Lecture
Abbot (Lat. – father) – the title of the superior of certain Catholic monasteries in Western Europe. Originally the abbot was elected by the monks and confirmed by the bishop. In the church hierarchy he occupies the place immediately after the bishop. At present the designation «abbot» is used in Catholicism when addressing any young person of clerical status who has not yet received holy orders.
Agnosticism – an idealist philosophical doctrine asserting that the human soul is incapable of knowing either the suprasensible or the objective world and its laws, that truth is unattainable, and that, consequently, knowledge of God is impossible. All knowledge, according to agnostics, is acquired only through the organs of sense, through the cognition of phenomena. Consequently, the object of human knowledge can be only that which is accessible to these senses, that is, the sensory world alone. The moral principles and notions of a higher being, of God, created by man, are nothing more than the result of the same experience and activity of the soul and its natural striving to find an omnipresent and all-pervading force that conditions and preserves the world order. The term «agnosticism» was introduced in 1869 by the English naturalist T. Huxley. The basic ideas of agnosticism can already be found in ancient philosophy, in particular in sophism and skepticism. The doctrine of agnosticism was created by English philosophers, who are divided into the «old», or pre-evolutionist, agnostics (John Stuart Mill) and the «new», that is, evolutionist, agnostics (Herbert Spencer). The main difference between them is that the former regard the formation of moral principles in man as a matter of personal experience, while the latter regard it as a matter of inherited experience. Consistent agnosticism is represented in the teachings of George Berkeley and David Hume. Immanuel Kant, by basing his epistemological concept on the distinction between the «thing in itself» and the «thing for us», in effect adopted the position of agnosticism. Agnostic positions are characteristic of various schools of positivism, neopositivism, and critical realism. Originally agnosticism concerned exclusively the possibility of knowing God, but it was soon extended to the possibility of knowing the objective world in principle, which immediately set many naturalists and philosophers against it. In the twentieth century the conception of agnosticism was somewhat modified, mainly under the influence of criticism of it, chiefly by socialists and communists propagating the dialectical knowability of the world. At present one of the characteristic expressions of agnosticism is the position of conventionalism.
Agnus (Lamb) – sacrificial animal. The Messiah, Christ, is also depicted as the Lamb of God.
Hell (Sheol) – from the Greek word hades, by which the Hebrew word «sheol» is translated in the Bible. According to its Greek derivation, it denotes a place devoid of light, or something invisible. Ancient Greek writers used it to denote the world of spirits, or the kingdom, the abode of the dead, ruled by Pluto.
The Hebrew word «sheol» means a place that demands everyone for itself, swallows everyone, and is never satisfied. In Holy Scripture, «hell» and «sheol» are used in several meanings. In one case these words denote the grave or the tomb, in another – a place and state common to all the dead, without distinction between the righteous and sinners. At the same time this place is depicted now as a kind of all-devouring monster, now as a land lying in the depths of the earth and filled with darkness and the shadow of death, now as an underground kingdom where death rules over the dead as over prisoners.
In some passages of Holy Scripture, «hell» and «sheol» are presented as a place common to all the dead, yet with a certain distinction between the righteous and sinners. The former enjoy rest there, await deliverance, and receive it, while the latter are covered with everlasting shame and have no hope for the future.
Christ, during His passion on the cross, descended into hell, briefly partaking of the afterlife state common to all the dead, and destroyed the Old Testament power of hell, which had ruled over all mankind. The doctrine of the Savior's descent into hell is one of the firm dogmas of the church and is based on the testimony of Holy Scripture.
Sometimes «hell» and «sheol» denote the state of the wicked and sinners alone. In the New Testament books the word «hell» is used to denote eternal condemnation, the eternal torment to which sinners are condemned. Thus, according to biblical teaching, hell is the afterlife state of the soul after death. According to the teaching of the modern Christian church, which took shape in the Middle Ages, hell is the afterlife state of sinful souls, which in this state are in the power of the devil and the spirits of evil.
The concept of hell, or something close to it, is present in a large number of religions.
Adventism – a movement within Protestantism that arose in 1833 in the USA under the influence of the eschatological and millenarian ideas of revivalism. The founder of the movement, William Miller, proceeding from the prophetic books of the Bible, predicted the second coming of Christ and the subsequent end of the world, first in 1843–1844, and then in 1847. Despite the failure of the prophecy, the doctrine of the imminent second coming remains the central idea of Adventism. The Bible is regarded by Adventists as the Word of God and is the sole source of doctrine.
The Adventist movement was created as a result of a convention held by Miller's followers – the Millerites – in 1845 in the city of Albany (New York State), at which the Association of the Millennial Advent was created and the dogmas of Adventism were formulated. Adventism is close to the Baptist faith, from which it retained the water baptism of adults by immersion and the washing of feet.
According to Adventist beliefs, the world will be destroyed by fire, and a new earth will be created for believers. The second coming will soon take place, accompanied by the resurrection of the righteous. After the thousand-year kingdom of Christ, the unrighteous too will rise. In order to merit the kingdom, one must lead a righteous life in accordance with the moral commandments of the Bible.
In the course of doctrinal disputes the Adventists split into several movements. The largest of these – the Seventh-day Adventists (SDA) – formed in 1844 in New Hampshire (USA). The basis of the Adventist split was, as a rule, the recognition of either Saturday or Sunday. In 1847 the Church of God, founded by English immigrants, was established, and it was officially recognized in 1888–1889. In 1860 in Salem a group of Adventists who rejected the doctrine of the immortality of the soul founded the Advent Christian Church. As a result of the departure of part of the believers from this church, the so-called Primitive Advent Christian Church arose.
