ecclesiology

Vladimir Yur’evich Lebedev, Doctor in philosophy, professor, the Tver’ State University (ulitsa Ghjelyabova, 33, Tver’, Russia, 170023)
semion.religare@yandex.ru

Lebedev V. Yu. On the problem of cultural religiosity as phenomen of contemporary Russian religious culture, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 22–34.

DOI: 10.24411/2308-0698-2012-00012

Language: Russian

Culture and religion are correlated in theory and in socio-religious practices. As referred to Christian history, the reality of the 4^th century and that of S. Kierkegaard’s time are similar. The philosopher opposed the so-called Dutch «synthesis of religion and culture.» In this article the author defines the phenomenon of cultural religiosity and stresses secondary role of religion in the pattern. There are different cultural religiosity types in Russian society – indifferent, archaizing, modernistic, eclectic, selective, and inverting. The article explores how cultural religiosity is included into the processes of differentiation and institutionalization. One’s attitude to a theological tradition can be characteristic to the phenomenon concerned. The author examines some kinds of parareligious creative work and folklore of the groups of people prone to cultural religiosity.

Cultural religiosity is specific to many mainstream confessions and less connected with any marginal groups on account of their noncultural preferences as a matter of principle and reluctance to suppress spreading as it happens among «ethnic Christians.»

Cultural religiosity bearers frequently take religion easy. They are guided by momentary situations and follow religious principles solely in cases out of danger for their prestige and

wellbeing. They speak eclectic language («social newspeak») and have quite naturalistic eschatological expectations still paradoxically admitting peculiar views on existence of a transcendental being, up to atheism.

The article pays attention to the reasons of appearance of such strata as «mass/popular Christianity» within the religious community, which is different from mainstream one. Some aspects of struggle for being called a church are considered, as well as problems of ecclesiological reductionism and threats to lose the church’s authenticity.

Keywords: cultural religiosity, S. Kierkegaard, subculture, marginality, syncretism, ecclesiology, semantics

Permanent link: http://rcs-almanac.ru/lebedev-v-yu-2012-en/

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Juha Pihkala Doctor in theology, docent of dogmatics, University of Helsinki (Universitetsgatan, 4, Helsingfors, Finland, 00100), juha.pihkala@jpihkal.pp.fi

Pihkala J. People of God: historical and theological perspectives, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2016, vol. 5, pp. 18–33.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2016-00002

Language: English

The article discusses the term «People of God» and its theological interpretations. The question is important for theology of religion in the Jewish-Christian context, because this picture is both joining and separating these religions. «People of God» is one of the central terms portraying the Jewish faith-community, but also the Christianity has espoused it, believing to be its successor.
The early Christianity felt, that Christ fulfilled the messianic promises of the Old Testament: in him the People of God got its new King from stock of David. The Jewish community didn’t accept this interpretation. Therefore, the raising Christianity had to detach from them, but not from the Old Testament and the idea of the continuity of the People of God. Paul, for instance, emphasizes, that all the promises given to Jewish people in the Old Testament are still valid. Nonetheless, some other interpretations occurred, which contended quite the opposite: when the Church was born, the Jewish people became derivative. Many conflicts in history had been undoubtly promoted by these interpretations.
The author stresses, that it is not possible to give reasons for such kind of «replacement theology». Even though Christians and Jews now are separated, the one has not substituted the other. There is only one People of God, but it went on two distinct roads. In this context this article also discusses the status of so called Messianic Jews.

Key words: Сhurch, ecclesiology, images of Church, replacement theology, theology, holocaust, continuity

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/pihkala-j-2016-en/