The Books of the Genesis of the Ukrainian People (or

Divine Law Divine law is any body of law that is perceived as deriving from a transcendent source, such as the will of God or godsin contrast to man-made law or to secular law. According to Angelos Chaniotis and Rudolph F. Peters, divine laws are typically ...

) ( uk, Книги Буття Українського Народу, Knyhy Buttia Ukrayinskoho Narodu) is a philosophical and religious

treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...

attributed to

Mykola Kostomarov Mykola Ivanovych Kostomarov or Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Костома́ров, ; uk, Микола Іванович Костомаров, ; May 16, 1817, vil. Yurasovka, Voronezh Governorate, R ...

, (some experts i.e. Myroslav Trofymuk question the authorship) dedicated to designation of Ukrainian nation as part of Christian history. Reflected the ideology of secret organization

Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius The Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius ( uk, Кирило-Мефодіївське братство, russian: Кирилло-Мефодиевское братство) was a short-lived secret political society that existed in Kiev (now Kyi ...

Main essence

In the center of "Books" is the category of freedom, which is treated as the main medium unity between man and God. God desired freedom for communication with the man, and the rupture with God also leads to the loss of freedom and rupture with freedom leads to alienation with God. On this basis "Books" interpreted the major events of human history. Success or decline of the nations are dependent on the degree of their freedom and unity with God. Creation and historical experience of Ukraine within the 16th-18th centuries is recognized as the closest restoration of losted ideal primerally designed by God - equal society of believers.

Structure and content

"Books" is divided into four semantic parts. The first part is an imitation of the biblical story of God creating the world and people, their happiness and fall, the result of which was polytheism, death, disease and worst of all slavery. The second part depicts historical experience of five "nations": Jews, Greeks,

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

and Slavs. Their experience is evaluated according to exercising faith in God and freedom. The Jewish people created and chosen by God himself asked the king, left thus free and close relationship with God; Greeks cherished freedom but did not know one true God therefore could not implement it, gradually adopting the imperial power of the Roman (Byzantine) emperor and declined; Romance people adopted Christianity, but established the royal power of the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

and therefore also departed from the original divine plan; Germanic peoples, thanks to Luther's Reformation, established the most advance form of Christianity, but then again returned hierarchy and domination of one class over another. Finally Slavic people was naturally inclined to freedom but as a "younger brothers" started to copied what they have seen in other nations and repeated their mistakes. The only exception was Ukraine, which took the form of general social equality and fraternity performed by

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

and religious Brotherhoods. The third part is a brief description of the development of Ukraine between Slavic states -

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Muscovy Muscovy is an alternative name for the Grand Duchy of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to: *Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555 * Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and Domes ...

and fight with them, which was initially successful, but then turned in to division between the two hostile countries on a half's. Fourth part provides a conceptualization of Ukrainian narrative. Ukraine is seen as a territory where was renewed a God`s plan of human society as a community of free and equal people, who thus are able to do unselfish good deeds to neighbors, and Ukrainian - is a person who fundamentally rejects any form of predominance, recognizing only the power of God which denied pride.

Concept of power

According to the "Books" Good and Evil have their own form of government: Good in the form of service, and the Evil in the form of predominance. The service-power is an expression of God's love for man and his desire to make man as happy as he himself. It originated the idea of equality. The service-power is committed to equality of individuals who are perfect because of their relationship with God. The predominance-power is associated with pride - a nature of Devil, and needs to humiliate the subject of power is arising from necessity to feel self-admiration and of own greatness.Kozak S. Between history and messianism Праці НТШ Volume 224(CCXXIV) - С.6

This predominance-power originated inequality. Therefore, the power-domination leads to social hierarchy and stratification. Thus the service-power is a progress source for individuals and society and the predominance-power the source of their degradation.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

* Hlyz, I.
The Book of the Genesis of the Ukrainian Nation or the Divine Law (КНИГА БУТТЯ УКРАЇНСЬКОГО НАРОДУ АБО ЗАКОН БОЖИЙ)
Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. 19th century in Ukraine Political history of Ukraine Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius 19th-century books

Main essence

Structure and content

Concept of power

See also

References

External links