COMPLEXITY OF MEANING OF LIFE SEARCH AND THE RESPONSE OF THE CHRISTIANITY Cover Image

Gyvenimo prasmės ieškojimo problemiškumas
COMPLEXITY OF MEANING OF LIFE SEARCH AND THE RESPONSE OF THE CHRISTIANITY

Author(s): Giedrė Rita Rugevičiūtė
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion
Published by: Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas
Keywords: tikybos mokymas; gyvenimo prasmė; globalizacija; individualizacija; transcendentinė tikrovė; būtis; buvimas su kitu; santykis su Esančiuoju; viltis; religious education; meaning of life; globalization; individualization; transcendent reality; existence,

Summary/Abstract: Aren’t we afraid nowadays of raising questions: what is it that gives meaning to our lives; what is the source of vitality and whether faith is able to help a human to give meaning to his or her life? The objective of the article is to discuss the issue of person‘s meaning of life as an issue of a contemporary human in relation to faith. In the introduction the impact of the globalized world on a personality is identified. The modern world has dissipated the space of locale, systems and traditions, and created the conditions for the development of distant relationship between persons, nations and cultures. A contemporary human confronts many challenges, abundance of possibilities, indeterminacy of value orientations, and the pressure of economic laws. All this impels us to reflect upon deciding where to go, why to choose one or another direction, or avoiding transition into impersonal agent in the stream of ever-changing information. The experience of unsafety brings a person back to the introspection, self-examination and search for spiritual depth in religion. The first part discusses the social configurations of Western society in relation to person’s life destination search. The legitimacy of the problem of the meaning of life in human arises when the meaning of his or her life becomes “fragile”. What are the values on which a human builds while developing his goals of life? Modern society interposed individualism. Sociologist Beck ascribed the following elements of individualism: liberation; loss of stability and new social control. The consequence of these processes is fear and sense of insecurity in humans. Although the opportunities for a person have expanded, however, they got trapped into existing illusions implying that one can create, manage and control everything. Therefore, failure intimidates, causes anxiety or even a threat to the meaning of life. The second part presents the data of the research done on the search of meaning of life among Lithuanian Catholic youth. The research confirms the importance of religious education in favour of a person as a religious and spiritual being. It is viable for young people to be a member of their family or society and to maintain relation with God, take care of friends, school, nature, country and the world. Attachment to something larger than your inner “self” is a significant condition for the search of meaning of life. Following the renewed programs of religious education, with the help of the content of the classes it is sought to assist a learner to better learn and comprehend him or her self, give meaning to their existence and look for the meaning of life in relation to God. In the third part of the article the concepts of the meaning of life are discussed based upon the thoughts of famous philosophers M. Heidegger and E. Levin. The philosophy of M. Heidegger suggests the idea of “Why is there something rather than nothing?” Theology relates this question to God who created th

  • Issue Year: 61/2010
  • Issue No: 33
  • Page Range: 137-150
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Lithuanian
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