Russian Religious-Philosophical Renaissance as a Phenomenon of Spiritual Culture

Abstract

The radical transformation of Russian culture in the perestroika and post-perestroika period, inevitably led to a fundamental rethinking of the attitude to religion. Transformation of assessing the significance of religion for Russian culture can be represented in the form of a pendulum, sharply swinging in the direction from the militant, uncompromising atheism, which had the status of official ideology in the USSR, to unconditionally positive assessment of Orthodoxy as a religion traditional for Russia. To the point was described the degree of radicalism of changing attitudes to religion in contemporary Russia academician L. N. Mitrokhin’s speech at the III Congress of Philosophy. He noted that 15 years ago “official, escort godlessness was rejected” and “the era of religious euphoria, which were summed up in the belief that without religion (it was mostly about Orthodoxy) Russia has no future, was began”. (Rationality and culture on the threshold of the III Millennium, 2003, p. 84) The new status of religiosity in contemporary Russia makes a very topical solution of a number of questions. It is necessary to understand: first, why does a movement from atheism to religion take place. Secondly, weather there is any reason to suppose that Orthodoxy will become the spiritual leader in modern Russia. And thirdly, are the modern Russians in need of religion, and in which namely. Informed decision of these questions is possible only at referring to the study of the history of religion in Russia of the Soviet period and makes necessary the depth analysis of religious processes in modern Russia.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s4p103