The origin and exact etymology of the word "religion" has been a subject of debate since the time of Cicero. Tradition assigns " religio "to both" religare "("bind") and" relegere "("reread","re-think"). Although it is probably impossible to determine the exact etymology, both the first and second interpretations reflect different shades of what religion was for the ancient Romans. According to the French religious scholar J. Scheid, " religion as a community with the gods, religion as a system of obligations imposed by this community - these are the two main aspects that the Romans found in the term "religio", and one followed from the other... religion consists in the precise "cultivation" of a "social" relationship with the gods, in short, in performing the rites required by the connections that exist between the gods and humans. " 1
Thus, we can say that the Roman religion is basically and primarily a cult 2: "It is a religion without revelation, without books, without dogmas and orthodoxy. The central requirement is rather "orthopraxia", the correct execution of the prescription.-

1. Shaid D. Religion of the Romans, Moscow, 2006, p. 35.

2. The same, however, can be said about other ancient religions. According to Karen Armstrong, " in the minds of the great sages of India, China, and the Middle East, religion is not a collection of information, but a deeply practical thing. It requires not faith in certain doctrines, but hard and unremitting work" (Armstrong K. Biography of God, Moscow, 2012, p. 48).

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sledge rituals"3.On the other hand, the correct performance of rituals was considered as a tribute to the gods, i.e., a kind of justice towards them, and this kind of justice was understood by the Romans as piety. 4 This is the origin of the well-known formula according to which " religion consists in the pious worship of the gods "(...religionem, quae deorum cultupio continetur).5
The first Latin Christian authors fully shared this traditional view. Thus, Tertullian, beginning to explain the foundations of the Christian religion (religio nostra), begins with the phrase: "What we worship (colimus) is one God," 6 and Cyprian of Carthage writes: "... to know the true religion, so that all may worship (colere) and pray to the one God, who is one for all."7. However, as Christian dogmatics and theology developed, it became clear that the old concept of religion as primarily a cult was too narrow and needed some correction.

Probably the first person to try to understand this new situation was Lactantius, who set himself the task of showing the unity of religion and wisdom (sapientia), and by wisdom he understood, as far as can be judged, the doctrinal aspect of Christianity. "So religion cannot be separated from wisdom, nor can it be separated from wisdom. After all, it is one and the same God who must be both known (intelligi) (which relates to wisdom) and worshipped (honorari) (which relates to religion). But wisdom precedes, and religion follows, because God must first be known (scire) and then worshipped (colere). So, the meaning of these names is the same, although they seem to be different (in fact, one refers to knowledge, the other to action). But at the same time, they are like two streams originating from the same source. But the source of wisdom and religion is God... and he who does not know Him cannot be either wise or religious. " 8
Thus, after Lactantius, religion became clearly associated not only with the cult, but also with the knowledge of God. Therefore, Augustine, on-

3. Shaid D. Religion of the Romans. p. 31.

4. "Piety (pietas) is justice to the gods": Cicero. Philosophical Treatises, Moscow, 1985, p. 97.

5. Ibid., p. 98.

6. Apolog. adver. gent, 17; PL 1, 375A.

7. Ad Demetr., 5; PL 4, 548A.

8. Divin. institut, IV, 4; PL 4, 456B.

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For example, he wrote that the true religion is that "by which we worship the one God and by the purest piety know (cognoscere) the beginning of all natures, from which the universe begins, is accomplished, and is preserved" 9. He also (in general, quite in the spirit of Lactantius) identified true philosophy (wisdom) and true religion: "We believe and teach that there is no other philosophy, i.e., the practice of wisdom, and no other religion in relation to this essence of human salvation."10 Thus, thanks to Lactantius and Augustine, the term "religion" has already come to include two aspects: cultic and speculative-dogmatic (often referred to as "wisdom" or "wisdom"). "love of wisdom", i.e. "philosophy"). This combination made possible, for example, the following statement by Scotus Eriugena: "What is the practice of true philosophy but the interpretation of the rules (regulae)of true religion, by which we both humbly worship and rationally investigate the supreme and first cause of all things, God?" 11
However, the following fundamental point remained unclear: how does the concept of "faith", which is extremely important for Christianity, relate to the so-understood religion? Authors of the early Scholastic period (before the 13th century) often considered faith as an integral part of religion. For example, Hilbert of Porretansky wrote: "In religion, the main thing is faith, which, of course, is the acceptance with consent of the truth of this or that thing... and also [it includes] the fear and love of the Lord, and all such other things, in which we must piously profess the Christian religion itself." 12 Similarly, Rabanus the Moor says:"No one loves what he does not believe in; no one despairs of what he loves; and the Christian religion consists in these three things: hope, faith, and love. "13 Similar thoughts are found in Isidore of Seville:" Religion is so called because by it we connect (religamus) our souls with God. one God through the exercise of divine worship... But there are three things that a person needs in a religious cult to worship God, i.e. faith, hope, and love. In faith is given what is to be believed, in hope -

9. De vera relig., 1; PL 34, 122.

10. Ibid., 8; PL 34, 126.

11. De praedest, I, 1; PL 122, 0357D.

12. Commentaria; In de Trinitate; PL 64, 1261C.

13. Homiliae, LI; PL 110, 244B.

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what is to be hoped for in love is what is to be loved. " 14 In some cases, faith was even identified with religion. Thus, the aforementioned Rabanus the Moor wrote: "The religion of the Christian people is faith." 15
As can be seen from the above quotations, during this period the term "religion" continued to be used mainly to denote a cult, but at the same time it also implied the beliefs corresponding to this cult. As a result, hybrid phrases such as religiofidei, or conversely, fides religionis16 In this connection, it can also be noted that as the concepts of "faith" and "religion" converged, religion was less often associated with "love of wisdom" and "philosophy". Probably the reason for this was that some authors began to pay attention to the difference between the methods used in philosophy and theology. Thus, John of Salisbury wrote that"the judgment of reason (sensus rationis) convinces of something, and the authority of religion (religionis auctoritas) convinces of something" .17
However, it cannot be said that the above scheme was generally recognized. The terminology has not yet been fully established, and therefore different authors may have significantly diverged in its understanding. Already in the 13th century, and on a slightly different basis (namely, taking into account new translations of Aristotle), Thomas Aquinas tried to give a clear definition of the terms "faith" and "religion".

