The article examines the features of scientific and religious knowledge. The conclusion is made about the positive role of both science and religion.

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For epistemology, a comparison of scientific and religious knowledge is of certain interest. In the public consciousness of Russians, under the influence of atheistic criticism of religion, the idea of \u200b\u200bthe opposition and even incompatibility of science and religion, religious and scientific knowledge has developed. There is a historical basis for such a view, although it is not entirely true and does not take into account different facets of the interaction between science and religion. Within the framework of the article, we will try to explore these facets, and focus on comparing the specifics of scientific and religious knowledge.

First of all, it should be noted that, like science, religion is a complex social system. And religious consciousness, and hence religious knowledge, exists on two levels: ordinary and theoretical. On a theoretical level, religious consciousness is represented by theology or theology. Theology is the highest level of religious consciousness, which sets itself the goal of rationally substantiating a religious doctrine in the form it is formulated by the church, as well as adapting this doctrine to the peculiarities of social consciousness at one stage or another of its development. Theology is a specific kind of rationality. And the rationalistic aspect of theology brings it closer to scientific knowledge. Theological systems are similar in form to scientific theories. They usually consist of an axiomatic and a theoretical part. The axiomatic part is made up of dogmas - the main provisions of the doctrine set forth in Scripture. Dogmas are accepted on faith by virtue of the authority of the body that adopted them. And the substantiation of these dogmas, their conjugation with each other in theology is carried out with the extensive use of logical tools and scientific achievements. Theological concepts, as a rule, are systemic in nature, they follow all the rules of formal logic, justification and proof. However, the rationality of theology, as noted above, is specific. And it is precisely this specificity that fundamentally distinguishes the theological path of knowledge from the scientific one. The axiomatic foundations of scientific theories are based on the study of reality. Theological concepts are based on authority Holy Scripture and churches. Theological rationalism, approaching mental material from the standpoint of authoritarianism, sacrifices content to form. Its representatives replace the study of reality with a procedure of definitions; they give endless definitions and distinctions. This is especially evident at the highest stage of the development of theology, in the great scholastic systems. Famous explorer medieval scholasticism V. Windelband gives the following characterization of the scholastic method: “Scholastics only discuss, systematically prove, infinitely deduce the consequences, without checking the grounds. All their logic is reduced to syllogism. Abuse of syllogism entails pettiness, passion for divisions and divisions, reduces logical reasoning to verbal mechanics, promotes excessive concern for the external expression of thought to the detriment of the thought itself.

The authoritarianism of the religious style of cognition is a consequence of the theocentric attitudes of religious consciousness. From the point of view of modern developed religions, the defining principle of the entire universe is a supernatural being - God. Nature, society and man depend on this being. The meaning of human existence, from the point of view of Christians, consists in the "salvation of the soul", which is carried out through the knowledge of God, and the attainment of unity with him in the "kingdom of God." And this attitude of religion is fundamentally opposed to the scientific understanding of the object and goals of knowledge. Science focuses on the knowledge of the natural world: nature, society, man. The goal of cognition is mastering the forces of nature, knowledge of social laws in order to improve people's lives, to create material and spiritual products necessary for consumption. The object of religious cognition is the supernatural principle - God, and the goal of cognizing God is set not by the material needs of people, but by the need for "salvation of the soul", which arose as a result of the fall of man. “The salvation of the soul” is carried out through the process of knowing God and is interpreted in religious systems as the acquisition by a person of his original, “pre-sinful appearance” - “the image and likeness of God”. Therefore, the ultimate goal of human cognitive efforts is not the knowledge of the objective world - nature and society, but the acquisition by a person through the process of cognition of his original appearance - "the image and likeness of God." With this approach, the process of cognition itself is interpreted as a process of becoming God-like.

And since the essence of the Fall, from the point of view of theology, consists in the fact that man separated from God, wanted to live according to his principles and norms, wished to become equal to God, in other words, a free subject of activity and cognition, then the assimilation to God, the acquisition of the divine by man again images and likeness are interpreted by them as the refusal of a person from all his claims, from his subjectivity, from his "I". God-likeness is nothing more than man's self-denial, a complete transition into man's submission to God.

The form of such a transition, according to religious thinkers, is faith . At the same time, they resort to a rather extended interpretation of the phenomenon of faith. Faith is interpreted by them as a universal dimension of human consciousness, subjectivity, spirituality, which expresses a rationally opaque attitude to reality. Faith is interpreted as a psychological attitude, confidence, commitment to something, and as a belief in the supernatural, as religious belief... Using the first meaning of the term "faith", Christian theologians consider faith as a special, supernatural, cognitively - worldview position of the subject. According to their teachings, faith has deep emotional and volitional foundations and is psychologically primary in relation to discursive thinking. “If you don’t believe, you won’t understand ... Knowledge mediated by faith is the most reliable,” said Clement of Alexandria. Anyone seeking the truth, he believes, must proceed from some initial provisions that determine the development of his search, take a definite cognitive and worldview position, believe in something. Faith, as an attitude of consciousness, is identified by Christian thinkers with religious faith. It is interpreted as a form of the union of man with God, as a channel through which God influences the cognitive abilities of a person, heals, fertilizes and improves them.

Thus, the fundamental difference between religious and scientific knowledge lies in the interpretation of the basic form of existence of the product of this knowledge and the form of its movement. For science, this form is knowledge. Scientific knowledge is statements, the truth of which is substantiated empirically and / or by logical procedures of evidence. For religion, the main cognitive form is faith. Belief in the content of Divine revelation, which is recorded in the Holy Scriptures.

It should be noted that scientists do not deny participation in the scientific knowledge of faith as a psychological phenomenon. In the process of scientific cognition, the scientist is certainly faced with a choice between more convincing and less convincing explanations of the processes of reality. Especially often, such a possibility arises when anomalies arise, a crisis of paradigms. And the scientist in this case, to make a decision in favor of one or another interpretation of the facts, resorts to faith. Faith as a psychological phenomenon is necessary for a scientist to mobilize his spiritual and physical strength with a lack of information or lack of sufficient evidence. It plays a compensatory function - as a positive attitude, it allows the scientist to move on in the unknown.

