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author: Ivan Kunderenko
Urgency of the research. Classic typology suggested by R. Niebuhr received world recognition and became well spread in the second half of the 20th century. Its relevance is questionable among foreign researchers of religion, especially given the dynamic environment of postmodernism. This typology continues to be used in the Ukrainian realm of the study of religion.
Target setting. The following phenomenon has emerged: the analysis of available and widespread texts of doctrine of the most numerous denominations of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists demonstrates that the main theological statements have remained intact for several years of existence in Ukraine, but the level of involvement in public life of Ukraine has changed significantly. Shifts in the degree of involvement can be ranged between personal and systemic influence, and it is possible to state the tendency from reactionary interaction with society to an active system of preventive actions.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Ukrainian scholars and researches like O. Dyatlik, V. Hromets, S. Sannikov, Yu. Chornomorets, V. Syniy, S. Philipchuk, M. Chernkov need to be mentioned. Each of them either studied Niebuhr’s typology (like S. Philipchuk) or examined scale of the involvement of Ukrainian Protestants in the life of society.
Foreign researchers that should be mentioned Donald Carson, Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Brian D. McLaren, Erwin Raphael McManus All of them either provided critical assessment of Niebuhr’s typology, or provided their own dynamic typologies. Dennis Hollinger identified and systematized universal models of the Protestant impact.
The research objective. To examine the relevance of well-spread classic Niebuhr’s typology in its correlation with the transformation of involvement level of the Ukrainian Protestants in the life of society, using the example of All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists as the most numerous denomination.
The statement of basic materials. Applying the typology of R. Niebuhr to the Protestant environment of Ukraine is nearly impossible, because despite the preserved faith statements, the level of involvement of Protestants in Ukrainian society has changed significantly. Thus, the usual classification is not efficient due to the dynamics of the social dimension of Protestants and the background of theological conservatism. Author agrees with the proposed paradigm of D. Hollinger, that in any interaction with society there are two dimensions, in the middle of which we can make a certain ranking. The impact can be individual or structural, as well as reactionary or preventive. The following vectors have become especially common among Protestants:
Conclusions. Provided analysis relates the relevance of the common typology of R. Niebuhr in its application to the praxis of the Protestant churches of Ukraine on the example of the largest group, which is the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists.
Keywords. typology; protestants; society, church.
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author: Bohdan Gulyamov
Urgency of the research. Various strategies for interpreting the values of individual rights and dignity have been at the center of discussions on ways to develop the social teachings of the Orthodox Church. Modern worldview debates in the United States and other countries no longer allow us to limit ourselves to general phrases and not to decide on human rights issues. Theoretically, all local Orthodox churches and theological schools recognize the value of the individual as created in the image of God. But from the recognition of the high dignity of the human person can draw various conclusions, on which today there are fundamental disputes.
Target setting. In early 2020, the Ecumenical Patriarch approved a social doctrine entitled "For the life of the world. On the way to the social ethos of the Orthodox Church" and this declaration was made public for general discussion. This doctrine offers a holistic vision of Christian humanism, the theological legitimization of democracy through an emphasis on the absolute dignity of the individual as one who can be in communion with God.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Today, Orthodox social doctrine is undergoing two transformations through the work of the Ecumenical Patriarchate: the transition from late modern to postmodern theological discourse in its own language and the victory of the post-liberal political theology of the Fordham School of Orthodox Thought led by prominent professors, including Aristotle Papanikolaou and George Demacopoulos. This sets new perspectives for all discussions of social doctrine in Orthodoxy and, more broadly, throughout Christianity. The formation of post-liberal social doctrine has been the greatest achievement of theological thought of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in recent centuries and requires systematic study.
The research objective. The aim of the study is to analyze the main features of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's social doctrine on dignity and human rights, to identify the main features of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's new social doctrine on individual rights and dignity in the context of theological discussions on human freedom, democracy, and the official confrontation between official Orthodoxy and fundamentalism.