From Thomas ' point of view, faith and religion are virtues understood as hard-to-remove qualities (habitus) of the human soul that "make the one who possesses them good and turn his works to good." However, faith and religion are different: if the former is a theological virtue, the latter is a moral one.

As for faith, Thomas writes the following about it. Man is naturally inclined to virtue, since he naturally strives for the good; but his movement towards the good and, accordingly, the acquisition of virtue, is due, first, to the knowledge of the good, and secondly, to the orientation of the will towards it. But God as a supernatural being-

14. Ethymol., VIII, 2; PL 83; 295С.

15. Commentaria in Jerem.; PL 111; 1060A.

16. Thus, the phrase "religio fidei Christianae" is found, for example, in Popes Alexander III (Epistola et privileges, MII; PL 200, 883C) and Innocent III (Registrum, LXV; PL 216, 1072C) and John of Salisbury (Epist. CXLVIII; PL 199, 0142В). As for the term "fides religionis", it can be found, for example, in Hugo Flavin's Chronicon (PL 154, 40D).

17. Polycr., VII, 7; PL 199. 649А.

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The innate good cannot be fully understood by the natural human mind (ratio naturalis humana), and therefore man needs supernatural help from God himself in order to strive for It. Faith is precisely such a help - a supernatural "influenced" virtue bestowed by God by His grace ("gratia" - "mercy", "an unconditional gift"). At the same time, faith is a virtue that "perfects" reason-insofar as it contains a certain knowledge of the First Truth: "As far as reason is concerned, man is additionally given certain supernatural principles, which are comprehended in the divine light. And such are the doctrinal dogmas (credibilia)concerning which faith takes place. " 19 It follows that the object of faith is the First Truth, divided into articles (articuli) that make up the Christian Creed. 20
Religion, on the other hand, is a moral, i.e., natural, virtue. This means that "natural reason dictates to a person that he is subordinate to something higher: because of the inferiority that he feels in himself and because of which he needs the direction and help of what is above him. And whatever it is, everyone calls it God. But just as in natural things the lower naturally submits to the higher, so natural reason, according to its natural inclination, directs man to submit properly and give honor to that which is above him. " 21 Religion, then, as a virtue, is "the expression of faith by external signs" 22 or, to put it more simply, a divine cult 23,24. Despite the fact that Thomas discusses the "Christian religion" (religio Christiana) in his Summa, it is quite obvious (at least from the fact that,

18. For Thomas," faith is cognitio "(De ver., q. 14, a. 2, ad 15), and its action" essentially consists in knowledge " (ibid., ad 10). However, this knowledge is not scientific (or philosophical) rationally provable knowledge obtained by a person with the help of natural reason. Faith - knowledge of the supernatural obtained in a supernatural way.

19. Summa th., I-II, q. 62, a. 3.

20. Ibid., II-II, q. 1, a. 6.

21. Ibid., q. 85, a. 1, in corp.

22. Ibid., q. 94, a. 1, ad 1.

23. "Religio est quae Deo debitum cultum affert" (Ibid., q. 81, a. 5).

24. "The name' sacrifice ' is common to any thing that is used in a divine cult. In the sense that if in a divine cult something is used as something sacred and then has to be destroyed (consumendum), then it is a sacrifice and a sacrifice" (Ibid., q. 86, a. 1).

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that for Aquinas the standard definition of religion is given by the pagan Cicero), that religion as a moral virtue is inherent in all people in general and reflects what can be called "natural human religiosity".

This explains the relation of faith to religion. Faith is like matter to religion: the action of faith is the first thing that directs the mind to God, and therefore religion, being its external expression, follows it. "In fact," Thomas writes, "man chooses to worship God only because he holds by faith that God is the Creator, Ruler,and Rewarder of human deeds." 25 Faith and religion are in a certain dialectical unity: there is no religion without faith (since faith precedes religion and is its basis), but there is no faith without religion (since it is natural for a person to express his faith in "external signs"). Moreover, in a sense, religion and faith are identical. "All the actions by which man submits himself to God (whether those of the mind or the body) belong to religion"; but the main thing is "the actions of the mind", and "these actions are mainly the actions of the theological virtues (according to Augustine, God is worshipped by faith, hope and love)" 26. Thus, faith and religion, to use the terminology of Thomas, are identical materially, but formally different (since they are different virtues).

Despite the general innovative approach and extensive use of Aristotelian terminology, this concept of Thomas is largely a continuation and culmination of the previous tradition. "Faith " as" knowledge " replaces in Thomas the "wisdom" of Lactantius, but the general meaning of his teaching is preserved. Thomas, like Lactantius, asserts that God must first be known by man, and only then can man worship Him. And, of course, Thomas agrees with the fundamental point for Lactantius that "the source of wisdom and religion is God ... and one who does not know Him cannot be either wise or religious." It is this unity of the supernatural source of faith and religion that causes them to be inextricably linked - for all their differences.

25. In De Trin., q. 3, a. 2.

26. Ibid.

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