But faith plays a constructive role not only when reasoning is insufficient. The phenomenon of faith, according to L. Wittgenstein, has a social and communicative nature. Faith in scientific knowledge is a necessary consequence of "our being among people." Unlike knowledge, beliefs are not the product of our reflections, thoughts, or judgments. They are our world and being. This is the deepest layer of our life, everything that we unconditionally take into account, although we do not think about it. Because of our confidence, we behave automatically in the appropriate situation, guided by a huge number of beliefs. As Wittgenstein wrote, “you cannot experiment unless there is something certain, and while experimenting I do not doubt the existence of the device that is in front of my eyes - on what basis do I trust textbooks on experimental physics? I have no reason not to trust them - I have at my disposal some information, however, not extensive enough and fragmentary. I have heard, seen and read something - empirical statements, which we accept as unquestionable, accompany us throughout our life and appear as personal knowledge, as a “picture of the world” learned in childhood. " But the adherents of religious knowledge unjustifiably expand the field of application of faith, attaching to faith the meaning of a special cognitive and worldview position of the subject of knowledge.

It should be noted that the interpretation of religious knowledge in various confessions is not the same. The most strongly rationalistic element is developed in Catholic theology, which is based on the basic principles of Thomas Aquinas. Catholic theology is the most advanced system of rationality. In it, the mind is viewed as a relatively independent path to God, an autonomous cognitive ability inherent in man along with other cognitive ability. Thomas Aquinas created the theory of the harmony of faith and reason, which made it possible to recognize the relative autonomy of scientific knowledge. From the point of view of this theory, reason and faith are two different abilities of a person. What a person knows with the help of reason, and what he believes in, never coincide completely in the same respect. There are statements, the truth of which is obvious to a person on the basis of logical inferences and logical verification, and there are such statements, the truth of which he cannot verify and must accept them on faith. Acceptance of truths with the help of reason or with the help of faith occurs on different grounds. The truths of reason - secular knowledge - are accepted by man on the basis of their inner persuasiveness. The truth of faith - religious knowledge - is based on trust in their put forward authority. Consent with the truths of reason is an act of logical necessity, while acceptance of the truths of faith is an act of free choice, volitional decision.

The concept of harmony between faith and reason in the Middle Ages created an opportunity for the development of scientific knowledge. However, the principle of the priority of the truths of faith over the truths of reason declared in this concept put the interpretation of the results of scientific knowledge and the direction of development of science under the control of religion and the church. All this contributed to conflicts between science and religion, scientists and the church. A striking manifestation of this conflict was the "case of Galileo." The church condemned Galileo's teachings and forced him to renounce heliocentric conclusions. Only four hundred years later catholic Church revised its position and through the mouth of Pope John Paul II in the 70s of the twentieth century. recognized the "case of Galileo" as a mistake of the church. In modern culture, in a weak form, the defense of the dogmas of religion is manifested in traditionalism, in particular, the integral traditionalism of R. Guénon and M. Eliade.

In our opinion, the clash of religious and scientific knowledge is not inherent in the immanent features of these cognitive attitudes, but arises when the features of this cognition acquire the character of ideological attitudes and the struggle between religious and scientific ideology is provoked. The strongest opposition between science and religion took place in the 18th-20th centuries, when religion and the church lost their dominant positions in society, and developing science, based on the formation of a scientific picture of the world, began to play an active role in shaping the worldview. In the same case, when religion and science remove ideological confrontation, fruitful cooperation is possible between them. Such collaboration is most useful in the area of \u200b\u200bscientific ethos. Religion, with its moral dominant, is able to help science avoid such directions of research and development of technologies that would be directed against human interests. In other words, religion is able to bring a humanistic element to the scientific ethos and this is the main area of \u200b\u200bcooperation between science and religion. In our opinion, they should not be in a state of contradiction, but complementarity.

List of references

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3. Rakhmatullin R.Yu. On the basic principle of fiqh and its role in solving the problem of objectivity of law // Sharia: theory and practice: Materials of the Interregional Scientific and Practical Conference. Ufa: Bashkir state University, 2000.S. 41-46.
4. Rakhmatullin R.Yu. Sufi Anthropology // Islamic Studies. 2013. No. 1. S. 64-74.
5. Rakhmatullin R.Yu. Quranic Anthropology // Young Scientist. 2014. No. 10 (69). S. 561-563.
6. Rakhmatullin R., Semenova E. Thomism of the unity of the religious and scientific knowledge // Nauka i studia. 2015.Vol. 10.S. 288-291.
7. Semenova E.R. Ideas of traditionalism and liberalism in the philosophy of law // Almanac of modern science and education. 2013. No. 3 (70). S. 161-163.
8. Khalikov R., Semenova E.R. Science and religion as a unity of opposites // Bulletin of scientific conferences. 2016. No. 2-5 (6). S. 131-133.

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Theoretical methods of religious knowledge

Theoretical - This is a proof of the objective existence of God mainly in speculative ways, without going into everyday practice; practicalon the contrary, they almost never turn to theoretical reasoning, focusing on prayers, sacraments, liturgies, religious processions, consecration of temples, secular structures, etc.

Among the theoretical methods of cognition, theologians actively use historical, logical, philosophical, linguistic, psychological, aesthetic, moral and other methods of cognition, to which science also actively turns.

The religious method is largely subjective, in many cases it is not able to perceive the cognitive capabilities and results of opposite methods. The religious method ascribes everything good, moral, and spiritual to the action of religion, and everything bad, immoral and spiritless - to atheism. There are practically no points of contact between polar methods. But it has been known since ancient times: in order to know your own essence, you must compare yourself with the opposite. What is needed is not just common ground, but constant interaction, the study of the strengths and weaknesses of various methods.