The statement of basic materials. The concept of human rights and the dignity of the individual, contained in the new social doctrine of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, proposes to recognize modern theories of human rights and their implementation in today's democracy as self-evident truths. These truths are quite legitimate in religious discourse, because the personal dignity of man as capable of mystical communion with God is absolute. The Orthodox Church presupposes that the dignity and freedom of the individual, his vocation and perfection are much higher than all the many values and norms offered by modern secular moral and legal consciousness, relevant international acts and constitutional norms. In the field of social doctrine, this leads to the requirement of absolute recognition of classical human rights and freedoms. No conclusions are drawn about the need to accept today's expanded interpretation of human rights, because the absolute dignity of the individual is not protected for the sake of approving ideas and practices that show signs of totalitarian coercion.
Conclusions. The Orthodox social doctrine, proposed in early 2020, seeks to give new impetus to the ideas of modernism as an unfinished project, emphasizing the full agreement between the Enlightenment and Orthodox ethics on the dignity of the individual and human rights. The idea of a consensus between secular and religious visions of human rights comes from the theology of Patriarch Bartholomew and modern Orthodox thinkers in the United States.
Keywords: social doctrine of the church, personalism, human rights, dignity of the individual.
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author: Anna Laputko
Urgency of the research. In the Roman Catholic Church anthropological concept is based on the perception of the sacredness and inviolability of human life. Life is a gift of God, God is its source. The spiritual and bodily integrity of a person who is free and responsible has as its main goal the direction to God. Personality is the basis of Christian personalism, the main criterion of moral evaluations and actions, the object and purpose of human activity. Dignity and the good of the integrated person are the main principle of the Christian anthropological concept and the fundamental criterion of Christian bioethics.
Target setting. The Catholic Church has a clear position on bioethical issues, based on the recognition of the value and dignity of human life and respect for human rights. The bioethical approach of utilitarianism focuses on the public good, to which the individual must submit. The paradigm of utilitarianism solves the problem not in favor of being a person, because it recognizes the primacy of quality of life: moral rules are little taken into account, the emphasis is on maximum benefit, in particular for society as a whole, not for the individual.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The main basic documents on the anthropological concept in the context of bioethics are: the encyclical "Humanae vitae", the "Charter for Health Care Workers", the encyclical "Evangelium vitae". Since these documents require a fairly broad analysis and require a large amount of work, in our article we will focus primarily on the first two of them. To support our conclusions, we will analyze the report of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, which provides in-depth generalizations about the anthropological concept of man in the Roman Catholic Church. The methodological example for our article will be the works of Ukrainian scientists Tetyana Havryliuk, Ivan Ostashchuk and Yuri Chornomorets.
The research objective. The aim of the of the article is to analyze the anthropological concept of man as a integrated personality in the Catholic tradition of bioethics. In accordance with the set aim, separate tasks should be revealed: to analyze some basic documents of the Holy See on the problems of bioethics and to highlight the main features of the Christian concept of anthropology in their application to the evaluation of bioethics.
The statement of basic materials. In modern bioethical research and the practice of their implementation, two opposite directions can be traced: ethical absolutism in Christian philosophy and ethical relativism in utilitarianism and pragmatism. Christian bioethics is based on the anthropological concept of man as integrated personality and social being. The thesis of the dignity of the human person is contained in the biblical concept of the creation of man in the image and likeness of God. The Christian anthropological concept is based on the perception of the individual as an inseparable unity of the physical and the spiritual. Christian moral norms should be seen in the context of the phenomenon of the gift.
Conclusions. The Christian position is based on the transmission and interpretation of the biblical idea of the human person on the basis of God's plan. Man is the only creature called to live for himself; created in the image and likeness of God; the main purpose of its life is to go to God and to call to God's beatitude. Man is an inseparable and unique unity of the physical and the spiritual. It is impossible to give exclusive preference only to the biological or only the mental nature of man as an integrally the sources of moral responsibility; the matter of human growth is based on a combination of sensory and spiritual life. Man, by his actions on the basis of conscience, accepts or does not accept the good that God has promised him.
Keywords: anthropological concept, integrated personality, value, dignity, bioethics, Catholicism.
