Hybridization of Religious Institutions as Indicator of Spiritual and Moral Crisis

Abstract

In this paper, the phenomenon of social crisis is studied within the framework of the institutional approach supplemented with the theory of institutional matrices (IM). It is shown that the crisis of the social system constitutes an irreparable disbalance in the institutional matrix, which leads to its inability to develop along the established trajectory. The existence of a historically invariant indicator of the crisis of the sociocultural subsystem has been established - the hybridization of religious institutions. This phenomenon is discussed in detail using the example of crises during the Middle Ages in Byzantium and Western Europe. Christianity, when in crisis, is determined to face, independently of the matrix type, hybridization with pre-Christian practices and elements of the religions of the societies in contact (in particular, Islam). The purpose of such hybridization, initiated either from the above (by the authorities) or from the below (by the grass roots), is in strengthening the dominant (determining the social identity of society) or the complementary (performing the compensatory function) institutions in the institutional matrix. It is shown that upon strengthening the dominant institutions in the institutional matrix with the aim of overcoming the crisis the complementary institutions cannot be totally eradicated. Besides, the formed institutional hybrid is more sustainable and its formation helps to solve the crisis in the long run only when the process of hybridization takes into account the geographical factors of the environment in which society lives. The hybridization, studied in this paper, indicates that religions in their development interpenetrated each other much more than is commonly recognized, and the experience of such hybridization is the most solid foundation for fruitful interfaith dialogue.