Anathema. History and meaning. Anathema - what is it? Anathema the meaning of a phraseological unit

“Apparently, Father Maxim, it’s natural to start the conversation by clarifying the meaning of the term “anathema.” The Great Soviet Encyclopedia claims that in Christianity this is “a church curse, excommunication.” Is not it?

– “Anathema” is a Greek word that goes back to the verb “anatifimi”, meaning “to assign, to hand over something to someone.” Anathema is something that is given, handed over to the absolute will, to the absolute possession of anyone. In the church meaning, anathema is that which is handed over to the final judgment of God and about which (or about whom) the Church no longer has either its care or its prayer. By declaring an anathema to someone, she thereby openly testifies: this person, even if he calls himself a Christian, is such that he himself has certified by his worldview and actions that he has nothing to do with the Church of Christ.

So anathema is not a “curse of the church”, as other people believe, following the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, or as the worldly media illiterately interprets it; This is not excommunication in the secular sense of the term. Of course, someone who has been anathematized no longer has the right to participate in the life of the Church: to confess, receive communion, or attend divine services. But excommunication from church communion, as such, occurs without anathema. According to our canons, a person who has gravely sinned can be removed from participation in the Church Sacraments for a certain period of time... Therefore, anathema does not simply mean excommunication, but the testimony of the Church about what the guilty person, for his part, has long known and was confirmed in: his worldview, positions and views do not coincide with church ones in any way, do not correlate in any way.

– Is it true that for the first time all apostates were anathematized in the 9th century, after the victory of the Church over the heresy of iconoclasm?

- That's not entirely true. Already in the apostolic epistles it is said that those who do not confess Christ as the Son of God are anathematized, considering Him just a wise moral teacher or some kind of ideal prophet. The Holy Apostle Paul wrote: “As we said before, so now I say again: if anyone preaches to you anything other than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Anathemas were, of course, also declared at Ecumenical Councils. Thus, in the 4th century, the presbyter of the Alexandrian Church Arius was condemned, who denied that the Son of God is equal to the Father in everything. In the 5th century, the same fate befell the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, who falsely taught about the union of the Divine and human natures in Christ. Such church courts existed until the VII Ecumenical Council, at which the iconoclasts were anathematized.

In 842, in the Greek Church, on the first Sunday of Great Lent, the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was celebrated for the first time as a sign of victory over all heresies condemned at the Ecumenical Councils, and in general over all wicked anti-Christian teachings. The liturgical rite of this holiday included, firstly, the proclamation of eternal memory to the ascetics of piety, defenders of the faith, secondly, the proclamation of many years to the kings, patriarchs and other current defenders of the faith and, finally, the declaration of anathema to the main heresies and their bearers.

– Is this festive rite still performed in our Church?

– On the Week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (“week” in Slavic means “Sunday”), this rite was fully performed in our country until the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. And although there was no special church decree on this matter, they stopped declaring anathema so as not to aggravate the already hostile attitude of the new government towards the Church. This order has not been restored as a general church order today, which seems reasonable, since it certainly needs clarification in relation to the current church situation. What is the reason to anathematize the non-existent Arians or the successors of the same Nestorians, who have largely moved away from long-standing errors, if today Russians are literally groaning from an orgy of totalitarian sects hostile to Orthodoxy, pseudo-Christian “teachings” and false Christs?

– We will definitely return to the issue of restoring the rite of anathematization later, but for now I would like to talk about particularly loud condemnations in our church history. Some people are still asking the question: did the Church at one time go too far with the excommunication of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy?

– Recognizing him as one of the greatest Russian writers, the Church at the same time could not remain silent about the religious errors of the writer, for “God is betrayed by silence.” Just don’t imagine that event based on Kuprin’s well-known story; from the pulpits of Russian churches, anathema to “boyar Lev” was never proclaimed - this is the author’s artistic speculation. In fact, the very consistent Synodal definition of February 22, 1901 was evidence of the writer’s own views. By that time, in his religious and philosophical quests, he himself had come to deny the need for the Church and its Sacraments - Baptism, Confession, Communion, and to deny the main postulate of Christianity - that Christ is truly the Son of God. Finally, the writer dared to compose “The Gospel Set forth by Leo Tolstoy,” in his pride, believing that he understood better than anyone who had lived for nineteen centuries before him, better than anyone else what Christ taught... “... Therefore, the Church does not consider him its member and does not can count until he repents and restores his communication with her...” - said the church definition. Let me remind you that Lev Nikolaevich was in the Optina Hermitage shortly before his death, but he never dared to enter the elder’s cell, and later the Optina elder was not allowed to see the dying writer. So God’s judgment was final for him.

– What explains the anathematization of such a person as Hetman Mazepa?

“Not only he, a traitor to the Fatherland, but also Grishka Otrepiev and Stepashka Razin were excommunicated from the Church not on doctrinal grounds, but as enemies of the state. In those days, there was a fundamental understanding of the “symphony of powers” – ecclesiastical and secular. The first cared about the moral health of the people, the second – about the security of the state and the protection of the Church itself. Anyone who rebelled against the state rebelled not only against the monarchy, but against the Power, which for centuries had been the stronghold of universal Orthodoxy. Because of this, anti-state actions were simultaneously regarded as anti-church, and therefore those guilty of them were subject to church condemnation through anathematization.

