The main features of religious faith. The specificity and essence of religion as a special type of worldview - abstract. Production. Factors of production

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, contrary to them. Faith, according to the Gospel, is the realization of what is expected and the assurance of the invisible. It is alien to any logic, and therefore it is not afraid of justification by atheists that God does not exist, and does not need logical confirmation that He exists. The apostle Paul said: “Your faith may not be based 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 deeds, deeds, and thoughts of people. So, for all the actions of a person, the higher forces that control him are responsible? According to modern religious teachings, a person is endowed by God with free will, has freedom of choice, and because of this, he himself 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.); on the basis of direct evidence of the existence of God (miracles, direct phenomena and revelations, etc.)

History shows that there are practically no cases of direct manifestations of higher powers that were not previously described in myths and Holy Books: churches are extremely cautious about any manifestation of a miracle, rightly believing that an error or, worse, dishonesty in describing it will cause disbelief in people. and can undermine the authority of churches and creeds. Finally, faith in God is based on some arguments of a logical and theoretical nature. For centuries, theologians of all religions have sought to prove the existence of God. However, the German philosopher I. Kant convincingly showed in his reasoning that it is impossible to prove either the existence of God or his absence in a logical way, one can only believe.

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

Moral standards, moral standards that are declared to be derived from divine revelation; violation of these norms is a sin and, accordingly, is condemned and punished;

Certain legal laws and norms, which are also declared or have occurred directly as a result of divine revelation, or as a result of the God-inspired activity of legislators, as a rule, kings and other rulers;

Belief in the divine inspiration of the activities of certain clergymen, persons declared saints, saints, blessed, etc.; Thus, in Catholicism it is generally accepted that the head of the Catholic Church - the Pope of Rome - 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.);

Faith in the God-directed activity of churches as associations of people who consider themselves adherents of one or another faith.

3. Diversity of religions

In the world there is a variety of beliefs, sects, church organizations.

All currently 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 the development of modern civilizations.

Among the signs of world religions include:

A) a huge number of followers around the world;

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

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

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

Buddhism is the earliest world religion in terms of time. It is most widely used in Asia. The central area of ​​Buddhist teaching is morality, the norms of human behavior. Through reflection and contemplation, a person can reach the truth, find the right path to salvation, and, observing the commandments of the holy teaching, come to perfection. The elementary, obligatory commandments for all come down to five: do not kill a single living being, 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 stringent prescriptions. The prohibition of killing is brought to the point that it is not allowed to kill 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, and so on. One of the most important precepts of Buddhism is love and mercy for all living beings. Moreover, Buddhism prescribes not to make distinctions between them and to treat equally benevolently and sympathetically to good and evil, to people and animals. A follower of the Buddha should not repay evil for evil, because otherwise, not only are they not destroyed, but, on the contrary, enmity and suffering increase. You can not even protect others from violence and punish for murder. A follower of the Buddha should calmly, patiently deal with evil, avoiding only participation in it.

At present, Buddhism plays the most significant socio-political and cultural role in the countries of the Indochinese Peninsula. In Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, he acts as a state religion. In Japan, Buddhism, having broken into many sects, is intertwined with national Shintoism, forming the so-called new religions. In 1950, the World Fellowship of Buddhists was formed, in 1970, the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace. Contrary to the basic idea of ​​the Buddhist doctrine, these organizations are actively involved in international politics, in the struggle for peace. A feature of modern Buddhism is that it is increasingly turning from a religion into a kind of philosophical teaching, a kind of system of morality.

Christianity is the second largest religion in the world. Now it is the most widespread religion on Earth, numbering over 1.4 billion adherents in Europe and America.

Central to Christianity are the idea of ​​man's sinfulness as the cause of all his misfortunes and the doctrine of deliverance from sins through prayer and repentance. The sermon of patience, humility, forgiveness without offense is boundless. “Love your enemies,” Jesus teaches. “Bless those who curse you, give thanks to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you.”