The method is central to every religion. Both the scriptures and the works of theologians, religious philosophers do not so much teach the content of religions as the path to God, teach methods of finding this path. The religious method consists of many paths that connect at one point - in the knowledge of God, in the proof of his objective existence, in the reality and reliability of his actions. The purpose of the method - to convince a person of this truth, to make him a believer. The method is the more effective, the shorter the path to achieving the goal. Over the millennia of the existence of various religions, two main ways of its implementation have developed - interpretation, commenting on the scriptures; explanation of their dogmas based on scientific data. In the religious method, religious and scientific methods are closely intertwined. Theologians have set themselves an extremely difficult goal: after all, the scriptures unequivocally state that God is incomprehensible, that he is outside the sensibly perceived world, and therefore is inaccessible to knowledge. But if you agree with this, it means to alienate people from yourself. Therefore, recognizing that it is impossible to see God with your own eyes, you need to find indirect, but sufficiently convincing evidence that God really exists, and the life of people depends entirely on his benevolence towards them.

There are very few theologians (literally, a few) who would argue that God and his deeds can be cognized without believing in his existence. Therefore, one of the main postulates of the religious method of knowledge is vera... One of the fathers christian church Aurelius Augustine (354-430) literally from the first lines of the book "Confession" raises the question of how to know God: "Let me, Lord, know and comprehend whether to start with calling to You, or with praising You. ; whether it is necessary to know You first, or to appeal to You. But who will call upon You without knowing You? An ignorant person can call not to You, but to someone else. Or, in order to know You, and must we appeal to You? " But how to start learning? Augustine gives one answer: faith gives true knowledge. "I will seek You, Lord, crying out to You, and I will appeal to You, believing in You, for You have been preached to us." Only to those who believe in God's existence, his holy deeds, the truth is revealed. For the rest, it is covered in the darkness of ignorance.

But what is faith? The study of the texts of the scriptures, the works of theologians, philosophers shows that faith is different: "blind", built on one trust in an authoritative opinion; and "reasonable", combined with reason, built on the arguments of reason.

Hegel, who specially investigated the religious method of knowledge in the book "Philosophy of Religion", speaks mainly of a method based on faith. Cognition goes from sensations to images, from them to representations. This is the universal path of knowledge. Which one brings the believer the closest to the truth? Feelings and images give fragmentary ideas about the subject of religion. Representations take you beyond the fragments and make it possible to imagine the world as something whole and unified. But the performance is not completely free from sensuality. For this, it is necessary that sensuality be finally superseded by thinking, since God is thinking: “... knowledge of God should mean only one thing - I i think God. " Hegel's faith is based on thought, knowledge.

A.S. Khomyakov considers faith to be the highest manifestation of human intelligence: "Faith is the most perfect fruit of public education, the extreme and highest limit of its development ...". Those religious philosophers who spoke out for the natural-historical nature of the idea of \u200b\u200bGod (V. Soloviev, N. A. Berdyaev, I. A. Ilyin, P. A. Florensky, etc.) also believed that knowledge is impossible without faith. But their faith is not the blind "faith of the coal miner" with which Western theologians were moved, their faith is "trust in the testimony of spiritual experience" ... And so, trust in this spiritual certainty and this spiritual evidence is what religious faith begins with. " ... Faith, in Khomyakov's understanding, is “an act of all the powers of the mind, seized and captivated to the last depth by the living truth of a revealed fact. Faith is not only thought or felt, but also thought and felt together, in a word, it is not one cognition, but cognition and life at once ”. ON THE. Berdyaev also combines faith and knowledge: “Faith contains the fullness of knowledge. It is not anti-scientific, but super-scientific. "

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. the term "superconsciousness" has not yet been accepted by science, if it was used, it was nothing more than an allegory. But sensitive thinkers, A.S. Khomyakov, N.A. Berdyaev, I.A. Ilyin use his analogs to prove the essence of faith and are not mistaken. Modern science proved as an empirical fact that superconsciousness exists, and what was previously explained as a manifestation divine spirit, is now perceived as a common natural phenomenon. Real faith, according to Ilyin, “in itself is already reasonable, and not unreasonable and not unreasonable ... Religious experience needs reason, to test and ensure its objectivity, for its purification, for its sobriety, for protecting itself from autism and temptations; ... reason gives faith the energy of purity, evidence and objectivity. The reason that destroys faith is not reason, but bad reason; faith rebelling against reason is not faith, but a timid, lascivious superstition. " However, the philosopher has warned more than once that “historically and psychologically it should be noted” that “people begin their religious path with blind trust in human authority. If they remain with this form of belief, then the religion of the spirit remains inaccessible to them by act. They are, as it were, condemned to be in a state of religious childhood for life. " Ilyin noted with regret that such believers "can make up the majority among church members." He emphasizes once again that “the believer must stand on his own two feet. He must carry within himself that spiritual and religious charge that he needs to cope with all fear, temptation and temptation. There is no such thing - and any fear will crush him, any temptation will not be able to him, any temptation will lead him to crooked paths. "

Those theologians who, instead of faith based on knowledge, offered blind faith, and did not realize that they cultivate in people thoughtless obedience, slavish obedience, senseless obedience, the desire to achieve prosperity with someone else's, "God's" hands, or, more simply, educate inactive dependents which they soon encountered in practice.

Trying to improve the material situation of their communities, Christians lured wealthy people into them and took their goods for general use. Avr. Augustine tells the story that a certain Pinian, a man who donated a lot for the maintenance of the church in the neighboring town of Tagast, but still retained a considerable part of his fortune, came to his community in the city of Ippon. The Ipponian Christians, having found out, immediately proposed to elect him as the presbyter of the Ippon church. Augustine tried to intercede, but his authority did not help either. In the end, Pinian had to leave Ippon.

And one more disappointing conclusion. Depriving a person of any independence, taking all responsibility for the actions of people upon himself, God exempts them from all responsibility... The people consolidated this attitude to divine omnipotence in the proverbs: "Everything is in the will of God", "Everything is in the hand of God", "God knows better", "God is in heaven, he knows better from above"; and on the other hand: “God, God, don't be bad yourself”, “Trust in God, but don’t make a mistake yourself”, “Pray to God and get to work”, “Cross your forehead and scratch your head”. Earthly people think, focusing on earthly forces: no one will help you, except yourself. And in this everyday reasoning there is more truth than in the rigid attitudes of a medieval theologian, who made the fate of a person completely dependent on the will of God.

