Axiological basis of interaction between church law and culture: A theoretical approach

Abstract

The article examines the axiological foundation of interaction between church law and culture, highlight problems concerning the criteria of correlation between church law and culture, a large number of approaches to definition of these terms, comparison methodology. Possible variants of the relationship between church law and culture are identified, such as: the opposition of church law and culture; church law as part of culture; church law includes culture as a social context of churchlegal issues; church law and culture are considered together. The problem of the correlation of ecclesiastical and canonical law is outlined, which will help to avoid terminological confusion and highlight the essential characteristics of ecclesiastical law. Operational definitions of “culture” and “church law” concepts are given. Using a legal approach, it is established that the relationship between church law and culture is realized through the category of legal regulation. A theoretical approach to the study of interaction between church law and culture through the prism of cultural heritage of the church is proposed, while the term “cultural heritage of the church” is interpreted and typologized by the author, in particular, it is proposed to distinguish material and spiritual cultural values of the church. The formation of the cultural values of the church has its own evolution, the subject of church law includes issues of preservation and use of the cultural values of the church (the cultural heritage of the Russian Orthodox Church). With the help of the norms of church law, the mechanism for solving issues of preserving and using the cultural values of the church is outlined.