The concept of the state and it's relationship with the church Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Cossack era

Abstract

The main purpose of the article is to highlight the content and logic of formation the concepts of the state that emerged among the Ukrainian Orthodox intellectuals in the end of XVI - early XVII century. During this period was decisive for the formation of early modern Ukrainian nation as a new community and the beginning of its struggle for statehood. Major political role in the formation of Ukrainian nation at that time played Cossacks, but the Orthodox clergy not only gave ideological support Cossack, but had his own concept of nation. As the main creators of the concept were Meletius Smotrytsky, Zachariy Kopystensky, Jov Boretskiy, Petro Mohyla. His complete registration it has acquired at the time of the restoration of Orthodox Metropolis of Kyiv and the metropolitan of Petro Mohyla (1620-1646).

The principal features of this concept is defined as follows: State Orthodox intellectuals understood as a voluntary association of people of all classes around one idea. This idea was determined public good that church leaders perceived primarily as a transcendent grace. The symbol of grace was heavenly Jerusalem, which advocated earthly projection Kyiv. Orthodox church leaders deliberately refused confession from the ideal state for aggressive ideal spiritual state. This identified a fundamental difference from the then existing state ideologies of the Rzeczpospolita and Moskovia. Ruler of the concept of the ideal state is determined Orthodox hierarchs not a person but a state, personified in its most charismatic spokespersons. At first, the prince, then the gentry, then the Cossacks. The main objective is the defense of the state governor and care about the welfare of his subjects. At the same time Ukrainian clerics fundamentally alien to the idea of autocracy, they differ greatly from contemporary Moscow clergy. Another important feature of the state concept Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Cossack era is persistent assertion priority of the spiritual over the secular government that does not coincide with the ideals of the Cossacks and was often a source of conflict.

The main conclusions of the note is the fundamental notions of state formation in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the difference between these concepts from Moscow-Byzantine ideology and proximity to European humanistic model of the state than is largely due to the role of the Orthodox Church in the national liberation revolution led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky and conflicts Kyiv Metropolis with the Moscow Patriarchate in the future.