "Ecclesia catholica" means "universal (conciliar) Church." These are the words that are included in the original Nicene-Constantinople Creed: “I believe... in the Catholic Church...”.

3.2. Catholic Church

The Catholic Church means universal, universal, claiming that she, and she alone, is the true and complete embodiment of Christianity. The Catholic Church, unlike the Orthodox Church, 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 performs a triple function: Bishop of Rome, Shepherd of the Universal Church and Head of the Vatican State. The current Pope John Paul II was elected in 1978. The Catholic Church, according to its teaching, carried within itself a “reserve of good deeds” and divine grace, which helped to achieve salvation and remove sins from the human soul. Catholicism took a leading place in many countries of Europe and America. With the blessing of the Roman Catholic Church, many were consigned to oblivion and condemned cultural traditions“pagan” antiquity with its free-thinking. True, the church tradition, which 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 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 and interests of the church) jealously monitored the strict observance of church dogmas and rituals, mercilessly punished heretics, which included everyone who was in any way - or dared to deviate from official teaching. The best minds of medieval Europe perished at the stake of the “holy” Inquisition, and the church willingly sold indulgences—absolution of sins—for a lot of money to the rest, the intimidated and humbled “sinners.”

3.3. Statistics and geography of Catholicism

The innermost essence of the Catholic faith, of course, cannot be comprehended with the help of numbers, but they can give at least a general idea of ​​​​the activities of the Catholic Church. According to statistics, there are from 600 to 850 million Catholics in the world, which is about 15% of the planet. In Latin America, 90% of the population are Catholics, in Europe there are about 40%, in North America- only 25%, in Africa - 13%, and in Asia no more than 2.5%, and two thirds of them live in the Philippines.

There are several large Catholic communities in the world that live and develop according to their own special laws. For example, the population of Latin American countries is growing rapidly. There are not enough priests, but missionary activity - evangelization - goes on continuously, and it is there that the Catholic Church becomes a truly people's "church for the poor." On the contrary, in Western European, traditionally Christian countries, there are fewer and fewer Catholics, and the number of Catholic priests is correspondingly decreasing.

The Catholic Church found itself in difficult conditions in the countries of Eastern Europe, which had long been under pressure from atheistic propaganda. However, since the beginning of the 90s, these countries have had the right to freely choose their religion. In Muslim countries, the few Catholics are treated differently depending on the level of religious tolerance in a given country. Today, the Catholic Church proclaims the need to seek solutions to the global problems of our time in the spirit of humanism, respect for life and the dignity of the human person.

3.4. Reformation and Catholicism

In the first half of the 16th century, the reformist 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 vast areas of Central, Western and Western Europe broke away from Catholicism. Northern Europe. The emerging anti-feudal movement was also directed against the Catholic Church. 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 papal infallibility, the practice of selling indulgences, the tinsel and pomp 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 at all mean the death of Catholicism. Having resorted to the help of the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church managed to survive and until today 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 Catholicism and, in general, the omnipotence of the Christian Church such a blow from which it was no longer possible to recover. The times of the “Holy Inquisition” and total control over the thought and spiritual life of people by the church began to recede into the irrevocable past. Catholicism follows Protestant Church- was forced to agree that God is entitled to a “divine” place, that is, a very specific place in the life and activities of people, the rest of their time and attention should be given to other matters that were not directly related to religion and did not depend on its intervention and evaluation. This, naturally, 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 destinies of Western Europe, in its successful development along the capitalist path.

4. Protestantism

At this time, a new variety of Christianity arose, bourgeois in spirit - Protestantism. It 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 performance by everyone of their duties, that is, in conscientious work a person embodies the 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 (by the way, mandatory for Catholic priests), does not accept church ranks and recognizes only 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: to God what is divine, and to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Protestantism shifted the center of gravity of religious life from church forms to the individual, to its improvement.

4.1. Statistics on Protestantism

The United States is considered the most evangelical country (that is, the most Protestant): 22% of all evangelicals live here, forming more than 250 different denominations (religions). Large groups of Protestants live in Europe and America, with smaller numbers in Africa, Asia, and Australia.

4.2. Protestantism in Russia

Protestantism is widespread in Russia. The most numerous are Evangelical Christians - Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Pentecostals, and Lutherans. Protestantism began to penetrate into Russia from economically devastated Europe from the beginning of the 17th century, along with skilled people who tried to find use for their talents and abilities here.

4.3. Protestant denominations

The largest Protestant denomination in Russia is the Evangelical Christian Baptists. Baptistism was brought to Russia in the 19th century by German colonists who settled mainly in the southern provinces. In the northern and central provinces, the teaching of Evangelical Christians developed, which was very close in principle to Baptistism. The beginning of its spread is associated with the activities of Lord G. Redstock, who came from England and organized the first sect in St. Petersburg in the 70s of the 19th century.

There are associations of Evangelical Christian Baptists in almost all regions and republics of the former USSR. Their attraction to the western and southern borders is noticeable, and their influence is gradually increasing in the capital regions.

Seventh-day Adventists appeared in Russian Empire in the 80s of the XIX century. The spread of their teachings was facilitated by the activities of missionaries.

Pentecostals are a sect that formed in the USA at the beginning of the 20th century and then appeared in Russia. The main distinguishing feature of this teaching is the belief in the “descent of the Holy Spirit” on the apostles on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Christ. In Russia, Pentecostal associations are represented throughout its territory.

5. Islam

Islam is second only to Christianity in terms of number of followers world religion, a religion of humility and complete submission to the Almighty will. It was founded in the 7th century on the basis of Arab tribal religions by the Prophet Muhammad. He proclaimed that there is only one great Allah and that everyone should be obedient to his will. It was a call to unite the Arabs under the banner of one god. Muhammad called on the Arabs to believe in and serve one god in anticipation of the end of the world, the day of judgment and the establishment of a “kingdom of justice and peace” on Earth. In the Islamic religion, Allah is the only god, faceless, supreme and omnipotent, wise, all-merciful, the creator of all things and its supreme judge. Next to him there are no gods, no independent creatures of any kind. There is no Christian trinity here with its intricate relationship between God the Father, his son Jesus and the mystical figure of God the Holy Spirit. 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 recorded, will wait in fear for his decision. Sinners will go to hell, the righteous will go to heaven.

5.1. Holy book of Muslims

The holy book of Muslims is the Koran. It records the basic ideas and beliefs of Muhammad. According to the generally accepted tradition in Islam, the text of the Koran was revealed to the prophet by Allah himself through the medium of Jabrail. Allah has repeatedly conveyed his sacred commandments through various prophets - Moses, Jesus, and finally Muhammad. This is how Islamic theology explains the numerous coincidences between the texts of the Koran and the Bible: the sacred text transmitted through earlier prophets was distorted by Jews and Christians, who did not understand much of it, missed something, distorted it, therefore only in the latest version, authorized by the great prophet Muhammad, true believers can have the highest and indisputable divine truth.

