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CHRISTIANITY AS A SYMBOLIC FORM. PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE POSSIBILITY OF THE ECUMENICAL DIALOGUE
Dražen Volk
orcid.org/0000-0003-2360-1338
; KBF – Zagreb, Teologija u Rijeci
Sažetak
Our starting position was the analysis of the possibility of the ecumenical dialogue, and it imposed a series of philosophical, i.e. epistemological problems whose solution and clarification is a precondition for a general understanding of the possibility of dialogue, but also of a specific ecumenical dialogue. The philosophy of the symbolic forms, i.e the philosophical system of Ernst Cassirer, offered a pattern for a different definition of Christianity as a worldview, or as a speculative system: understanding Christianity as a symbolic form. The mentioned philosophical system offers a possibility of bridging between theological epistemology and other modern cultural sciences. Since the goal of theological science is the achievement of the most objective statements, theology is a nonavoidable factor in the academic ecumenical dialogue. A general inquiry regarding the genesis of the experience and knowledge, aiming to clarify the specificity of Christianity and Christian knowledge was needed in order to base the above mentioned philosophical system on a solid ground. Results achieved through a philosophical analysis can illuminate the process of attaining knowledge and statements: this is necessary in order to understand the extent of the compatibility of the statements of particular Christian churches and communities, or the possibilities for a doctrinal conciliation. Further, the application of the philosophy of symbolic forms showed that human reality is a plural one, i.e. that it can always be approached from different angles that should not necessarily lead to relativism. By his philosophy Cassirer suggested that it is possible to reach a formal unity of different interpretations of the world, i.e. it is possible to unify them in a human, symbolic, formative and cultural activity. The application of philosophy in the ecumenical dialogue had this goal, and showed the possibility of a different approach in the ecumenical dialogue, their possibilities and abridgements, and was an encouragement in the search of new paths in edification of that mutual “between”.
Ključne riječi
dialogue; ecumenism; philosophy of symbolic forms; epistemology; theological epistemology
Hrčak ID:
71307
URI
Datum izdavanja:
21.1.2011.
Posjeta: 1.123 *