Another path of religious knowledge is expressed in the deification of an unnaturally large energy power its carrier. The fact that man possesses considerable energy has been proven empirically by modern science. But theologians, too, were already quite clearly aware of the presence of energy in people. The idea of \u200b\u200bthe energy potential of God, angels, and people is especially clear in the "Exact presentation of the Orthodox faith" by I. Damaskin (VIII century), "Conversations" by Gr. Palamas (XIII century). They directly call the life-giving power of God energy. Christ resurrected himself with his own energy: "... after His, lifted up for us, death on the cross, He raised Himself ..." God entered the womb of the virgin by the power of his energy. Saint Palamas literally says the following about this miraculous fact. Mary was overshadowed by God himself: “not through the storm and clouds, not through darkness and fire, not through the voice of breath and breeze, as it was once and in other cases for those who were once rewarded with this (Job, Moses, Elijah - approx. Translator) ; but directly, without any cover, the power of the Almighty overshadowed the virgin womb, and there was nothing between the Obscured and the Obscured, neither air, nor ether, nor any of the sensuous creatures, or those under them. This is not an overshadowing, but a direct connection (emphasized by Palama - A.Ya.). Since it always happens in nature that what overshadows, thereby imposes its form and image on the overshadowed one, then not only the connection, but also the formation took place in the womb, and was formed on the basis of both: i.e. the power of the Most High and this most pure and virgin womb, was the incarnate Word of God. Oh, to what depth of mystery the Word has led us! ”- exclaims the raptured saint.

Priest P.A. Florensky, already relying on the data of scientific research on energy, came to the conclusion that without it, the very communication of people is impossible. light, sound, touch - these are all the various manifestations of one and the same physical phenomenon - energy.

In some people, the energy potential is large, even supernatural, in others it is smaller, in others it is even insignificant, in practice it does not manifest itself in any way. The overwhelming majority of people belong to the third type of carriers of biological energy. Christ, judging by the data of the Holy Scriptures, possessed supernatural energy capable of influencing not only man, but also the forces of nature (calming a storm at sea is a vivid example of this). Nowadays, the possession of some people with supernatural energy is a scientifically proven fact.

A special place in the religious method of cognition is occupied by the question of the relationship between science and religion. It has already been said that theologians do not hesitate to borrow scientific achievements and attribute them to the will of God. But some are trying to prove the limitations of the cognitive potential of science in comparison with the similar possibilities of religion. One of them, unfortunately, is the outstanding Russian religious philosopher I.A. Ilyin. He believes that it is impossible to study religion by the methods of "intellectualism".

Ilyin indulges in sarcasm in relation to scientific methods of knowledge: “The sacred is measured by the non-sacred; deep - by shallow and flat criteria; the living and the mysterious are perceived as abstract and dead. As a result of this, religion begins, as it were, to decay and wither away before the judgment of such an "intellect" ...

Ilyin would have had the right to such sarcasm if he did not know that N. Copernicus, J. Bruno, I. Newton, N.I. Lobachevsky, A. Einstein, I.P. Pavlov, D.I. Mendeleev and other representatives of the "helpless mind" several times throughout the history of Christianity radically changed the "picture of the world" drawn in the Holy Scriptures. All of them were deeply religious people, fed by the dogmas of religion. And these people made discoveries not of narrow material objects, but of the entire universe, including the spirit.

Page 14 of 23

Religious method of knowledge

The word "method" means a path to something. In religion, this is the path to God, to the knowledge of Him and the world and man created by Him. This is how the meaning of this word has been interpreted since ancient times. The ancient Chinese category "Tao" means "the righteous path, the path of Heaven." Confucius (VI-V centuries BC) defined Tao as a good path of social events and human life, depending both on "predestination" and on the individual. In the ancient Indian "Upanishads" the idea is defended that the path to God Brahma is associated with a long and difficult exertion of all the spiritual forces of the personality (Atman). Indian "Yoga" sees the main path of human life in the direction of the soul to God. Buddhism teaches the "path" that leads from the vanities of the world to the knowledge of causality and through this - to absolute tranquility - "nirvana". In Orthodoxy, the idea of \u200b\u200b"smart doing" was developed, ie. performing prayers, vigils, vows, bows to the ground with a conscious appeal of all feelings and thoughts to God. In Catholicism, medieval mystics have developed a method of mystical knowledge. As you can see, many methods are offered. To some extent, this is understandable: religiosity and the path to God, to the knowledge of the world and man are individual for each person. Everyone goes to these goals in their own unique way: some rush to them immediately (Symeon the New Theologian). Others, on the contrary, go with difficulty, looking for a straight path for a long time (say, the path to God of Abr. Augustine, Gregory Palamas). And some in general, almost from the first steps in life, go in the opposite direction and never come to the knowledge of God, the world and man. As you can see, the paths are diverse. But nevertheless there is something in them.

The unity of the religious method in a variety of ways and techniques leading to one goal - to the knowledge of God, the world and man. Its unity could be expressed in the words: explaining the supernatural in natural ways... And man cannot explain the supernatural in any other way than the natural. Therefore, it is legitimate to talk about unified religious method knowledge based on natural methods.

A.S. Khomyakov noted one essential feature of the study of religion: “... the process of research, as applied to questions of faith, borrows its property from it and completely differs from research in the ordinary sense of the word. First, in the field of faith, the world to be investigated is not the world external to man; for man himself and the whole man with the whole integrity of reason and will constitute an essential part of him. Second, research in the field of faith presupposes some basic data, moral or rational, that are beyond doubt for the soul, so that research is nothing more than a process of meaningfully uncovering these data.

