Religious Trends Research Articles

Reasons for the emergence of new religious movements in the republics of the North Caucasus Federal district of the Russian Federation

The North Caucasus Federal District is one of the most difficult regions of Russia, which is due to multi-ethnicity, multi-confessionals in the first place, as well as a number of acute problems typical of the region, such as economic destabilization, open transnational issues around repeatedly changing borders, and the problem of repressed peoples. Such a circle of acute questions cannot but create a conflict-generating situation in the region. This article partially discloses the problem of religion and its significance in the region. The author reveals the history of the emergence of the strengthening of traditional religions and branches of new religious trends from them. The article used the materials of a mass survey of the population of the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District of the Russian Federation: in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, the Chechen Republic, the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, the Republic of Ingushetia, the Republic of Dagestan, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, conducted in the summer of 2016, North – The Ossetian Department of Social Research of the Institute of Social and Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Department of Sociology of North Ossetian State University named after K.L. Khetagurova. In total, 1200 respondents took part in the survey, including 50 experts (journalists, scientists, officials, members of political parties, cultural workers, representatives of various faiths, lawyers). The opinion of the population of the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District and the expert community on the reasons for the spread of NRT is given. It is concluded that the basis of such movements is young people who seek their spiritual ideal, and sometimes simply social justice, which they today can’t find either within the walls of traditional religious institutions or in high society.

Certain Questions of the Criminological Concept of the Definition of «Victim of a Crime»

The article gives an analysis of the views of works of the Ukrainian and foreign scientists in the field of some victimological theories, in particular — definition «victim of a crime». Attention applies on the special value of provocative behavior of the victim in a case of commission of some crimes. Attention is drawn to the fact that provocative behavior is not only important for conducting a criminological analysis of a crime victim, but for qualification of some crimes too (for example — articles no. 118 and no. 124 of the criminal code of Ukraine). To achieve the objectives of the article, studies of criminologists were analyzed. Researches of scientists, who considered the problem of defining a «victim of crime» in terms of psychology, sociology, etc. were also analyzed. It has been concluded that criminological victimology (as an integral part of criminology) is a relatively new science. This situation is explained by the lack of interest of researchers in concepts of «victim mentality», «victimisation», «victim of a crime» till to the late 1940s 20th century. The conclusion was made about regularities between humanistic trends in the world and formation of the concept of "victim of crime" in the middle of the twentieth century. The conclusions are based on the study of the importance of victimological teaching in modern criminology science. Most of them are used by modern criminology scientists’ definitions of «victim of a crime». Attention is drawn to the ambiguity of understanding definition «victim of a crime». This is because some scientists suggest identifying «victim of a crime» with a «person, who suffered from the crime». In our opinion, his understanding is wrong. Also it is specified, that «victim of a crime» can be used in a narrow sense (as the person who is directly caused moral, physical or property damage) and in a broad sense (representative of a certain nation, race, religious trend, social group, concerning which a crime directly was not committed, but who cannot feel safe because of spread of these crimes). Keywords: victim mentality, victimisation, victim of a crime, victimological theories.

Mayilasalak Kalampakam: The Editorial Methods

Edition history is an aid to understanding how literary creation occurred during a particular period. It also includes various Editions of a book, religious and sociological trends. Contemporary forms of devotional literature have now emerged. The bibliographical editions published by monasteries and research institutions need to be looked at as to how their source is followed. Through this it is possible to find out how the editions have transcended the scholarly community and what kind of flexibility the editions environment has embedded within it. This article is intended to illustrate this with various editions of the book on the Mayilasala Kalampakam that wrote by Vannacharabham Dhandapani Swamikal.

