The problem of national consciousness in Ancient Greek and Early Christian philosophical-religious texts

The concept of national consciousness has been a subject of considerable interest in scientific discourse, particularly concerning its manifestation in ancient Greek and early Christian philosophical-religious texts. The article examines the problem of national consciousness as reflected in ancient Greek and early Christian philosophical-religious texts. The author aims to identify the peculiarities of how ancient Greeks perceived themselves as an ethnic group and early Christians as a confessional community comprising individuals from various nationalities. To achieve this goal, the main imperatives related to the early Christians’ perception as a specific ethno-confessional group and the self-identification of ancient Greeks in ethnic terms were determined. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that the peculiarity of the formation of ancient national consciousness was its limitation by political identification with the polis. Within the Greek community, each individual was primarily a citizen of a specific city-state and only then a representative of the ancient Greek community. Additionally, it was also revealed that only the overtly proselytizing nature of New Testament teachings allowed early Christians, despite significant ancient Jewish heritage, to transcend ethnic boundaries, turning Christianity into one of the world’s religions rather than remaining within the confines of an ethno-confessional community.