This legend of the Koran, if purified of divine intervention, is close to the truth. The main content of the Koran is as closely related to the Bible as Islam itself is close to Judeo-Christianity.

The Koran consists of 114 chapters, which talk about all aspects of life, including justice, morality, and ritual regulations. These treatises are very diverse in character. Along with the arrangement Bible stories here you can find discussions about the procedure for divorce, along with descriptions historical events– discussions about the universe, about the relationship between man and the world of supernatural forces. The Koran devotes a lot of space to the fundamentals of Islamic law; it contains both lyrical and poetic texts and mythological subjects. In a word, the Koran, like the Bible, is a kind of divine encyclopedia, a “book of books”, a body of knowledge and instructions for almost all occasions.

About a quarter of the text of the Koran is devoted to descriptions of the life and work of various prophets. For some reason, the first man Adam and even the famous Alexander the Great (Iskander) ended up in the rank of prophet in the Koran. Last on this list is Muhammad, the last and greatest of the prophets. After him, there were no more prophets and there will be no more, until the end of the world and the Last Judgment, until the second coming of Jesus. The descriptions of the acts of the prophets are taken almost entirely from the Bible, with only a few changes.

The Koran was not accessible to everyone - it was studied and analyzed by only a relatively few literate and educated Muslims, primarily experts in Islamic dogma, theologians and jurists. To the masses common people, the illiterate peasants received the commandments of Islam only in the oral form of sermons and in the form of sacred commandments, which constituted a mandatory set of rules of conduct for every believer, especially religious ones.

5.2. "Five Pillars of Faith"

Islam has five main duties for a Muslim: confession, prayer, fasting, almsgiving and hajj.

The principle of confession- 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 submissive to Allah, a Muslim. But, having become one, he had to observe the remaining duties of a true believer.

Prayer – mandatory daily fivefold ritual. Those who do not pray five times a day are infidels. On Fridays and holidays, solemn services are held, led by imams (“standing in front”). Before prayer, the faithful must perform ablution, a rite of purification (small - washing hands, feet, face; and large, in case of serious uncleanness - complete washing of the whole body). If there is no water, it is replaced with sand.

Fast. Muslims have only one main and obligatory fast - 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 - according to a vow, in case of drought, as compensation for missed days of Ramadan.

Alms. Every property owner is obliged to share his income once a year, allocating part of it as alms in favor of the poor. Mandatory almsgiving - zakat - was perceived as a cleansing ritual for the wealthy and was usually calculated at several percent of their annual income.

Hajj. It is believed that every healthy Muslim should visit the holy places in Mecca and worship the Kaaba once in his life. Pilgrims who complete the ritual receive an honorary name - Khoja.

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

5.3. The mosque and its functions

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

An important function of the mosque is to organize the education of children. Education in Islamic countries has always been religious and was under the tutelage of local spiritual authorities. The imami mullahs of this mosque were also teachers here.

5.4. "Muslim World"

Unlike Christianity, Islam developed in conditions of religious and political unity, so that its authorities were the political and at the same time religious leaders themselves - the prophet, caliphs, emirs, and local government officials. Any official was obliged to coordinate his actions with the norms of the Koran and Sharia, i.e. take into account the role of the clergy, the power of religion. Islam served as a powerful impetus for the development of such a phenomenon as the “Muslim world”, which grew up in the 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 Arab countries, Islam is practiced in India, China, and Indonesia. From the Arab states of North Africa, Islam spread to neighboring black countries and moved further south. Of the many religious systems of the modern world, Islam is one of the most significant forces.

6.Buddhism

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

6.1. Buddha's Teachings

The world, as the Buddha saw it, is an infinite number of separate fleeting entities, in a state of beginningless excitement, but gradually moving towards tranquility and the absolute destruction of all living things, when its elements are brought one after another to complete peace. Peace of mind 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 one, an unachieved goal and an unsatisfied desire - all this is suffering. Suffering comes from the thirst for existence, pleasure, creation, power, eternal life. To destroy this insatiable thirst, to renounce desires, to renounce earthly vanity - this is the path to the destruction of suffering. To avoid suffering, a person must suppress all attachment, all desire, and become indifferent to the joys and sorrows of life, to death itself. It is beyond this path that lies complete liberation, nirvana.

6.2. "The Eight-Part Path"

Developing his teachings, the Buddha developed a detailed so-called eight-fold path, a method of comprehending the truth and approaching nirvana.

1. Righteous faith (one should believe the Buddha that the world is full of sorrow and suffering and that it is necessary to suppress passions in oneself).

2.Righteous determination (you should firmly determine your path, limit your passions and aspirations.

3. Righteous speech (you should watch your words so that they do not lead to evil - speech should be truthful and benevolent).

4. Righteous deeds (one should avoid unvirtuous actions, restrain oneself and do good deeds).

5. Righteous life (one should lead a worthy life, without causing harm to living things).

6. Righteous thought (you should monitor the direction of your thoughts, drive away everything evil and tune in to the good).

7. Righteous thoughts (you should understand that evil is from your flesh).

8.Righteous contemplation (one should constantly and patiently train, achieve the ability to concentrate, contemplate, go deeper in search of truth).

Following this path, a person achieves enlightenment, becomes a saint and plunges into nirvana - non-existence, when the chain of rebirths stops and death no longer leads to a new birth, but frees him from everything - from all desires, and with them from suffering, from returning to which -form of individual existence.

6.3. Commandment of mercy

In Buddhism, the commandment of mercy is of great importance. You cannot kill any living creature. We must be equally kind to both the good and the evil. You cannot pay evil for evil, because this only multiplies evil and suffering. The closest to the teachings of Buddhism are the monks who have renounced everything worldly and devoted their entire lives to pious meditation. Those who entered the monastery (sangha) renounce everything that connected them with the world - family, caste, property - and take five vows: do not kill, do not steal, do not get drunk, do not lie, do not commit adultery.

The main thing in Buddhism is the ethical teaching of a person’s personal salvation without the help of supernatural forces.

6.4. Modern Buddhism

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

Many Buddhist centers, temples and monasteries arose in India, but Buddhism did not become widespread and became a world religion outside its borders - in China, Japan, Central Asia, Korea, Vietnam and a number of other countries, having long ago lost its position in its homeland. The rejection occurred because Buddhism rejected caste and religious ritualism, and therefore did not fit into the social structure and culture of Indian society, based on the 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, especially in capital cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg). This can most likely be explained by the fashion for Western culture, since it was in the West that interest in Eastern religions increased.

In terms of the diversity of religions professed, Russia is a unique country. Among its population there are followers of all world religions: Christianity (Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism), Islam and Buddhism.