Orthodox Millerites had practically disappeared by the early twentieth century. As a result of disagreements within Adventism arising in connection with attitudes toward military service at the beginning of the First World War and the death of the SDA leader Ellen White, in 1926 in Gotha (Germany) the organization of Reform Adventists was created.
Adventists conduct active preaching and missionary activity in various countries of the world. In Russia active Adventist activity began in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and continues to the present day. During the Soviet period Adventist activity in Russia was partly conducted underground.
Hallelujah – Heb. «Praise the Lord» – glorification of God.
Altar (Lat. – elevated place) – a place serving for sacrifice, which originally, in primitive and polytheistic religions, took the form of a hearth. In early Christianity, and later among Catholics and Protestants – a table on which the Eucharist is celebrated. In an Orthodox church – its forward part, separated from the rest of the space by the iconostasis.
Ambo – a place in an Orthodox church from which, during the service, the priest delivers the sermon and the deacon recites the litanies (petitions) and reads the Gospel.
Amen – Heb. «So be it».
Angel – a heavenly being in the service of God. Angel means one who is sent.
Anglican Church – one of the main branches of Protestantism. It arose in England during the Reformation as a result of the break of the local Catholic church with Rome. In 1534, by a special act, the church was made subject to the king. In 1534 Henry VIII broke off relations with the Vatican and placed himself at the head of the church. The real cause of the conflict with papal authority was the king's wish to dissolve his marriage. Monastic lands were confiscated for the treasury, which enriched the king and made it possible for great courtiers to acquire new landed estates. In 1562 the doctrine of the new church was proclaimed, approaching that of Protestantism, although many of its rites remained close to Catholic ones. The new reformed church was named the Anglican Church.
From 1571 – the Creed consists of 39 Articles. Retained were: the church hierarchy (with an episcopate and celibate clergy), a splendid cult, the liturgy, the mysterious understanding of the Eucharist, and so on.
Anglicanism is closest of all to Catholicism and Orthodoxy, especially the so-called High Church. The Low Church is more typically Protestant. The Broad Church is more ecumenical.
The «Reformation from above», carried out for political reasons, initially caused no changes in the principles of church organization, nor in doctrine and ritual. The cult and dogma remained essentially Catholic, but bishops were now appointed by the king, and dependence on the pope was ended. As a specific variety of Christianity, the Anglican Church took shape over a lengthy period as a result of a series of reforms of both Protestant and Counter-Reformation character.
In the history of the Anglican Church, Calvinism played a major role from the very beginning, and its influence steadily increased thereafter. Under its ideological banners the English Revolution took place in the seventeenth century.
The final form of Anglicanism took shape during the reign of Elizabeth I in the second half of the sixteenth century as a «middle way» between classical Catholicism and continental Protestantism. It was during this period that the composition of the «Book of Common Prayer» and the 39 Articles containing the foundation of Anglican doctrine was completed.
Anglicanism combines the Catholic dogma of the saving power of the church with the Protestant doctrine of salvation by personal faith.
A characteristic feature of the Anglican Church is its episcopal structure, resembling the Catholic one and claiming apostolic succession.
In the sphere of doctrine and ritual it is notable for the division into two currents – the «high», tending toward Catholicism, and the «low» – Protestant. This feature allows the Anglican Church to enter into ecumenical contacts both with the Catholic church and with Protestant movements.
Anglicanism is adhered to by a number of churches that allow mutual communion of members and that are in loose organizational unity with the see of Canterbury. The Anglican Communion includes 25 autonomous churches and 6 church organizations. The senior hierarchs of these factually independent churches meet at periodic Lambeth Conferences.
The Church of England is one of the state churches of Great Britain alongside the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Its head is the monarch. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, as well as the bishops, are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of a government commission. Some of the bishops hold seats in the House of Lords of Parliament.
Antichrist – in Christian mythology, the adversary of Christ and God, who (according to the Apocalypse) is to appear before the end of the world, shortly before the second coming of Christ, to wage war against the Christian church. He will lead the dark forces arrayed against Christ, but will, in the end, be defeated: he will be destroyed by a direct encounter with the returning Christ.
According to the New Testament texts, the Antichrist is the «man of sin», a messenger of Satan, acting at his instigation and embodying the absolute negation of the Christian faith.
The overall duration of the persecutions wrought by the Antichrist is 42 months, that is, three and a half years, which mirrors the length of Christ's preaching. All this time the kingdom of the Antichrist will reign on earth – a kingdom of moral evil, in which «men will be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God».
The kingdom of the Antichrist is «in some measure equivalent to a return to Chaos»: it will be marked by a complete negation of social, moral, and religious values and will end with a battle between God and the Dragon.
Medieval commentators (Blessed Augustine, Theodoret of Cyrus, Gregory the Great, and others), combining New Testament texts with various Old Testament prophecies, «constructed an elaborate narrative of the life of the Antichrist». It was generally assumed that the Antichrist would be a Jew of the tribe of Dan; alongside this there also existed a very ancient notion (which survived until the eighteenth century) of the Antichrist as the resurrected and miraculously returned Emperor Nero, known for his persecutions of Christians (according to one widespread version, it was precisely his name that was encoded in the «number of the beast» – 666). Babylon was considered the birthplace of the Antichrist, since, firstly, according to tradition, it was there that the tribe of Dan went, and secondly, Babylon was a popular biblical symbol of rebellion against God. According to some versions, the Antichrist is to be born either of a harlot taken for a virgin (a parody of the virgin, «immaculate» conception of Christ), or of a nun who has broken her vow (as the future embodiment of apostasy), or of an incestuous union. The Antichrist will strive for power, and, having spread the fame of his supposed virtues and miracles, and having defeated three kings in war – the Egyptian, the Libyan, and the Ethiopian – he will seize world dominion and make himself an object of worship either in defiled Christian churches or in the Jerusalem Temple, rebuilt specially for this purpose. The Antichrist's helper will be a false prophet. When the Antichrist comes to power, almost all people will fall away from the faith and give themselves over to sin. And only a handful of those who remain faithful will take refuge on the Mount of Olives (the site of the Garden of Gethsemane – Christ's last refuge). And when the appointed time comes, the host of the Antichrist will fall, and it will perish from the third hour (about nine in the morning) until evening, and the valley between the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem will be filled with blood. According to some versions, the Antichrist, fleeing from the approaching Christ, will climb a high mountain and then throw himself down.