Christianity proved to be better adapted to social change than other religions. Christian theologians have learned to get along with science by adopting individual scientific theories. The Church actively uses the media to spread religious views.

Islam (Islam) is the most recent world religion. There are about a billion of its adherents on Earth. Islam was most widespread in North Africa, Southwest and South Asia. "Islam" in translation into Russian means "submission". Man, according to the Koran, is a weak creature, prone to sin, he is not able to achieve anything in life on his own. He remains to rely on the mercy and help of Allah. If a person believes in God, fulfills the requirements of the Muslim religion, he will earn eternal life in paradise. Demanding obedience to Allah from believers, Islam prescribes the same obedience to earthly authorities.

A characteristic feature of the Muslim religion is that it vigorously intervenes in all spheres of people's lives. Personal, family, social life of believing Muslims, politics, legal relations, court - everything must obey religious laws. In this regard, they are increasingly talking about the processes of "Islamization" - the spread of this relatively young religion. Movements under Islamic slogans are heterogeneous, but they clearly show the desire to turn the Islamic world into a leading force in the international arena. The process of "Islamization" is very controversial. On the one hand, it reflects the desire of the peoples of developing countries to free themselves from the remnants of colonialism and Western influence, on the other hand, the implementation of Islamic slogans by the hands of extremists can bring untold troubles to humanity.

Thus, despite the difference between world religions, there is much in common in the spiritual and moral values ​​they preach. This makes possible not only a dialogue of cultures, but also a dialogue of religions.

Religion - a set of spiritual ideas based on the belief in the existence of God or gods, supernatural forces, as well as appropriate behavior and specific actions.

Any religion represents the presence of a mysterious connection between man and God, the worship of these forces, the possibility of human interaction with him.

Any religion is inextricably linked with faith. Faith is a personal, emotional attitude of a person to some information that he is ready to recognize as true without evidence or justification.

Religious faith is always associated with the belief in the presence of some supernatural forces that influence in one way or another the fate of a person, the life of society. The supernatural, according to religious people, does not obey the laws of the surrounding world, but it does not belong to the realm of fantasy.

A religious person is convinced of the reality of contact with God, that God in one way or another affects the fate of individuals or entire nations, and that the believer has channels of communication with him. The believer believes that God places certain requirements on his behavior and can hold him accountable for not meeting them, although most religions allow for the possibility of establishing a good relationship between a person and God and a chance for a person to propitiate a deity. To do this, a person performs certain actions - rituals, each element of which is filled with deep religious meaning and reflects the fundamental ideas of religion. The pinnacle of ritual actions is prayer - a direct verbal appeal of a person to God.

2. Vasya's action falls under Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (robbery or open theft of other people's property). Criminal liability under this article comes from the age of 14. Therefore, Vasya is not only possible, but he must be attracted, but the responsibility will be borne by the parents.

3 . Examples : 1. to hold ecological subbotniks

2. to clean up small rivers and forest plantations

3. plant more trees and shrubs

4. do not allow (protect trees) from illegal felling in yards and on city streets

5. go to organized rallies in support of the environment

6.Use those natural resources wisely. that we have, at least water.

7. show interest in information about the state of the environment in the area in which you live

8. look at how plants and trees live in your yard, maybe you need to go out to water them

9. Help homeless animals. because they also have the right to life

10. inform the elders or call the rescue service if you notice any environmental danger

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Production. factors of production.

Production is the process of creating economic goods (goods and services) to meet the needs of people. Sources of production - resources.

Resources - a set of those natural, spiritual and social forces that can be used in the process of creating wealth. Resources are divided into 4 groups:

natural;

Material (man-made means of production);

Labor;

Financial.

Factors of production are the resources actually involved in the production process. Allocate the main factors of production:

Capital;

information;

Entrepreneurial ability.

In a market economy, all of the above factors of production are freely bought and sold and bring their owners a special income:

Rent (land);

Interest(capital);

Salary (labor);

Profit (production).

