THE ATTITUDE OF THE CLERGY TOWARDS THE BODILY NURTURE AND PLAYING ENTERTAINMENTS IN THE PERIOD OF THE ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY

Abstract

Man in his education always tries to combine the mind, spirituality and the body. But in different historical times the essence of the man and his destination in the society was interpreted differently. The appearance and development of the ancient period gave a boost to the spiritual development and the struggle against the bodily upbringing. The man of that period was revealed as a spiritual person, but not as a natural and bodily being. That is why the question of the attitude of the church and the clergy to corporaleducation upbringing and playing entertainments is to be understood. Objective of the research: history of the physical nurture in the first half of the first millennium. Taskofresearch: on the basis of the analysis of the scientific, theoretical and methodological literature to show the views of the first church fathers of the period of the development of the ancient Christianity on the life of the person and their attitude to the body improvement and game entertainments. Results of the Work. The world view reference-points of influence of the church and clergy on the human of the period of the Christianity are exposed in this article. Opinions of the first fathers of the church about the destiny of a man are expounded. It is studied, how the clerics affected the human consciousness by their speeches, treatises and actions. The negative attitude of the clergymen to the corporal perfection and to the playing entertainments is thoroughly considered. The attitude of the clergy is shown towards calendar holidays with games and mass competitions in amphitheaters and the arenas of the circus. The attempt of the church to provide ideological prohibition to engage in physical exercises and in playing entertainments and participate in spectacles is reflected. Conclusions.In the ancient period the church and clergy gradually gained the influence in the society. By their public speeches and dogmas they affected the human consciousness. Conquering political rights, the church successively introduced a ban of physical exercises, entertainments and competitions. As a result, the connection of the physical and mental upbringing was broken. The man was considered by the church only as a spiritual creature and the essence of the man was not taken into account at all.

Keywords

• soul
• spirit
• development
• games
• playing
• entertainments
• spectacle