January 19th, 2018 , 06:03 am

IN last years You can often hear the phrase “Christian values.” This is said exclusively about manifestations of goodness and justice. Did Christianity really bring these feelings and virtues into the world, or can they also be inherent in representatives of the rest (most) of humanity?
Holy Bible- a work of enormous volume, so you can only refer to its most famous moments on this topic. For example, the Ten Commandments.

- I am the Lord your God... let you have no other gods before me.
- Do not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything that is in the sky above, that is on the earth below, or that is in the water below the earth. Do not worship them or serve them; For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
- Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Work six days and do all your work; and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your maidservant, nor your livestock, nor the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.
“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
- Dont kill.
- Don't commit adultery.
- Don't steal.
- Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- Do not covet your neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

But they were bequeathed by God to Moses, and therefore are given in the Old Testament. That is, they almost completely correspond to what is written in the Jewish Torah. The third Abrahamic religion - Islam, also contains approximately the same calls to man. As for Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and other religions of East Asia, they are even softer in this regard: rude treatment of any living beings is prohibited. Maybe the pagans, the Romans and the Greeks, did not observe these principles? Complied. This is evidenced by numerous written sources of that time. It is difficult to say how the atheists of that time behaved, due to their extreme small number. But more is known about today’s people: for example, during my military service I was in a closed group. Some harshness of life and lack of comfort could push people to do ugly things towards each other. But this did not happen, although no one remembered God, instinctively observing the third commandment. But they violated something (not of their own free will): on Saturdays they cleaned up the barracks.
Christ, during Sermon on the Mount, set priorities:
- Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is similar to it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
In principle, nothing new compared to the Old Testament. It is not entirely clear, however, who should be considered neighbors - only relatives or even those who happen to be nearby? Most likely, the second option, because... people don't need to be told to love their loved ones. In this case, you can see how this call was carried out in different periods history of mankind. At a time when Christianity was real, that is, people lived with God in their souls, relations between them were quite tense: any offense was punished cruelly. And today in Europe, when the religiosity of the population has fallen to an unprecedented level, all kinds of freedoms and respect for the individual have flourished. That is, the most careful implementation of the principle “love your neighbor as yourself” is observed.
A paradox, and that's all...

Despite the brutal persecution of Christians, the number of Christian sects grew inexorably, nothing could stop this process. The wealthy and educated layers of society gradually began to get used to the dispossessed and slaves. What was it about Christian teaching that attracted people so much? Apparently, there are a number of its features.

Firstly, the idea of ​​​​the equality of all people before God, the idea that for God there is neither a Greek nor a Jew, contrasted with the ancient idea of ​​​​the naturalness of inequality, the opposition of Hellenes and barbarians, and later Romans and barbarians. At one time, Aristotle created a classic rationale for the naturalness of slavery, which was shared by most of his contemporaries, as well as their descendants.

Secondly, humanity as absolute goodness, the preaching of love and compassion, the complete selflessness of this love, the abolition of bloody sacrifices and other inhumane rituals. If the culture of classical antiquity was dominated by the Platonic understanding of justice as proportional reciprocity, then the Christian unselfishness of love for one's neighbor was manifested in the amazing call to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, to bless those who curse us.

Finally, apparently an important role in the spread of Christianity was played by its appeal to the irrational sphere of the universe and the inner world of man himself, that is, faith as a special emotional-volitional state of exaggeration, feelings, experiences, mystical intuition, divine revelation. This is precisely the area that attracted little attention from the ancient classical genius with his rationalism, boundless confidence in the power of the human mind and love for everything clear, distinct, logically consistent and justified. Thus, Aristotle and his followers, studying the unconscious in man, ultimately turned away from this “abyss”, incomprehensible to the Greek genius. All this led to the natural defeat of the ancient logos-reason in a clash with the Christian irrational-religious faith.

Already by the 2nd century, the early Christian Episcopal Church was organized. Temples and monasteries arose in which the craft, literary and artistic life of adherents of the new religion was concentrated. The Church grew stronger economically and politically, and, taking this into account, the Roman Emperor Constantine I (the Great) in 312 issued the so-called Edict of Milan, which gave Christianity equal rights with other religions.

