D.M. Ugrinovich considers the main features of religious consciousness to be: belief in the supernatural, which, according to religious doctrine, is something that does not obey the laws of the environment around us material world and lying “beyond” sensory objects, i.e. material (natural) world (1, p. 51).

However, in his opinion, this definition is characteristic of “theistic” religions, which are based on the veneration of gods or God. For early forms religions, which include magic, fetishism, and totemism, were characterized by belief either in the supernatural properties of material objects (fetishism) or in supernatural connections between material objects (magic, totemism). In them, the opposition of the natural to the supernatural existed only in potential, in embryo. In the course of the further evolution of religion, the supernatural is increasingly isolated from the natural; it is already conceived as a special spiritual essence, which not only opposes material nature as a higher form of being, but also controls it.

From the standpoint of a materialistic worldview, ideas and images of the supernatural are a fantastic reflection in the heads of people of those real forces that dominate them in their Everyday life. In other words, supernatural forces and entities themselves do not exist objectively; they are illusory objects created by the human imagination. However, for a religious person these illusory objects are real, because he believes in their existence (1, p. 51).

The specificity of the object of religious faith, as something supernatural, located “beyond” the sensually comprehended world, leaves its mark on the place of religious faith in the system of individual and social consciousness, on its relationship with human cognition and practice. Since the subject of religious faith is something that, according to the beliefs of religious people, is not included in the general chain of causal relationships and natural laws, something “transcendental,” religious faith, according to the teachings of the church, is not subject to empirical verification, is not included in the general system of human knowledge and practices. A religious person believes in the exceptional form of supernatural forces or creatures, unlike everything that exists (1, pp. 51-52).

The religious person does not apply the usual criteria of empirical validity to the supernatural. Gods, spirits and other supernatural beings, in his opinion, in principle cannot be perceived by human senses unless they take on a “bodily” material shell and appear before people in a “visible” form accessible to sensory contemplation. According to Christian doctrine, Christ was just such a god who appeared to people in human form. If God or another supernatural force resides in its permanent, transcendental world, then, as theologians assure, the usual criteria for testing human ideas and hypotheses are not applicable to them.

According to D.M. Ugrinovich, in religious faith the human mind plays a tertiary, subordinate role; the church accepts it only as a means of formulating dogma. The thesis: “I believe because it is absurd” is not accidental for religious consciousness, but expresses some of its general and characteristic features.

These features of the interpretation of the supernatural subject of faith and faith itself explain to a certain extent the fact that in the minds of religious people, religious beliefs and scientific ideas can be combined for a long time. To understand this, it should be taken into account that religious dogmas are, as it were, excluded by believers from the sphere of ordinary ideas that are subject to practical and theoretical verification.

To confirm this position, the author refers to Festinger’s idea, which explains the stability of faith by three main factors: 1) the significance of these beliefs in the life of an individual and in the system of his value orientations; 2) the fact that believers have repeatedly demonstrated publicly their commitment to certain religious beliefs, and therefore, abandoning them would mean, from their point of view, an undermining of social prestige; 3) social pressure on each believing member of the religious group to which he belongs.

Festinger gives examples from the life of religious sects and movements in the United States that really show resilience religious beliefs even in conditions when life refuted certain prophecies of the sect leader.

D.M. Ugrinovich asks the question, what mental processes play a dominant role in religious faith? He believes that this is, first of all, imagination. Deep religious faith presupposes the existence in the human mind of ideas about supernatural creatures ah (in Christianity, for example, Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, saints, angels, etc.) and their vivid images that can evoke an emotional and interested attitude. These images and ideas are illusory and do not correspond to real objects. But they do not arise out of nowhere. The basis for their formation in the individual consciousness is, firstly, religious myths, which tell about the “actions” of gods or other supernatural beings, and, secondly, cult artistic images (for example, icons and frescoes), in which supernatural images are embodied in a sensory-visual form.

Celebrating commonality religious ideas among believers of the same denomination, one should at the same time take into account that the religious ideas and images of each subject of faith are largely individualized. Those traits that best meet the spiritual needs and character traits of a given individual can come to the fore in them.

The relationship of the subject of religious faith to the object of faith according to D.M. Ugrinovich, can only exist as an emotional relationship. If religious images and ideas do not evoke intense feelings and experiences in the individual’s consciousness, then this is a sure sign of fading faith. An emotional attitude towards the subject of religious faith stems from the fact that such faith presupposes not only the reality of supernatural forces or beings, but also the fact that they can influence the life and fate of the believer himself and his loved ones both in the real and in the “otherworldly” world. In other words, this is not only the belief that God exists and that he created the world, but also that God can punish or reward this person, influence fate during his life and especially after death. Naturally, such faith cannot but evoke deep feelings and experiences in him. The believer enters into a special relationship with the illusory object of his faith, which can be called illusory-practical (1, p. 55).

