Dialogue and Universalism

Volume 24, Issue 3, 2014

Philosophy: In Search for Knowledge and Ways of Life

Olga N. Dyachenko
Pages 177-182

Religious Faith in the Context of Personality Self- Determination

The spread of Christianity reveals a new interpretation of human existence. In it temporality is regarded as a universal characteristic of the human race. The interpretation of God's word is based on a medieval understanding of being, as the Word. In the theocentric perspective Jesus Christ’s personality is a unique form of human self-consciousness. Christian thought unveils within it the dialogue between a faithful mind and a personal God, the relationship of “You” versus “Me.” Dialogic activity of a human agent is kept up by the constant renewal of religious communication contexts that arises from the process of spiritual contemplation. Theocentric thinking explains the self-sufficiency of human existence through the infinity of the knowledge of God that gives a person the opportunities of self-improvement and self-fulfillment. Faith is equal to finding one’s inner self; that is why it always considers a person as a personality containing unlimited perspectives for personal self-determination.