LITERATURE

1. An atheist's handbook

2.Atheist's Handbook

3. Belenky M.S. About the mythology and philosophy of the Bible

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5. Grigoryan T.G. The contrast between religious and scientific worldviews

6.Eremyev D.E. Islam. Lifestyle and thinking style

7.Atheist's Pocket Dictionary

8.Catholicism. Atheist's Dictionary

9. Klimovich L.I. A book about the Qur'an, its origins and mythology

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11.Kryvelev I.N.Christ. Myth or reality

12. Kublanov M.I. The emergence of Christianity

13.Nikolsky N.M. History of the Russian Church

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15. Protestantism. Atheist's Dictionary

16. Religion and church in the history of Russia

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20. Mchdlov M.P. Catholicism

In secular countries, religion and power are separated. It is obvious that the flourishing of world religions and the emergence of numerous new religious movements directly depends on the spiritual and psychological needs of people. The role of religion in the modern world has practically not changed compared to the role played by religious beliefs in past centuries, if you do not take into account the fact that in most states religion and politics are separated, and the clergy do not have the power to exert significant influence on the political and civil processes in the country.

However, in many states religious organizations have significant influence on political and social processes. We should also not forget that religion shapes the worldview of believers, therefore, even in secular states, religious organizations indirectly influence the life of society, since they shape views on life, beliefs, and often civil position citizens who are members of a religious community.

The role of religion in the modern world is expressed in the fact that it performs certain functions. There are many opinions about the function of religion in our time. Some may believe that religion is the opium of the people, while others, on the contrary, will call religion salvation for an unstable society. Flier A.Ya. Culturology for cultural scientists: A textbook for graduate students, doctoral students and applicants. M.: Consent, 2010. - 672 p. One way or another, religion has greatly influenced the appearance of the modern world. The functions of religion are the ways in which religion influences people's lives. The functions of religion differ from each other in the answer to the question through what (or how) they influence people’s lives. Although this division is very conditional, since one functional component can be interpreted as reflecting two, or even all functions of religion at once. In all cases, the functions of religion bring both positive and negative results into people's lives.

Worldview function - characterizes the way religion influences people’s lives through ideological ideas, which are included in the content of religion. The merit of religion in the development of the current worldview and morality is recognized not only by believers, but even by convinced atheists. At the same time, any attempts to prove that humanity is able to independently come to modern universal moral standards can only be compared with attempts to write the history of humanity under the assumption that people possess two opposable thumbs on each hand. The worldview function creates and maintains communication among people with a common worldview. Many elderly people feel the lack of communication most strongly. However, many middle-aged people and some young people suffer from loneliness. With the help of religion this negative side life is overcome.

The political function of religion is the way religion influences people's lives through political ideas and political actions of religious organizations. Main positive point The function of religion is to promote social progress by religious organizations. But it should also be noted that religion has constantly served as a motive or cover in politics, for many wars, conflicts, laws are dictated exclusively religious motives, no matter how incomprehensible they may seem from the point of view of the modern “man of the world”. In the name of God things have been, are being, and will be done that cannot be covered up by anyone else’s name, how inhuman they are.

The cultural-transmitting function is how religion generally influences people’s lives through the attitude of religious organizations to culture. This function religion reveals the relationship of religion to spiritual culture, which is understood as the totality of human achievements in the intellectual and emotional spheres. Spiritual culture includes such structural elements as the activities of museums, libraries, education, science, philosophy, art, morality, etc. Religion provides artists with many images, plots, metaphors and other artistic material. Without the use of this material, secular art would be many times poorer in its artistic expression. No matter how universal and spiritual a religion may be, it will never escape the need to be embodied in culture and clothe itself with social institutions and tradition if it wants to influence human life and behavior. But on the other hand, some religions put forward certain obstacles to the participation of believers in secular artistic activities, even to the most severe measures.

The moral function represents the possibility of religion influencing people's lives through the promotion of moral norms. Despite all the advantages of this function of religion, its conservatism is often unable to cope with the dynamics and diversity of the modern world and acts as an inhibitory factor in the development of new moral norms. At the same time, some moral norms of religions from the perspective of modern man have long been in need of revision, which in principle is quite difficult or even impossible (euthanasia, experiments on animals, contraception, abortion, and others).

In relation directly to the person himself, several more functions of religion can be distinguished. Thus, religion allows a person to satisfy his spiritual needs. Satisfying the spiritual and mystical needs of people. Since most people have an interest in global philosophical issues and related experiences, it is religion that provides answers to these questions, and also helps people find peace of mind and harmony.

The regulatory function of religion is that every religion has a set of established rules and moral standards which every believer must adhere to. Therefore, we can say that religious organizations create and justify moral, ethical and behavioral norms that are followed by the entire believing part of civil society.

The educational function of religion lies in the fact that a person’s belonging to one or another religious organization forces him to comply with the rules and norms prescribed for all believers, so many people, after coming to church, adjust their behavior and even get rid of bad habits. Religion controls human behavior through its system of values, moral guidelines and prohibitions, and can significantly influence large communities and entire states that live according to the laws of a given religion.

The communicative function of religion is observed in the fact that in almost all religious organizations believers communicate with each other and find comrades and friends among fellow believers. Religion unites people of the same faith into a group and gives them certain moral, spiritual and value guidelines. Religious communication covers various processes of interaction: communication, socialization, transfer of religious experience, development of connections between individual believers, between believers and the religious community, clergy, and between religious organizations of different faiths. It promotes both integration and disintegration of religious groups.

The consoling function of religion is manifested when, in moments of tragedy, difficult life situations and severe mental suffering, many people turn to religion because they want to receive consolation. In religious organizations, people can not only receive the necessary support from believers, but also gain hope for the best, believing in the possibility of help higher powers. It is no coincidence that people most often turn to religion during difficult moments in their lives.

So, the functions of religion represent the methods, level, directions of influence of religion on society, its structural elements, and personality. Its functions are closely related to the structure of religion and can manifest itself explicitly or covertly.

Introduction
Religions in the modern world
Religion as an element of the spiritual life of society
Functions of religion
The place of religion in the system of relations between man and the surrounding world
World religions in the modern world
Freedom of conscience
Conclusion
Bibliography

Introduction
The main question for every person has always been and remains the question of the meaning of life. Not everyone can find a final answer for themselves, not everyone is able to sufficiently substantiate it.
Religion (from Latin religio - piety, shrine) is a special type of spiritual and practical activity, representing an inextricable unity of ideological attitude, experience, action, based on faith in the sacred. The sacred is a type of supernatural that goes beyond the natural course of events, a “miracle.” But the sacred, in contrast to the supernatural in general, includes the recognition of its unconditional value for man.
Religion, throughout most of human history, played a decisive role in man's construction of social reality and was the most effective and widespread means of implementing social control in society.
Modern man is surrounded by a large number of different faiths and ideologies. Each religion has certain rules of behavior that its adherents must follow, as well as the purpose for which people follow the tenets of this religion. Maintaining faith is expressed in worship, prayers, and going to places of worship where people of the same faith gather.
Purpose of the work: on the basis of a comprehensive study and generalization of theoretical sources - to define the concept and essence of religion, characterize its functions, study current state world religions, find out the role of religions in the modern world.
The work consists of an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion and a list of references.