تحریک قیام پاکستان :سیدابوالاعلیٰ مودودی ؒ اور مولانا اشرف علی تھانوی ؒ کی فکری مماثلت

Syed Abul Ala Moudoodi and Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi were the genii of their time. They influenced political and religious trends of their time. They observed the period of Pakistan movement and struggle for freedom. Though Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi had passed away in 1943 whereas Syed Moudoodi died later in 1979. They belong to a different school of thought but they were coincident in their views about Pakistan movement.
 Syed Moudoodi having different political theology had a distinct political agenda. Because Syed Moudoodi was abandoned from Mysticism intentionally and started his political movement on his intellectual and theological thinking. On the other side Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi owing Mystic ideology; abandon from livelihood; though having deep insight in political affairs. This is very authentic that both having the same intellectual ideology; were against Congress and consider her like a poisonous killer. They had envisioned and desire to optimise the weaknesses of the Muslim League.

THE MAIN ASPECTS OF CO-EXISTENCE OF CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM IN THE CONTEXT OF ANCIENT RUSSIAN SPIRITUAL CULTURE AND CULT PRACTICE

This article is devoted to the spiritual culture analysis. More specifically, it examines the mutual influence of Orthodox and pagan principles of the middle ages and subsequently modified into folk religious traditions. Research material is a multi-level system of the ancient Russian religious worldview which is reflected as in liturgical practice and polemic literature of Russian Orthodoxy as in peace and cult activities of the people who have preserved the principles of a pagan worldview. Initially, emphasis was placed on interpretation of the concept of “dual faith” as a simple linear connection of elements of Orthodox and pagan worldview into something one (E.E. Golubinsky, N.I. Barsov, A.P. Shchapov, M. Azbukin, G.A. Nosova, A.N. Ipatov, A.E. Musinetc.). Then “dual faith” is considered as synthesis of Orthodox and pagan views on the structure of the Universe (E.V. Anitchkov, N.M. Galskovsky etc.). It was found that the spiritual situation of Ancient Russia after the adoption of Christianity reflected the fact of the meeting of two religious trends: affirmation of faith in one God (Orthodoxy) and manifestation of religious syncretism (polytheism of Slavic paganism). The spiritual situation of Ancient Russian culture led to the emergence and cultivation of ideological struggle that does not deny elements of ideological symbiosis, Orthodox teaching and pagan beliefs. The main message of the controversy is reduction of paganism to demonology and treating it as a deification of the world (deification of nature and man created by God).The struggle (interaction) of the Orthodox and pagan principles in Russian spiritual culture of the middle ages is reduced to stating the following development vectors: the official canonical direction (government acts, the Kormchaya Kniga – religious code, etc.) and polemic direction requiring philosophical reflection and mastery of oratory (messages, teachings church sermon, etc.). “Interaction” of Orthodoxy and paganism involves processes of crowding out and replacing folk and Christian beliefs. Such processes create new spaces for spiritual creativity. This is the birth of Russian spiritual culture.

Bon-Kan dōmei shakugi. Un court texte du « shintō médiéval »

This article presents a translation of a short medieval Shinto text titled Bon-Kan Dōmei Shakugi or “Exegesis of an Identical Term in Sanskrit and Chinese.” The “identical term” in question is vajra, one of the most important objects both at the symbolic and ritual level in esoteric Buddhism. The author first tries to clarify the meaning of the somewhat ambiguous expression of the title “identical term in Sanskrit and Chinese.” A fully annotated translation follows, with the original text itself. Then the author situates the work in the historical development of texts of what is usually called “medieval Shinto.” This is a kind of derived text from the seventh chapter of the Reikiki, Shin no Mi-hashira Reikiki (Reikiki of the August Central Pillar), which can be dated to around the beginning of the fourteenth century. The vajra is associated with the Central Pillar of Ise Shrine dedicated to the supreme deity of Shinto, Amaterasu Ōmikami, or Tenshō Daijin. An analysis of this chapter of the Reikiki shows that it is closely related with a passage of another, earlier, text of the same religious trend, the Yamato Katsuragi Hōzan-ki (Book of the Treasure Mountain of Katsuragi in Yamato), and both of them are a medieval reinterpretation of the crucial episode of the classical mythology, that of the descent of the Divine Grandson on the earth and the conferment of the Three Imperial Regalia to him by Amaterasu. The Bon-Kan Dōmei Shakugi was a supplementary exegesis and ritual explanation of the Shin no Mi-hashira Reikiki. The symbolism of the main focus of the text, the vajra, is extensively explored, as well as that of the principal character of the Shin no Mi-hashira Reikiki, who has the strange name of “King Brahmā, Sovereign, Flying in the Air.” Thus, the religious context of this set of texts is explained as much as possible.