In the middle of the 4th century. Christianity received the status of the state religion of the Roman Empire and soon divided into two main directions with their own characteristics in dogmas and rituals - Eastern and Western (Orthodox and Roman Catholic). The final division of the churches was completed in 1054. And in August 410, the Visigothic king Alaric captured Rome with the help of slaves who opened the gates to the barbarians at night. The Visigoths sacked the Eternal City. Following them, the Vandals visited Rome in 455. What these Christian converts accomplished there during their fourteen-day stay forever made the name of this Germanic tribe a household name. Libraries burned - luxurious collections of philosophical, scientific, artistic works; temples, palaces, Roman roads and bridges were destroyed. And although it is conventionally believed that the Western Roman Empire ended its existence in 476, the year of the abdication of the last Western Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus, in reality it had already died by that time. Slavery turned out to be a kind of time bomb that blew up ancient civilization and culture from within.

The most important task of the church was to educate the masses in the spirit of Christianity. It was a long and difficult process. Missionaries were sent to all corners of Europe, and the new religion gradually took over the barbarian world. But conversion to Christianity in itself did not mean that yesterday’s pagans would accept new ideas about the world and God, learn new moral standards - in a word, become Christians in practice, and not formally. Moreover, baptism often took place forcibly and the attitude towards pagans was completely inconsistent with Christian humanism.

It was necessary to change people's consciousness, and parish priests played a big role in this. In the parish, at the lower level of the church organization, the priest explained to his parishioners the meaning of the teachings of Christ, instilled the concept of sin and virtue. The sacrament of confession had enormous civilizing significance: it forced a person to evaluate his own actions and thoughts, taught him to self-discipline and self-restraint.

At the same time, the church, as a rule, made compromises with mass consciousness, trying to attract people to itself and realizing that complex theological problems were not accessible to everyone. For the “simple people”, special literature was created in which the dogma of Christianity was simplified and even modified, adapting to popular beliefs. “Popular” theology was adapted to the popular consciousness.

At the same time, under the influence of the Christian value system, people's consciousness changed significantly. Ideals that were different from the pagan ones and new ideas about man and the world were gradually consolidated in it.

The most important dogma of Christianity is the belief in one omnipotent and all-good God. Moreover, the concept of God that is decisive for Christianity is that he is God the Father, God the Love, and people are the children of God. The next cardinal idea is the incarnation of God, the incarnation of God. Its essence is that God the Father, in his infinite love for people, accepted a human body, lived in it according to the laws of the material world, suffered and died as a man, being innocent. With this sacrifice he atoned for the sins of people and saved them for eternal life. God incarnate is the Son of God, the Savior (Christ). And therefore, you can come to God the Father only through faith in Christ. Finally, another very important idea of ​​Christianity is faith in the Kingdom of God (Heaven). The Kingdom of Heaven is the divine world where people must ultimately come to unite with God for eternal blissful life. But already on earth, every person can accept him into his soul by a feat of faith and love (“The Kingdom of God is within you.”)

If we accept the significance of these ideas for culture as a way of cultivating and disseminating values, then it is obvious that Christianity considers earthly, visible, natural existence to be imperfect and subject to overcoming. But this does not mean that it rejects all earthly values. On the contrary, it affirms the human soul as the highest earthly value. She is above all earthly blessings and more important than the world in general (“what’s the point if you gain the whole world and lose your soul”). Of course, every soul deserves love on its own, and not in connection with certain human merits. Secondly, in this way, the love of man for man is affirmed as a value. Thirdly, if the soul is more important than all earthly goods and the world as a whole, and if you should love another person not for something, but in a brotherly way, then another value introduced by Christianity for cultivation is freedom. Freedom, as the highest human heritage, shines through all the ideas of Christianity. But most intensely it can be expressed in the feat of faith. Faith in Christ, in his coming, resurrection, in the fact that he saved people and the whole world, is so inconsistent with everyday life, does not agree with senseless suffering, the death of a huge number of people, illnesses, wars, insignificance, baseness, etc. that accepting it looks like madness.

