Late Antiquity

Аpologia of marginal religiosity in the discourse of modern Russian atheism

Aleksej Vyacheslavovich Kamaldinov Postgraduate student, Department of History of Religion and Theology, The Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia (naberezhnaya reki Moiki, 48/20a, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 191186)
aleksej.kamaldinov.93@mail.ru

Kamaldinov A. V. Аpologia of marginal religiosity in the discourse of modern Russian atheism, 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, 2022, vol. 11, pp. 32–45.

doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2022-11-32-45

Language: Russian

Modern domestic atheism, following more successful atheist movements abroad, is active on the Internet establishing its own agenda and broadcasting its worldview. Following, apparently, the installation that it is more important to speak louder than to think about the essence of what was said, domestic Internet atheists distribute content filled with internal contradictions and ideas that are far beyond the strict scientific rational discourse, in which atheism has long been famous for its involvement. In particular, some of the statements of such atheists intersect with the worldviews of Satanists, neo-pagans, representatives of Orientalist religions and new religious movements, occultists and various outcasts. In this article, the author analyzes the activities of such communities that declare themselves as atheistic and free-thinking communities in the social network VKontakte, such as Atheist, Iter Ad Ortus, Ateo. The author doesn’t question the fact that atheism can be an integral and interesting worldview, however, this study partly demonstrates that in the widespread mainstream, modern domestic atheism is an extremely inconsistent and irrational phenomenon. Atheism in this vein is revealed as an aggressive, tribalistic doctrine that has little in common with scientific.

Key words: Donatists, Late Antiquity, Roman Empire, North Africa

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/en/en-kamaldinov-2022/

Internal conflicts of Donatists’ and their suppression: political and ecclesiastical factor

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Andrei Leonidovich Mamontov PhD in History, teacher of History, SBEI gymnasium No. 49 of Primorsky District of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg, Bogatirsky pr., 55/3, 197372)
andrey-2006@mail.ru

Mamontov A. L. Internal conflicts of Donatists’ and their suppression: political and ecclesiastical factor, 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, 2022, vol. 11, pp. 160–173.

doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2022-11-160-173

Language: Russian

The paper deals with the issue of involvement of Roman authorities in the Donatist’s internal struggle between mostly accepted leaders and their opponents. Some of those established their own communities (Rogatists, Claudianists), others sought to depose their rivals and gain control over the ecclesiastical life of North Africa, and at least one, Tychonius, the outstanding African theologian, did not found any community. As demonstrated in the paper, the secular power was used in two conflicts of four. Moreover, once it implemented a conciliar decision against Maximianists. Thus the Donatist leaders employed the same scheme which in the age of Constantine was invented and put into practice to force Donatus of Carthage and his supporters into the unity with the Catholic Church.

Key words: Donatists, Late Antiquity, Roman Empire, North Africa

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/en/en-mamontov-2023/

The problem of semiotic status of the belt in clothes of bishop Caesarius of Arles

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Darya Michaylovna Omelchenko PhD in History, researcher, Laboratory for Comprehensive Research of Manuscript Monuments St. Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences (Petrozavodskaya St., bld. 7, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 197110)
dorothy_om@mail.ru

Omelchenko D. M. The problem of semiotic status of the belt in clothes of bishop Caesarius of Arles, 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, 2022, vol. 10, pp. 134–157.

doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2022-10-134-157

Language: Russian

The article deals with the problems of pragmatism and the symbolic meaning of the belt, which is kept in the Departmental museum of ancient Arles. It is believed to have belonged to bishop Caesarius of Arles (502/503–542). The type of embroidered chrysmon and the iconography of the Resurrection of Christ (Anastasis) on the ivory buckle allow us confidently speaking about its origin from South Gaul. What role did the expensive belt play in the bishop’s clothing?It is not easy to answer this question as there is little information about it in the narrative and visual sources of Late Antiquity. From visual sources it follows that the belt had no liturgical status. There is no doubt that the clerics girded in their daily lives. This is indicated by the obvious practicality of such an action, as well as its biblical connotations. However, this leather belt with expensive ivory buckle does not seem to be suitable for everyday life. In the wardrobe of an ascetic bishop, this thing is altogether strange. Some space for interpretation is opened by the initial ambivalence of the belt in traditional culture, its belonging both to things and to signs. Based on the idea of the semiotic status of a thing, proposed by the anthropologist A. K. Bajburin, the author makes an assumption about possible extra-liturgical contexts for its use. These could be: audiences, performance of vicar’s duties, the bishop’s annual trips to the diocese

Key words: Caesarius of Arles, semiotic status of a thing, clothing, belt, ivory, chrismon, iconography of the Resurrection, Late Antiquity

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/en/omelchenko-2022-en/

Donatists and African revolts of the 2nd half of the 6th century

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Andrei Leonidovich Mamontov PhD-student, teacher of History, gymnasium No 49 of Primorsky district of St. Petersburg (Bogatirsky avenue, 55/3, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, 197372)
andrey-2006@mail.ru

Mamontov A. L. Donatists and African revolts of the 2nd half of the 6th century, 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, 2022, vol. 10, pp. 222–237.

doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2022-10-222-237

Language: Russian

Was the Early Christian church involved in political rivalries of the Later Roman Empire? The answer is positive, and this involvement of Christians is an interesting aspect of the vast issue of Church-State relations. Two early examples are provided by the history of the Donatist schism in North Africa. According to our sources, Donatists supported (and were supported by) two regional rebels of the last third of the 6th century: Firmus and Gildo. Under the later their influence was especially great: his administration turned a blind eye on their violent actions, headed by bishop Optatus of Thamugadi and aimed at their opponents. Those cases are usually treated among the researchers as a mark of a specific tendence, which is formation of a natural rebel alliance of mutinous generals and schismatic priests. The following paper provides another interpretation of that natural alliance, understood as a coalition of provincial elites with the dominant religious institution of the region.

Key words: Donatists, Firmus, Gildo, Optate, Augustine, Late Antiquity, Roman Empire, North Africa

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/en/mamontov-2022-en/