2. The very first thing to do is to give a warning, if they do not respond, use pneumatic weapons first, only then firearms.

If the situation is critical, this group shoots at the police, then of course they can use

3. PRESCHOOL

INITIAL

Ticket 11

1. The market is a system of economic relations for the sale and purchase of goods, within which demand, supply and price for them are formed.

The characteristic features of this economic system are: free exchange between sellers and buyers, stimulated by the benefits of the transaction; private ownership of economic resources; material responsible market participants for the results of their own decisions (Sellers and buyers spend their money and risk them).

For the normal operation of the market, certain conditions are necessary:

free pricing

competition

freedom of entrepreneurial activity

Compared with all the previous ones, the market system turned out to be the most flexible: it is able to rebuild and adapt to changing internal and external conditions.
1) The market has provided the relationship between production and consumption. It performs this function by establishing the compliance of the proposal with the volume of effective demand.
2) Guarantees a public assessment of the results of the work of isolated producers. The mechanism of such an assessment is simple, effective and objective. It consists in one thing: the purchase and sale took place or not. The desire to sell (buy) as profitably as possible makes producers (sellers) and consumers (buyers) constantly maintain a "market form".
3) The market creates conditions for high production efficiency. This is facilitated by the universality of competition, which ruthlessly "separates" those who lag behind from those who succeed.

2. 1) I have the right to rest during breaks and holidays.

2) For a preliminary notification of the control work.

3) For one control work during the day.

4) To create clubs, sections, circles and other associations of interest, as well as public organizations.

5) To protect and respect the dignity and inviolability of the individual.

And also I have to

1) Comply with the internal regulations and the Charter of the school.

2) Have everything you need (textbooks, stationery) to work in the classroom.

3) Arrive at least 5 minutes before class starts.

4) Be disciplined, maintain public order at school.

5) Come to class in clothes that meet the style of "business suit" (unacceptable is clothes of bright and colorful colors, extravagant cut, distracting students and teachers from the educational process); have a change of shoes.

3. no, since the police officer does not protect his personal interests, but the interests of the state

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Types of economic systems

The economic system is a set of organizational ways of coordinating the economic activities of people to resolve the issues: what, how and for whom to produce?

Main types of economic system:

· Traditional

Centralized (command)

Market

A traditional economy is an economic system in which customs and traditions determine the practice of using scarce resources.

A market economy is a way of organizing economic life based on a variety of forms of ownership, entrepreneurship and competition.

Command economy - an economic system in which the main economic decisions are made by the state.

2. by the sphere in which they are carried out: business - professional (work), personal - other (family, friends). otherwise - formal and informal

3. nature reserves, cleansing agents, subbotniks, etc.

Ticket 13

Entrepreneurial activity

Entrepreneurship – this is the economic activity of an economic entity using novelty, invention, aimed at making a profit. It is carried out at your own risk.

Types of business: industrial, commercial, financial, insurance.

Entrepreneurship has a special function- ensuring the development and improvement of the economy, its constant renewal, the creation of an innovative environment that breaks traditional structures and opens the way for the new.

2. positive attitude in life people who will support you at any second, luck, patience, stubbornness

3. Not; Yes; No; Yes; Yes; Yes

We repeat 1. Science is…………. BUT? …… B?........ C?........ 2. Name the highest scientific institution of the Russian Federation: 3. International award for scientists who have achieved outstanding success………. 4. What role does science play in modern society? (FULL ANSWER) check

1. SCIENCE IS…

A) A special system of knowledge

2. Higher scientific institution - RAS

3. Nobel Prize

B) SPECIAL FIELD OF ACTIVITY:

C) System of organizations and institutions

4. Science plays a huge research and practical role in the modern world.

"5" - 6 answers

"4" - 5 answers

"3" - 4 answers

Statistics 2011

I confess...

RELIGION AS ONE OF THE FORMS OF CULTURE. ???

-What is religion?

-Peculiarities of religion.

-Functions of religion (for which it is necessary)

- Religious organizations.