Christianity is a religion of salvation. For him, the essence of the history of the world is the falling away of humanity (in the person of Adam and Eve) from God, which subjugated man to the power of sin, evil, death, and the subsequent return to the Creator of the prodigal son who realized his behavior. This return is led by the descendants of Abraham, with whom God makes a “covenant” (agreement) and gives them a “law” (rules of behavior). The goal of the Old Testament righteous men and prophets turns into a ladder ascending to God. But even guided from above, even a holy person cannot be completely cleansed, and then the incredible happens: God incarnates, he himself becomes a man, or rather a God-man, by virtue of his miraculous birth “from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary”, free from sin. God the word, the Savior, the Son of God appears as the Son of Man, a preacher from Galilee and voluntarily accepts a shameful death on the cross. He descends into hell, frees the souls of those who do good, resurrects on the third day, appears to the disciples, and soon ascends to heaven. A few more days later, the Holy Spirit descends on the apostles and gives them the strength to fulfill Jesus’ commandment - to preach the Gospel to all nations. Christian piety combines ethics based on love for one's neighbor with the feat of faith, which leads through the “narrow gates” to the Kingdom of Heaven. Its goal is the deification of the believer, i.e. transition to eternal life with God is achieved through the cooperation (synergy) of human efforts and God's grace.

Aurelius Augustine (354-430) puts at the center of his attention the problem of evil in man and the fight against evil, the cause of which he initially considered matter, the flesh. Augustine believes that God created man righteous, but with a will capable of good and evil. Adam and Eve abused their freedom, sinned, stained their soul with pride and selfishness, and the fallen soul infected the body, which became its master from the servant of the soul. The destiny of the descendants of Adam is to be in the power of the devil who seduced them, to carry within themselves original sin, with early childhood adding to it the sins of his fellow tribesmen and his own. The human will became capable only of evil that was not created by God. It is not something that really exists, but the action of the free will of people who wished to move away from the Creator. And so, evil is only the absence of good, removal from it.

God's mercy opened the way for people to salvation through the redeeming power of the incarnation, suffering and death of Christ. Augustine had his own vision of the dogma of the trinity of God: Lover (Father), Beloved (Son) and Love (Holy Spirit), which, after the ascension of Christ, the Father and the Son together send to the church. Salvation does not depend on the will and merits of man, but is conditioned by grace, the action of God. But justification by grace does not apply to everyone. God, in his omniscience, knew that few would take advantage of his gifts, and predestined a minority destined for bliss, while leaving the sinful majority to perish.

How can a Christian be sure of his salvation? How to maintain the right faith? This is where the role of the church comes to the fore. The Church is the bearer of religious and moral tradition, passed from Christ to the apostles, and then to their disciples; it is also the sphere of the real presence of Christ, who gives the infallibility of faith. The creation of a doctrine about the church and its organization became the most important tasks for Christianity.

Sergei Bortnik, associate professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy, thought about it and decided to figure out what the difference is between universal and Christian values.
I wonder what values ​​guide you?

– Sergey, what kind of concept are “universal human values”? How are they different from Christians?

– I think there may be different answers to this question. For example, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Christian mission outside Europe was active. And then “universal” meant rather the fundamental commonality between the then traditional Christianity of Europe and local culture, in which visiting Christian missionaries preached.

Today, “universal values” are sometimes associated with the common heritage of Judaism and Christianity. In this case, reliance is placed on our Old Testament, and from it in a special way The Ten Commandments of Moses stand out. These commandments are given so that people can live in a society of followers of one God, but the emphasis is still placed on earthly life and earthly success.

You can remember the commandment “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” IN ordinary consciousness It is often believed that this is a commandment of revenge, which does not command forgiveness to the offender. However, in fact, this is a commandment of limitation - for a knocked out tooth, you can knock out only one tooth, and not break the entire jaw.

Such values ​​are the first stage of Christianity: we are recognized to become human and have respect for other people. If we're talking about about purely “Christian values”, then these are rather the Beatitudes set out in the Gospel of Matthew. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” or “blessed are those who hunger for righteousness” - this is already a search for what is above, a desire to go beyond the limits of the self-sufficiency of our this-worldly existence.

