Vectors of Explanation of Religious Architecture in the Optics of the Psychology of Religion

In this research paper was implemented a search for general philosophical and scientific principles and possibilities of the study of religious architecture in the optics of the psychology of religion. For this purpose were involved the achievements of M.R. Savchenko in the field of architectural ontology and functional methodology. It was shown that the study of architecture from the position of psychology of religion should pursue psychological explanation of the need for religious architecture for the preservation (survival, spread, development) of ritual and religion. This type of explanation is possible on the basis of a functional methodology that allows the study of architectural processes that cannot be reduced to the cultural processes of understanding, interpretation of communication. It was shown that the study of architecture from the point of view of the psychology of religion is possible in the light of the theories of contemporary evolutionary psychology, Jungian psychoanalysis, as well as the psychology of visual perception. If we use the theories from these strands of psychology, we can argue that certain processes and properties of religious architecture do not belong to cultural processes or properties of cultural institutions, but nevertheless they affect culture, contribute to the preservation of ritual and provides the psychotherapeutic, compensatory and adaptive functions of religion.