Khomyakov sees the interaction of scientific and religious methods of cognition. He says in this regard: “For orthodox Church the totality of these data embraces the whole world with all the phenomena of human life, and the entire word of God, both written and expressed by the dogmatic universal Tradition ... the very study in the field of faith, both in the diversity of the data subject to it, and because its goal is living truth , and not only logical, requires the use of all mental forces, in will and in reason, and, moreover, requires an internal investigation of these forces themselves. He should, so to speak, take into account not only the visible world, but also the strength and purity of the organ of vision. "

Both theological and practical methods of cognition in the early years of Christianity received an apt description: Clement of Alexandria and Origen gave a common name to the religious method - allegorical. Indeed, both in the scriptures and in church services there is a lot of conditional, poetic, one might say theatrical. In science, the dominant position is occupied by logic, reasoning, proof, mathematical justification, experiment; in religion - an image, comparison, allegory, allegory. Dry, boring moral admonitions leave people indifferent to preaching. The attractive aspects of the allegorical method are obvious: an aphorism, a parable, an image psychologically contain much more content than they express. Allegory often has the character of hyperbole, when an ordinary fact of life acquires the meaning of universality, divinity. This feature of the religious method was noted by A.S. Khomyakov, P.A. Florensky. The methods of religious thinking, wrote Florensky, “are somewhat reminiscent of poetry, folk poetry". In his book At the Divides of Thought, he emphasizes: “The symbolic nature of religious thinking is its essence. This is not a system of a philosophical order. Any accusation of rational inconsistency is a complete misunderstanding. Unification is given from within. " This is how Russian Orthodox theology differs significantly from Western theology. In the West, man is a servant of God and nothing more. In Russian Orthodox theology, he is a creator.

Russian theologians give their own interpretation of Holy Scripture. ON THE. Berdyaev writes:
“We do not find revelation about human creativity in the Holy Scriptures. It is not revealed, but hidden by God. " “The boldness of creativity was for me the fulfillment of the will of God, but the will is not open, but hidden ... An unusually daring idea that God needs a man, in a man's answer, in man's creativity. But without this boldness, the revelation of God-manhood loses its meaning. " These views of the Russian philosopher are full of optimism, instill in people faith in the meaning of human life, open up to him the prospect of creativity, including after the divine judgment. The allegorical method of cognition received an original interpretation in the book by I.A. Ilyin "Axioms of Religious Experience". Here he introduces the concept of "heartless, insensible contemplation", confirming its reality with allegorical arguments: the icon is revered as a "real shrine", as a "visible reminder of God", as a "call to Him"; the icon is like a “door to God”; it symbolizes the Divine Object, "giving a person the perception of" absent and invisible, but as if present and visible "; the icon is the embodiment of "sensual prayer meditation", etc.

The religious method of cognition largely depends on the nature of the subject. Priest P.A. Florensky: “The method of cognition is determined knowable". According to Florensky, thinking is objective. It is not material (modern scientists already have data on the "materiality" of thinking), but objectively, it is embedded in the human gene pool. Therefore, Florensky develops his thought about the determining role of the object in cognition: “The whole point is in objectivity ... of thinking: the subject of cognition is not constructed by means and evidence, and therefore it is not from them that it is comprehended, as is the case in subjective thinking, but, on the contrary, he himself , although not analyzed, from the very beginning serves as an emphasis of thought. "

The method of cognition in any field, including in religion, presupposes an almost identical process, which includes the analysis of the state of the object, its assessment, on the basis of this goal setting, selection of specific means and methods, conclusions and conclusions. The religious method of cognition in this respect is no different from the scientific one. There is a mutual influence of two spiritual spheres. Vladimir Soloviev in his fundamental work "Justification of Good" very clearly describes the process of cognition in christian religion: “... Christianity (and it is one) is affirmed on the idea of \u200b\u200ba truly perfect person and a perfect society and, consequently, promises to fulfill the requirement of true infinity inherent in our consciousness ... To achieve this goal, it is necessary first of all to stop being satisfied with a limited and unworthy reality, - her ... This is only the first step, ... stopping at it, a person receives only emptiness ... Having thrown away the unworthy reality, I have to replace it with something that is worthy of existence, but for this I must first understand or assimilate the very idea of \u200b\u200ba worthy being for myself - this is the second the step represented by idealism ... It is clear that it is impossible to stop here, because truth is only conceivable, and not realized, does not fill all life, is not what is required, is not unconditional perfection. The third and final step that we can take thanks to Christianity is the positive realization of positive being in everything. " The scheme of religious knowledge proposed by V.S. Soloviev, is very similar to the Hegelian general scientific scheme, which V.I. Lenin put it in the following words: “Human consciousness not only reflects the objective world, but also creates it. The world does not satisfy man, and man, by his action, decides to change it. The result of an action is a test of subjective cognition and a criterion of truly existing objectivity. " Soloviev limits the process of cognition only to religion, its specific confession, Hegel and Lenin extend it to the whole world. Thus, in this case, religious knowledge merges with scientific knowledge.

Home, one might say integral goal Orthodox theology - absolute perfection in the person of God and in the form of the kingdom of God. "Absolute perfection" - idee fix V.S. Solovyov. He is convinced that the kingdom of God is possible on earth. This idea literally permeates right through his Justification of Good. He writes in one place: “Logically developed from religious sensation, of course, the moral principle not only presents its fullness of good ... as an idea or demand, but also reveals the actual forces contained in it, realizing this demand, creating a perfect moral order, or the Kingdom of God ... ". But if there is an ultimate goal - the absolutely perfect Kingdom of God on earth - then there is an end to development, which means death. Soloviev understands this, but he cannot stop. He offers the ordinary mortal man the highest ideal, to which he must be equal, judge himself by the yardstick of the ideal of a higher being.

The ideal exists in the soul of any person, both a believer and an unbeliever. This is the image of an ideal person or a social ideal that absorbs ideas about something perfect. The ideal possesses great unifying and motive power. It arises objectively, as the need of people to arrange their lives in the best possible way. There is nothing religious about such an ideal. But in its psychological essence, it coincides with the religious ideal. However, one must understand that the ideal is not eternal, capable of continuous self-development.