And “universal human values” can have another meaning. It is related to post-war time the creation of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. Its first article reads: “All men are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and must act towards each other in a spirit of brotherhood.”

Does anyone see echoes here? French Revolution 1789, someone offers conspiratorial versions about the influence of humanistic ideology and Freemasonry. However, I think that for Europe (and this should include Ukraine) this is often an unwritten standard. Criticism of the slave trade, torture, and the presumption of innocence are normative for our consciousness.

And in this sense, our set of “Christian values” is correlated with this common heritage of European culture. For example, for a long time slavery existed quite happily in Christian societies, but today it looks more like savagery.

– Absolutely all people: believers, atheists, want to be happy. However, there are different paths to happiness, and some of them are not approved by the Church. Is it so?

– Various aspects must be taken into account. On the one hand, happiness can be fleeting and euphoric, followed by disappointment. That's why Christian church is intended to talk about the complexity of life, that momentary pleasures can lead to sad consequences.

One example is the happiness of having a child. Today our society is experiencing a shortage of permanent relationships. Marriages are created, but often collapse without lasting even one or two years. And some women choose the option of “having a child for themselves.” Yes, it can bring happiness. But this is also a huge responsibility towards the child.

Or an example from the same area - regarding classes with a priest for couples who are going to get married. To realize that happiness is not found only for oneself, that in a family you need to give more than you take, that the skills of sacrifice are important - this is what the priest should tell young people who are going through the stage of falling in love.
But there is another problem. People often associate churchliness with frowning seriousness and joylessness. The Church in such a situation is perceived as a system of prohibitions that offers almost no alternative.
The other day I watched the Italian film “I Prefer Heaven” about the medieval saint Philip Neri. The film emphasizes the idea that Christianity should bring joy to a person, that to be with God means to experience and show love and mercy. Accordingly, a big question arises for us Christians: to what extent do we embody this joy, love and mercy in our lives? Let us remember the words of the Gospel: “By this they will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for each other.”

– In order for values ​​to become universal, is it necessary for all of humanity to participate in their formation? However, every nation has its own values. What is good for Western Europe, for example, is bad for China...

- Yes you are right. If we build “universal human values” according to a common denominator, that is, without taking into account everything that is absent in one of the generally recognized world cultures, then their meaning is emasculated. For example, even today in India, casteism persists, in South Africa there are elements of racism and apartheid, i.e., the separation of people with different skin colors.

Issues of caste and racism are alien to us. And therefore, in my opinion, Ukraine should rather focus on European Christian standards. Some believe that today's Europe is moving away from traditional Christian values. We can partially agree with this. Nevertheless, mentally we are in the sphere of influence of European culture, Christian in its roots.

– N. Lossky defined: “Value is something all-pervasive, determining the meaning of the whole world as a whole, and of every person, and of every event, and of every action.”
Christian values ​​are concepts on which a Christian relies when achieving main goal- salvation, or deification. What are the goals of a person guided by universal human values?

– In interpreting Christian values, I still prefer to appeal to the words of Christ that the main commandments are love of God and love of neighbor. Often, “salvation” can have a smack of spiritual egoism - I pray to myself, but what happens to the world and the people around me is indifferent to me.

Regarding universal human values, I will give the following example. I once participated in a dialogue with the Finnish Lutheran Church. After the official part, we talked with a local pastor about the notorious problem of homosexuality. As you know, our Church condemns same-sex sexual relations and justifies this with a number of indications from Holy Scripture.

And this pastor approached the issue with complete unexpected side. He said: “I have a wife and a family and that makes me happy. If a person with such inclinations is happy in his peculiar family, then I have nothing against it.” This is an approach when the desire for happiness of one’s neighbor may contradict traditional Christian values.

And it seems to me that there is no simple answer. We are all sinful to one degree or another. We all need the Church as a hospital that heals and connects us with God. And happiness as a universal human value and even a dream is our value.

For Christians, happiness is spiritual in nature; it is formulated in the form of “beatitudes.” But I myself do not dare to impose such forms of happiness on others. I am a supporter of the idea that people with little church or even non-believers should be convinced of the truth of our faith through our example. Christian life.