-Freedom of conscience and religion.

???Why the active development of science, the dissemination of scientific knowledge does not reduce the number of believers???

What is religion? What is religion? VERA PRAYER SOUL GOD CHURCH SUPERNATURAL FORCES HOPE HELP When did the first religions appear? When did the first religions appear? What was characteristic of them? Types of religions

tribal

National

state

totemism, totem

natural object -

animal, plant,

inanimate object.

Buddhism,

Confucianism

• Buddhism (6th century BC)
• Christianity (1st century AD)
• Catholicism
• Orthodoxy
• Protestantism
• Islam (7th century AD)

• BUDDHISM : "Don't hurt others what you yourself think hurts"
• Taoism : "May your neighbor's good fortune be your good fortune, and your neighbor's loss be your loss"
• ISLAM "No one is a true believer until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself"
• Confucianism : "Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you"
• CHRISTIANITY "As you want people to do to you, do to them"

Compare! Make a conclusion.

1. What is religion? Dictionary with. 221 Religion is a collection spiritual representations people based on faith in God. 2. Features of religious faith:

• Faith in God, into supernatural forces affecting human life
• Faith in relationship with God
(corresponding behavior: rituals, prayers, etc.)

CONSTITUTION RF GUARANTEES THE RIGHT OF FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, FREEDOM OF RELIGION.

ALL RELIGIONS ARE EQUAL,

ALL BELIEVERS ARE GUARANTEED THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE.

THE CHURCH IS SEPARATED FROM THE STATE.

EQUAL ACCESS OF REPRESENTATIVES OF ALL RELIGIONS TO EDUCATION.

PROMOTION OF ANY RELIGION IN SCHOOL IS FORBIDDEN.

WHAT IS RELIGION?

RELIGION IS ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FORMS OF HUMAN CULTURE.

WHY DO PEOPLE BELIEVE IN GOD?

Why do people believe in God?

REPEAT

Today in class I...

LEARNED-

IT WAS INTERESTING-

IT WAS DIFFICULT-

MOST LIKE-

harmonious,

comfortable.

calm

*2.TRY TO ANSWER THE QUESTION IN WRITTEN OR ORAL ON PAGE 81. OPINIONS: WHICH POINT OF VIEW DO YOU SUPPORT?

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

FEATURES OF RELIGIOUS FAITH

The main sign of religious consciousness is belief in the supernatural. The supernatural, according to religious doctrine, is something that does not obey the laws of the material world around us, lying "on the other side" of sensually perceived objects.

The dualism of the natural and the supernatural, the sharp opposition of the latter to real, sensually perceived objects, is characteristic mainly of "theistic" religions, that is, religions based on the worship of gods or a god. The early forms of religion, which include magic, fetishism, 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 becomes more and more isolated from the natural, it is already thought of as a special spiritual entity that not only opposes material nature as a higher form of being, but also controls it. So are all the animistic and theistic religions.

From the standpoint of a materialistic worldview, ideas and images of the supernatural are a fantastic reflection in the minds of people of those real forces that dominate them in their daily lives. In other words, supernatural forces and entities do not objectively exist by themselves, they are illusory objects created by the human imagination. However, for a religious person, these illusory objects are real, for he believes in their existence.

The specificity of the object of religious faith, as something supernatural, located "on the other side" of 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 knowledge 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 "transcendent", insofar as 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 an exceptional, unlike all existing appearance of supernatural forces or beings. This faith of his is fed by the official dogmas of the church. So, from the point of view of the Orthodox Church, "God is an unknown, inaccessible, incomprehensible, ineffable mystery ... Any attempt to present this mystery in ordinary human terms, to measure the immeasurable abyss of the deity is hopeless."

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

The Irish psychologist O. Doherty believes that if religious faith were based on obvious and irrefutable arguments, if it were accessible to scientific verification, then it would be superfluous. He contrasts the "truths" of faith with the truths of knowledge, emphasizing that they are "in principle" inaccessible to verification, i.e. verification.