Earthly goals are always relative and tied to the specific historical needs of earthly people. This was well understood by Hegel, who said that earthly goals are always limited. The highest goal of the spirit is thinking. God is thinking. But the achievement of this highest goal is inaccessible to a person, therefore, he always mixes some comparisons, similarities with his desires, ideas. “There are many such forms in religion,” writes the famous philosopher, “which, as we know, should not be understood in their direct rational meaning. So, for example, “son”, “birth” are only images borrowed from natural relations, and it is perfectly clear to us that they should not be understood in their immediacy; rather, their meaning lies in the fact that only approximate attitude ... Further, for us it is quite obvious that the mention of God's anger, his regret, revenge should not be understood in the literal sense, it is just a likeness, a comparison ... ”. “… In the concept of the creation of the world, God is on one side for himself, and the world on the other, the connection of both sides is not put in the form of necessity. This connection finds its expression either in an analogy from the life of nature and natural events, or, if it is defined as a creation, this act takes on the character of something completely extraordinary and incomprehensible. " It is clear that Hegel is not talking about the scientific method of cognizing religion, but, according to Origen's definition, about the allegorical method. There are no absolute goals in nature: in the course of achieving one goal, another, higher and richer, appears; after its realization, an even higher and richer one appears. And so on ad infinitum. The world is so diverse and changeable that the human mind is unable to foresee not only the final, absolutely perfect goals, but even the goals of the coming decades. Therefore, absolute knowledge of the world, God is an unattainable goal. In this sense, St. Simeon, A.S. Khomyakov and I.A. Ilyin, when they say: the desire to know God is meaningless and one should not strive for this.

Religious philosophers and theologians have worked a lot on the principles of religious knowledge, thereby contributing to the identification and substantiation of the scientific theory of knowledge. One of the effective principles of cognition is consistency, the honor of the discovery of which is attributed to the modern Italian philosopher L. Bertalanfi. He really did a lot to develop it. But in the works of Russian philosophers A.S. Khomyakov (a hundred years before Bertalanfi), V.S. Solovyov (about half a century earlier than L. Bertalanffy's generalizing work "General Theory of Systems"), Russian religious philosophers gave a clear idea of \u200b\u200bthe essence of the systemic method as applied to religion. In the two-volume edition of V.S. Soloviev, there is an essay on the life of the philosopher, written by A.F. Losev, where he gives an account of the systemic method of the great Russian thinker. Empiricism or the material principle of morality, traditional realism and sensationalism, rationalistic metaphysics, economic life and political life, religion are one-sided, or opposite to each other, suffer from abstraction, rationality ...

“Truth ... is possible only if we recognize all reality, taking it as a whole, that is, as generalized and as specific as possible. This means that truth is a being, taken in its absolute unity and in its absolute plurality. In other words, truth is all-being. " The terminology "not systemic", but the essence of the systemic method is presented as fully and expressively as possible.

It was religious philosophers who noticed and convincingly demonstrated the inadequacy of the scientific method of knowledge. A.S. Khomyakov back in the thirties of the nineteenth century. wrote: "There is no doubt that a proof based on a strict formula is less controversial than others and rather gives the truth the right of citizenship in the field of knowledge." But in the knowledge of reality, artistic, poetic methods play a significant role, in particular the traditions and beliefs of the people: "... more important than any material signs, any political structure, any relations between citizens, the traditions and beliefs of the people themselves." The same idea was expressed almost a century later by P.A. Florensky.

A very important (and in some cases the only) method of religious knowledge was collective development method fundamental tenets of faith. The Indians were the first to use this method. Its founder was Badarayana (c. V century BC). His merit to the Indian people is that he gave the first collection of the ancients ved, created vedanta . He also proposed the first methods of studying the Vedas. In the Vedas, two main themes were distinguished - ritual and Brahman. The research on the ritual was called the "First Investigation." And the study of texts about Brahman, which implied a ritual behind itself, was called "Later / Higher Research", or vedanta... At first, the Vedas were classified by topic: for example, the topic of sacrifices, accompanied by judgments about the problems raised in this topic. In the course of such work, the principles of interpretation were developed, on the basis of which “ thematic method of discussion ", method " adhikarana ",when different views are presented on each topic with arguments for and against, as well as a final judgment.

Veda- an ancient Indian legend.

Vedanta- a systematized collection of Indian Vedas about the beginning and development of the world, nature, man.

In Europe, collective methods of religious knowledge have developed in the form of ecumenical councils. Councils were usually convened when discussions on any essential questions of faith could not take shape on a daily basis. In the third century, a strong heresy appeared in Christianity, named after its founder Arius - Arianism, which denied the divinity of Christ. All discussions with Ariy brought no results. He insisted that God the Father and God the Son are different entities, God the Son is subordinate to God the Father, is a product of God the Father. Then, in 325, the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea was convened, the main theme of which was the fight against Arianism and the development of the fundamental Christian dogma (or otherwise - the symbol of faith) about the Holy Trinity. The Council rejected Arianism, found the term "homousios", which meant "unanimity", "consubstantiality" of God the Father and God the Son. Although the term provided an opportunity for a multivariate interpretation of "homousios", nevertheless, God the Father, God the Son handed over a more or less convincing argument into the hands of the supporters of the unity of hypostases. At other ecumenical councils - Constantinople (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), the dogma of the Holy Spirit was approved. Thus, at the Ecumenical Councils 325-451. the Christian meaning of faith in the Holy Trinity was formed, representing the consubstantiality of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. At the ecumenical councils, other important issues of Christianity were also resolved.