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author: Daria Morozova
Urgency of the research. Antioch on the Orontes is precisely the city where the dramatic interaction between the Judeo-Christian messianic movement and the polytheistic milieu gave rise to the familiar "Gentile Christianity." The relationship between the Jews of Antioch, the Gentiles, and the Christians influenced the formation of the whole Church, defining the universal character of Christianity. But they also left an imprint on the Antioch school, a unique ethnically Semitic and Greek-speaking center of Christian theology.
Target setting. We still know very little about how the ethnic and cultural Semitic background of Antioch theologians, as well as their proximity to the developed Jewish community of the city, was reflected in their thinking.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Although the Jewish diaspora in Antioch often attracts the attention of Judaic scholars, and the Antiochian School of Christian Theology gave rise to a fairly extensive patrological literature, these different areas of study do not intersect. Several reviews of the School of Antioch focus, among other, on the history of local Jewry, but even so there is little talk of an exchange of views between the two communities. Only a few case studies focus on the echoes between Jewish and Christian exegesis of Scripture in Antioch. Meanwhile, the importance of such a perspective is pointed out by leading historians of the doctrine such as Yaroslav Pelikan.
The research objective. The purpose of this essay is to outline the specifics of the Semitic center of Christian theological thought. This requires several tasks: assessing the role of the native Aramaic language in the works of Antiochian Christians who preached and wrote in Greek; tracing the place of the Jewish community of Antioch in the life and thinking of the local patristic school; summarizing the data of individual studies on the parallelism between Jewish and Christian.
The statement of basic materials. The Jewish community of Antioch was not monolithic. Communities of different currents tended to gather separately. Apparently, some of them, having received the news of the coming of the Messiah from the apostles, became the first centers of Christianity in Antioch, providing the basis for the future theological school. Such Semitic features of Antiochian patristics as literalism, historicism, and a kind of mystical materialism provoked criticism from other schools. On the other hand, Aramaic-speaking Christians could rightly call the Hebrew-Aramaic Bible "our Scriptures." As heirs to Old Testament prophets and legislators, Syrian apologists addressed the "Greeks" in a paternal tone. Theophilus of Antioch and Theodore of Mopsuestia even show a direct dependence on the rabbinic tradition of interpretation.
Conclusions. Behind the Greek language and classical rhetoric of the authors of the Antioch school are purely Semitic ways of comprehending reality and philosophical attitudes, strikingly different from all other currents of patristic. Ethnic and cultural kinship with the Jewish environment, along with some other factors, led to the literal, historical and typological exegesis, which is pertinent for the School of Antioch. Moving along parallel paths, the Jewish and Christian thinkers of Antioch periodically expressed similar intuitions. And some coincidences of interpretations appear to be direct borrowings.
Key words: School of Antioch, Jewish diaspora, exegesis, spiritual education, theology of education.
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author: Tetiana Havrylenko
Urgency of the research. Currently, in the context of the development of the New Ukrainian School, one of the priority tasks is to modernize the content of education. The first level of complete general secondary education needs special attention in the direction of updating the content of education.
Target setting. Given the educational transformations, it is natural to turn to the domestic historical and pedagogical experience. The period of development of educational standards in Ukraine is of scientific interest, which led to a revision of the content of primary education in 1996-2001.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Various aspects of the development of the content of primary education in 1996-2001 were reflected in the works of Ukrainian scientists N. M. Bibik, M. S. Vashulenko, N. S. Koval, Ya. P. Kodlyuk, O. Ya. Savchenko, V. P. Tymenko and others.
The research objective. Identify and characterize innovations in the development of primary education in the context of developing educational standards in Ukraine in 1996-2001.
The statement of basic material. One of the main issues in 1996–2001 was the modernization of the content of education, which was carried out in two directions: development of the State Standard of Primary General Education, which was to provide a single educational space, determine state requirements for students' education in the context of the requirements of the standard in accordance with the needs of contemporary society and the child's personality.
Conclusions. The analyzed sources allowed not only to gain new historical and pedagogical knowledge but also to comprehend the previous experience in the process of modern education reform. We are convinced that the priority principles in the development of the content of primary education should remain child-centeredness, national orientation, humanization, variability, differentiation, implemented in 1996-2001.
Keywords: modernization of the content of primary education; educational standards; curriculum; curriculum; textbooks; Ukraine.
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