Recorded by Natalya Goroshkova

What does the term “Christian values” mean, and what are they?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:

The expression of Christian values ​​arose only in the 20th century, when Western philosophy developed a theory of values ​​called axiology(Greek axia - value and logos - teaching, word). Value is the significance of a known object (ideal or material) in relation to the goals, aspirations and needs of a person. Concept moral value first appears in the ethics of I. Kant. He wrote: “The essence of any moral value of actions is that the moral law directly determines the will” (Critique of Practical Reason. Chapter 3. On the motives of practical reason). An attempt to systematically develop the category value The first was undertaken by Rudolf Lotze (1817 - 1881). He looked at the person as microcosm, for which values ​​have unconditional significance, since the basis of the world is God as the Supreme Personality. The works of R. G. Lotze defined a direction in philosophy (W. Windelband, E. Husserl, G. Rickert, G. Cohen, P. Natorp, M. Scheler), which opposed ethical naturalism and relativism in the doctrine of values. Thus, Max Scheler wrote: “there are authentic And true quality values ​​that form their own area items who have their own special relationships and interconnections, and already as value quality can be, for example, higher and lower, etc. But if this is so, then between them there may exist order And hierarchy, which are completely independent of being peace of blessings, in which they manifest themselves, equally from the movement and change of this world of goods in history, they are also “a priori” in relation to its comprehension" ( Formalism in ethics and material ethics of values).

Contrary to this understanding of nature values representatives of various ideological movements tried to prove the relativity of values. Consistently carried out relativism in axiology inevitably leads to materialism, and in ethics - to nihilism. This was most destructively manifested in the philosophy of F. Nietzsche and in Marxism.

Karl Marx: “Communists do not preach any morality at all... They do not make moral demands on people: love each other, do not be selfish, etc.; they, on the contrary, know very well that both egoism and selflessness are, under certain circumstances, a necessary form of self-affirmation for individuals” (“German Ideology”).

F. Nietzsche: “Essentially in my word immoralist there are two negatives. I deny, firstly, the type of person that has hitherto been considered the highest - kind, benevolent, beneficent; I deny, secondly, that kind of morality which, as morality in itself, has achieved significance and dominance... In this sense, Zarathustra calls the good “ the last people", then "the beginning of the end"; first of all, he understands them as the most harmful kind of people, for they defend their existence at the expense of the truth, as well as at the expense of the future” (“Ecce Homo. How to become themselves”). In 1943, B. Mussolini received as a gift from A. Hitler for his sixtieth birthday full meeting works of F. Nietzsche.

Relativism in the understanding of values, taken to its logical conclusion, cost the lives of hundreds of millions of people in Russia, Germany and some other countries.

Christianity proceeds from the understanding of value as an absolute good that has significance in any relationship and for any subject. Christian values ​​are not limited to the Gospel commandments and moral rules. They make up a whole system.

The highest good, which is the source of all other values, for a Christian is the God-revealed truth about Holy Trinity as an absolutely perfect Spirit. The deity is not only absolute Reason and Omnipotence, but also by all-perfect Goodness and Love ( There is a God of love). This truth, confirmed by centuries of spiritual experience, is, as it were, senior management in the hierarchy of Christian values, because it is the source faith, which is the formative beginning of the Christian worldview. In the system of Christian values, the most important place is also given to the doctrine of uniqueness human personality as an immortal, spiritual being created by God in His image and likeness.

Christian teaching opens high meaning and purpose life man - bliss in the Kingdom of Heaven. The doctrine of salvation also occupies a vital place in the system of Christian values. On this path, the Word of God calls for comprehensive, spiritual improvement (be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect). This is achieved through the joint action of Divine grace and free will. Value gospel commandments, is determined by the fact that they are given to us by the Lord as spiritual laws, the fulfillment of which leads us into eternal life.

Finally, it must be said about an important component of the system of Christian values ​​- conciliar spiritual experience Church, which is captured in liturgical texts, the works of the holy fathers and the lives of saints.

Christian values ​​are a great asset to humanity, but they become a blessed treasure only for those who follow the path of salvation. A person makes a choice. “There is enough light for those who want to see, and enough darkness for those who do not want to” (B. Pascal).