At different times «the biblical image of the Antichrist has been correlated with the images of historical figures whose activity entailed not so much the calamities of popular life as sharp and incomprehensible changes threatening the «faith of the fathers» and the established traditional way of life». In fact, beginning in the seventeenth century, the state was perceived by a significant part of the population as the «kingdom of the Antichrist».
Apocalypse – the Revelation of John the Theologian. 1) In the general biblical sense – any revelation, prophecy, as a rule concerning the fate of the chosen people. The study of revelations and prophecies in the aspect of their relation to the chosen people is the concern of apocalyptics. The first apocalypse is the Book of the Prophet Daniel. Important apocalypses are the Books of Enoch, Baruch, Ezra, and the books of the Sibyl. 2) In the Christian canon, the concluding book of the New Testament. The main part of the Apocalypse was evidently written on the island of Patmos from the middle of the year 68 to the beginning of 69 by John the Theologian. A number of additions date to 95–96.
The main content of the book is prophecies and visions of the future, revealed to the author through God. According to the Apocalypse, mankind is to expect a period of calamities, famine, and disease, after which a battle will take place between the army of Satan and the heavenly host led by the Messiah. The Christian church unambiguously identifies the apocalyptic Messiah with Jesus Christ, although in the text of the Apocalypse he appears as the «Lamb», and his image is not identified with the image of Christ accepted by the church.
As a result of the final decisive battle (Armageddon) the heavenly host will win the victory, which will be accompanied by the resurrection of the holy martyrs, who will enter the thousand-year kingdom of God. Armageddon will mark the end of earthly history. After this the resurrection of all people who have ever lived will take place, and they will appear before the judgment of God.
The Apocalypse reflects the anti-Roman sentiments of the early Christians. Being chronologically the earliest canonical Christian text, the Apocalypse reflects the initial stage of the formation of doctrine. It lacks evangelical morality and is dominated by a spirit of social protest.
With the transformation of Christianity into a state religion, many ideas of the Apocalypse were declared heretical, and the text itself was forbidden for use in church practice. Interest in the Apocalypse revived during the Reformation, and many of its ideas were adopted by Protestants.
In everyday usage the Apocalypse means the End of the World, the Last Judgment.
Apostle – a person called by Jesus Christ to service.
Armenian Apostolic Church – belongs to the Oriental Orthodox Churches. According to tradition, it traces its origin to the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. Historically it was formed in the 320s through the labors of Saint Gregory the Illuminator (d. 335), whose son and successor, Aristakes, was a participant in the First Ecumenical Council.
In the period from 491 to 536 it finally separated from the unity of the Universal Church.
At present it has dioceses within Armenia and several others in America, Asia, Europe, and Australia.
Archbishop – originally a hierarch, the head of a large church region uniting several dioceses. Later archbishops came to be called those governing large dioceses. At present in the Russian Orthodox Church it is an honorary title preceding the title of metropolitan.
Atheism (Lat. – denial of God, godlessness) – represents a system of views that reject the existence of God. Atheism rejects belief in the supernatural (spirits, gods, demons, the afterlife, the immortality of the soul, and so on). It opposes to religion the conviction of the natural, law-governed existence and development of nature, society, and man, and of man's ability, without any supernatural intervention, to attain peace, justice, and well-being.
Aum Shinrikyo (Religious Corporation «Aum Shinrikyo», the Teaching of the Truth of AUM) – a syncretic sect based on Vajrayana Buddhism. Its name translates from Japanese as «The Path to the True Energy of Knowledge». Founded by the Japanese Shoko Asahara (real name Chizuo Matsumoto) in July 1987 after eight years of practicing Buddhism in the Himalayas. The dogmatic tenets of Aum Shinrikyo are based on the personality of Shoko Asahara himself, who is called the Spirit of Truth and is regarded as Buddha, Christ, Indra, king of the asuras, builder of all the world's pyramids, founder of Stone Age civilization, embodiment of all human knowledge, and servant of Shiva. Buddhist and Hindu deities are also venerated, among whom Shiva is especially singled out. The sect's doctrine contains elements of other schools of Buddhism as well as of Taoism and Christianity. The doctrine is based on the writings of Shoko Asahara «Initiation», «Mahayana Sutra», «The Teaching of Truth», «Tathagata Abhidharma», as well as independent translations of books of the Pali canon. The teaching is considered esoteric and consists of 20 levels of secret techniques. The main method of propaganda is the distribution of leaflets. The cosmogony of the sect is based on general Vajrayana ideas, but with certain divergences. The first cause of existence is considered to be the collision of the three Gunas and the Big Bang that followed, which gave impetus to evolution. The attainment of nirvana is considered possible only for members of the sect. Attaining the state of bodhisattva during one's lifetime is admitted as possible. The principle of strict ahimsa is formally observed. It is believed that the end of the world is near and the whole world will perish in an atomic war unleashed by Japan against the USA.