– In recent years, former Metropolitan Filaret (Denisenko) and former priest Gleb Yakunin were anathematized for anti-church activities... Tell me, do they and other people equally severely condemned by the Church still have the possibility of returning to the House of God?

– Anathema is not only a testimony to the church world about the guilty, but also a testimony addressed to them themselves, to these unfortunate people who have fallen into delusion, into proud self-blinding: “Come to your senses! The utmost possible judgment on earth has been passed on you. Repent of what you have done and return to your father’s house, to your native Church.” No matter how strange it may seem to someone, anathema is also evidence of Christian love for people who have seemingly become completely lost; anathema still does not deprive them of the path to repentance.

The rite of anathema from people who have deeply repented and renounced their errors is lifted, the fullness of their stay in the Church is restored, they can again begin the Sacraments, and most importantly, they again receive the opportunity of salvation. The only thing that cannot be returned to them is their former dignity.

– I wonder if there is anathema in the Roman Catholic Church?

– The Vatican has the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the successor to the notorious Holy Inquisition, which threw heretics throughout Europe into the fire in the Middle Ages. I would like to emphasize here that the Russian Church has never engaged in the forcible eradication of heresy... So, in the current Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, judgments are periodically made about specific individuals and about specific directions of religious thought. One can name a number of former Catholic theologians and religious views (for example, “liberation theology” in Latin America) that in modern times have been condemned by the Vatican, which amounts to anathema.

– In conclusion, I would ask you, Father Maxim, to return to the problem of restoring the church-wide rite of anathematization on the Week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy...

“I think that with a thorough and broad explanation to the Orthodox people of what anathema is, what the Church’s testimony about the erring is, the restoration of this rank would have serious significance for many of our contemporaries. First of all, for those who, under the influence of sectarian grandiosity, began to believe that it was indeed permissible to be both Orthodox and, say, a Scientologist. Or be Orthodox and belong to some odious Protestant sect, the leaders of which deceptively say about themselves - “we are Christians in general.”

I believe that the “prospect” of being anathematized can keep a spiritually unscrupulous person from being dangerously carried away by false teachers, and this will ultimately prove beneficial for the spiritual health of the people as a whole. As far as I know, many priests and laity share this opinion.

Interviewed by Alexander Korolev

[Greek ἀνάθεμα - excommunication], excommunication of a Christian from communion with the faithful and from the holy sacraments, applied as the highest church punishment for grave sins (primarily for betrayal of Orthodoxy and deviation into heresy or schism) and conciliarly proclaimed. Church A. (or great excommunication) should not be confused with “excommunication” (ἀφορισμός), which represents the temporary exclusion of an individual from the church community with a ban on participating in the sacraments and (for clergy) holding church positions. Sometimes also called “minor excommunication,” it, unlike A., serves as punishment for lesser offenses, for example: theft, fornication (Ap. 48), participation in obtaining a church position through a bribe (Ap. 30), etc. , does not require a conciliar decision and does not need a conciliar proclamation to enter into force.

Term

Greek the term ἀνάθεμα (ἀνάθημα) meant among pagan authors (Homer, Sophocles, Herodotus) “something dedicated to God; gift, offering to the temple” (i.e. something separated, alien to everyday use). It was used in Greek. translation of the Bible (Septuagint) for the transmission of ancient Hebrew. term - something cursed, rejected by people and doomed to destruction (Num. 21. 2-3; Lev 27. 28 et seq.; Deut. 7. 26; 13. 15 (16), 17; 20. 17; Joshua 6. 17 et seq. ; 7. 11 ff.; Zech 14. 11; etc.). Under the influence of ancient Hebrew. the term "A." received specific negative connotations and began to mean “that which is rejected by people, doomed to destruction” and therefore “cursed.”

In this latter sense the term is used in the epistles of St. ap. Paul: 1 Cor 12.3; 16.22; Gal 1. 8-9; Rom 9. 3. Ap. Paul in one place uses a special form of curse: “Whoever does not love the Lord Jesus Christ is anathema, maran-atha” (1 Cor 16:22). The addition of “maran-afa” (Aramic - the Lord is near) indicates Bud. the coming of Christ, Who alone can finally decide the fate of the sinner.

In Orthodox liturgical tradition since 843 (the restoration of icon veneration, there is a special rite of the “Triumph of Orthodoxy” - the annual proclamation of the saving dogmas of faith, A. heretics, “Eternal memory” of the deceased and many years of living faithful (see Orthodoxy week).