Of course, these councils can be interpreted as a manifestation of the will of God, how much in Christianity receives just such an explanation. But at the same time, consciousness does not abandon the thought that many divine issues were decided on earth by simple voting. This, in particular, is confirmed by the Orthodox art critic I.K. Yazykov: “In Byzantium since Ecumenical Councils it was customary to prove their point of view publicly, theological disputes were constantly conducted there, were brought to cathedrals, debates, squares, formed a rich polemical literature. In Russia there was no tradition of theological dialogue, which came to Byzantium from the ancient heritage. In Russia, theology was different - liturgical life, monastic obedience, icon painting were the main forms of theology. "

The religious method absorbs all previously acquired knowledge and clothe it in a religious form. P.A. Florensky called the process of cognition "round thinking", having borrowed this image from the ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides. "Round thinking" does not reveal the truth immediately, but as the thought rotates around the subject: the researcher "unexpectedly opens new approaches from focus to focus ... ". He admitted the existence of "whirlpools of thought" "in their frank pre-scientific, pre-systemic character." Without them, "without the source keys of thought flowing from the depths of pre-thought ... it is impossible to understand large systems." Florensky also compared the religious method with the sea surf: "Themes go and return, and again go, and again come back, and, enriching themselves, each time filled with new content and the juice of life ...". But all the themes are interconnected: “in the new ones, the old, already former ones sound ... In the addition of the whole, each theme turns out to be somehow connected with each other ... The connecting relationships here are multiple, vitally organic ...”. It seems that these images accurately convey the essence of not only religious, but also scientific methods of cognition.

IN real life all these types of cognition are interconnected and mutually enriched. The experimental-rationalistic type cannot exist without the philosophical. Common sense is constantly enriched by conclusions, postulates of philosophical and experimental-rationalistic knowledge. Over time, new types of social cognition may also arise.

For a sociologist, the philosophical type of understanding social reality is of particular importance, since sociology, like many sciences, emerged from the depths of philosophy, is associated with it, and not only by its origin, but also by some common features of the method.

For many centuries of its development, philosophy has developed the highest forms of theoretical knowledge. It was within the framework of philosophy that the methods of analysis and synthesis of knowledge, generalization, movement from the singular to the general, from elementary phenomena to the essence, reached perfection. Philosophical thinking is characterized not only by universality, but also by integrity, consistency, conceptual understanding of the object.

At the same time, the philosophical method of comprehending social reality has limits of application. Philosophy, in its methods, is a predominantly speculative, contemplative science. Her cognitive techniques (for example, a thought experiment) give meaningful results only when comprehending the “eternal” problems of human existence: freedom, conscience, the meaning of life, happiness, etc. It is for the solution of such common human problems (which arise and repeat in everyone's life) that it is not so important how strictly the facts are selected, whether the number of observation units is sufficient for certain conclusions. After all it comes about the identification of general trends concerning both any person and humanity as a whole.

When knowledge of real phenomena is required, the answer to specific questions, then the limitations of attempts at their speculative solution are revealed.

TOthe middle of the XIX century. the needs of social development and the internal logic of the evolution of the science of society led to an urgent need for a new model, a type of social knowledge.

Founder of Sociology Auguste Comte(1798-1857) he focused his main efforts on developing a fundamentally new positive social science, which would overcome the speculativeness of the philosophical (metaphysical) method.

According to Comte, the science of society should rely on observable, fixed and recurring phenomena, tendencies, exclude purely speculative, mystical elements that cannot be verified, refuse questions to which, in principle, there is no answer, which cannot be confirmed or refuted by the facts established under observation.

Considering the problem of the method of studying social phenomena, Comte, on the one hand, emphasized the special significance of the fact, on the other hand, he consistently opposed the “naked” empiricism, reducing science to the selection and interpretation of facts without trying to build any theoretical model of the phenomenon under study on the basis of facts ... Empirical material, according to Comte, must be controlled by theory, otherwise sociology will achieve nothing but a conglomerate of isolated, random facts.

The great French sociologist played a huge role in the development and approval of the method of sociology Emile Durkheim(1858- 1917), who devoted a number of special studies to this problem.

For E. Durkheim, sociology is primarily the study and explanation of social facts. Let's highlight two main ideas.

1."Social facts must be viewed as things."

This statement is shocking at first glance. However, by his statement, Durkheim strove to emphasize that social phenomena should be studied as carefully, impartially, scrupulously as natural phenomena in the natural sciences, since it would never occur to anyone to judge the strength of the current, its power only on the basis of intuitive insights ...

E. Durkheim established in sociology respect for the fact, empirical verifiability, evidence.

2. The second important thesis of E. Durkheim, of course, also entered the treasury of sociological science: "Social facts must be explained by other social facts."This statement innarrow sense of the word means that social facts mainly should be explained not by biological, geographical and similar circumstances, conditions, but primarily by social: the nature of human interaction, the "rules of the game", the values \u200b\u200bthat they are guided by in a particular situation.

Great role Max Weber (1864-1920) in the formation and development of the method of sociology. The fact that a sociologist should rely on facts in his theoretical constructions is indisputable for Weber, as well as the fact that we are dealing with a special reality that lives according to its own laws, and therefore social facts should be explained primarily by social reasons , facts. But the reality of people, or social reality, is decidedly different from nature in that subjects fill their actions with meaning. Therefore, the actions of people cannot be judged only by their outwardly observable consequences, which can have dozens of interpretations, if the motives of these actions are not understood. Therefore, given motivation as a specificity of social phenomena, analysis of the meaning of actions, their understandingand becomes the most important fundamental principle of sociological interpretation of social phenomena.

So, general characteristics sociological method is that sociology seeks gain knowledge (and not form an estimate consciousness)about social phenomena in accordance with the highest criteria of scientific character, but taking into account the peculiarities of social life.Indeed, very often, both in the early stages of the development of sociology and in the recent past (positivism and neopositivism), a positive desire to meet the criteria of scientific knowledge (and the standard of such knowledge was considered knowledge of natural science) led to the leveling, denial of the specifics of social knowledge in general.

Features of sociological research:

- Ideological neutrality: sociology focuses on obtaining ideologically neutral knowledge, independent of the social position of the researcher. This is important for all branches of scientific knowledge!