Methodological aspects of studying sufism

This scientific article deals with the methodological aspects of Sufism as a religious and philosophical trend in the history of the spiritual life of peoples, professing the Islamic religion. Various points of view are given on the study of this phenomenon, which played a role in the socio-cultural life of the peoples of the East. Burning socio-political problems of the Muslim East, the development of new stereotypes of thinking and politics regarding issues of religious-national relations, interethnic relations, cultural exchanges between nations. Here, a subjective view, an approach with a pre-selected scheme should be excluded. Therefore, exploring Sufism, revealing its positive and negative sides, at the same time we must not forget about the value that is contained in it and which is necessary for the advancement of humanity along the humanistic channel in the future. The present work contains biographies and teachings of Sufi sheikhs, among which the main place is given to the biographies of sheikhs “Khojagon-Nakshbandiya”. The author gives the names of 94 sheikhs, their biographies and characteristics, brings the force (or shajara) to Khoja Akhror and further. Thus, the Pakistani scientist B. Behari, in the preface to the English edition of “Tazkirat al-Awliya” by Sheikh Farididdin Attor (1151–1221), writes that “Sufism is as ancient as the creation itself. Whatever name he is called, it reflects the inner desire of the soul to meet with the creator and offers a path, following which this highest goal can be achieved. Just like Sufis, mystics of the whole world, there is a single eternal brotherhood, everlasting new thrones leading to God”. Jami's work is valuable in that it provides not only biographical information about the Sufis, provides their statements and summarizes the essence of their teachings, but also because it is an important source for understanding the theoretical issues of Sufism.

Popular Religions and Multiple Modernities: A Framework for Understanding Current Religious Transformations

Popular, ethnic, and folk religions endure in all regions of the planet, but specially in underdeveloped or developing non-Western countries. The main objective of this paper was to propose a framework for understanding this popular religious trend. Although religion in general has previously been linked to multiple modernities, the revitalization of popular religions has not. While Eisenstadt’s original theory of multiple modernities has been criticized on several aspects, his interpretative approach is valid provided that the contradictory dynamics of modernizing processes are recognized. The epistemological shift suggested by this article involves recognizing the biases that Western sociology has brought to its analysis of religions. Once we treat modernities as multiple, the specificity of each modernity opens up the spectrum of religious alternatives that flourish in every geo-cultural area. The growing diversity of popular religious expressions in the Global South stems from the fact that they are supported by thousands of believers. Their lived religions spills beyond religious institutions. These popular religiosities are the main sources of religious diversities and religious resistance in the context of multiple modernities. Lived religion and symbolic action allow us a better understanding of the magical-religious expressions of peoples of the world.

Pottery on the periphery: Contact-period ceramics and regional integration at La Laguna, Tlaxcala, Mexico

At the time of European contact in Mexico, the small community of La Laguna lived on the edge of the altepetl of Tecoac, itself peripheral to the Tlaxcallan confederacy. Yet this area was historically important: after a battle at Tecoac, Cortés allied with the Tlaxcaltecas, who proved essential to the conquest. Archaeological materials from the site provide an opportunity to understand social dynamics on the periphery of an autonomous confederacy surrounded by the Aztec empire. This multi-method study of the small contact-period ceramic assemblage of La Laguna illuminates these dynamics. The wares are similar to those of the ethnically Nahua residents of central Tlaxcallan (approximately 30 km away), not to those of the neighboring Otomí ethnic minority. INAA shows all wares falling into one chemical group, but petrography shows two recipes, indicating possible access to multiple potters. These lines of evidence suggest strong connections to the markets of central Tlaxcallan. La Laguna was geographically peripheral, yet the styles, symbols, and pastes of their pottery shows that its rural inhabitants, described as fractious borderland Otomís by early colonial histories, were engaged with the economic and religious trends of Tlaxcallan and the Postclassic International World System.