In our country, every person, perhaps, has in one way or another encountered the concept of “the value of Christian life” in the most different situations. Some people share them, others categorically reject them, but it is rare to find a clear understanding of the subject being discussed. In this article we will look at what the term “Christian values” means, what they are, and how this concept is changing in the modern dynamic world.

What are values?

Let's start with general concept. These are ideas that are shared and approved by the majority of people in a particular society, ideas about goodness, nobility, justice and similar categories. Such values ​​are the ideal and standard for the majority; they strive for them and try to follow them. Society itself establishes and changes them, and each culture has its own set of significant values.

Accordingly, if values ​​are an ideal for people, then the main Christian values ​​are a standard and example for everyone who considers themselves to be any of the many Christian movements. Of course, first we should talk about eternal ideas, one way or another inherent in any variety of Christianity.

There are some points here in which human value and Christian value differ. Christianity defines value as a certain absolute good that has meaning for all people, regardless of what religion a person belongs to, if at all.

Values ​​of Christian Life

From the speeches of modern Christian authorities (who, of course, draw on a long tradition) it first appears that all important ideas come from God. He sends down to people moral laws, knowledge about how to avoid fears, evil, illnesses, how to live in harmony with your environment and - most importantly - with your family. Thus, it is from him that information comes about the only true, according to Christians, way of life.

For every Christian main value, of course, is God in his Triune form. This implies the perception of God as a perfect Spirit. The second is the Bible - the Word of God, which in Christianity is the most authoritative source. In fact, a person must check his every action against this indisputable source. The third value is the Holy Church, for each movement of Christianity it is different. The church in this case is understood not as a temple or special place for prayer, but as a community of people united together to support each other's faith in Jesus Christ. Including, the sacraments of the Church are also important here, such as baptism, wedding, communion and some others.

If you do not understand the subtleties of the differences between different directions in Christianity - Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism in its various types, different kinds of sects - then in general we can say that each of them has its own understanding of the Triune God. Of course, it coincides at least partially, and is fundamentally integral, which does not prevent one denomination from considering another as a heretical delusion, which is very difficult to save and set on the true path. Therefore, it will be easier to consider Christian moral values ​​in the context of the movement most familiar to us - Orthodoxy.

History of the concept

It would seem that the origin of ideas must have ancient roots. In fact, the concept of “Christian values” only appeared in the 20th century. At this time, axiology was formed in the West - a science that studies important value ideas. It was then that the need arose to try to more or less clearly formulate the basic values ​​of Christian life.

Family life

They are of particular importance in the process of formation Christian family. Now they like to talk about the destruction of traditional family axiological ideas, which, of course, are understood as Orthodox and unconditional values.

The Christian family and its values ​​are an extremely important element in Orthodoxy. Tradition plays an important role here, which is understood as the basis of the family way of life. These are established and established forms of behavior, customs that are passed on from the older generation to the younger. Within the framework of this understanding, in a Christian family the head must certainly be the husband, the wife becomes the keeper of the home, and children must unquestioningly obey and honor their parents. The values ​​of upbringing in a Christian family are focused primarily on the spiritual life of the child, therefore, in parallel with secular upbringing, children are taught Sunday schools and are taught to regularly attend church and observe church rituals.

However, raising children does not begin with this, but with what the relationship between parents looks like. The child perceives all the subtleties very well and gets accustomed to them from childhood. In the future, he will consider the relationship between mother and father to be the norm. First of all, we are talking about spiritual relationships and connections between parents. Therefore, it is important to treat each other with respect, love and understanding - however, this extends far beyond the Christian family.

IN family life the child masters not only norms of behavior, but also other forms of spiritual culture, therefore in Christianity it is especially important to cultivate appropriate ideas in children.

Eight Eternal Values

Relatively recently, the Russian Orthodox Church, after numerous discussions on this topic in the political and social environment, compiled a list of eight axiological concepts. They do not correspond directly with the above-mentioned Christian values. Let's take a closer look at this list.

