Problematic Aspects of the Concept of Divine Punishment in Old Russian Law

The concept of divine punishment is examined, which is not only widespread in the ideological space of Old Russian texts but also persists in the modern world at the level of everyday and religious worldviews. The connection of this ideologeme with the evolution of the institution of vengeance is shown. It is noted that despite the prevailing assessment of the elements brought to Rus by the Christian church as progressive, this influence had a more complex and contradictory character: for example, the texts of the Holy Scriptures, reflecting the realities of different socio-economic structures, could be used to justify both progressive tendencies and the archaic legal tradition or its individual institutions, including the institution of private justice. The connection of the ideologeme “divine punishment” with the system of irrational evidence used in Old Russian law is investigated. It is shown that this interconnection, as well as the irrational character of the so-called ordeals in general, is insufficiently revealed in the scholarly literature. The question of to what extent the irrational character of the ideologeme “divine punishment” was conscious is considered. The answer to this question depends on the social affiliation of a particular subject, which determines his perception of the justice of the system of regulation of social relations. The extent to which the concept of divine punishment was perceived as an operative element of Old Russian law is revealed. It is concluded that the key contradiction is associated with the preservation of the ideologeme “divine punishment” in modern canon law, despite the objective process of the elimination of irrational elements of public legal consciousness.

EDN  TULFKR

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