Religion as an element of the spiritual life of society

Religion is one of the oldest and main (along with science, education, culture) forms of spiritual culture.
The religious worldview is characterized by the division of all things into the earthly and heavenly worlds, as well as the recognition of the immortality of the soul.
Religion presupposes the presence of a mysterious (mystical) connection between man and God (or other supernatural forces), the worship of these forces, and the possibility of human interaction with them.
Religion is one of the ways of human life associated with the recognition of the existence of God and other supernatural phenomena, their ability to positively or negatively influence a person, the optionality of any argumentation of the supernatural, and the replacement of knowledge with faith.
Why do people believe in the supernatural? Researchers of the past explained this, for example, by fear of the unpredictability and power of nature or the deep ignorance of most people, the mythological nature of mass consciousness. Do these characteristics apply to modern society? Philosophers, cultural scientists, sociologists, and psychologists answer this question differently. But it is obvious that religion retains its position even at the post-industrial stage of development of society, since it performs socially significant functions, which we will consider below.
Specifics religion - in the special nature of its “second world” and its semantic role for a person, in the recognition of a person’s ability to turn to God, to establish special interaction with him on the basis of insight, vision, revelation in order to save a person from sinfulness or make his life easier.
The basis of the religious worldview is the belief in the existence of one or another type of supernatural forces and in their dominant role in the worldview and life of people. Religion differs from superstitions primarily in that there is no God in superstitions.
Any religion includes several important elements (Fig. 1):

faith - religious feelings, moods, emotions;
doctrine - a systematized set of principles, ideas, concepts specially developed for a given religion;
religious cult - a set of actions that believers perform for the purpose of worshiping the gods, i.e. a system of established rituals, dogmas, rituals, prayers, sermons, etc.

Faith is the core of religion; it is in it that the most important features are revealed that determine the place of religion in the relationship between man and the world. Faith is a way of existence of religious consciousness, a special mood, an experience that characterizes the internal state of a person. Religious faith consists of:
1) faith itself - belief in the truth of the fundamentals of religious teaching;
2) knowledge of the most essential provisions of the doctrine;
3) recognition and adherence to moral standards contained in religious requirements for a person;
4) compliance with the norms and requirements for everyday life.
It is enshrined in the creed, dogma and religious cultures. Symbol of faith framed in different ways: this is either a listing of the gods in paganism, their characteristics and spheres of “responsibility,” or a set of basic tenets of faith. The most developed creed is among Christians; it includes twelve main dogmas regarding God and the church, adopted at the Ecumenical Council of 525 and revised at the Councils of 362 and 374. Religious dogmatics is contained, as a rule, in written sources: sacred scriptures, teachings (created by God or gods himself), sacred traditions - written documents of faith compiled by church leaders and their assemblies. Religious cults consolidate faith in the practical relations and actions of believers. In Christianity, for example, the sacraments are important cults: rites of purification, baptism, repentance, marriage, sanctification (healing the sick), etc.
Religious beliefs cannot be derived from the sphere of feelings and experiences of an individual person. They are a product of the historical development of society. Religious culture is an essential element of the spiritual culture of any society. Historically, long-existing societies as civilizations are also assessed on a religious and spiritual basis. Religion is a socially organized and organizing sphere of human communities, a way of expressing their spiritual culture and most revered values.
Worship of “higher powers” ​​leads to the formation of the image of God - a supreme being, an absolute, worthy of worship.
The place and significance of religion in society are determined by the functions it performs. Next, let's look at the main functions of religion.

Functions of religion

The functions of religion are the various ways of its activity, the nature and direction of the influence of religion on individuals and societies.
Worldview function religion realizes due to the presence in it of a system of views that reflect the picture of the world, the essence of man and his place in the world. Religion includes worldview (explanation of the world as a whole and individual phenomena and processes in it), worldview (reflection of the world in sensation and perception), worldview (emotional acceptance or rejection), world relations (evaluation), etc. The religious worldview sets the “ultimate” criteria, the Absolutes, from the point of view of which man, the world, and society are understood, and provides goal-setting and meaning-making.
Regulatory function religion is based on the moral experience of many generations of people accumulated by it, expressed in commandments and moral canons. Within the framework of various religious beliefs, symbols of faith were formed, common patterns (canons) that normalized the way people felt, thought, and behaved. Thanks to this, religion acts as a powerful means of social regulation and regulation, ordering and preserving morals, traditions, and customs.
Religion not only establishes a certain framework for human freedom, but also encourages him to assimilate certain positive moral values ​​and worthy behavior, and this is where it manifests itself. educational function.
Compensatory function- relieves a person’s social and mental stress, compensates for the shortcomings or deficits of secular communication with religious communication: social inequality is compensated by equality in sinfulness and suffering; human disunity is replaced by brotherhood in Christ. This function is realized especially clearly in prayer and repentance, during which a person moves from depression and mental discomfort to a state of relief, calm, and a surge of strength.
Religion fulfills communicative function, being a means of communication between believers. This communication unfolds on two levels: in the plane of dialogue with God and the “celestials,” as well as in contact with other believers. Communication is carried out primarily through cultic actions.
Integrating function - the direction of uniting people, their behavior, activities, thoughts, feelings, aspirations, efforts of social groups and institutions in order to maintain the stability of society, the stability of the individual, and a common religion. By directing and uniting the efforts of individuals and social groups, religion contributes to social stability or the establishment of something new. There are many examples of how religion can act as a factor in the integration of society: let us remember the role of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, for example, St. Sergius of Radonezh, in the unification of Russian lands and the fight against invaders.
Cultural function is that religion preserves and transmits the social experience of humanity, being an integral part of the culture of human society.
Humanistic function - religion cultivates feelings of love, kindness, tolerance, compassion, mercy, conscience, duty, justice, trying to give them special value and associate them with the experience of the sublime, the sacred.

The place of religion in the system of human relations
and the surrounding world
Religion is a certain form of spiritual culture that has a social nature and functions. One of the historical missions of religion, which is acquiring unprecedented relevance in the modern world, is the formation of awareness of the unity of the human race, the significance of universal moral norms, and enduring values. For many people, religion plays the role of a worldview, a ready-made system of views, principles, ideals, explaining the structure of the world and determining a person’s place in it. Religious norms are one of the powerful social regulators. Through a whole system of values ​​they regulate a person’s public and personal life. Many millions find consolation, tranquility, and hope in faith. Religion makes it possible to compensate for the shortcomings of imperfect reality, promising the “Kingdom of God”, reconciling with earthly evil. In the face of the inability of science to explain many natural phenomena, religion offers its own answers to painful questions. Religion often contributes to the unification of nations and the formation of united states. Religion acts as a powerful means of social regulation and regulation, ordering and preserving morals, traditions, and customs. This expresses its important cultural and historical role.
But a religious worldview can also contain ideas of fanaticism, hostility towards people of other faiths, and be an instrument of socio-political oppression. Historical experience shows that religious intolerance is to blame for many conflicts and wars. Not always even deep faith kept a person and society from committing crimes and misdeeds. Often religion and the church imposed bans on certain types of activities, science, art, fettering the creative power of people; social injustice and despotic regimes were sanctified by the authority of the church, which promised true liberation only in another world. Religion called for earthly life to be spent in peace and humility, without resisting evil.
However, predicting the future of religion is extremely difficult. Multidirectional processes are taking place in society: on the one hand, an increasing number of spheres of human activity are being secularized and freed from the influence of religion, on the other hand, in many countries the role and authority of the church is growing.