Spiritual practice consists mainly in awakening the mystical energy of kundalini, which lies dormant in every person at the site of the corresponding chakra. To awaken the kundalini a neophyte undergoes a continuous 60-hour seminar with the listening of special music. Such seminars (of shorter duration) are subsequently held weekly. Home spiritual practice consists of worshipping an altar with images of Asahara, Shiva, and Asahara's closest disciples, reciting mantras, meditating, and listening to special music. Members of the sect are divided into monks, who live in dormitories, and laypeople, who live at home and attend weekly meetings-seminars. To join the sect it is enough to fill out a questionnaire and pay a membership fee (usually $10). The neophyte receives the first stage of initiation free of charge, and subsequent stages by accumulating points (mainly for the number of leaflets distributed). Initiation («entry into the stream of truth») takes three days. In addition, the neophyte undergoes a «baptism by fire and spirit» called shaktipat, during which energy is transmitted from the teacher to the neophyte by the pressing of the teacher's finger on the forehead. Members of the sect are obligated either to actively donate money (measured in specific dollar amounts) or to work for the sect. Missionary activity is encouraged. Members who leave the sect's ranks are subject to measures of coercion, up to and including physical violence.
The center of the sect is located in Tokyo, and its headquarters – in Fuji. It has branches in major cities of Japan, in Ceylon, the USA, Germany, and Russia. Over the entire period of the sect's existence its membership reached a maximum of 30,000 people (of whom 10,000 were in Russia). Since March 1995 the sect's activity has been banned in all countries of the world for organizing a terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway using the chemical warfare agent «sarin». The number of members of the sect decreased after the ban, but it continues to function, operating out of private apartments.
Ayatollah (Arab. – sign of Allah) – the highest spiritual title of Shiite theologians, who have the right to issue religious-legal opinions (fatwas).
«AVE MARIA» (Lat. «Hail Mary» – the so-called «angelic salutation») – the greeting of the angel Gabriel, spoken by him to the Most Holy Virgin (see Mary) – a Catholic prayer to the Mother of God, named after its opening words.
White Brotherhood (Great White Brotherhood, Yusmalos) – a totalitarian neo-Khlyst syncretic sect. Officially founded in 1990 in Russia, in Donetsk, by Marina Tsvigun and Yuri Krivonogov.
The sect's creed combines elements of Christianity, occultism, Gnosticism, and certain ideas of the Roerichs.
The sect's dogma is based on the conviction that the heavenly God combines the male and female principles (respectively Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit) in a single person and can descend to Earth in one form or another. Marina Tsvigun is regarded as a monadic emanation of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in one person. Yuri Krivonogov appears in the guise of the prophet John the Baptist under the name Juoann Svami. Both leaders of the sect allegedly radiate a special energy of the Living God – fohat, by means of which miracles are performed, baptism is carried out, and dissenters are destroyed.
Most of the dogma is occupied by eschatological themes. The end of the world was set by the sect's leadership for November 24, 1993, on which day 144,000 followers of the sect were to ascend into heaven to the divine Dyad (Maria Devi Christos and Juoann Svami) to carry out the Last Judgment over the inhabitants of the earth. The chosen Yusmalians were to constitute the seventh race of the New Jerusalem.
Adepts of the sect are instructed that the age of humanity's existence is coming to an end, and that during this period one must firmly resist the Antichrist: not study, not work, not participate in public life, not keep electrical appliances at home, not marry, so as not to hand children over to the Antichrist. An idea was developed of the coding of the mind through various foods, which are also forbidden for consumption: mushrooms, meat, eggs. Intensive fasting, constant prayers, repentance, and night vigils are prescribed. «Living water» is used for communion.
In 1993 a split occurred within the sect. Marina Tsvigun cursed Yuri Krivonogov, declaring him the Antichrist, who had corrupted her flock by forbidding them to eat meat. Part of the sectarians remained vegetarian, while others eat meat.
On November 10, 1993, sect members entered St. Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev, attempting to hold their own service there. The sect's leaders were detained, and its activity was banned. Part of the sect went underground.
The sect is extremely hostile toward other confessions, especially the Russian Orthodox Church, which it calls the «bride of Satan». The «White Brotherhood» has its adherents in major cities of Ukraine, Belarus, and the European part of Russia. The maximum number of sect members during the sect's heyday reached 7,000 people; at the end of the twentieth century it numbered from 3,000 to 4,000 people.
The main sources of the sect's doctrine are the books «Agni Yoga», «The Gospel of the Age of Aquarius», «The Third Testament», and «Yusmalos».
Bible (Gr. – «book») – a library of ancient ideological, historical, and literary monuments created in the Near East over the course of fifteen centuries (13th century BC – 2nd century AD) by a multitude of authors. Representatives of different confessions attach different content to this concept. Jews consider it a collection of 39 books, selected as sacred from other literature by commissions of ancient Hebrew scholar-theologians and preserved to this day in Hebrew. These books were declared canonical, that is, correct, by Jews and Christians alike. For Jews the Bible is limited to these. For Christians (Catholics and Orthodox) they constitute only its Old Testament portion. For them the New Testament is also obligatory and most important – a collection of 27 specifically Christian books, written in the 1st–2nd centuries AD, which have come down to us in Hellenistic Greek.
God – the supreme supernatural being, as a rule endowed with the properties of supreme reason and omniscience. In many religions God is the creator of the world and the being who determines the fate of this world and all its inhabitants.
In polytheism each of the gods has supreme power over some part of the world whole. In monotheism the supreme deity possesses the properties of absolute perfection and omnipotence, as well as complete power over the entire world.
The proximity of God to man in the views of a particular religion is an important characteristic both of the religion itself and of the degree of its flexibility and adaptability to changing conditions.
