PROGRAMME AND ABSTRACTS - Università degli Studi di Messina

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established traditional religion. The acceptance of the Egyptian deities agrees with the spirit of
the Roman politics; the Romans, moreover, do not accept any religion or cult if it doesn’t serve
their political interests. The superior state ruler is reflecting the cosmic order and harmony that
is represented by Isis and Serapis, whereas the political stability of the emperors - during the
first imperial years - is considered to be closely related to the personal protection of the
Egyptian deities. During the Imperial period the propagandistic tactics are being further
amplified in relation to the period of the Ptolemaic dynasties. The ideology that the monarchgod
is the par excellence guarantor of the harmony and order - not only of a local area (e.g.
Egypt) but also of the whole Roman oecumene – constitutes another specimen of that era.
Omnipotence is considered as one of the special characteristics of the spirit of the Hellenistic
Age. The ecumenical vastness imposes the quality of universal and divine power. Isis’ and the
other Egyptian deities’ connection to the royal ideology of their birth land conduces, to the
further anticipation by the Roman emperors, of their assistance, since they believe that they
will find the unfailing guarantors of their imperial power and blissfulness at those gods. Isis
and Sarapis are considered to be the par excellence agents of the royal authority. Thus, during
the reign of the Severi, Sarapis is identified with the emperor. The beneficial influence of the
goddess is considered as corresponding to the tactic of the sovereigns of that era, and that is
why it’s being particularly emphasized.
S.V. Panov - S.N. Ivashkin, Universiy of Moscow, Russia
Tue 15 th , 17.20, Classroom 14
Philosophy of revelation and conceptualization of the Orthodoxy (towards a re-deconstruction
of the philosophy of religion)
The Orthodoxy is not simply a forgotten branch of Christianity in the postreligious
multiconfessionalism of Europe. The forgiveness of the Other is a project of the “philosophy of
revelation” (Schelling, Hedel), of the absolute religion as a revelation and a realization of the
absolute concept. According to to this project the representation of the absolute spirit must be
overpassed in the effectivity of the spiritual being. So the Orthodoxy is read as a heretic
deviation defined by the universalization of the external force without the internal essence.
That`s why the Orthodoxy is strongly compared with the catholicism (thesis of Schelling). The
protestantism as the Church of the Holy Spirit is to be an essence and a telos of the spiritual
history of the Occident refusing a place for the Orthodoxy. What is the issue from the
transcendental project of revelation as a unique conceptual alliance of the divine and the
human? How can we think the Orthodoxy beyond the project of revelation, beyond the essence
and the being, in which Europe finds its own conceptual basis, beyond the “mondialatinisation”
(Derrida) as an expansion of the postreligious political force producing phantomal values of
“struggle for democracy”, of “axe of the Evil”, of “pardon” etc.? How can we think the
Orthodoxy when it begins to be an essential part in the return of the Russian imperial myth
(“souverain democracy”)?
Anna Panteleeva, Moscow State University, Russia
Messianic Judaism in Russia (some features).
Tue 15 th , 11.00, Classroom 12
I would like to present the results of my sociological research and to elucidate some features of
messianic Judaism in Russia and some historical reasons which determine the features.