Quite often, we hear an expression that contains the idea that someone needs to be anathematized. The meaning of this phrase, it seems, is understandable, however, from this article you will find out some more interesting facts!
To get started, let's figure out what this means. So, to anathema is to separate a person from a certain community. Yes, despite the fact that the expression is associated with the church, it is often used in other areas. If we talk about what the phrase “anathema” means in the world of religion, then, as a rule, this refers to the excommunication of a person from the church. But it is not so simple. The fact is that excommunication is the removal of a clergyman (or an ordinary person) from the opportunity to participate in rituals, to be in the walls of the church, and so on, only for a certain (usually short) period, after which he can return to his former way of life. An anathema is a complete removal from church life without the right to “rehabilitation”.
How to distinguish in which cases you need to excommunicate, and in which - anathema? This question is very difficult and, in addition, controversial. However, in general, those who simply stumbled and made a small mistake in the eyes of God are excommunicated. Those who committed a mortal sin or blasphemed the Creator are anathematized. On the other hand, this state of affairs concerns precisely the present. If we talk about the Middle Ages, for example, then if the clergy learned that a woman was unfaithful to her husband, they could easily anathematize her.
Who is entitled to such an action and what are its consequences? Here, again, there are no definite answers. Simple people of ordinary people anathematize (except for their proximity to the church, of course). And people, as you know, have mainly subjective thinking, the same judgment and, as a consequence, the same conclusions. Therefore, if for one one act is an occasion for anathema, the other believes that only a short excommunication from the church is enough, well, and the third will generally declare that this very ordinary act and simple repentance from the person who sinned will be enough.
It should be noted that even those who simply showed their discontent with the church, albeit in a mild form, could anathematize. In general, any manifestation of anti-church sentiment was nipped in the bud.
The most famous fact of anathema is the case of Leo Tolstoy. It is believed that the Orthodox Church decided to anathematize the great Russian writer. However, this fact is controversial. The fact is that some argue that the clergy were, of course, dissatisfied with the anti-Christian speeches of Leo Tolstoy and the same motives in his works, but there was no excommunication. If you believe other sources, then before his death Tolstoy repented that he openly criticized the church and blasphemed God. However, these facts can also hardly be called facts, for there is no serious evidence for this.
In general, we can conclude that with the help of excommunication and anathema, the church (both Catholic and Orthodox) got rid of and is getting rid of dissenting, revolutionary-minded people, thus inspiring others with fear of providence.