Ideological and symbolic features of the new christian movements

The article consider the ideological and symbolic features of the teachings of new Christian movements. The emergence of new Christian movements is associated with the incompatibility of traditional Christianity, its religious rites and rituals with the requirements of the time or in general with the crisis of Christian culture. In this regard, the study analyzes the ideological and symbolic features of the new Christian cults, their relationship to the main Christian canons, as well as changes in religious rituals and rites. As a result of studying the ideological and symbolic features of the new Christian currents, the authors come to the following conclusions. Firstly, the main features of the new religious movements are in relation to the creeds of traditional Christianity, to the Holy Trinity, and to the performance of the seven sacraments.Secondly, new religious movements are distinguished by their simplicity of religious sermons, vivid performance of religious rites and rituals. Thirdly, new religious trends attach great importance to visual elements. Their logos, flags, emblems and other religious symbolic attributes are closely related to the history of their development. They are based on the ideology of Protestantism and Freemasonry.To sum up, the ideological and symbolic content of new religious movements is transformed in accordance with the requirements of society and time.Key words: Christianity, new religious movements (NRM), symbols of faith, eschatology, worship, religious emblems and logos.

Companhias incômodas para Javé? Deusas no mundo do antigo Israel e arredores

O artigo oferece uma visão panorâmica das deusas atestadas no Sul do Levante, que está dentro do horizonte cultural da(s) antiga(s) religião(ões) israelita(s) e judaíta(s). Sua principal premissa é que antigos deuses e deusas refletem funções socialmente significativas, e que eles e elas foram concebidos e concebidas tanto em modelos sociomórficos quanto antropomórficos. Enquanto os modelos anteriores amplamente baseados nos registros bíblicos enfatizavam a excepcionalidade do deus de Israel, pesquisas mais recentes realocaram Javé dentro do contexto mais amplo das antigas sociedades e das tendências religiosas do Levante meridional. A evidência epigráfica e visual atualmente disponível aponta para a veneração de uma deusa Aserá ao lado de Javé, a principal divindade masculina no antigo (pré-exílico) Israel e Judá. Durante a segunda metade do primeiro milênio aEC, vários grupos de elite levaram Javé à uma postura cada vez mais hostil contra (sua) Aserá e outras deusas, um processo que deveria ser explicado pelos historia­dores em termos estritamente sócio-históricos. Isso resultou em várias visões exclusivistas, parciais e, muitas vezes, unilaterais da divindade, não apenas no que diz respeito a questões de gênero. Visões que depois judaísmo, cristianismo e islã foram frequentemente pressionados a compensar e que influenciaram profundamente a maneira como “Deus” é concebido e figurado no imaginário ocidental até hoje.

From Protestant Peasant Dress to Gay Pride T-Shirt: Transformations in Sartorial Strategy Amongst the körtti Movement in Finland

This paper looks into the 200-year history of a particular Christian dress form in Finland, namely the körtti dress. Emerging from a declining peasant dress style, this supposedly unchanging and fossilised signifier of a revivalist Protestant movement has in fact gone through numerous transformations influenced by both socio-political and religious trends as well as fashion-driven and materially-ordained factors. From the analysis emerge four key factors that influence how dress strategies are formulated and enacted within a religious movement: (1) how vulnerable or institutionalised the movement is; (2) how it is viewed by those external to it; (3) how the members of the movement want themselves to preserve or change the movement and its public image; (4) and how external fashion processes infiltrate the tastes and sensibilities of the members. It is concluded that elements considered ‘traditional’, ‘modern’, ‘secular’ and ‘religious’ may all be present at the same time in a dress phenomenon, indicating that fashion’s association with modern secularity is not as clear-cut as is sometimes thought.