- Concrete, differentiated analysis of social life: sociology seeks to comprehend society, social life not as an extremely abstract abstraction, but as a reality,trying with sufficient completeness to grasp and express in their positions and theories its internal heterogeneity and differentiation. When studying a particular social phenomenon, sociology seeks to know specific mechanisms, dependencies, connections, to obtain not only reliable, but also, if possible, specific and detailed knowledge that could be used in practice.

- The unity of the theoretical and the empirical in sociology: there are two main ways of obtaining sociological knowledge: empirical(a way to get specific facts about social reality) and theoretical(a way of describing and analyzing the facts obtained).

For more than 100 years in sociological science, with a certain regularity, there has been renewed discussion of the relationship between theory and empiricism. At the same time, two extremes emerged: the tendency to absolutize the empirical principle of sociology and the tendency to neglect, underestimate it. The supporters of the empirical principle, actively engaged in applied sociological research, see their task in the fact that, at best, theoretically, neutral, dispassionately describe the results obtained, group them, classify them. Everything that is not confirmed by concrete facts, figures, they perceive as inventions of theorists, the result of their theoretical arbitrariness and pressure, which cannot be called science.

The supporters of empiricism in sociology have played a huge role in improving the methods of sociological research. Largely thanks to their efforts, an empirical base has been created on which sociology, social psychology, ethnography, etc. are based.

At the same time, neglect of the theoretical component can be costly for sociology. This should not be forgotten by Russian sociologists, who have recently given clear preference to operational sociological polls of public opinion; obtaining empirical information sometimes becomes an end in itself.

The leading role of theory affects primarily in the following.

Facts, even those carefully selected, the most striking and unexpected, are meaningless in themselves; they are nothing more than statistics. Only a theoretical model is able to logically combine these facts, give them a semantic explanation, interpretation, describe the integral social phenomenon;

Theory is always a kind of beacon of empirical
research. The researcher is aware or not aware of this, namely
theory, theoretical conception, hypothesis, idea provide guidelines
(sometimes intuitively) about what to study, how to study,
why study.

For sociology, empirical research is only a means (and not an end in itself), designed to provide a factual basis, the basis of a theoretical search.

Research scheme in sociology:

Theoretical model, idea, concept → Theoretical hypothesis → Empirical research → Refined theoretical model and (or) the formation of new theoretical models, ideas, hypotheses

Hypotheses are not unconnected inferences. They are always based on one or more theories. The theory is a statement containing a system of interrelated hypotheses. Empirical research gathers information about the facts of social life.

So, the constituent parts of sociological knowledge are facts, hypotheses and theories.

Sociological methods are the rules and methods for with the help of which a connection is established between facts, hypotheses and theories.

N. Smelzer identifies five main approaches to the study of society and public relations, a person in society.

Religion-one of the necessary and historically earliest forms of knowledge.The main purpose of religion-determination of the meaning of human life, the existence of nature and society... Based on the experience accumulated by mankind, it regulates the most important manifestations of human life: behavior in the family and in everyday life, moral prescriptions, attitude to work, nature, society, and the state. Justifying its idea of \u200b\u200bthe ultimate meanings of the universe, religion contributes to the understanding of the unity of the world and humanity. It contains systems of truths that can change a person and his life. A special feature of religious doctrines is that they express collective experience and therefore are authoritative not only for every believer, but also for non-believers.

Religious doctrines are designed to answer the questions: Is there a God? How to know it? And is it possible to know God? Religion embodies its vision of the world in the texts of Holy Scripture, as well as in the procedure and objects of religious worship, each element of which has a symbolic meaning. As A.F. Losev, "in itself an incomprehensible divine essence appears and reveals itself in certain faces."

The temple, the icon, not to mention the texts of Holy Scripture, have a deeply symbolic content. Religious symbolism contains a balance of idea and image. In the icon, the idea of \u200b\u200bGod is given concretely, visually, in its entirety. Although the image of God, represented in the faces, is not reducible to them, but with the help of the image it appears in a rich, versatile and multifaceted semantic interpretation. Christian symbolism is multifaceted and multidimensional, suggesting different levels of understanding, initiation into the sacrament of the transcendent, supernatural world.

As a specific form of consciousness, religion relies on the mechanisms of beliefs, beliefs, knowledge (everyday experience). Religious faith is supported by reflection, arises or strengthens through comprehension of the tragic experience of an individual (the threat of death or loss of loved ones), which prompts him to radically change his life and way of thinking. According to the testimony of believers, religious faith can arise in the act of religious revelation.

Religion has developed its own specific methods of intuitive-mystical awareness of the world and man. These include revelation and meditation.

Concept revelationsformed in the process of evolution of religious ideas. Initially, it was considered as a gift of special chosen ones of higher powers who, in a state of trance, speak on their behalf (soothsayers, shamans, holy fools, etc.). Christianity views revelation as the result of the intense self-absorption of the individual to whom the truth is revealed. The truth of revelation is not an object of seeking, but the result of divine will, which chooses this or that person as a means of personal comprehension (“I am ... the truth,” says Christ). Christian theology points to the hierarchical nature of revelation: the New Testament, Old Testament, texts of the church fathers. In contrast to the orthodox understanding of revelation, representatives of the reformist movement in Christianity claim that any person is able to communicate with God and receive revelation from Him. Constant appeal to the texts of Holy Scripture allows the believer to discover new truths in them, empathize with the subtle nuances of semantic shades, check their own life with them and rethink it.

Meditation- reflection, immersion of the mind in an object, an idea, the world, which is achieved through deep mental concentration on one object and the elimination of all extraneous factors that distract a person's attention. In religion, meditation means the dissolution of the individual consciousness in the Absolute. In Christianity, meditation is interpreted as the fusion of human and divine personality. The course of meditation, as a rule, is associated with a certain sequence of actions that add up to the natural process of reflection. It involves the use of a number of psychotechnical techniques. At the same time, the believer uses meditation, prayer, not for self-development or knowledge, but for merging with the divine principle, for communication with God. The effectiveness of meditation is also recognized by science - primarily as a cognitive device: the systems of psychotechnics and autogenic training, designed for a therapeutic effect, are not associated with religious and mystical ideas.