On universal definition of religion
The author gives these keywords: eclecticism, sophistry, dialectics, the V. S. Solovyov’s definition of religion, The Absolute, objective and subjective religiosity, the basic question of religion.
There are three general methods of determening the essence of religion - eclecticism (this term means using a lot of styles), sophistry and dialectics. As methods, they are mutually compared. The author tried to construct an universal definition of the word "religion". He started from the well-known definition of V. S. Solovyov – “religion is a human relationship with The Absolute”- people usually think that this definition is a stimbling block in philosophy of religion. The author also think about two main levels of religiosity - objective (a form of public relationship with the God) and subjective (a form of individual relationship with the God). He says, that there are three main questions in each religion - "1) Who or What is The Absolute? 2) how one can know The Absolute? 3) how people should relate to The Absolute in practice?" He also underlines the most believable definitions of religion: "a sense of human dependence on the infinite"; "symbols of primitive myths about the nature"; faith in invisible spiritual beings; "personification of powerful natural forces and request for mercy"; "fantastic reflection in the form of unearthly forces such external circumstances that prevail over man "; "a sense of the sacred"; "the relationship with the Holy"; "the experience of the sacred" and many others. He speaks about 7 images of The Absolute :
1) a person (Judaism, Christianity*, Islam, Hinduism);
2) Impersonal transcendent Being as the absolute source of all existence (Hinduism);
3) The Absolute, inherent in every human being (Hinduism, Buddhism, Holy Spirit in Christianity).
4) The Ultimate Goal (nirvana in Buddhism, Jainism);
5) The heavenly constellation of gods reaching a common goal (kami in Shintoism, spirits in religions of American Indians);
6) The Absolut, erected on the basis of revelation of the founder of a religion (Dharmakaya);
7) The Absolute as the universal eternal law (Dharma, Tao, Dhamma, Logos, Torah).
In conclusion I will add that this article can help modern philosophy and culturology to "sort the things out".
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* Here I'll say that I am not agree with Mr.Pivovarov at all, because Christianity underlines, that the God is not a person, but Spirit. According to Holy Scriptures, the belief that God is a person is heresy. Because christians (both orthodox and catholics) differ from the other deists and theists because of their believe in the transcendent Absolute.
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