Proceeding from this epistemological characteristic of religious faith, one can single out the features of its relationship with knowledge.

If non-religious faith differs from knowledge, but does not oppose it as something fundamentally incompatible, then religious faith, by its very nature, is always incompatible with knowledge. In fact, theologians also admit this, stating that the divine essence can be comprehended only with the help of faith, and not knowledge. In Christian theology, both Orthodox and Catholic, rational arguments proving the existence of God have never been considered the main way of approaching him. “No, even the most unmistakable, proof of the truth can replace a living experience, the intuition of faith,” Orthodox theologians write. “Faith does not prove itself, but shows itself.” And further: “Faith in itself is a psychological act, not a formula... Christian faith is primarily an experience. The argumentation of faith is something external on which faith itself does not depend.

One of the Orthodox hierarchs pointed out in his time that if any dogma of the dogma seems too clear to a Christian, then this means that it is “substituted” and “is not taken in all its divine depth.”

The judgments of some contemporary idealist philosophers are also characteristic. Thus, the West German philosopher G. Henneman openly admits that religious faith cannot be justified logically, because it is not an intellectual act for which logic is obligatory. Any reflection, any rational reflection and doubt are contraindicated for religious faith, because because of them it loses "its immediacy and healthy naivety." Ultimately, Henneman concludes that only "faith itself is the only proof of its truth", that "only the believer knows what his faith is"

From all this, we can conclude that in religious faith, the human mind plays a third-rate, subordinate role. The Church accepts it only as a means to formulate a dogma (because a dogma cannot be formulated outside of rational forms - concepts and judgments). The thesis already mentioned above: "I believe because it is absurd" - is not accidental for religious consciousness, but expresses some of its general and characteristic features.

These features are also manifested at the level of everyday consciousness of ordinary believers. Soviet researcher A.I. Klibanov cites the statement of one of the Baptists: “If it were written in the Bible that Jonah swallowed a whale, then I would not allow doubts, since nothing is impossible for the Lord. And if something is incomprehensible, then I do not blame either God or the Bible, but I say that I am imperfect and my knowledge is imperfect ... When studying the Holy Scriptures, childish faith is necessary - trust in everything that the Lord said in his word.

These features of the interpretation of the supernatural object of faith and faith itself explain to a certain extent the fact that religious beliefs and scientific ideas can be combined in the minds of religious people for a long time. It often seems strange how ideas and representations that contradict each other in terms of content can “coexist” in the minds of one and the same person. In order 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, subject to practical and theoretical verification.

American psychologists D. Snow and R. Mahalek, in their article on the problem of the stability of non-traditional cults in the United States, try to isolate some of the features of these beliefs, which, in their opinion, provide a weak “sensitivity” of their adherents to facts that refute their faith. Two features of non-traditional beliefs play a significant role in this: firstly, the lack of theoretical consistency of individual provisions and dogmas, which makes them less vulnerable logically, and, secondly, their weak correlation with empirical data. It seems that these features apply not only to non-traditional, but to one degree or another - to all religious beliefs in general.

In the foreign psychology of religion, the fact of the stability of religious faith has long been recorded and actively discussed. The point is that the beliefs of many religious people are able to persist even if life practice provides information that contradicts their beliefs. Analyzing this problem, most social psychologists in the West rely on the theory of "cognitive dissonance" developed by the American psychologist L. Festinger. From the point of view of Festinger's concept, the existence in the human mind of two or more ideas, images or ideas that do not correspond to each other, come into conflict with each other, leads to psychological discomfort. A person who has “cognitive dissonance” seeks to reduce or overcome it in one way or another. Ways to overcome dissonance can be very different: from changing behavior in accordance with new information to ignoring it and psychologically "protecting" from it in a variety of ways.

