Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of semantic evolution of pagan terminology in Christian theology. A specific token becomes the subject of consideration "σωτήρ", which has gone through a long history of semantic transformation: from the savior to earthly adversities and misfortunes in the pagan world (natural objects, people, mythological creatures could act as saviors and even the gods) to the Savior of human souls in Christianity. The authors demonstrate how the content of the concept was modified and how, along with the religious meaning, a political component emerged and established itself in the structure of meaning by the Hellenistic era, and then was again pushed into the background. It is suggested that the political connotations are caused not so much by the "power ambitions" of the Church, but, firstly, by the socio-cultural context in which Christianity arose, and, secondly, by the specifics of the pagan worldview in which the idea of sacralizing power was rooted. The task of the authors, who worked with rather archaic material, was not only to reveal the logic of semantic shifts, to understand how Christian theology could become heard in the space of pagan culture. The authors believe that the success of Christian preaching was not least due to the cognitive strategies chosen by the Church, which were directly poisoned by pagan concepts in the work.