A. for non-church purposes

Since A. is the highest church punishment, its use for extra-church (in particular, political) purposes is not considered canonical: it has no basis in canon law. However, in conditions of close rapprochement between church and secular authorities in the Orthodox Church. state-wah sometimes there was A. of a political nature. In the history of Byzantium, there are known cases of the legend of A. rebels and usurpers to the emperor. authorities: in 1026 with the active participation of the emperor. Constantine VIII adopted a conciliar decree about the A. organizers and participants of the rebellion. Similar definitions were issued by subsequent emperors (in 1171 and 1272). (In 1294, Patriarch John XII Cosmas and the bishops did not allow the publication of a similar decree in favor of Michael IX Palaiologos). Byzantium also resorted to “political” use of astrology during the civil war in the 40s. XIV century However, even then this practice met with sharp rebuff from such leading canonists and theologians as Patriarch Philotheus Kokkin and Matthew the Angel Panaret, who based their argumentation on the already discussed treatise attributed to St. John Chrysostom, and the opinion of Theodore Balsamon. Opponents of the “political” A., in addition, rightly pointed out that the Orthodox were also usurpers. Byzantine the emperors, whose names, traces, should have been crossed out from the diptychs and not mentioned at the liturgy, which, however, did not happen. In the history of the Russian Church, a similar incident took place at the Council of 1667, when a dispute arose between the Greek. and Russian bishops regarding the permissibility of A. for conspirators trying to overthrow the existing government. The Greeks, referring to a certain Alexandrian patriarchal “collection of laws,” insisted on A. for such persons, but Russian. The bishops, recognizing the legality of A. for heretics and schismatics, saw no reason to excommunicate from the Church persons who speak out not against church, but against secular authority (Sinaisky, Archpriest pp. 58-59).

When imp. Peter I, in conditions of complete control of the state over the Church, the case of A. state is known. criminal, imposed not by the Council of Bishops, but by the Emperor. decree (excommunication from the Church of the rebel Stefan Glebov by decree of August 23, 1718).

Apotropaic use, i.e., aversion from unwanted actions, includes inscriptions from numerous Middle Ages. tombstones, threatening A. to anyone who digs up the grave. Scribes-copyists often placed written A. on the first or last page of the manuscript for the possible theft of a book, in order to scare away thieves. Curses were sometimes called upon the heads of those who dared to change the text of the book, although in the latter case one cannot speak of “extra-church purposes,” for a similar use of A. also contains the text of the Holy Scripture. Scriptures (cf. Rev. 22. 18-19).

Spiritual and legal consequences A.

Official the proclamation of someone A. (or over someone A.) leads to the exclusion of this person from the church community, excommunication from the holy sacraments, a ban on attending church and claiming Christ. burial. In the West, at the latest from the 9th century. A. also relied on communication with persons devoted to A. (enshrined in the 3rd law of the Lateran II Council 1139). Devotee A. was limited in the right to act as a plaintiff and witness in court, and his murder was not punishable in the usual legal manner.

Removal A.

A.'s tradition is not an act that irrevocably closes the path to return to the Church and, ultimately, to salvation. The removal of A. as the highest church punishment occurs through a complex legal action, including a) repentance of the anathematized person, which is carried out in a special, usually public, manner; repentance is brought directly through an appeal to the church authority that imposed the A., or through a person appointed by it (for example, through a confessor), b) in the presence of sufficient grounds (sincerity and completeness of repentance, execution of the prescribed church punishment, absence of danger from the anathematized for other members of the Church) the decision by the body that issued the penalty to forgive the person. A. can be removed after death - in this case, all types of commemoration of the deceased are again allowed.

In 1964, in Jerusalem, on the initiative of Athenagoras, Patriarch of Poland (1886-1972), he met with Pope Paul VI. This was the first meeting of this level since the Union of Florence in 1439 (see Ferraro-Florence Council). The result of the meeting was the abolition of mutual A., which had existed since 1054. Of great importance for the Russian Church is the abolition of A. for schismatic Old Believers by the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1971.

A. in the Russian Orthodox Church

The use of A. in the Russian Church has a number of significant features in comparison with the ancient Church. In the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, in contrast to the Byzantines. The Church did not have so many heresies; it knew almost no cases of obvious falling away from Christianity into paganism or other religions. To Domong. era, a number of rules arose against pagan rituals - so, right. 15 and 16 John II, Met. Kievsky (1076/1077-1089), declare “alien to our faith and rejected from the conciliar Church” all who make sacrifices on the tops of mountains, near swamps and wells, who do not comply with the establishment of Christ. marriage and does not receive communion at least once a year. By rights. 2 Cyril II, Met. Kievsky (c. 1247-1281), excommunication from the Church threatened those who staged noisy games and fist fights on church holidays, and those who died in such battles were cursed “in this century and in the future” (Beneshevich V. N. Ancient Slavic helmsman XIV titles without interpretation. Sofia, 1987. T. 2. P. 183). Besides, you're right. 5 mit. John excommunicates from the Church those who do not partake and who eat meat and “bad things” during Lent, right. 23 - persons who sell Christians into slavery to the “filthy”, right. 25 and 26 - those who entered into incestuous marriages (Ibid. pp. 79, 85-86).

