Meetings with V. Rozanov. The essence of Christianity

Abstract

The article recounts the author’s debate with Rozanov on the essence of Christianity. The author notes the differences between the ideas of Christ and those of the Christian church, to the point of being complete opposites. One of the major differences between the teachings of Christ and of the Christian church is the cult of martyrs in Christianity, while Christ taught to rejoice even in the most difficult of life’s circumstances. Rozanov also ponders on the problem of the martyr cult in the Christian church, but justifies it with the figure of Christ himself and his prophecies on sorrow. The author disagrees with this, although recognizes as important Rozanov’s ideas on the power of the word of prophecy, on the programming of a man’s life by words, on the role of Christ’s prophecies in history, and on the transcendental nature of the causes of suffering. The article differentiates between the concepts of a social institution as represented by the church and a spiritual teacher as represented by Christ, and notes that Rozanov’s accusations against the Christian church of preaching obedience, asceticism, of persecution of dissenters are not justified because the church, as a social institution, cannot act differently. The author stresses the fact that Christ was not an ascetic, never fasted, joined in wedding festivities, and blessed joy and matrimony. Moreover, there is a hypothesis, which the author substantiates, that Christ was married to Mary Magdalene, testified to by apocryphal testaments and Coptic writings. It thus leads to the conclusions that the mission of Christ as a spiritual teacher was to teach men to love and rejoice, and not to suffer and become a sacrifice to atone for the sins of men.