The origins of the phenomenon of “religious pacifism”

Abstract

The publication examines the problem of the emergence of the phenomenon of “religious pacifism”. Key issues of the history of the origins, specifics of the formation and evolution of the phenomenon of religious pacifism are highlighted in both Western (Biblical, early Christian traditions and later Christian confessional branches) and Eastern (Buddhism and Jainism) religious traditions. Since the phenomenon of religious pacifism arose as a spiritual response to the problem of violence, the publication analyzes the main available religious sources (in particular, Biblical texts) and ethical principles (such as wu-wei or dharmas), which form the foundation of its conceptual provisions. The study of the phenomenon of "religious pacifism" is worthy of attention precisely in the context of modernity, because this phenomenon itself has its own history with vivid examples of followers who renounced violence due to religious beliefs and quite often stood in opposition to state and social norms and rules of behavior.