In ancient polytheistic religions of antiquity the gods were maximally close to man. They not only had a way of life analogous to man's, but also constantly communicated with people, entered into kinship relations, traded, and so on.
In monotheism a qualitative leap occurs in the understanding of God. God moves into a semi-abstract sphere (Theism). He may manifest himself in the form of a man, with all the properties inherent to man, but this is rather an exception to the rule and in no way reflects the real essence of God. His essence in all monotheistic religions is twofold – he is both creation and creator, he creates ALL out of NOTHING, is present in everything, and is EVERYTHING. In the earlier manifestations of monotheistic religions (for example, Buddhism and Judaism) God is maximally distant, somewhere outside the sphere of man. Gradually, with the humanization of society, ideas of kinship with God as the particular with the general begin to appear. This is reflected in developed Christianity, in Islam, and most strongly in Protestantism, which in most of its manifestations rejects altogether the necessity of the church as an intermediate link between God and man (the widely known Protestant slogan «God is within you»). This applies also to certain movements within the Old Believer tradition.
Most theologians (especially Christian ones) assert the fundamental unknowability of God by human reason.
The question of the necessity of belief in God for the existence of religion remains disputed. Some strands of Eastern religions, in particular Buddhism, deny the existence of God while remaining a religious movement.
Brahmanism – a religious system that preceded, and in fact constitutes the second stage in the formation of, the Hindu religion (Sanatana Dharma). It developed mainly on the territory of present-day India in the 1st century BC. Brahmanism was the result of the adaptation of the local cults of the indigenous population of India to the Vedic religion. The supreme deities are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Animistic beliefs and the veneration of ancestors played a great role in the cult. The philosophy of Brahmanism is based on the concepts of samsara and karma, which in turn derive from pre-Brahmanic Vedic notions. Brahmanism is distinguished by a complex ritual and a ceremonial regulation of life. Ascetic feats are regarded as a means of improving one's karma.
Buddhism – a religious-philosophical teaching that arose in India in the 6th–5th centuries BC. It is included in the San jiao – one of the three main religions of China. The founder of Buddhism is the Indian prince Siddhartha Gautama, who later received the name Buddha, that is, the awakened or enlightened one. Buddhism arose in the northeast of India, in regions of pre-Brahmanic culture. Buddhism spread rapidly throughout India and reached its greatest flourishing at the end of the 1st century BC – beginning of the 1st century AD. Buddhism greatly influenced the Hinduism reviving out of Brahmanism, but was displaced by Hinduism and had practically disappeared from India by the 12th century AD. The main reason for this was the opposition of Buddhist ideas to the caste system sanctified by Brahmanism. At the same time, beginning in the 3rd century BC, it spread across Southeast and Central Asia and partly into Central Asia and Siberia.
Already in the first centuries of its existence Buddhism split into 18 sects. Disagreements between the sects led to the convening of councils at Rajagriha in 447 BC, at Vaishali in 367 BC, and at Pataliputra in the 3rd century BC, and led at the beginning of our era to the division of Buddhism into two branches: Hinayana and Mahayana.
Hinayana became established mainly in the southeastern countries and received the name of southern Buddhism, while Mahayana became established in the northern countries, receiving the name of northern Buddhism.
The spread of Buddhism contributed to the creation of syncretic cultural complexes, the totality of which forms what is called Buddhist culture.
The philosophical concepts of Buddhism are based on the main ideas of Brahmanism and, in part, of Vedism. In Buddhism the theory of reincarnation, karma, dharma, and nirvana is well developed.
A characteristic feature of Buddhism is its ethical-practical orientation. From the very beginning Buddhism opposed not only the significance of the external forms of religious life and, above all, ritualism, but also the abstract-dogmatic pursuits characteristic, in particular, of the Brahmanic-Vedic tradition. The central problem put forward in Buddhism was the problem of the being of the individual.
The core of the content of Buddhism is the Buddha's sermon on the four noble truths. All the constructions of Buddhism are devoted to the explanation and development of these propositions and, in particular, to the notion of the autonomy of the individual contained in them.
Suffering and liberation are presented in Buddhism as different states of a single existence: suffering – the state of manifested being, liberation – of unmanifested being. Both, being inseparable, appear, however, in early Buddhism as psychological reality, and in developed forms of Buddhism – as cosmic reality.
Buddhism conceives of liberation primarily as the destruction of desires, or more precisely, the extinguishing of their passionate intensity. The Buddhist principle of the so-called middle (median) path recommends avoiding extremes – both the attraction to sensory pleasure and the complete suppression of this attraction.
In Buddhism, in the moral-emotional sphere, the dominant conception is one of tolerance and relativity, from whose standpoint moral precepts are not obligatory and may be broken. Buddhism lacks the concept of responsibility and guilt as something absolute; a reflection of this is the absence in Buddhism of a clear boundary between the ideals of religious and secular morality and, in particular, the softening or denial of asceticism in its usual form.
The moral ideal of Buddhism appears as the absolute non-infliction of harm on others (ahimsa), proceeding from a general gentleness, kindness, and a sense of perfect contentment.
In the intellectual sphere of Buddhism the distinction between the sensory and rational forms of cognition is eliminated, and the practice of so-called contemplative reflection (meditation) is established, the result of which is the experience of the wholeness of being (the non-distinction of the internal and the external), a state of complete self-absorption. The practice of contemplative reflection thus serves not so much as a means of knowing the world as one of the main means of transforming the psyche and psychophysiology of the individual. As a specific method of contemplative reflection, dhyanas, which received the name of Buddhist yoga, are especially popular. The state of perfect contentment and self-absorption, of absolute independence of inner being – the positive equivalent of the extinguishing of desires – is liberation, or nirvana.