Among the population of Western On the outskirts of the Russian state, there were deviations into Catholicism or Protestantism, but the Russian Orthodox Church never used A. against compatriots who entered into a union with Rome or converted to Protestantism; it prayed for their reunification with the Orthodox Church. Church. A characteristic feature of the Russian Orthodox Church in the fight against heresies, sects and schisms was, as a rule, the careful and balanced application of A. - it was proclaimed to irreconcilable schismatics and heretics in accordance with canon law. In 1375, the Strigolniki were excommunicated from the Church - the Novgorod-Pskov heresy of the Strigolniki was perhaps the only Russian one. heresy. It continued in the XV - beginning. XVI century in the Novgorod-Moscow heresy of the “Judaizers” (see volume of the Russian Orthodox Church, pp. 53, 69-71), A. “Judaizers” were followed in 1490 and 1504. A peculiar phenomenon of the Russian Church was the Old Believer schism of 1666-1667, which arose on the basis of disagreement with the correction of church books and rituals in Greek. model - A. to the schismatic Old Believers, proclaimed at the Councils of 1666-1667. The “Spiritual Regulations” of Peter I (1720) also contains A. to the gentlemen who shelter schismatics on their estates (Part 2. Worldly persons. 5).

The “Spiritual Regulations” speak in detail about in what cases, for what crimes, A. is imposed (“...if anyone clearly blasphemes the name of God or the Holy Scriptures, or the Church, or is clearly a sinner, not ashamed of his deeds, but also moreover, being arrogant, or without the correct guilt of repentance and the Holy Eucharist does not accept the Eucharist for more than a year, or does anything else with the obvious law of God, cursing and ridiculing, such, after repeated punishment, stubborn and proud, remains worthy to be judged by such punishment. subject to anathema, but for the obvious and proud contempt of the court of God and the authority of the church with the great temptation of the weak brethren...” - Part 2. About bishops. 16), what is the procedure for A. (if after repeated admonitions “the criminal is adamant and stubborn, then the bishop will not yet proceed to anathema, but first he will write about everything that happened to the Spiritual Collegium, and having received permission from the Collegium in a letter, he will clearly anathematize the sinner...” - Ibid.), what are the consequences of A. for the anathematized person and his family (“... he himself is subject to this anathema alone, but neither his wife nor children...” - Ibid.) and the conditions of permission from A., if the “exiled” one repents and wants to repent, if not repents and “will continue to curse the church anathema,” then the Spiritual Collegium asks for judgment from the worldly authorities. A. a person is cut off from the Body of Christ, the Church, being no longer a Christian and “alienated from the inheritance of all the blessings acquired for us by the death of the Savior” (Ibid.).

A. were betrayed by the heretical iconoclasts D. Tveritinov and his supporters during the trial of them in 1713-1723. The punishment of heretics and schismatics in the Patriarchal period was not limited to A. - it, as a rule, was supplemented by either corporal (including self-mutilation) punishment, or expulsion and imprisonment, and often the death penalty by burning (the latter applied to “Judaizers” in 1504, in relation to the schismatic Old Believers, legalized by the royal decree of 1684).

Church excommunication was also proclaimed against persons who committed serious crimes against the state - impostors, rebels, traitors. In all these conflicts with the secular authorities, there was, however, an element of action against Orthodoxy - either in the form of a conspiracy with heretics (the defection of the impostor Grigory Otrepiev to the side of the Polish interventionists at the beginning of the 17th century, the betrayal of the Hetman of Little Russia Ivan Mazepa in 1709, during wars with the Swedes), or in the form of direct persecution of the Church, as during the peasant wars of the 18th century.

The rite of the “Triumph of Orthodoxy”, which came to the Russian Church after the baptism of Rus', was gradually subjected to changes and additions here: in the end. XV century it included the names of the leaders of the “Judaizers”, in the 17th century - the names of traitors and impostors “Grishka Otrepiev”, “Timoshka Akindinov”, the rebel Stenka Razin, the schismatics Avvakum, Lazar, Nikita Suzdalets and others, in the 18th century - the name "Ivashki Mazepa." The rite, which allowed changes on the part of diocesan bishops, lost its uniformity over time, so the Holy Synod in 1764 introduced its new, corrected edition, mandatory for all dioceses. In 1801, the rite of Orthodoxy was significantly reduced: it lists only the heresies themselves, without mentioning the names of heretics, and from the names of state. the criminals were left (already in a corrected form) as “Grigory Otrepiev” and “Ivan Mazepa”. Later, in the 1869 edition, these names were also omitted - instead of them, a general phrase about “those daring to revolt” against “Orthodox sovereigns” appeared in the rank. Over time, that is, when anathematizing famous persons, the Russian Church gradually reduced their number, avoiding naming names and designating these persons in general terms, according to their involvement in one or another dogmatic or disciplinary error, as well as in state. crime.