The dark side of religious individualism: A Marcusian exploration

Sociologists of religion have recently focused on the growth of religious individualism in Western societies. Whether seen as a new religious trend or as a cultural correlate to the general weakeni...

Religion of the Evenki: History and Modern Times

The article attempts to reveal the transformation of the role of religion in preserving the traditional way of life of the Evenki ethnos from 1930s to 2000s in the northern regions of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, as well as its reflection in the education system and in traditional culture (folklore, visual arts, decorative and applied art). The article notes that the analysis of domestic and foreign studies of the culture and religion of the Evenki confirms the validity of appealing to an interdisciplinary type of research. The subject of the research is the traditional and non-traditional religious movements embodied in the culture and life of the Evenki ethnos. Observation, analytical-descriptive method, including the analysis of individual elements of the development of the Evenk traditional culture, followed by generalization of the data, as well as comparative historical and dialectical methods are used to solve the research problems. Moreover, among the main research methods, philosophical and art history analysis of art works of the Evenki is actively used. The conclusion indicates general outputs and tendencies characterizing the current state of the embodiment of religious trends in culture, education and everyday life of the Evenki ethnos

Sinicizing Religions, Sinicizing Religious Studies

From 2015 onwards, “sinicizing religions” has become the mantra of China’s religious policy, inspiring new regulations and constraining the functioning of religious organizations. After summarizing the “sinicization” doctrine and policy, this paper examines how Chinese scholars in religious studies position themselves in such a context. It reviews the developments of the field after 1979; it appraises the complex interplay between the scholarly community and policy makers; it examines how scholars in religious studies now respond to the official policy, as they strive to balance descriptive and prescriptive assessments. It shows how the search for ideal-types as well as for ‘sinicized’ typologies and methodologies partly function as an adaptative tactic. The need to answer political imperatives revives older debates on religious forms and functions, and, to some extent, stirs theoretical imagination. However, political constraints make it difficult for scholars to focus on current religious trends, as they find it safer to debate on a somewhat atemporal model of “Chinese religion”.

Пресвитериандық ағымдар: тарихы және қазіргі кезең

The article deals with the prerequisites for the emergence of Presbyterian currents, development and distribution at the world level. The relevance and novelty of the topic are related to the official registration of the Presbyterian Church in Kazakhstan, their missionary activity and the lack of special scientific works in this area. The authors analyze the emergence of the doctrine of Presbyterianism in the country, especially their formation and spread as a religious trend. The authors also show the contrast of the Presbyterian teachings of the traditional Christian denominations and other Protestant denominations. Studying the missionary activity of Presbyterian religious organizations, the authors prove that the activities of these organizations are aimed at active agitation among different nationalities.  The Presbyterians, by effectively applying missionary methods and using their experience in providing special support to new members, increase the number of their ranks with new adherents.

Феномен саббатарианства: сущность, разновидности, краткий очерк истории

The article focuses on the analysis of Sabbatarianism, i.e. on clarifying the meaning of the term, identifying various kinds of this phenomenon, as well as researching its history. The topicality of the work stems from both uncertainty of the definitions of the concept under consideration and the lack of works in Russian religious studies that deal with the problem of Sabbatarianism. During the study the author comes to the conclusion that the term “Sabbatarianism” is polysemantic. First, it implies special attention to the fourth commandment of the Decalogue in the Christian tradition, in which, since the period of the early Church, there were different practices of observing the first and/or the seventh day of the week in the East and West of the Christian world. Second, we call Sabbatarian specific religious movements that emerged in Europe during the Modern Era and had genetic connection with the Reformation. The author divides them into Christian (Protestant) and Judaizing, noting the challenge and even the failure of differentiating between both in some cases. The first type is subdivided, in turn, into the First-day Sabbatarians, who did not constitute a particular religious movement, and the Seventh-day ones, who made up separate Protestant denominations. The secon type includes sects that are guided to varying degrees by the Old Testament texts. The study of the Judaizers’ history reveals that their genesis is correlated to the Radical Reformation. They arose among the Anabaptists, Unitarians and Puritans, forming an ultraradical stream in the religious scene of the Modern Era. At the same time, these movements were often millenarian. The most vivid model of Judaizing Sabbatarianism was the phenomenon of Transylvanian Sabbath keepers, who evolved from the Protestant Anti-Trinitarians to the Orthodox Jews. The paper is the first attempt at a special research on the phenomenon of Sabbatarianism in Russian religious studies. Its results are significant for understanding the history of the Reformation, various religious trends within the latter (especially radical), as well as the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.