Analyzing the phenomenon of "cognitive dissonance", Festinger paid attention to the problem of the stability of religious faith. In his opinion, which is shared by many American religious psychologists, religious beliefs have a significant ability to resist information that contradicts them. In one of the works written by him together with his collaborators, Festinger explains the stability of religious beliefs by three main factors: firstly, by the significance of these beliefs in the life of the individual and in the system of its value orientations; secondly, by the circumstance that believers have repeatedly demonstrated publicly their adherence to certain religious beliefs, and therefore the rejection of them would mean, from their point of view, undermining their social prestige; thirdly, social pressure on each believer by members of the religious group to which he belongs.

The stability of religious beliefs, they believe, and their ability to persist, despite the obvious facts that contradict them, is based on certain psychological characteristics of religious people. Members of a number of religious sects and cults, they believe, have a consciousness of their “chosenness” to salvation, which strengthens their feelings of superiority over other people and serves as a barrier to accepting any information that contradicts their beliefs. The social support of their views on the part of members of the religious community to which they belong also plays an important role in the preservation and strengthening of faith. Many religious communities and cults achieve, through constant ideological and psychological "processing" of their adherents, the complete loss of any spiritual independence, blind obedience to the leader of this sect.

Along with some epistemological features of the object of religious faith, which give rise to the theologians' thesis about the unverifiability of the latter, a significant role in its preservation, especially in closed religious communities, is played by the above socio-psychological factors.

What mental processes play a dominant role in religious faith? First of all, imagination. Deep religious faith implies the existence in the mind of a person of ideas about supernatural beings (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 representations are illusory, they do not correspond to real objects. But they do not appear in a vacuum. The ground for their formation in individual consciousness is, firstly, religious myths, which tells about the "actions" of gods or other supernatural beings, and, secondly, cult art images (for example, icons and frescoes), in which supernatural images are embodied in a sensuous way.

On the basis of this religious and artistic material, religious ideas of believers are formed. Thus, the individual imagination of an individual believer is based on those images and ideas that are promoted by a particular religious organization. That is why the religious ideas of a Christian will differ from those of a Muslim or a Buddhist. For the church, the uncontrolled activity of the imagination is dangerous, because it can lead the believer away from the orthodox dogma. This explains the fact that, for example, the Catholic Church in Western Europe has always treated representatives of Christian mysticism with a certain distrust and apprehension, seeing in them, often not without reason, potential heretics.

Noting the commonality of religious ideas among believers of the same confession, it should be taken into account at the same time that religious ideas and images for each subject of faith are largely individualized. It is those traits that best meet the spiritual needs and character traits of a given individual that can come to the fore in them. A. M. Gorky in the story “Childhood”, recalling the attitude of grandmother and grandfather to God, wrote that in the mouth of the grandmother, God appeared as a good being, equally close to both people and animals. “And my grandfather’s god,” he continues, “caused fear and hostility in me: he did not love anyone, followed everything with a strict eye, he, first of all, looked for and saw in a person bad, evil, sinful.” The individualization of religious ideas is inevitable to some extent, since each person projects his desires, needs and value orientations into the sphere of religion. The relation of the subject of religious faith to the object of faith can exist only as an emotional relation. If religious images and ideas do not evoke intense feelings and experiences in the mind of the individual, then this is a sure sign of the fading of faith. The specifics of religious feelings will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter. Now we will only note that the emotional attitude to the subject of religious faith stems from the fact that such faith implies not only the reality of supernatural forces or beings, but also the fact that they can affect the life and fate of the believer himself and his loved ones, both in reality and in reality. 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 a given person, influence his fate during his lifetime and especially after death. Naturally, such a belief cannot but evoke deep feelings and emotions in him. The believer enters into a special relationship with the illusory object of his faith, which can be called illusory-practical. They are illusory in the sense that the object of faith itself does not really exist. However, they have an impact on the believer's behavior and are realized practically in cult actions, which he considers as a means to influence the supernatural, to appease him, to obtain forgiveness and salvation from him, etc.