Great resonance in the Russian community at the beginning. XX century received excommunication from the Church of the writer gr. L. N. Tolstoy, carried out by the Holy Synod (February 20-23, 1901). In the Definition of the Synod gr. Tolstoy is called a “false teacher” who preaches “the overthrow of all the dogmas of the Orthodox Church and the very essence of the Christian faith,” who, “while swearing at the most sacred objects of faith of the Orthodox people, did not shudder to mock the greatest of the Sacraments - the Holy Eucharist. ...To his understanding, the attempts that were made were not crowned with success. Therefore, the Church does not consider him a member and cannot consider him until he repents and restores his communion with her.” Instead of the word "A." in the Definition of the Synod the expressions “he has torn himself away from all communion with the Orthodox Church”, “his falling away from the Church” are used. 4 Apr. 1901 gr. Tolstoy responded to the Resolution of the Holy Synod, in which he stated: “I really renounced the Church, stopped performing its rituals and wrote in my will to my loved ones so that when I die, they will not allow church ministers to see me... The fact that I reject the incomprehensible Trinity and the fable about the fall of the first man, the story about God born of the Virgin, redeeming the human race, is completely fair" (Quoted from: The Spiritual Tragedy of Leo Tolstoy. M., 1995. P. 88) . In Feb. In 2001, the great-grandson of the writer V. Tolstoy turned to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II with a letter, in which he asked to lift the excommunication from the gr. Tolstoy. In a response to correspondents on this issue, His Holiness the Patriarch said: gr. Tolstoy refused to be Orthodox. a Christian, refused to be a member of the Church, we do not deny that he is a literary genius, but he clearly has an Antichrist. works; Do we have the right, after 100 years, to impose on a person what he refused?

His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon twice anathematized “those who create lawlessness and persecutors of the faith and the Orthodox Church”: in 1918 in connection with the outbreak of persecution and in 1922 in connection with the removal of sacred objects from churches under the pretext of helping the hungry (Acts of St. Tikhon. S. 82-85, 188-190). Anti-religion. government policy in con. 50's - 60's (see vol. ROC. pp. 188-189) caused the appearance of the Resolution of the Patriarch and Priest. Synod No. 23 of December 30. 1959 “On those who publicly blasphemed the Name of God”: the clergy who committed this crime, former. prot. Alexandra Osipova, former priest Pavel Darmansky, “to be considered expelled from the priesthood and deprived of all church communion”, “Evgraf Duluman and other former Orthodox laymen who publicly blasphemed the Name of God, to be excommunicated from the Church” (ZhMP. 1960. No. 2. P. 27). In the fall of 1993, during an armed confrontation near the White House in Moscow, St. The Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church issued a Statement (Oct. 1), calling on people to come to their senses and choose the path of dialogue. Oct 8 His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, Priest. The Synod and hierarchs who arrived on the day of memory of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, issued an Appeal, in which, without naming specific names, they condemned those who shed the innocent blood of their neighbors - “this blood cries out to Heaven and, as the Holy Church warned, will remain the indelible seal of Cain "On their conscience (Orthodox Moscow. 1993. No. 5).

Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church 1994 in the Definition “On pseudo-Christian sects, neo-paganism and occultism,” following the apostolic tradition, he pronounced words of excommunication (A.) to those who share the teachings of sects, “new religious movements,” paganism, astrological, theosophical, spiritualist societies, etc. ., declaring war on the Church of Christ. Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church 1997 excommunicated Monk from the Church. Philareta (Denisenko). Deprived of all degrees of the priesthood at the Council of Bishops in 1992, warned by the Council of Bishops in 1994 that if he continued his schismatic activities he would be anathematized, he continued to perform “divine services” and false consecrations; “not having holy orders, monk Philaret, to the temptation of many, dared to call himself “Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus'-Ukraine””, with his criminal acts he continued to damage Orthodoxy. Cathedral, based on Apostle. 28, Sardik. 14, Antioch. 4, Vasil. 88, determined: “Excommunicate monk Philaret (Mikhail Antonovich Denisenko) from the Church of Christ. Let him be anathema before all the people." The Council warned the former people involved in criminal activities. mon. Philaret, called them to repentance - otherwise they will be excommunicated from church communion through anathematization. The Council notified the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches. Churches about the anathematization of the former. mon. Filareta (Denisenko) (ZhMP. 1997. No. 4. P. 19-20). The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1997 condemned the anti-church activities of Gleb Pavlovich Yakunin, who was deprived of the priesthood by the Determination of Priest. Synod of October 8 1993 and warned by the Council of Bishops in 1994: “If the disorderly wearing of the priest’s cross and priestly vestments continues... the question of his excommunication from the Church will be raised.” G.P. Yakunin did not heed the call addressed to him for repentance and an end to the atrocities. Cathedral based on St. Ap. 28, Karth. 10, Sardik. 14, Antioch. 4, Double 13, Vasil. 88 determined: “Excommunicate Gleb Pavlovich Yakunin from the Church of Christ. Let him be anathema before all the people” (Ibid. p. 20).