Religious faith is not only an emotional, but also a volitional attitude towards the supernatural. Deep faith presupposes the concentration of the entire mental life of an individual on religious images, ideas, feelings and experiences, which can only be achieved with the help of significant volitional efforts. The will of the believer is aimed at strictly observing all the instructions of the church or other religious organization and thereby ensure “salvation” for yourself. It is no coincidence that exercises that trained the will were mandatory for many newly converted monks and nuns.

In religious faith, a much smaller role than in non-religious faith is played by logical, rational thinking with all its features and attributes (logical consistency, evidence, etc.). As for other mental processes, the specificity of religious faith lies in the direction of these processes, their subject. Since their subject is the supernatural, they concentrate the imagination, feelings and will of the individual around illusory objects.

For a deeply religious person, God or other supernatural entities often act as a more important reality than the world around them. Communication with them occupies an important place in the lives of such people. Replacing real communication with people, it creates the illusion of mutual intimacy, evokes intense feelings, and leads to emotional release.

discipline: Spiritual culture

on the topic: Religion and religious faith

Is done by a student

Checked:

Introduction........................................................ ........................................................ ................3

1. Religion................................................... ........................................................ ................4

2. Features of religious faith.................................................... ............................5

3. Diversity of religions.................................................... ........................................7

4. The role of religion in the modern world.................................................... .......................10

Conclusion................................................. ........................................................ ..........14

Bibliography............................................... ........................16

Introduction

One of the oldest forms of spiritual culture is religion. Religious ideas of people originated in ancient times. Like religious ceremonies, cults, they were very diverse. An important milestone in the history of mankind was the emergence of world religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam. At a certain stage in the development of religion, a church arises, within which a spiritual hierarchy takes shape, and priests appear.

Since ancient times, religion has been the bearer of cultural values; it itself is one of the forms of culture. Majestic temples, masterfully executed frescoes and icons, wonderful literary and religious-philosophical works, church rituals, and moral precepts have extremely enriched cultural foundation humanity. The level of development of spiritual culture is measured by the volume of spiritual values ​​created in society, the scale of their dissemination and the depth of assimilation by people, by each person.

Nowadays, religious activity has acquired a new scope and new forms. The preaching of absolute (eternal and unchangeable) moral values ​​was characteristic of all religions of the world and remains relevant in our age full of evil, because bitterness, decline of morality, growth of crime and violence are all consequences of lack of spirituality. Moral rules not only have not lost their meaning, but have also acquired a new one. deep meaning, since they are facing the internal, spiritual world person.

1. Religion

The origin of the word “religion” is associated with the Latin verb relegere - “to treat with respect”; according to another version, it owes its origin to the verb religare - “to bind” (heaven and earth, deity and man). It is much more difficult to define the concept of “religion”. There are a great many such definitions, they depend on the authors’ affiliation with a particular philosophical school or tradition. Thus, Marxist methodology defined religion as a specific form of social consciousness, a perverted, fantastic reflection in the minds of people of the external forces dominating them. A believer will most likely define religion as the relationship between God and man. There are also more neutral definitions: religion is a set of views and ideas, a system of beliefs and rituals that unites people who recognize them into one community. Religion is certain views and ideas of people, corresponding rituals and cults.

Any religion includes several essential elements. Among them: 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. rituals, prayers, sermons, etc.). Sufficiently developed religions also have their own organization - the church, which organizes life religious community.

The origin of religion is controversial. The Church teaches that religion appears with man and exists from the beginning. Materialistic teachings view religion as a product of the development of human consciousness. Convinced of his own powerlessness, of his inability to overcome the power of blind necessity in certain spheres of life, primitive man attributed supernatural properties to natural forces. Excavations of ancient sites indicate the presence of primitive religious beliefs among Neanderthals. In addition, primitive man felt himself a part of nature, did not oppose it, although he tried to determine his place in the world around him and adapt to it.

One of the first forms of religion was totemism - the worship of some kind, tribe, animal or plant as its mythical ancestor and protector. Totemism gave way to animism, i.e. belief in spirits and soul or the universal spirituality of nature. In animism, many scientists see not only an independent form of religious ideas, but also the basis for the emergence modern religions. Among supernatural beings, several particularly powerful ones stand out - gods. Gradually they acquire an anthropomorphic character (the qualities characteristic of man and even his appearance, although it is argued that it was God who created man in his own image and likeness), the first polytheistic (from the words poly - many, theos - god) religions took shape. Later, at a higher stage, monotheistic religions(from the Greek monos - one, united, theos - god). A classic example of polytheism is the ancient Greek and Roman religions, Slavic paganism. Monotheism includes Christianity, Islam and others, although each of them retains traces of polytheism.