World religions in modern world

In the history of society and modern planetary civilization, a huge number of religions have existed and exist. The main religions are presented in Tables 1, 2 and Fig. 2.
Table 1 - The largest religions and worldviews in the modern world

Table 2 - Religions and sects, the number of adherents of which is more than 1 million people, but less than 1% of the world's population

Figure 2 - Confessional structure of the modern world ( percentage religions and worldviews in the world)

All currently existing religions can be divided into three groups:

tribal primitive beliefs;
national-state- associated with a specific people or peoples (the largest national religions are: Hinduism in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.; Shintoism in Japan and China; Sikhism in India; Judaism in Israel, etc.);
world religions- not recognizing national differences.

Figure 3 – World religions

About half of the world's population are adherents of one of these three world religions. The characteristics of world religions include:
a) a huge number of followers all over the world;
b) cosmopolitanism: they are inter- and supra-ethnic in nature, going beyond the boundaries of nations and states;
c) they are egalitarian (preach the equality of all people, appeal to representatives of all social groups);
d) they are distinguished by extraordinary propaganda activity and proselytism (the desire to convert people of another confession to their faith).
All these properties determined the wide spread of world religions. Let's look at the main world religions in more detail.
Buddhism- the oldest world religion, most widespread in China, Thailand, Burma, Japan, Korea and other countries of Southeast Asia. Russian centers Buddhism are located in Buryatia, Kalmykia and the Republic of Tuva.
Buddhism is based on the teaching of the four noble truths:

everything in human life is suffering - birth, life, old age, death, any attachment, etc.;
the cause of suffering lies in the presence of desires in a person, including the desire to live;
the cessation of suffering is associated with liberation from desires;
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to adhere to the eightfold path of salvation, which includes mastering the four noble truths, accepting them as a life program, abstaining from words that are not related to the moral goal, not harming living things, turning true actions into a way of life, constant self-control, renunciation of the world, spiritual self-immersion.

Figure 4 - Areas of distribution of the largest religions ( dark color indicates the area of ​​spread of Christianity in all three directions)
Christianity distributed mainly in Europe, North and Latin America, as well as in Asia (the Philippines, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, India, Indonesia and Cyprus), Australia, New Zealand and Africa (South Africa and Gabon, Angola, Congo and etc.). Since Christianity as such does not exist, there are a number of its directions and currents, we will provide information regarding each of its main directions.
Catholicism in Europe it predominates in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, France, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Malta, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. The Catholic faith is also adhered to by approximately half of the population of Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, part of the population of the Balkan Peninsula, Western Ukrainians (Uniate Church), etc. In Asia, a predominantly Catholic country is the Philippines, but Catholicism is also professed by many citizens of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, India and Indonesia . In Africa, many residents of Gabon, Angola, Congo, and the island states of Mauritius and Cape Verde are Catholics. Catholicism is also widespread in the USA, Canada, and Latin American countries.
Protestantism very heterogeneous, it is a combination of many movements and churches, the most influential of which are Lutheranism (mainly in Northern Europe), Calvinism (in individual countries Western Europe and North America) and Anglicanism, half of whose adherents are English.
Orthodoxy
etc.................

Research work on the issue: “Social functions of religion”, “Attitude of graduates to religion”.

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Municipal educational institution "BUGROVSKAYA SOSH"

Religion in the modern world

(research work on the issue " Social functions of religion

Alumni's attitude towards religion").

Completed 11th grade student:

Tazabekova K.K.

Checked by history teacher

and social studies:

Bogaitseva N.V.

Saint Petersburg

2007

Introduction. 3

Social functions of religion in modern society 4

Sociological analysis of the attitude of school graduates to religion 10

Conclusion 13

Appendix 1 15

Appendix 2 18

Appendix 3 25

Appendix 4 26

Introduction.

Program sociological research attitudes of school graduates to religion.

Social problem:religion is an active agent of socialization of youth in society, but youth have ambivalent attitudes towards it.

Research problem:many social studies are devoted toproblems of youth, but the attitude of school graduates to religion has not been sufficiently studied.

Object of study:young people's ideas about religion.

Subject of study:attitude of school graduates to religion.

The purpose of the sociological research:to study the attitude of high school students to religion.

Objectives of sociological research:

1. define religion and characterize its main functions;

1. find out the role of religion and church in the perception of high school students;

1. compare the attitude of boys and girls to religion Hypotheses:

1. You graduates believe that religion is a set of spiritual

ideas, it helps to overcome difficulties and determines a person’s status.

1. Girls are more religious than boys.

1. Graduates do not consider interaction between church, state, family and school necessary.

Sample: 12 11th grade students of Bugrovskaya Secondary were surveyed Comprehensive school. The sample is representative by gender (boys, girls).

Methods:

1. group survey
2. comparative
3. analytical
4. calculating data using computer program"Chart Wizard"

Social functions of religion in modern society.

These verses by the wonderful poet Nikolai Zabolotsky say that the world that creates us is nature (believers believe that everything was created by gods or one God), but man can also be a creator. A person needs a lot in this world. A person wants to penetrate the secrets of the world, wants to understand who he is and why he lives in the world. For millennia, religion has answered these questions. This word denotes the views, feelings and actions of people who believe that everything in the world is done by the will of mysterious and unknown forces, by the will of the gods or God alone.

The word religion means in Latinpiety, holinessand goes back to the verb religare - connect, connect.Obviously, in this case we are talking about connection with otherworldliness, with other dimensions of existence. All religions at all times believe that our empirical reality is not independent and not self-sufficient. It is derivative, created in nature, essentially secondary. She is the result or projection of another real, true reality - God and the gods. The word "God" has the same root as the word "wealth." In ancient times, people asked God to take care of the fertility of the fields, a rich harvest, and that everyone would be well-fed. The most terrible enemy for people was hunger. But “man does not live by bread alone.” You've probably heard these words? They are repeated when they want to say that there is something more important than daily bread.

Thus, religion doubles the world and points a person to forces that are superior to him, possessing reason, will, and their own laws. These forces have completely different qualities than those that are directly familiar to us in everyday life. They are powerful, mysterious, miraculous from the point of view of an empirical person. Their power over earthly existence is, if not absolute, then enormous. The world of the divine defines people both in their physical existence and in their value system.

