Интеллект. Инновации. Инвестиции (May 2020)
Socio-philosophical substantiation of the theory of justice in the Holy Bible and in the teachings of the Church Fathers, M. Luther, J. Calvin
Abstract
The relevance of the study is that the analysis of the concept of justice in the Gospel and the Patristics is an important component of the construction of a general theory of natural justice, which has not been performed before. The purpose of this work is to conceptualize Christian justice from the standpoint of social philosophy. The research is carried out within the framework of philosophical comparativism, using an analytical-deductive comparative-historical approach, and identifying not similarities, but differences in similarities. The primary analytical system comprises the texts of the Old and New Testaments, the Epistles of the Apostles, the works of the Church Fathers, M. Luther, and J. Calvin. The secondary analytical system consists of the works of philosophers, theologians, sociologists and political scientists, devoted to the analysis of the concept of justice in the texts of Holy Scripture, Patristics, and the Reformers, performed before. As a structural model of the concept under study, the author has adopted an updated model of natural justice, created by Gagaev A. A.; the following structural elements are highlighted for analysis: truth/lie/delusion; righteousness/sinfulness; equality/inequality; private/ common property; coercion/free will; randomness/necessity; identity, identification, compatibility, deductibility, following of ethnicities; antinomy of nonviolence. The study found that justice in the framework of Christian doctrine is understood as a phenomenon inherent in God, and is evaluated as a desirable norm for a Christian. Divine justice is interpreted as a concept that combines absolute righteousness, truth, mercy, and good; human justice contains the antinomy of nonviolence, identity, and identification. In the teachings of the Reformers, the concept of justice evolves as follows: distinguished are the ruler’s justice, which allows violence for good purposes (the eradication and prevention of vice), and general justice, which does not allow violence in defense of oneself, but justifies violence in defense of one’s neighbor. The scientific novelty of the work consists in the conceptualization of justice (divine and human), the definition of epistemological, ontological, deontic, teleological, axiological, praxeological functions of Christian justice. The practical significance of the study is that the work can be used in a course of lectures on social philosophy. Further research should analyze the evolution of the concept of justice in the teachings of the primates and preachers of the Orthodox Church.
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