AXIOLOGICAL DIMENSION OF THE HUMAN AUTHENTIC NATURE FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Abstract

The article presents the Christian-oriented paradigm of the axiological dimension of the authentic nature of man. In Christian psychology, man appears as a complete complementary unity of body-soul-spirit. The essence of the authentic nature of man determines the sacramentality. The latter appears as an axiological characteristic and a transcendental source of the personality development - a prerequisite for its self-discovery, self-determination and self-improvement. Sacramentality as an axiological characteristic of a human reveals a position whereby man is the bearer of the indestructible transcendent image of God. The awareness of this initiates in  a human the desire to produce thoughts, actions, actions to conform to the image of God, to be worthy of Him. Two patterns characterize the realization of sacramentality as a transcendental source of the personality development: ontological synergism and ontological dynamism. Ontological synergism is the interaction of the divine with the human, which is determined by three important points. Firstly, the divine and the human in the person create the mutual nature.

Secondly, the divine is always open to influence and active. Thirdly, human interaction with the divine is an expression of ontological freedom of the will and the freedom of choice. Ontological dynamism as a pattern is determined by the fact that one contains the image of God, which is the motivator of the inner spiritual dynamics - the pursuit of the peaks of perfection in worthy deeds. Sacramentality empowers a person with the ability and perspective to comprehend transcendental sacred reality. This cognition comes from person’s own life experience, marked by the desire to multiply good and love. This desire is a conscious response to an ontological call. God, as love in the ontological gift of freedom, declares Himself to man, enabling him to become more and more like Him. Freedom gives it the potential to conform to the image of God in itself, and on the other hand, freedom obliges man to affirm that conformity effectively. Sacramentalism builds a person’s self-sufficiency, since he is open to cooperation with the Creator, and his life is a continuous ontological and qualitative growth of personality, not only in relation to his Alpha (beginning), but also to his Omega (ending), to which he is dynamically directed.