At the basis of Buddhism lies the affirmation of the principle of the individual, inseparable from the surrounding world, and the recognition of the existence of a peculiar psychological process in which the world too turns out to be involved. The result of this is the absence in Buddhism of the opposition between subject and object, spirit and matter, a blending of the individual and the cosmic, the psychological and the ontological, and at the same time an emphasis on special potential forces hidden within the wholeness of this spiritual-material being. The creative principle, the ultimate cause of being, turns out to be the psychic activity of man, which determines both the formation of the universe and its disintegration: this is the volitional decision of the «I», understood as a certain spiritual-corporeal wholeness. From the non-absolute significance for Buddhism of everything that exists irrespective of the subject, from the absence of creative aspirations in the individual, it follows in Buddhism, on the one hand, that God as a supreme being is immanent in man and the world, and, on the other, that Buddhism has no need for God as creator and savior, that is, in general as an unconditionally supreme being transcendent to this totality. From this also follows the absence in Buddhism of a dualism of the divine and the non-divine, of God and the world.
Having begun with a denial of external religiosity, Buddhism, in the course of its development, came to accept it. In the process, the identification took place of the highest reality of Buddhism – nirvana – with the Buddha, who from being the personification of the moral ideal was transformed into its personal embodiment, thus becoming the highest object of religious feeling. Along with the cosmic aspect of nirvana there arose a cosmic conception of the Buddha, formulated in the doctrine of the trikaya. The Buddhist pantheon began to expand through the introduction into it of all sorts of mythological beings that in one way or another became assimilated to Buddhism. The cult, encompassing all aspects of the life of a Buddhist, from family and household matters to holidays, became especially complex in certain currents of Mahayana, in particular in Lamaism. Very early on, a sangha – a monastic community – appeared in Buddhism, out of which, over time, a distinctive religious organization grew.
The most influential Buddhist organization is the World Fellowship of Buddhists, created in 1950.
Buddhist literature is extensive and includes works in Pali, Sanskrit, hybrid Sanskrit, Sinhalese, Burmese, Khmer, Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan.
The term «Buddhism» has practically no synonyms, except in Japan, where it is called «Bukkyo».
Buddhism is widespread mainly in China, Thailand, Japan, Burma, Vietnam, Korea, and Sri Lanka.
Wahhabism – a religious-political movement within Sunni Islam. It appeared at the end of the eighteenth century. Its name comes from that of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who came forward with puritanical preaching among the Bedouin tribes in Najd.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the Wahhabis, under the leadership of the Saudis, formed an independent state in Najd, whose influence spread over most of the Arabian Peninsula.
In 1818, as a result of campaigns by Egyptian troops, the Wahhabi state was destroyed. For a long time the Wahhabis were under the power of the Rashidis, vassals of Turkey. In 1902 the emir Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud captured Riyadh. In 1924–1925 the Wahhabis conquered the Hejaz, and in 1927 they formed a Wahhabi state (present-day Saudi Arabia).
The Wahhabis preach the restoration of the purity of original Islam and monotheism, reject the veneration of prophets and saints and pilgrimage to holy places, deny superstitions, and demand that Muslims lead an ascetic way of life.
The Wahhabis are found mainly in Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Arabian Peninsula, and to a much lesser extent in India, Indonesia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and North Africa.
The Great Feasts of the Russian Orthodox Church. Among the most important feasts of the Russian Orthodox Church are the following:
a) the Twelve Great Feasts:
1. The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (a week before Easter).
2. The Ascension of the Lord (on the 40th day after Easter).
3. The Trinity (Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles) (on the 50th day after Easter).
4. The Baptism of the Lord – January 19.
5. The Presentation of the Lord – February 15.
6. The Transfiguration of the Lord – August 19.
7. The Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord – September 27.
8. The Nativity of Christ – January 7.
9. The Nativity of the Theotokos – September 21.
10. The Presentation of the Theotokos into the Temple – December 4.
11. The Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos – April 7.
12. The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos – August 28.
b) non-Twelve Great Feasts:
The Circumcision of the Lord – January 14.
The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos – October 14.
The Nativity of John the Forerunner – July 7.
The Day of the Holy Chief Apostles Peter and Paul – July 12.
The Beheading of the Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John – September 11.
Easter does not belong to the number of the great feasts, since it is regarded as the feast of feasts.
Religious tolerance – 1) the recognition by the state of citizens' right to profess any religion (freedom of religion), and a respectful and equal attitude toward all religions and churches operating in accordance with the procedure established by law; 2) tolerance and mutual respect between religious associations (confessions, churches, denominations), between believers of different religions, and between believers and non-believers.
Vicar (Lat. – deputy, representative) – a deputy of a clergyman.
Golgotha (Heb. – skull, round hill) – a hilly elevation where, according to the Gospels, Jesus Christ was crucified.
Lord - the traditional Russian rendering of the unpronounceable Hebrew Name of God; it arose as a translation into Russian of the word Adonai.
State church - a church which, in accordance with the legislation of the country, is official and is financed by the state.
State religion – a religion legislatively recognized as the official ideology of the state, performing the role of the spiritual-ideological foundation of its policy, and being one of the obligatory elements of the state system of education and upbringing. In a multiconfessional society the state religion enjoys exclusive priority and support from the state. The corresponding religious organization (church, mosque, etc.) takes part in resolving the most important questions of state life and is wholly or partly maintained at the expense of the state budget.
State-church relations – the totality of historically evolving and changing forms of interrelation between the institutions of the state and religious organizations, one of the constituent parts of the domestic and foreign policy of the state. State-church relations are based on legislatively fixed notions of the place of religion and the church in the life of society, their functions, sphere of activity, and the competence of all the parties to these relations. States regulate and fix their relations with religious associations, as a rule, in constitutions and in special legislation on freedom of conscience, of religion, and of religious associations. The latter stipulates the socio-political and organizational questions of the interaction of the state and religious associations, the conditions of their economic, charitable, and educational activity, the ideological aspect of school and university education, and the possibility or impossibility of the functioning of religious structures in the army, in penitentiary and other state institutions, and so on.