Personal characteristics of adherents of destructive religious trends

Personal characteristics of adherents of destructive religious trends

Breakdown of the Anglo-Saxon Model of Globalization

The most advanced societies have no newly-needed democratic formations, as legally unsecured intellectual freedom may be usurped by powerful institutions having a formal respect for the old democratic principles. Generally, this means that we are witnessing not just personality changes, but tectonic shifts in the legal and political strata that existed and developed within the period of Modernity. The purpose of this research is to identify the features of current crisis in the Anglo-Saxon globalization. This goal can be achieved on the back of classical philosophy and large-scale historical material applied simultaneously. This approach demonstrates that globalization processes are still guided by the legacy of early English history and the ideas that originated during the Age of Enlightenment. Anglo-Saxon Model discredits itself and, consequently, becomes non-legitimate when it comes to its supreme right to interpret the idea of democracy. An important aspect of this research is how the religious trends of the 17th century were interwoven with political, legal and cultural consequences.

DISSEMINATION THE REFORMATION ON TERRITORY OF SPISHSKY COMMITTEE AT 16th CENTURY

У цій статті розглядається процес проникнення та характер поширення Реформації в Спиському комітеті Східної Словаччини протягом XVI ст. Розглядаються та аналізуються питання, що стосуються діяльності окремих релігійних організацій та лідерів Реформації, прийняття та закріплення реформаційних ідей у духовному житті суспільства, їх оцінці та цінності. Протягом першої половини XVI століття Списька область Словаччини зазнає поступового переходу до протестантизму. У Спиші до 1526 р. Були реформаційні погляди, але спочатку вони обмежувалися більш вузькими колами і не викликали суттєвих зовнішніх змін у священному житті. На першому етапі руху Реформації першочерговим питанням для новостворених релігійних течій було отримання послідовників, які мали перевагу над церковними реформами. Після прийняття Аугсбургської сповіді в 1530 р. рух Реформації в Спиші був у розпалі, розвинувши нові й більш потужні функціональні властивості. У цей час з'являються нові пропагандисти доктрини Лютера. Можна виділити наступних релігійних активістів: Юрій Левдішер, Ян Генкель, Вавринець Квендель Серпіліум, Вавринець Бухвольт, Шаламун Реґнер, Даміан Граф, Матей, Валентин Мегандер-Гросман, Кіріак Обсопій-Кокс, Антон Топерсер і Грегор Філкер. Визнання Спишського братства «Confessio Scepusiana», що складається з 24 королівських священиків, може вважатися апогеєм релігійного життя в Спиші, а також одним з найважливіших джерел словацької Реформації. Хоча сам зміст документу не є оригінальним, оскільки він практично копіює попереднє сповідання віри, тобто заснований на текстах «Confessio Pentapolitana» і «Confessio Heptapolitana», він висуває власні тези, викладені в дусі Аугсбургське сповідання. На зустрічі, що відбулася 26 жовтня 1569 р., текст Віровизнання був переданий братству священиків Спиша, де він був затверджений і підписаний всіма священиками Списького муніципального старшини. Так, протягом другої половини XVI ст. реформаційні процеси охоплювали практично всі словацькі землі. У Спіші поширення Реформації було швидким і успішним, а його послідовники могли діяти в рамках вже існуючих структур і установ католицької церкви в період, що охоплював весь XVI століття і початок XVII століття.