The idea of ​​the existence of God is the central point of religious faith, but does not exhaust it. Religious faith includes:

1. moral standards, moral standards that are declared to originate from divine revelation; violation of these norms is a sin and, accordingly, is condemned and punished;
2. certain legal laws and regulations, which are also declared to have either occurred directly as a result of divine discovery, or as the result of the divinely inspired activity of legislators, usually kings and other rulers;
3. faith in the divine inspiration of the activities of certain clergy, persons declared saints, saints, blessed, etc.; because in Catholicism it is generally accepted that the head of the Catholic Church - the Pope - is the vicar (representative) of God on earth;
4. faith in the saving power for the human soul of those ritual actions that believers perform in accordance with the instructions of the Holy Books, clergy and church leaders (baptism, circumcision of the flesh, prayer, fasting, worship, etc.);
5. faith in the divine direction of the activities of churches as associations of people who consider themselves adherents of a particular faith.

Modern religions do not deny the achievements of natural science, theories related to the structure of matter, and, especially, the practical application of science. But they always emphasize that the business of science is to study only the sphere of the otherworldly. There are hundreds of different religions in the world. Most people adhere to traditions associated with one of the three world religions. These are Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. National religions exist among Jews, Japanese, Indians, and Chinese. Some peoples remain faithful to their traditional (ancient) beliefs, and there are people who consider themselves non-believers (atheists).

Further extends the area of ​​religion and, perhaps, philosophy. The main thing is that, carried away by earthly concerns, humanity does not forget that it is not autonomous, that there are higher eternal authorities above it, their vigilant supervision and their judgment.

Sufficiently developed religions have their own organization in the form of a church. The Church organizes the internal and external relations of the religious community. It is a unique form of relationship between the sacred and the profane (ordinary, everyday, humanly earthly). The Church, as a rule, divides all believers into clergy and laity. Through the church, religion enters the system of social institutions of society*.

* By 2000, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation registered the following churches:

Russian Orthodox Church - 5494;

Islamic - 3264;

Buddhist - 79;

Russian Orthodox Free Church - 69;

Old Believers - 141;

True Orthodox - 19;

Roman Catholic - 138;

Lutheran - 92;

Jewish - 62;

Armenians - 26;

Protestant-Methodist - 29;

Evangelical Christian Baptists - 550;

Pentecostal - 192;

New Apostolic - 37;

Molokansky -12;

Presbyterian - 74;

Evangelical - 109;

Jehovah's - 72;

Hare Krishnas - 87;

Temples of interfaith missionaries - 132.

As of December 31, 2000, 443 religious organizations were registered in St. Petersburg, among them:

Russian Orthodox Church - 167;

Islamic - 2;

Buddhist -12;

Old Believers - 2;

Roman Catholic - 10;

Lutheran - 30;

Jewish - 13;

Protestant-Methodist - 6;

Evangelical Christian Baptists - 16;

Jehovah's - 1;

Pentecostal - 120;

Hare Krishnas - 3.

At the same time, 290 religious organizations were registered in the Leningrad region. Among them:

Russian Orthodox Church - 158;

Lutheran - 23;

Evangelical Christian Baptists - 18;

Pentecostals - 60;

Roman Catholic - 2

and others.

(Data from the book by N.S. Gordienko “Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses: History and Modernity”. St. Petersburg, 2000).

A social institution can be considered as a stable set of people, groups, institutions, whose activities are aimed at performing specific social functions and are built on the basis of certain ideal norms, rules, and standards of behavior.

What does religion give, what are its main functions?Our guide here will be the famous statement of S. Freud: “The gods retain their threefold task: they neutralize the horror of nature, reconcile with the formidable fate, which appears primarily in the form of death, and reward for the suffering and deprivation imposed on man by life in a cultural society.” .

1. First of all religion helps us cope with the uncertainty of the unknown world. There is a lot we cannot explain, and this somehow weighs on us, causing deep inner anxiety. We are talking, of course, not about the weather for tomorrow, but about much more serious things: about death, about the death of a loved one, in a word about the ultimate, final conditions of human existence. We are, as they say, vitally interested in explaining such things; without knowledge about them it is simply difficult for us to live. By introducing a supernatural being (God), sacred factors, religion explains in its own way what cannot be explained scientifically.
2. Religion helps you understand, at least somehow understand and completely hopeless, justabsurd situations. Well, let's say this: honest, deeply conscientious person For some reason, she suffers all her life, suffers, barely makes ends meet, and next to her people are furious with fat, they don’t know what to spend their ill-gotten, not their own hard-earned money on. The injustice is blatant! And how to explain it, how to agree? In human terms - nothing and nothing. But if there is another world where everyone is rewarded according to their deserts, then it’s a different matter - justice will still triumph. One can then understand, even internally accept injustice.
3. Religion sanctifies, i.e. in my own way justifies morality moral values and ideals of society. Without it, it is very difficult to awaken and establish conscience, mercy, and love for one’s neighbor in people. All these and similar virtues receive from religion a certain commitment, persuasiveness and attractiveness, as well as desire, internal readiness to follow and obey them. God sees everything, you can’t hide anything from Him - this stops many. And for some it helps not to deviate from the chosen path - straight, honest, hard-working. In this regard, religion acts as the most important element of national or social consciousness. Thus, in modern society, religion performs two main functions:
4. educational
5. distracting.

“The heart of a heartless world, the soul of a soulless world” - this is how K. Marx characterized religion. He is, however, better known for another formula:"religion is the opium of the people", but it also cannot be neglected. Why do people turn to opium? To forget yourself, to get away from everyday life, to get something that is not there in real life. And it was not Marx, to be precise, who invented this formula. Long before him, even in ancient times, religion was compared to “intoxicating dope.” Goethe saw it as a drug, Heine and Feuerbach saw it as a spiritual opium. Kant called the idea of ​​remission of sins “the opium of the conscience.”

Religious communication is one of the strongest and most enduring in human history. It promotes the consolidation of all the spiritual forces of the people, and through this, the strengthening of civil and state foundations of life. In Rus', for example, the church helped to collect Russian lands, strengthen the young statehood, and encouraged the development of new territories through monastic colonization. And during the period of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, she made a huge contribution to the survival of the Russian people and the preservation of their identity. It is not for nothing that two names are equally firmly inscribed in the victory on the Kulikovo Field: Prince Dmitry Donskoy and “abbot of the Russian land” Sergius of Radonezh.

Unfortunately, religion can not only unite, but also divide people, encourage conflicts, cause wars. The first thing that comes to mind is the crusades, which were motivated by religious feelings and creeds that distinguish Christians from Muslims.