In the light of such illusory-practical attitudes of believers to the supernatural, the role played by volitional processes in the system of religious belief becomes clearer. Religious faith is not only an emotional, but also a strong-willed attitude towards the supernatural. Deep faith involves the concentration of the entire mental life of a person on religious images, ideas, feelings and experiences, which can be achieved only with the help of significant volitional efforts. The will of the believer is aimed at strictly observing all the prescriptions of the church or other religious organization and thereby ensuring “salvation” for himself. It is no coincidence that exercises that trained the will were obligatory for many newly converted monks and nuns. Only constant training of the will, its focus on religious ideas and norms, can suppress the natural human needs and desires that hindered monastic asceticism. Only strong-willed efforts can turn a convert away from non-religious interests, teach him to control his thoughts and actions, preventing any "temptation", especially the "temptation" of unbelief.

With the help of volitional efforts, the behavior of a religious person is regulated. The deeper and more intense the religious faith, the greater the impact of the religious orientation of the will on all the behavior of a given subject, and in particular on his cult behavior, on his observance of cult norms and prescriptions.

Of course, imagination, feelings, and will play an important role in non-religious faith, so that the operation of these mental processes in the system of religious faith does not in itself reveal its specificity. If we are talking about the degree of participation of certain mental processes in religious faith, then, as already noted, in it 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.). . P.). As for other mental processes, the specificity of religious faith lies in the direction of these processes, their subject matter. 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 surrounding world. Communication with them occupies an important place in the life of such people. Replacing real communication with people, it creates the illusion of mutual closeness, causes intense feelings, and leads to emotional release. For a believer, God is an interlocutor, a comforter, to whom one can turn at any moment of life, he is always available, always listens and consoles. These psychological characteristics of the religious are particularly important. A lack of communication with people, a lack of attention and sympathy for his needs and requirements often pushes a person to illusory communication with God. And if we want to help a person in grief, then it is very important not to forget about the most important spiritual needs of people, including the need for communication.

Literature

1. Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, 1999, No. 1, p. 48.

2. Ugrinovich D. M. Psychology of religion.- M.: Politizdat, 1986.- 352 p.

3. Religious knowledge: Pdruchnik. For red. M. M. Zakovich. - K .: Vishcha school, 2000. - 350 p.

4. Religious Studies: Edited by Professor Lobazov P.K. - X .: Odyssey LLC, 2005.- 480 p.

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Faith plays an important role in any religion. Faith, as a special emotional and psychological state of a person and at the same time his attitude to certain phenomena of the surrounding world, is inherent in all people. This is a natural property of human consciousness: every person believes in something, although not all people believe in the same thing.

Every faith has its subject. A person does not just believe, but believes in something. This “something” cannot act as an object of faith in the form of objective reality independent of consciousness.

Faith arises in a person only when he is personally interested in the object of faith, when this object evokes an emotional and evaluative reaction in a person.

The object of religious faith is the supernatural. The supernatural, according to believers, does not obey the laws of the surrounding world, is on the other side and violates their natural course. The religious person believes in the exceptional nature of supernatural beings or forces, and in particular does not apply to them the usual criteria of empirical certainty.

For representatives of the theological and theological thought of monotheistic religions, religion is faith in the one God. The belief in spirits, gods, devils and other otherworldly forces, widespread in the early forms of religion, in their opinion, is only a preparatory stage for true faith in God. It contains this faith in God, in the supernatural, in potency, in generation.

The study of early forms of religion by ethnographers, as well as close acquaintance with such modern religions as Hinduism, Buddhism, showed that they lack a clear division of the world into the natural and the supernatural. The idea of ​​the existence of the supernatural is the result of a long development of human culture. In order to develop ideas about the supernatural, one must have an idea about the natural, and this implies the ability to think positively and scientifically.