In world practice there are known cases where these norms are reinforced by bilateral agreements between the state and particular churches, or by international confessional centers, for example, concordats – special agreements between the Vatican and the governments of particular states concerning the position and rights of Catholic believers and the Catholic church in these countries.
Original sin - in Christianity - the inherently sinful state in which every person is born, as well as the cause of this state. Original sin takes its origin from the fall of the first man, Adam.
Georgian Orthodox Church. It belongs to the Churches of Ecumenical Orthodoxy. It was originally subordinate to the Patriarchate of Antioch. From 487 – an autocephalous church with its center at Mtskheta (the residence of the supreme Catholicos).
Under the Sassanids (6th–7th centuries) it withstood a struggle against the Persian fire-worshippers, and during the period of Turkish conquests (16th–18th centuries) – against Islam. This grueling struggle led to the decline of Georgian Orthodoxy. The consequence of the country's difficult political situation was its entry into the Russian Empire (1783). The Georgian Church came under the jurisdiction of the Most Holy Synod with the status of an exarchate, and the title of Catholicos was abolished. The exarchs were appointed from among Russians, which in 1918 was the cause of the church's break with Russia. However, in 1943 the Moscow Patriarchate recognized the autocephaly of the Georgian Church as an independent patriarchate. The Georgian Church is headed by a Catholicos.
The Holy Sepulchre - the tomb in which Jesus Christ was buried, as well as the name of the church built on the site where it is located. According to the Bible, the tomb was located near the place of His crucifixion (John 19:41—42), and therefore the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was designed as a building that includes both the place of Christ's crucifixion and the place of His burial. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is located in Jerusalem, in the northwestern quarter of the Old City. The first Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built by Constantine I the Great and consecrated in 336, burned by the Persians in 614, restored by Modestus — abbot of the monastery of Theodosius in 616—626, destroyed by the Arabs c. 1009, and soon restored by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomachos. In the 12th century the Crusaders carried out a general rebuilding of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Its present building was constructed in 1810. It was recognized as the place where Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead. Various Christian communities — including the Greek, Roman, Armenian, and Coptic Churches — regularly hold their sacred ceremonies here.
Dalai Lama (Mong. Tib. – «ocean-teacher») – the title of the political (until Tibet's incorporation into the PRC in 1951) and spiritual head of the Tibetan people. He is considered an incarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara – the bodhisattva of compassion. There are 14 such earthly incarnations in all. At present there is Dalai Lama XIV (Tenzin Gyatso, born Lhamo Thondup, b. 1935), who since 1959 has resided in the city of Dharamsala (India) and exercises spiritual leadership over the Buddhists of Tibet and other territories that fall within the sphere of influence of Tibetan culture and Tibetan Buddhism (Mongolia, Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tuva, and others).
Taoism – a religious-philosophical teaching considered one of the three main religions of China, along with Confucianism and Buddhism. The principles of Taoist philosophy are set out in the book «Tao Te Ching», whose authorship is attributed to the founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu. The philosophical teaching took shape over the course of several centuries (4th–3rd centuries BC). Taoism as a religion took shape at the beginning of the first centuries of our era.
The main content of the teaching is the concept of «Tao», which is the essence and first cause of the world. It is the natural «way» followed by all people and the entire surrounding world, the law of the spontaneous arising, development, and disappearance of the Universe. Observance of the principle of following the Tao is closely linked with the concept of «wu wei» – «non-action», which leads to perfection, complete freedom, success, and prosperity. Any action not corresponding to the Tao leads to failure and destruction. The true sage is free from partiality and prejudice, does not grieve over life and death, and abides in tranquility and harmony.
Religious Taoism formed a kind of «church», a hierarchical structure, which included magic, alchemy, healing, demonology, and so on. In the 7th–10th centuries it became an integral part of the beliefs and rites of the broad masses of the people, part of a syncretic system alongside Confucianism and Buddhism.
Denomination (Lat. – naming, the designation of an object by a name not proper to it) – in a general sense – a group of objects or persons united by one name. In religious studies, a term introduced by H. R. Niebuhr, used to denote one of the types of religious associations that do not fall under the traditional concepts of church and sect. It is usually regarded as an intermediate link between sect and church, or as an association in the stage of formation, of organizational shaping. Unlike the church, which encompasses the majority of society, denominations are closely connected with the state and society without being part of its structure, and are open to an influx of new members.
Dervish (Pers. – beggar, poor man) – a member of a Sufi brotherhood.
Jihad (Arab. – effort, zeal) – holy war in the name of the faith. The Arab conquests began under the banner of jihad. The choice between the sword (death) and conversion to Islam was offered only to the pagan tribes of Arabia. With regard to Jews and Christians, jihad was waged with the aim of their political subjugation. Under the slogans of jihad (ghazawat) the Caucasian War of the highlanders was waged in 1817–1859 under the leadership of Imam Shamil.
Zen (Jap., from Ch. Chan, from Skt. – dhyana, i.e. meditation) – one of the most popular schools of Far Eastern Buddhism. It took shape in China in the sixth century, absorbing many elements of Chinese culture. According to the teaching of this school, only by means of meditation can one comprehend one's «original nature», which is the true nature of the Buddha, and attain awakening (satori). In the spirit of the Mahayana tradition, Zen Buddhism makes no distinction between samsara and nirvana, and affirms the possibility of attaining awakening in the midst of worldly life. It stands against Buddhist authorities and attaches no importance to Buddhist texts. The hidden truths of Buddhism, according to the teaching, are transmitted directly from teacher to pupil. Zen Buddhism reached its highest flourishing in China (the Chan school) and in Japan. At present a significant number of its followers are also found in the countries of Europe, America, and in Russia.