Justice

In the list of the Russian Orthodox Church, this item implies equality of rights, first of all, political. For justice to be realized, it is necessary that the courts be fair, there is no corruption and poverty, and social and political freedoms are guaranteed to everyone. Thus, a person must take a worthy place in society.

This understanding of justice does not directly correlate with its Christian perception, which clearly does not imply legal aspects. In a sense, worldly justice embodied is evil for a Christian.

Liberty

Again, this concept is more of a legal one. Freedom is freedom of speech, entrepreneurship, freedom to choose religion or, for example, place of residence. Thus, freedom presupposes the right to independence, self-determination and independence of Russians.

Such freedom is good for a Christian if it is closely connected with church dogmas and promotes adherence to Christian values. After all, at the very beginning biblical history, at the moment of the Fall, decisive role The ill-fated freedom of choice played a role in the fate of people. Since then, people have not become wiser, and they often use such freedom not for their own benefit - at least from a Christian point of view. In this understanding, freedom in the absence of God in society is just as evil.

Solidarity

Solidarity here is understood as the ability to unite with other people in difficult situations and share difficulties with them. This power of connection ensures the integrity and unity of the nation.

Of course, this value in the Christian understanding can exist only when there is unification with fellow believers, and not with non-believers who are present in the composition Russian people. This is contrary to the words of the Bible.

Sobornost

By conciliarity we mean the unity of the people and the authorities in work for the benefit of the country and its citizens. This is the unity of a variety of cultural communities, combining spiritual and material values.

For Christians, unity can only exist when the government shares basic Christian values; otherwise, there can be no conciliarity, since Christians are not obliged to fulfill the demands of the government that are incompatible with their religion.

Self-restraint

That is, sacrifice. It is clear that this is a refusal of selfish behavior, the ability to sacrifice oneself for the good of the Motherland and the immediate environment, a refusal to use people and the world for one’s own purposes.

It would seem that the value is closest to Christianity, however, there are some nuances here too. In everything it is necessary to maintain moderation, and prudence is most applicable to sacrifice. Moreover, from the point of view of Christianity, there is no need to sacrifice oneself for the sake of heretics or infidels.

Thus, self-restraint extends to fellow Christians, who make up the body of the Church.

Patriotism

Faith in one’s country, in the Motherland, and the willingness to constantly work for its good also weakly correlates with Christian values, which do not imply attachment to a specific nation. This item from the list can also be questioned.

The good of man

Here the priority is established for human development, strict observance of his rights, both spiritual and material well-being - all together.

It is clear that in the perception of Christianity, no material values ​​​​can make a person happy; rather, on the contrary, they will bring him a lot of harm. Therefore, striving for any benefits other than Christian and spiritual ones does not bring anything good to a person and is condemned in every possible way by the church.

Family values

And finally, the last item on the list is Christian values ​​in the life of a modern family - love, care for elderly and young family members, fidelity.

If this is a marriage with Orthodox person, then, of course, these ideas work. Therefore, like everyone else, family values in Christianity are perceived through a religious prism.

Thus, all eight of the listed ideas, the list of which was compiled by the Russian Orthodox Church, fit into the system of Christian values ​​with some, sometimes very significant, restrictions. Universal human axiological ideas from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are combined with Christian ones insofar as, unfortunately. From this we can draw another conclusion: any value can become Christian if it is called such by an authoritative organization such as the Russian Orthodox Church.

Denial of Christianity

The denial of Christian values ​​is associated with the name of many philosophers and scientists. Perhaps the most striking example is Friedrich Nietzsche, who denied morality as such, arguing that all moral values ​​in the world are relative. His ideas are revealed especially clearly in the book Ecce Homo.

The denial of Christian values ​​was also propagated by communists, in particular by the ideologist of communism Karl Marx, who believed that egoism is a form of affirmation of the individual, and it is absolutely necessary.

It cannot be said that the followers of their ideas - the communists and, unfortunately, the Nazis - brought something positive to life; rather, exactly the opposite. Therefore, the idea of ​​value relativism is apparently good only in theory, but applying it in practice, as history shows, is quite difficult. However, the situation with Christian values ​​is no better: in the history of the spread of Christianity there are many sad and not at all peaceful pages.