The German religious scholar R. Otto (1869-19737) "suggested, when defining the "minimum" of religion, to replace the concepts of "supernatural" with the concept of "sacred", "numinous". Religion, according to R. Otto, is the experience of the sacred. The experience of the sacred is given to man from the very beginning. It It is realized in two main directions: On the one hand, since a person perceives the sacred as something fundamentally opposite to him, it causes him fear, awe, horror.On the other hand, a person treats the sacred as something close, related, it causes admiration. (We have already met the recognition of the sacred as a special characteristic of religion among other religious scholars: E. Durkheim, M. Weber, etc.)

"Religion is the belief in a Being or beings that are not perceived by the usual empirical methods."

From the point of view of an Orthodox theologian (with which W. James, the founder of the psychology of religion, also agrees), religious feelings, from the point of view of their psychophysiological manifestations, are ordinary human feelings of love, fear, joy, hope, etc. The peculiarity of these feelings is given by their special focus on the object of their faith. “Religious love is only a feeling of love common to all people, directed towards a religious object. Religious fear is the usual trembling of the human heart, but associated with the idea of ​​divine punishment. The religious feeling of the sublime is the same shudder that we experience at night in a forest or in a mountain gorge, only in this case it is generated by the thought of the presence of the supernatural. In exactly the same way one can consider all the various feelings as they are experienced by religious people.

The problem of the priority of the rational or emotional aspects of religious consciousness receives a new facet when considering the issue of the interaction of different levels of religious consciousness. The fact is that in developed religious systems, religious scholars single out at least two clearly defined levels: ordinary religious consciousness and theoretically formalized, conceptual (conceptual) religious consciousness. At the ordinary level, religious consciousness exists in the form of images, ideas, attitudes, moods, feelings, experiences, habits, and traditions. At this level, there are rational, emotional and volitional elements of religious faith, but the dominant role belongs to the emotional-volitional element. The content of consciousness is dressed in visual-figurative forms. By the nature of its formation, it is largely individual-personal in nature. Therefore, this level is often called religious psychology.

Religious consciousness at the conceptual level exists in the form of a systematized and codified dogma. The content of the dogma is formulated in doctrinal books (the Bible, the Koran, etc.), approved by religious organizations in the form of unchanging, canonized formulas (dogmas), the recognition of which, in their once and for all established form, is an indispensable condition for orthodoxy. The content of the dogma is developed and substantiated in a special branch of religious knowledge - theology or theology, which is a whole set of theoretical and practical disciplines: apologetics, dogmatics, pastoral theology, etc.

The main task of theology is the formation of orthodox religious ideas, the interpretation of the main provisions of the dogma in the form dictated by the interests of the church in accordance with the requirements of the time, the fight against heretical deviations. In other words, theology is a tool for developing, protecting and propagating a dogma, which is used by religious organizations, the church. This idea was repeatedly emphasized in the documents of religious organizations. It was clearly formulated in the encyclical "Redeemer of Mankind" by the current head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II. (I. p. 14, 24). Therefore, no one can develop theology as a collection of his own views, everyone must realize that he is in a special connection with the mission of spreading the truth for which the church is responsible. On the basis of all these principles, this level of religious consciousness is called religious ideology.

Representatives of theological and theological thought (especially Catholic and Orthodox) insist on the indisputable priority of the dogmatic and doctrinal aspect of religious consciousness. Achieving the main goal of religious faith - "union with God", "salvation of the soul", is possible, in their opinion, only on the basis of the adoption of the dogma in the form as formulated by the church. Deviation from strict adherence to this dogma is heresy, apostasy and is subject to condemnation and punishment.

Supporters of scientific religious studies point to the secondary nature of doctrinal formulas and documents. In their opinion, these doctrinal formulas and documents are the result of processing, systematization and codification of primary religious experience, those ideas, feelings and experiences that believers develop in the course of their life. At the same time, the fact is noted that a systematized dogma, developed by ideologists and approved by the church, in turn, has a strong influence on the nature of everyday religious consciousness, forms it in the direction set by religious organizations. Thus, in the developed forms of religion, we can talk not about the priority of any of the levels of religious consciousness, but about their interaction and mutual influence on each other.