Gospel – the joyful tidings of Jesus Christ and of the fact that man receives salvation not by merit, but by accepting through faith the teaching of Jesus Christ.
Eucharist (Gr. – «thanksgiving»), communion – the partaking of bread (particles of the prosphora) and wine (red wine diluted with water) which, according to the teaching of the church, have been «transubstantiated» into the Body and Blood of Christ. Thereby a mysterious union of believers with Christ takes place. Communion must necessarily be preceded by repentance. The Eucharist is the most important part of the liturgy.
«The Law of God» – a compulsory school subject in primary and secondary educational institutions of pre-revolutionary Russia. It was taught by clergymen. The content of the teaching consisted of: the structure and main tenets of the Bible, the main prayers, the commandments, and so on, which was meant to raise pupils in the spirit of Orthodoxy.
After 1917 the teaching of the subject «The Law of God» in the general educational institutions of the country was abolished. At present it is being introduced in some non-state general educational institutions, including those founded by religious associations.
Zoroastrianism – an ancient religion that arose at the turn of the 1st–2nd millennia BC in Central Asia (mainly in Iran) and subsequently spread to Persia, parts of the Near East, and Transcaucasia. The legendary prophet Zarathustra is considered the founder of Zoroastrianism.
Before Zarathustra's reform, the religion of Iran was a warlike ritual cult that at the same time had features in common with the Vedic cult of India. Zarathustra's reform was directed against the orgiastic cults dominant in the military unions, and was, in essence, a puritanical reform of morals.
The most important feature of Zoroastrianism is the synthesis of monotheism with a pronounced dualism, the notion of a struggle between the principles of good and evil. The supreme deity of Zoroastrianism is Ahura Mazda. He acts as the creator of all the opposing forces. In the pre-Zoroastrian period (the period of Indo-Iranian unity) the daevas and ahuras were deities. In Zoroastrianism they evolved, though in a different direction than in India: the ahuras became the gods of Asha, and the daevas became the demons of Druj.
Zoroastrianism prescribes the worship of fire, which is regarded as a purifying force. It is believed that the bodies of the dead may neither be committed to the earth nor burned, since corpses defile the earth and fire. The dead are buried in special «towers of silence». Zoroastrians believe in the immortality of the soul, the afterlife, and the end of the world.
Beginning in the seventh century AD, after the conquest of the Near and Middle East by the Arabs, Zoroastrianism was gradually driven out of these territories. A significant part of the Zoroastrians emigrated to India, where they formed the Parsi sect. By the present time Zoroastrianism has undergone significant changes, mainly in the direction of monotheistic tendencies. The Yazidi sect, which borrowed elements of Islam and Christianity, is affiliated with the Zoroastrians.
The main sacred book of Zoroastrianism is the Avesta. The oldest part of the Avesta – the Gathas (Hymns) – is considered to go back to Zarathustra himself. Other significant Zoroastrian works, created for the most part in the ninth century in the Pahlavi language: the Zend (Commentary on the Avesta), the Bundahishn (Primal Creation), the Denkard (Acts of the Faith), the Collection of the priest Zatspram, the Datistan-i Dinik of the priest Manushchihr, the Shkand-gumanig Wizar (Doubt-Dispelling Exposition), the Namak (Book), and the Datistan-i Menog-i Khrad.
Yazidism (Ezidism) – a sect of the Zoroastrians, into whose creed, alongside Zoroastrian tenets, elements of Islam and Christianity also entered. Being, like the Zoroastrians, dualists, the Yazidis at the same time venerate not only the good principle but also the evil one, depicting it in the form of a peacock. In connection with this, Muslims and Christians display a sharply negative attitude toward the Yazidis; some consider this sect to be devil-worshippers and call the Yazidis «devil-molists».
Hegumen (Hegumenia) – a spiritual rank conferred in the Orthodox autocephalous churches upon the superior of a men's or the superioress of a women's monastery. It may also be conferred upon the rector of a church, if he is a monk.
Hierarch (Gr. – sacred + power) – a general, collective designation for clergymen of the highest (third) degree of the Christian church hierarchy: bishop, archbishop, metropolitan, exarch, patriarch. It is used alongside the designations «archiereus» and «archpastor».
Church hierarchy – a term denoting 1) in the broad sense – the clergy, the totality of all church- and clergymen (i.e. the «clerus»); 2) in the narrower sense – the totality of clergymen of all three degrees of the priesthood (deacon, presbyter, bishop).
Icon (Gr. – image, likeness) – a painted, or more rarely relief, depiction of gods, saints, or other supernatural beings that have become an object of religious veneration.
Imam – the leader of prayer in Islam. He may be any Muslim who is of age, of sound mind, just from the point of view of the sharia, and knowledgeable in the rules of prayer.
Religious indifferentism – a term used in the sociology of religion denoting the weakening or loss of interest in religious doctrine, worship, and a system of values, without, however, passing over into the denial of religion, into atheism.
Hinduism – the religious-philosophical system of ancient India, encompassing a large number of sects, schools, and movements, being a conglomerate of related religious currents rather than a single confession. All of them share a number of common features (polymorphism, cultic practice, recognition of the varna-caste division of society, ritual-behavioral prescriptions,
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Часть 1 Glossary of religious studies terms
Часть 2 - Glossary of religious studies terms
Часть 3 - Glossary of religious studies terms
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