Caesaropapism and secularism in the Byzantine and Russian tradition

Introduction. The role of Orthodox confessional heritage and the analysis of social traditions of the Balkan and Russian peoples are considered in the generalizing characteristic of the spiritual creations of the thinkers of Rus and Russia. The multidirectional tendencies of anti-clerical forces on the one hand, and of the Church community on the other, indicate that the topic of secularization of Russian society has not received an actual resolution. The purpose of the article is to examine the understanding of the processes of caesaropapism and secularism in Russian society, as well as the historiosophical and methodological consequences of this understanding. Materials and Methods. An integrative approach combined with historical-methodological and philosophical-historical analysis is considered as a theoretical and methodological research strategy. The solution of research problems was provided by a complex of complementary theoretical (analysis of scientific, historical literature, journalistic research on the problem under study, comparative analysis of texts, comparison, generalization) and empirical (study and generalization of normative and legal documents of the concepts of caesaropapism and secularism) methods. Results. The considered model of understanding secularization and secularism in the realities of Russian history indicates the secondary, borrowed nature of these concepts. According to the authors, the Decrees of the Byzantine emperors, acts of the Council of people’s Commissars “on the separation of Church from state and Church from school” did not meet the expectations of the participants of the local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, who expressed their aspirations in the document “on the legal status of the Russian Orthodox Church”. Discussion and Conclusion. The expected effect of the actual understanding of the processes can be a well-built model of state-Church relations, which can only appear if the diverse interests of the actors of modern state-religious policy in Russia are balanced. The proposed provisions and conclusions create prerequisites for further study of the phenomena of secularism and secularization in the design of the state-religious landscape of the near future.