Lit.: Kober F. Der Kirchenbann nach den Grundsätzen des Kanonischen Rechts dargestellt. Tubingen, 1857; Suvorov N. About church punishments: Experience in research on church law. St. Petersburg, 1876; Nikolsky K. Anathematization, or Excommunication. St. Petersburg, 1879; Uspensky F. AND . Synodikon on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Odessa, 1892; Petrovsky A. V. Anathema // PBE. Stb. 679-700; Turner C. H. The History and Use of Creeds and Anathemas in the Early Centuries of the Church. L., 1906; Sinaisky A., prot. About the fallen and excommunicated in the ancient Christian and Russian Church. St. Petersburg, 1908; Preobrazhensky A. Church excommunication (anathema) in its history and in its fundamental motives. Kaz., 1909; Shiryaev V. N. Religious crimes. Yaroslavl, 1909; Troitsky A. D. Church excommunication and its consequences. K., 1913; Amanieu A. Anathème // Dictionnaire de droit canonique. 1935. Vol. 1. P. 512-516; Moshin V. A., prot. Serbian edition of the Synodic // VV. 1959. T. 16. P. 317-394; 1960. T. 17. P. 278-353; ̓Αλιβιζάτος Α . ̓Ανάθεμα // ΘΗΕ. T. 2. Σ. 469-473; Gouillard J. Le Synodicon de l"Orthodoxie // Travaux et Mémoires. 2. Center de Recherches d" Hist. et Civ. Byzant. P., 1967; Doens I., Hannick Ch. Das Periorismos-Dekret des Patriarchen Methodios I. gegen die Studiten Naukratios und Athanasios // JÖB. 1973. Bd. 22. S. 93-102; Beck H.-G. Nomos, Kanon und Staatsraison in Byzanz. W., 1981, S. 51-57; Darrouz è s J . Le patriarche method; Ράλλη Κ . M. Ποινικὸν δίκαιον τῆς ̓Ορθοδόξου ̓Ανατολικῆς ̓Εκκλησίας. Θεσσαλονίκη, 19933; F ö gen M . Th. von. Rebellion und Exkommunikation in Byzanz // Ordnung und Aufruhr im Mittelalter: Historische und juristische Studien zur Rebellion. F./M., 1995. S. 43-80; Palamarchuk P. (comp.) Anathema: History and 20th century. [M.], 1998; Maksimovič K. Patriarch Methodios I. (843-847) und das studitische Schisma (Quellenkritische Bemerkungen) // Byz. 2000. T. 50/2. P. 422-446.

K. A. Maksimovich

anathema

and. Greek church curse, excommunication, rejection by the community of believers;

about. curse, curse. To anathematize someone to anathematize; anathematize, scold, curse, wish for evil and death. Anathemist m. Anathemist f. scolder, curser, foul-mouthed person.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

anathema

anathema, w. (Greek anathema).

only units Excommunication from the church (church). Betray someone anathema.

Curse (book outdated). Why are you threatening Russia with anathema? Pushkin.

Damned, scoundrel (colloquial expletive). There are such anathemas, right? Chekhov.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I.Ozhegov, N.Yu.Shvedova.

anathema

In Christianity: church curse for sins against the church, for defamation of the faith. Anathema the apostate.

Usage like a swear word (simple). Get out of my sight, huh. you are like that.

New explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

anathema

trans. Usage like a swear word.

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

anathema

ANATHEMA (Greek anathema) in Christianity, a church curse, excommunication.

Anathema

(Greek anathēma), in Christianity, church curse, excommunication. See excommunication.

Wikipedia

Anathema

Anathema- initially - a sacrifice to the gods according to a given vow, dedication to a deity; later - separation, exile, damnation.

In Russian it has several meanings:

Excommunication of a Christian from communication with the faithful and from the sacraments, applied as the highest church punishment for serious sins and proclaimed by the council.
Solemn public renunciation of his former religious errors in The rites of those united from other faiths to the Orthodox Church.
A curse.
In Russian vernacular it was used as a swear word; has a derived adjective anathema, is practically not used in modern speech.

According to the Orthodox Encyclopedia (2000), “ ecclesiastical anathema to hold ecclesiastical positions. Sometimes also called “minor excommunication,” it, unlike anathema, serves as punishment for minor offenses, for example: theft, fornication, participation in obtaining a church position through a bribe, etc., does not require a conciliar decision and does not need a conciliar proclamation for entry into force».

Church law considers anathema as a form of punishment in the form of deprivation " rights and benefits at the exclusive disposal of the Church”, applicable only to church members.

Examples of the use of the word anathema in literature.

In the streets and squares, priests without a congregation, hidden schismatics and monophysicists, Nestorians, Jacobites, Manichaeans and others proclaimed anathema Justinian and called on believers to overthrow the demon basileus.

This precaution is apparently connected with the fact that Brankovich here, in particular, considers various heresies, not only Christian, but also Jewish, and Mohammedan, and our patriarch from the Pec Patriarchate, who every August on the day of the Dormition of St. Anne lists all anathemas, of course, one of them would have been assigned to Abram, had he known what he was up to.