Rich in religious strife and modernity: the confrontation between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, the conflict between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East, the Yugoslav Orthodox-Muslim-Catholic knot and much more. A strange situation: no religion itself calls for violence. Where does it come from? In each specific case, apparently, non-religious factors are also at work. But we must not forget that every religion claims not just truth, but Absolute Truth. The absolute, by definition, does not have and does not tolerate a plural number.

Let's dwell a little on atheism . It is most often identified with atheism, which is not true. Irreligion is both a definition and a negative state. There is no god. What is there? Unclear. Ostap Bender, for example, denied the existence of God on the grounds that “this medical fact” of the great schemer cannot fill the void created by the denial of God.

They tried to fill this void with everything: ideology, politics, the fight against religion, devotion to the party, the most advanced science, etc. But the void, like Moloch, is insatiable, demanding more and more victims. Godlessness besides: last line many cheat on him, remembering religion.

There is atheism culture of being without God. Here, History, Necessity, and Law are deliberately put in place of God. But since this is done by man, for man and in the name of man, we can say thatin atheism God is replaced by Man. A man with a capital “H” – an image, an ideal of humanity, humanism, real, earthly happiness of people. Atheism is really anthropotheism.

Not everyone can master the culture of atheism. This requires a certain amount of courage, willpower, intelligence, readiness and ability to make a choice in favor of good without any hope of reward or retribution. With religion it is simpler, most importantly, easier. There is an external authority to which one can always appeal, there is truth as the criterion of all human, relative truths, there is the consolation of “being after death.” You can, say, having sinned, go to confession, sincerely repent and, having received forgiveness, again become sinless and again... sin. And there were times when remission of sins in the literal sense (indulgence), and even now, by giving money for the construction of a temple, you can count on the condescension of the Almighty.

There is nothing like that in atheism. All sins remain with a person, no one and nothing can free him from them. It’s hard, no doubt, but that’s how this culture is. You have to rely only on yourself. And don’t allow yourself to “sin.” For there is no one to lighten the burden of your sins, to remove the burden of responsibility for what you have thought and done from your shoulders; you cannot fool around with your own mind. The atheistic culture of being, essentially, has not yet reached the required scale. But it has enormous humanistically transformative potential.

Religion is an active agent of socialization of young people in society, but young people have ambivalent attitudes towards it. Many social studies are devoted to this problem, but the attitude of school graduates to religion has not been sufficiently studied. In our research work We tried to solve this problem.

Sociological analysis of graduates’ attitudes towards religion .

Testing our hypothesis that graduates believe that religion is a set of spiritual ideas, it helps to overcome difficulties and determines a person’s status, we obtained the following results. 83% of high school students (this is approximately 5/6 of the number of respondents) understand the word “religion” as a set of spiritual ideas. And only 8% of graduates (1/6 of those surveyed) believe that religion is a belief in the supernatural. The option “religion is certain legal laws and norms” was completely excluded by high school students. This suggests that high school students understand religion primarily as a spiritual phenomenon and do not associate it with any legal laws. (Diagram 1).

Considering the functions of religion, we ranked the answers to the question “What, in your opinion, does religion provide?” in 10% increments, starting from the highest (Table 1). As expected, the majority of respondents, representing 75% of the total number of respondents, believe that religion helps to overcome difficulties, and the same number of high school students (75%) identified the main function of religion as providing psychological support. These two functions come first. Next function(religion grounds morality) occupies II place. Religion incites discord between people - on III place, and providing emotional assistance - on IV . In fifth place are such answer options as religion helps to understand the world and provokes violence. VI place is occupied by the function of strengthening connections between peoples. The last VII place is occupied by such functions as influence on a person’s position in society and the possibility of communication. All this suggests that high school students understand that religion grounds morality, but at the same time they forget that religious communication is one of the strongest and most stable in human history, that religion helps us cope with the uncertainty of the world. But only a few people paid attention to the fact that religion can not only unite people, but also incite conflicts.

We also analyzed the answers to the question “How do you think a person’s financial situation affects his faith?” 34% of respondents answered that than poorer man, the stronger the faith, 58% of respondents believe that a person’s financial situation does not affect his faith and 8% do not know (Diagram 2). To the question “How do you think a person’s position in society affects his faith?” only 8% of the total number of respondents answered that the lower the position, the stronger the faith; 9% of high school students do not know what influence a person’s position in society has on faith. And the majority of graduates, 83%, believe that a person’s position in society does not in any way affect his faith (Diagram 3). From the above it follows that high school students do not see a special connection between religion and a person’s social status and do not attach importance to the status function of religion.

Thus, our first hypothesis was partially confirmed. High school students really believe that religion is a set of spiritual ideas, that it helps to overcome difficulties. But, according to graduates, religion does not determine either material or social status person in modern society.

Testing our hypothesis that girls are more religious than boys, we obtained the following results. 75% of the girls surveyed, 38% of the boys surveyed, and 50% of all respondents believe in God, but the girls talk about this more definitely, their faith is more pronounced. (Diagram 4.1).

Selectively 75% of the girls surveyed, 25% of the boys surveyed, and 42% of all respondents know prayers. The remaining number of girls and boys do not know prayer at all. No one knows all the prayers. (Diagram 5.1).

Looking at the frequency of church attendance, we obtained the following results. Every week, 12% of boys and 8% of all students attend church. Only 25% of girls, 13% of boys and 17% of all respondents attend church 1-2 times a month. 75% of girls, 25% of boys and 42% of all respondents attend church 1-2 times a year. And 50% of the young men surveyed and 33% of all respondents do not attend church at all. We assume that boys take such a social institution as the church less seriously than girls. (Diagram 6.1).

Considering the functions of religion, we ranked the answers to the question “What, in your opinion, does religion provide?” As can be seen from the table (Table 1), girls are more categorical in their answers. In first place the girls put the function of providing psychological assistance, in second place - help in overcoming difficulties. Then comes III place: religion provides emotional assistance. All other functions (religion helps to understand the world, substantiates morality, strengthens the connection between peoples, provokes violence, influences a person’s position in society and makes it possible to communicate) are in IV place. Young men have a broader idea of ​​the functions of religion. They put assistance in overcoming difficulties in first place. Religion provides psychological support - II place. On III place - religion grounds morality. On IV place - religion incites discord between people. Religion helps to understand the world, provides emotional assistance, provokes violence - V place. On VI place - religion strengthens the connection between peoples, and such functions as influence on a person’s position in society and the ability to communicate are on VII place. Thus, our third hypothesis was confirmed. The religiosity of high school students depends on their gender.

Testing our hypothesis that graduates do not consider interaction between church, state, family and school necessary, we assessed the proportion of positive answers. 58% of respondents believe that the state should support the church, and 42% of respondents believe that the church should support the state.

Having examined the relationship between the church and the school, one can see the following results: the majority of graduates believe that the school should not support the church in any way and the church should not support the school, i.e. high school students do not consider school and church as related social institutions.

As for the relationship between family and church, based on the research conducted, we obtained the following results. 33% of respondents believe that the family should support the church and the same number of respondents believe that the church should support the family.

