Релігійні аспекти етатизму в контексті візантійської традиції

Abstract

The article analyzes the cultural and civilizational influence of the Byzantine Empire on the formation of Orthodoxy. It was established that Byzantium has a close connection between religion and politics, which was reflected in the concepts of a symphony of powers, conciliarism and statism. The latter conditions the formation of close ties between the government and the church and the identification of Orthodoxy with one empire and people. It is proved that the ideology of statism is aimed at creating an Orthodox state with an Orthodox monarchy as the only model of state and religion coexistence. Statism is based on the belief in the truth of the teachings of a certain church, when the effort to give it universal significance brings closer the imaginary prospect of a political union of Orthodox peoples under the leadership of an Orthodox king. In the national dimension, statism led to the appearance of Byzantine and Russian forms of its existence. For the first form, the revival of the ancient heritage of Roman Caesarism and the dominance of one religion became a characteristic feature. Instead, the hegemony of religion in all spheres of social life and the God-chosenness of the Slavic world in the construction of a Christian state became fundamental for the Russians. It was established that the followers of the ideology of Russian Byzantism identified its defects that needed correction: the absence of a specific Christian ideal that meets the needs of society; lack of desire for self-development; passive policy of the state towards the religious and social life of people; the absence of Russian kings who would correspond to the ideals of a Christian king; dependence of the church on the state. It is proved that the radicalism of the statist ideology was expressed in the justification of the idea of the revival of the Christian state in the form of the Orthodox monarchy, thus justifying external expansion and turning religion into a tool for achieving political goals.
 Key words: Byzantism, statism, cathedralism, Orthodoxy, religion, ideology, symphony of powers