Anathema but, who believed that sometimes she was able to think like Agnes, personally decided for herself that the reason for this was that Agnes was simply a mischief-maker with a disgusting sense of humor.

Pelevin’s cartoon corresponds not to Orthodoxy, but precisely to this purely formal, symbolic, pagan version, where the main place is occupied not by the spiritual life of the individual, but anathemas to the corrupted West and standing with a candle.

Then, after many strangulations to the fool, they take the likeness of the prophet’s killer into the field and burn it publicly - isn’t this similar? anathema?

And from those words of his it followed that Father Lawrence received the best parish, his flock was no less than that of others, and we should be more concerned not about our own purse income, which is also important, but about the holiness of the altar, to lead the pagans tirelessly to the cross, and not try to convert into the fold of Orthodoxy those deceitful and long ago disgraced blasphemers who are betrayed anathema back in the blessed times of Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich.

Indignant, he angrily shouted against treason against the Russian state, cursed the Latins and the Pope and threatened anathema to those who call Lithuanians.

Anathema believed not only in ley lines, but also in seals, whales, bikes, the jungle, whole grain bread, waste paper, white South Africans from South Africa and Americans from almost everywhere, right down to and including Long Island.

The so-called renovationists prevailed at the council, demanding to update the façade of the Catholic Church, reform its structure, abolish such odious institutions as the Congregation of the Inquisition and the Index of Forbidden Books, end the policy of excommunications and anathema.

As soon as the favorable moment arrived, he attacked the podium with anathema, declared him a heretic, canceled all agreements with him and ordered the faithful to fight Rienzo, threatening with excommunication whoever dared to support the tribune.

For now Anathema too young to think about anyone but herself, and to attach importance to the fact that the book does not mention either her children or, for that matter, any events after one specific moment, which will occur in eleven years.

What I saw Anathema, as she later said, was like an underage Greek god.

She said you're the worst of THESE, she said Anathema, a little more fun.

“I’m sure you have a very good book,” she said. Anathema, and won Adam’s heart forever.

According to Agnes, in any case, which she expressed in the book that Anathema I allowed myself to lose.

Maxim asks
Answered by Vasily Yunak, 07.11.2007

Anathema is rejection, non-acceptance. This is a Greek word that entered the Russian language with Christian teaching.

More information about the meaning of the word can be found in the dictionary:

Conjuration [Heb. herem]. To betray Z. means to excommunicate someone. person, animal or object from the human world. existence and place it at the disposal of God. As a rule, a creature or object handed over to Z. was destroyed. That is why they were considered sacred. Heb. haram means “to destroy, destroy”, Ethiopian. harama - “excommunicate from worldly society” (cf. also Arabic: harem).
II. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Resp. Greek the word anatema (- "Spell) is found here in different meanings. This concept means "offerings, dedicating. God or temple (in the Synod. Transl. - “contributions”). Usually Greek. The word anatema is translated as “to curse.” acc. ap. Paul, those who misinterpreted the Gospel and did not love the Lord Jesus Christ were cursed and anathematized (; et seq.). By this Paul is referring to the members of the community. But we have no information about what practical. the anathema had consequences, and therefore we cannot say with certainty whether the anathema was identical to excommunication. A rather unexpected use of the concept of anathema can be found in, where Paul agrees to be excommunicated (anathema) from Christ if it will help the salvation of his people. Thus, he shows how strong his love for his own is. to the people. In the new Jerusalem there will no longer be anything cursed and, accordingly, there will be no anathema (; see also). It says that certain Jews agreed to impose a curse on themselves if they violated the oath. We encounter a similar use of this word in.

Read more on the topic “Words and Expressions from the Bible”:

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Apparently, Father Maxim, it’s natural to start the conversation by clarifying the meaning of the term “anathema” itself. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia claims that in Christianity this is “a church curse, excommunication.” Is not it?

- “Anathema” is a Greek word that goes back to the verb “anatifimi”, meaning “to assign, to hand over something to someone.” Anathema- what is given is handed over to the absolute will, to the absolute possession of anyone. In the church meaning, anathema is that which is handed over to the final judgment of God and about which (or about whom) it no longer has its own care or prayer. By declaring an anathema to someone, she thereby openly testifies: this person, even if he calls himself a Christian, is such that he himself has certified by his worldview and actions that he has nothing to do with the Church of Christ.

So anathema is not a “curse of the church”, as other people believe, following the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, or as the worldly media illiterately interprets it; this is not excommunication from the Church in the secular understanding of this term. Of course, someone who has been anathematized no longer has the right to participate in the life of the Church: to confess, receive communion, or attend divine services. But excommunication from church communion, as such, occurs without anathema. According to our canons, a person who has gravely sinned can be removed from participation in the Church Sacraments for a certain period of time... Therefore, anathema does not simply mean excommunication, but the testimony of the Church about what the guilty person, for his part, has long known and was confirmed in: his worldview, positions and views do not coincide with church ones in any way, do not correlate in any way.

- Is it true that for the first time all apostates were anathematized in the 9th century, after the victory of the Church over the heresy of iconoclasm?