2. Features of religious faith

The basis of any religion is belief in the supernatural, i.e. into the inexplicable with the help of laws known to science, contradicting them. Faith, according to the Gospel, is the realization of what is hoped for and the assurance of what is not seen. It is alien to any logic, and therefore it is not afraid of atheists’ justifications that there is no God, and does not need logical confirmation that He exists. The Apostle Paul said: “Let your faith rest not on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

What are the characteristics of religious faith? Its first element is faith in the very existence of God as the creator of everything that exists, the manager of all affairs, actions, and thoughts of people. This means that the higher powers that control him are responsible for all a person’s actions? According to modern religious teachings, man is endowed by God with free will, has freedom of choice and, because of this, is responsible for his actions and for the future of his soul.

But on what basis is this faith possible? Based on knowledge of the content of religious myths and Holy books(Bible, Koran, etc.) and trust in the testimonies contained in them of those who happened to be convinced of the facts of the existence of God (appearance to the people, revelations, etc.); based on direct evidence of the existence of God (miracles, direct appearances and revelations, etc.)

History shows that cases of immediate phenomena higher powers, not previously described in myths and Holy books, practically do not exist: churches are extremely cautious about any manifestation of a miracle, rightly believing that erroneousness or, worse, dishonesty in its description will cause disbelief among people and can undermine the authority of churches and creeds. Finally, faith in God is based on some logical and theoretical arguments. For many centuries, theologians of all religions have sought to prove the existence of God. However German philosopher I. Kant convincingly showed in his reasoning that it is impossible to logically prove either the existence of God or his absence, all that remains is to believe.

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

Standards of morality, standards of morality that are declared to originate from divine revelation; violation of these norms is a sin and, accordingly, is condemned and punished;

Certain legal laws and regulations that are also declared to have either occurred directly as a result of divine revelation, or as the result of the divinely inspired activity of legislators, usually kings and other rulers;

I believe in the divine inspiration of the activities of certain clergy, persons declared saints, saints, blessed, etc.; Thus, in Catholicism it is generally accepted that the head catholic church– the Pope – is the vicar (representative) of God on earth;

Belief 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.);

I believe in the divine direction of the activities of churches as associations of people who consider themselves adherents of a particular faith.

3. Diversity of religions

There is a variety of beliefs, sects, and church organizations in the world.

Everything is now existing religions can be divided into three large groups:

1) primitive tribal beliefs that have survived to this day;

2) national-state religions that form the basis of the religious life of individual nations, for example, Confucianism (China), Judaism (Israel);

3) world religions. There are only three of them: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam. It is world religions that have the greatest influence on development modern civilizations.

The characteristics of world religions include:

A) a huge number of followers all over the world;

B) they are cosmopolitan, inter- and supra-ethnic in nature, going beyond the boundaries of nations and states;

C) they are egalitarian (they preach the equality of all people and are addressed to representatives of all social groups);

D) they are distinguished by extraordinary propaganda activity and proselytism (the desire to convert people of another religion).

Buddhism is the earliest world religion. It is most widespread in Asia. The central area of ​​Buddhist teaching is morality, the norms of human behavior. Through reflection and contemplation, a person can achieve the truth, find the right path to salvation and, observing the commandments of holy teaching, come to perfection. The elementary commandments, obligatory for everyone, come down to five: do not kill a single living creature, do not take someone else's property, do not touch someone else's wife, do not tell lies, do not drink wine. But for those who strive to achieve perfection, these five commandments-prohibitions develop into a whole system of much more strict regulations. The prohibition of killing goes so far as to prohibit the killing of even insects that are barely visible to the eye. The prohibition to take someone else's property is replaced by the requirement to renounce all property in general, etc. One of the most important precepts of Buddhism is love and mercy for all living beings. Moreover, Buddhism prescribes not to make any distinction between them and to treat good and evil, people and animals equally favorably and compassionately. A follower of the Buddha should not pay evil for evil, because otherwise not only are they not destroyed, but, on the contrary, enmity and suffering increase. You can't even protect others from violence and punish murder. A follower of the Buddha must have a calm, patient attitude towards evil, avoiding only participation in it.

Thoughts on religion Balashov Lev Evdokimovich

Substitution of concepts (faith in general and religious faith in particular)

From the American TV series “Cool Walker,” a repentant bandit, the father of a family who believed in Jesus Christ, says: “I’m not talking about religion. I'm talking about faith. If you don’t believe in anything, life becomes empty.”

Or: “We were all sort of atheists. And people believed. After all, you can’t live without faith at all” (words of a journalist heard on NTV on February 11, 1996)

A comment . In both cases, there is a clear substitution of concepts: religious faith is replaced by faith in general - since life is empty without faith or one cannot live, then faith in God is needed. The need for religious faith is justified by reference to the need for faith in general.