Thus, our third hypothesis was partially confirmed. Students believe that interaction between church and state is necessary, but do not see the need for relationships between church and family, church and school.

The development of youth occurs through the influence of various social institutions (family, school, church, state) on it. But this influence will be fruitful only when the social institutions themselves are interconnected. Based on the results of our research, we can assume that the process of socialization of young people in modern society is difficult due to the weakening of these connections.

Conclusion

According to the American Gallup Institute, in 2000, 95% of people in Africa, 97% in Latin America, 91% in the USA, 89% in Asia, 88% in Western Europe, 84% in Eastern Europe, believed in God and a “supreme being”. 42.9 - Russia. These data indicate the widespread spread of religion.

People differ from each other for many reasons, one of them is religion. Spiritual differences often lead to significant political and cultural consequences. What can we say about such a scale, when conflicts occur in the same family due to different faiths. Most people treat representatives of other religions with fear, contempt and even hatred. They do not want and do not want to understand each other. But they cannot be blamed for this, because for many centuries no one instilled in them respect for representatives of different faiths, and in some cases they were militantly set up to achieve their own selfish goals. And only in Lately, in particular in Russia, many previously destroyed churches and monasteries are being restored. On television we often see services taking place in churches, the consecration of buildings, ships, and enterprises. On the radio and concert halls church music sounds. Representatives of the clergy sit in the supreme bodies of power. The number of those who, for example, went through the rite of baptism in Christianity has increased. Newspapers and magazines appeared, which were the official printed organs of churches. In some non-state schools there was new item- “The Law of God.” There are educational institutions that train clergy. All this is aimed at the socialization of young people.

During our research, we came up with the following recommendations:

1. educational work with high school students is necessary in order to increase religious literacy;

2. there is a need for a closer relationship between family, school, church and state in educating the younger generation

The influence of religion on a person is contradictory: on the one hand, it calls a person to adhere to high moral standards, introduces him to culture, and on the other hand, it preaches obedience and humility, refusal of active actions (at least this is what many religious communities do). In some cases, it contributes to the aggressiveness of believers, their separation and even confrontation. But here the point, apparently, is not so much in religious provisions, but in how they are understandable to people, in particular to the younger generation. And, according to the results of our research, young people are not sufficiently literate regarding religion. It seems to me that this question is one of the most pressing today. And in my further research I would like to continue working on this problem.

Bibliography

1. Bogolyubov L.N., Lazebnikova A.Yu. and others. Man and Society. Social science. Part 2. – M.: “Enlightenment”, 2004.
2. Gordienko N.S. Fundamentals of religious studies. St. Petersburg, 1997.
3. Gordienko N.S. Russian Jehovah's Witnesses: history and modernity. SPb. 2000.
4. Grechko P.K. Society: the main spheres of life. – M.: “Unicum Center”, 1998.
5. History (weekly supplement to the newspaper “First of September”). – M., 1993 – No. 13.
6. History (weekly supplement to the newspaper “First of September”). – M., 1994 – No. 35.
7. I explore the world: culture: Encyclopedia / Comp. Chudakova N.V. / M.: “AST”, 1998.
8. Website http://www.referat.ru .

Annex 1

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear student!

Currently, sociologists are intensively researching social problems religion. We ask you to take part in one of these studies, the purpose of which is to study students’ attitudes towards religion, and answer the questions in this questionnaire.

The questionnaire is anonymous, i.e. There is no need to indicate your last name. We guarantee that the responses received will be published only in statistically aggregated form.

Filling out the form is simple: in most cases, you need to circle the letter of the answer that suits you best.

1. Please indicate your gender? 1. male 2. female

1. What is your nationality? (Write) _________________________________

1. How do you understand the word “religion”?

5. other (what? Please specify) _____________________________________

1. What do you think religion provides? (Indicate 2-3 options)

1. helps to understand the world

3. justifies morality

7. provokes violence

9. makes it possible to communicate

11. other (what? Please specify) _____________________________________

1. Do you believe in God?

1. yes

2. more likely yes than no

3. more likely no than yes

4. no

1. Are there any believers in your family?

1. yes

2. no

3. I don’t know

1. What religious holidays does your family celebrate? (Write) ______________________________________________________________

1. Do you know the prayers?

1. yes, everything

2. selectively

3. no, I don’t know

1. How often do you attend church?

1. every week

2. 1-2 times a month

3. 1-2 times a year

4. I don’t attend at all

1. Do you consider an adherent of another religion to be an enemy?

1. yes, always

2. yes, if he is aggressive towards me

3. no, never

4. I find it difficult to answer

1. Do you think there is a need for theology lessons in school?

1. yes, for everyone

2. only for those interested

3. not needed at all

1. Do you have theology classes at your school?

1. yes

2. no

3. I don’t know

Do you think support is needed in modern society: (check one option on each line)

19.How do you feel about your faith?

1. I'm proud of her

2. I feel comfortable in it

3. I'm embarrassed by her

4. other (what? Please specify) _____________________________________

20. How do you think a person’s financial situation affects his faith?

3. has no effect

4. I don’t know

21. How do you think a person’s position in society affects his faith?

3. no way

4. I don’t know

22. How do you imagine a believer? (Write)___________

____________________________________________________________

You have finished filling out the form, thank you for your help!

Appendix 2

Diagram 1

Distribution of answers to the question “How do you understand the word “religion”?”

1. this is a belief in the supernatural

2. these are certain legal laws and regulations

3. it is a set of spiritual ideas

4. I agree with everything listed above

5. other (what? Please specify) – faith in God

Diagram 2

Distribution of answers to the question “How do you think a person’s financial situation affects his faith?”

1. the richer, the stronger the faith

2. the poorer, the stronger the faith

3. has no effect

4. I don’t know

Diagram 3

Distribution of answers to the question “How do you think a person’s position in society affects his faith?”

1. the higher the position, the stronger the faith

2. the lower the position, the stronger the faith

3. no way

4. I don’t know

Diagram 4.1

Distribution of answers to the question “Do you believe in God?”

1. yes

2. more likely yes than no

3. more likely no than yes

4. no

Diagram 5.1

Distribution of answers to the question “Do you know prayers?”

Girls

Boys

All

1. yes, everything

2. selectively

3. no, I don’t know

Diagram 6.1

Distribution of answers to the question “How often do you attend church?”

Girls

Boys

All

1. every week

2. 1-2 times a month

3. 1-2 times a year

4. I don’t attend at all

Diagram 7

The share of positive answers, negative answers and “partial” answers to the question “Do you think support is needed in modern society...

1. ...the church by the state?”

1. ...the state by the church?”

1. ...church school?”

1. ...schools by church?”

1. ...church family?

1. ...family by church?”

Appendix 3

Table 1

Distribution of answers to the question “What, in your opinion, does religion give?”, ranks in 10% increments, starting with the highest.