This is not entirely true. Already in the apostolic epistles it is said that those who do not confess Christ as the Son of God are anathematized, considering Him just a wise moral teacher or some kind of ideal prophet. The Holy Apostle Paul wrote: “As we said before, so now I say again: if anyone preaches to you anything other than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Anathemas were, of course, also declared at Ecumenical Councils. Thus, in the 4th century, the presbyter of the Alexandrian Church Arius was condemned, who denied that the Son of God is equal to the Father in everything. In the 5th century, the same fate befell the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, who falsely taught about the union of the Divine and human natures in Christ. Such church courts existed until the VII Ecumenical Council, at which the iconoclasts were anathematized.

- Is this festive rite still performed in our Church?

On the Week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (“week” in Slavic means “Sunday”) this rite was fully performed in our country until the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. And although there was no special church decree on this matter, they stopped declaring anathema so as not to aggravate the already hostile attitude of the new government towards the Church. This order has not been restored as a general church order today, which seems reasonable, since it certainly needs clarification in relation to the current church situation. What is the reason to anathematize the non-existent Arians or the successors of the same Nestorians, who have largely moved away from long-standing errors, if today Russians are literally groaning from an orgy of totalitarian sects hostile to Orthodoxy, pseudo-Christian “teachings” and false Christs?

We will definitely return to the issue of restoring the rite of anathematization later, but for now I would like to talk about particularly loud condemnations in our church history. Some people are still asking the question: did she go too far with the excommunication of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy?

Recognizing him as one of the greatest Russian writers, the Church at the same time could not remain silent about the religious errors of the writer, for “God is betrayed by silence.” Just don’t imagine that event based on Kuprin’s well-known story; from the pulpits of Russian churches, anathema to “boyar Lev” was never proclaimed - this is the author’s artistic speculation. In fact, the very consistent Synodal definition of February 22, 1901 was evidence of the writer’s own views. By that time, in his religious and philosophical quests, he himself had come to deny the need for the Church and its Sacraments - Baptism, Confession, Communion, and to deny the main postulate of Christianity - that Christ is truly the Son of God. Finally, the writer dared to compose “The Gospel Set forth by Leo Tolstoy,” in his pride, believing that he understood better than anyone who had lived for nineteen centuries before him, better than anyone else what Christ taught... “... Therefore, the Church does not consider him its member and does not can count until he repents and restores his communication with her...” - said the church definition. Let me remind you that Lev Nikolaevich was in the Optina Hermitage shortly before his death, but he never dared to enter the elder’s cell, and later the Optina elder was not allowed to see the dying writer. So God’s judgment was final for him.

- What explains the anathematization of such a person as Hetman Mazepa?

Not only he, a traitor to the Fatherland, but also Grishka Otrepiev and Stepashka Razin were excommunicated from the Church not on doctrinal grounds, but as enemies of the state. In those days, there was a fundamental understanding of the “symphony of powers” – ecclesiastical and secular. The first cared about the moral health of the people, the second – about the security of the state and the protection of the Church itself. Anyone who rebelled against the state rebelled not only against the monarchy, but against the Power, which for centuries had been the stronghold of universal Orthodoxy. Because of this, anti-state actions were simultaneously regarded as anti-church, and therefore those guilty of them were subject to church condemnation through anathematization.

In recent years, former Metropolitan Filaret (Denisenko) and former priest Gleb Yakunin have been anathematized for anti-church activities... Tell me, do they and other people equally severely condemned by the Church still have the possibility of returning to the House of God?

Anathema is not only a testimony to the church world about the guilty, but also a testimony addressed to them themselves, to these unfortunate people who have fallen into delusion, into proud self-blinding: “Come to your senses! The utmost possible judgment on earth has been passed on you. Repent of what you have done and return to your father’s house, to your native Church.” No matter how strange it may seem to someone, anathema is also evidence of Christian love for people who have seemingly become completely lost; anathema still does not deprive them of the path to repentance.

- I wonder if anathematization exists in the Roman Catholic Church?

The Vatican has the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the successor to the notorious Holy Inquisition, which threw heretics throughout Europe into the fire in the Middle Ages. I would like to emphasize here that the Russian Church has never engaged in the forcible eradication of heresy... So, in the current Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, judgments are periodically made about specific individuals and about specific directions of religious thought. One can name a number of former Catholic theologians and religious views (for example, “liberation theology” in Latin America) that in modern times have been condemned by the Vatican, which amounts to anathema.

In conclusion, I would ask you, Father Maxim, to return to the problem of restoring the church-wide rite of anathematization on the Week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy...

I think that with a thorough and broad explanation to the Orthodox people, what constitutes anathema, what is testimony Churches about those who are mistaken, the restoration of this rank would have serious significance for many of our contemporaries. First of all, for those who, under the influence of sectarian grandiosity, began to believe that it was indeed permissible to be both Orthodox and, say, a Scientologist. Or be Orthodox and belong to some odious Protestant sect, the leaders of which deceptively say about themselves - “we are Christians in general.”

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