Believers most likely do not realize this substitution of concepts. They are simply trying to monopolize both faith and their understanding of faith.

If a person calls himself a believer, this does not mean at all that he is the only keeper of the faith. There is no person who does not believe in anything. Anyone who has lost faith in absolutely everything, as a rule, commits suicide. A believer is a person who absolutizes faith, who puts it above knowledge, reason, morality, etc.

Faith in general- this is confidence based on life experience and the desire to achieve or have something. Faith is usually contrasted with knowledge. In fact, faith “acts” precisely where knowledge is absent or lacking, but the desire to achieve and have is strong. Faith, like will, moves a person. For example, a person believes in his “star” and tries to do everything to make his “star” come true. Faith is also like a dream. Like a dream, it “warms” or “warms” a person psychologically. “Blessed is he who believes, he is warm in the world,” said the poet.

Most often, faith concerns the future. The future does not have the same certainty as the present (not to mention the past). Opportunity different options the future and the need to prefer the best-good to the worst-bad force a person to tune in to the wave of faith.

Faith is active in its essence. It is needed in big matters, when achieving a goal requires significant effort, sacrifice or patience. Faith is needed in communication, in relationships between people or between people and higher animals. One person believes or trusts another. Without this faith and trust, constructive, fruitful communication is impossible, and joint activity is generally impossible. See also “Faith and Conviction” below.

From the book Problems of Life author Jiddu Krishnamurti

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From the book To Have or To Be author Fromm Erich Seligmann

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From the book Thoughts on Religion author Balashov Lev Evdokimovich

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From the book God Is With Us by Frank Semyon

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From the book To Have or To Be? author Fromm Erich Seligmann

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From the book Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion by Murray Michael

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From the book Works in two volumes. Volume 1 by Descartes Rene

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From the book Comparative Theology. Book 3 author Team of authors

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From the author's book

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From the author's book

From the author's book

Separation of concepts: “faith” is not “hope” “Faith” and “hope” are not synonyms. Sentences with these words have different linguistic structures and are semantically different. The words “I hope this is so” are not a substitute for “I believe that this is so.” The concept of “faith” in the sense

a type of faith in which, without proof and individual verification of reality, the supernatural is recognized in one or another of its manifestations (God, gods, spirits, angels, etc.). Synonym for religion - Christian faith, Islamic faith, etc. Religious faith is a specific state of a religious person, who therefore calls himself a believer.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

religious faith

FAITH RELIGIOUS- personal self-determination of a person in relation to the knowledge he has about the world and man’s place in it, resulting from a religious worldview. Religious self-determination is a person’s worldview and way of life, generated by a sense of connectedness, dependence on some entity elevated above him, a sense of respect and veneration for a force that provides support and prescribes norms of behavior in relation to other people and to the world as a whole. There are two approaches that form two images, or appearances, of V. r.: the approach, as it were, from the inside, from the state faith with the point of view of a believer, convinced of the existence and active influence of the Divine on man and on everything that exists; and an approach as if from the outside, from an external observer. This distinction is always present in V. r. with the leading role of the state of faith. But under certain historical conditions it can acquire the character of opposition to each other. Within the framework of each of these approaches, a large number of more specific concepts of the nature of natural resources have emerged, which can be grouped into 4 proto-concepts. In authoritarian concepts the essence of V. r. is seen in the direct assimilation of everything that is affirmed Holy Scripture and church tradition (if we mean Christianity). In the second proto-conception of V. r. is considered as hypothetical knowledge that does not and cannot have reliable foundations in order to turn into reliable knowledge. In concepts of the third kind, faith is interpreted as a special kind of internal mental or spiritual state of a person (for example, moral consciousness), which cannot be made the subject of objective theoretical consideration. In concepts of the fourth kind V. r. derived from personal religious experience, which can be supplemented and expanded thanks to the cumulative religious experience of people belonging to the same church tradition. In all these concepts, an important place is given to the interpretation of the cognitive status of V. r. This problem appears most deeply thought out in the concepts of religious religion, which derive it from the characteristics of religious experience and the religious knowledge arising on its basis in comparison with philosophical and scientific knowledge. In religious cognition, the transformative activity of the subject is associated with the self-revealing activity of the object. The methodology of religious knowledge is based on the principles of dialogism. In the sphere of religious knowledge, the classical trichotomy is not observed: object-subject-means of knowledge. The object of religious knowledge becomes accessible to cognitive effort only to the extent that it enters inside human world. A person can only use himself here as an ontological “tool” of cognition; a person, in principle, cannot be excluded here from the act of cognition. It follows from this that V. r. qualitatively different from the philosophical and scientific knowledge not by the fact that it is not well-argued or is not confident in its subject, but by the methods of obtaining and justifying its content. IN AND. Kurage