In this article the analysis of anthropological concepts which were formulated in the Catholic theology of the German-speaking area in the epoch after the Second Vatican Council is performed. The ideas of K. Rahner, E. Coreth, J. Ratzinger and W. Kasper are represented. The main idea expressed by these thinkers, is the presence of divine origin in the human spirit that defines human nature, completes the human essence and elevates man to the sphere of the transcendent and enables his/her connection (...) with God. (shrink)

In the article of Oleh Shepetyak «Dramatic Theology of K. Barth, H.U. von Balthasar and R. Schwager» the analysis of one of the theological concepts of XX - the beginning of XXI century was performed which was developed by Karl Barth, Gustav Aulén, Gans Urs von Balthasar and got the name «dramatic theology». This way of theological reflection appeared as antithesis to liberal theology developed in the dialogue with the Enlightment philosophy. The contribution of main creators of dramatic theology into (...) the development of this study, its role and meaning in Theological discussions of the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council are highlighted in the investigation. (shrink)

The article describes the analysis of Gnostic sects of the Late Antiquity, with the exception of the concepts of large Gnostic systems. Particular attention is devoted to the consideration of the Mandaean religion - the only ancient Gnostic religion that exists to this day. The history of the formation of Mandaise, the determinative role of John the Baptist and the cult of Teyvila for the Mandaeans, as well as the peculiarities of their doctrine has been analysed.

Oleh Shepetyak. Monotheistic tendencies of Egypt's religions of the pre-dynastic and early dynastic period. The study analyzes the religion of ancient Egypt, and it proved the presence of a clear monotheistic tendencies. The article provides a brief examination of the historical landmarks of Egyptian culture, its literary achievements inspection and analysis of earlier beliefs, which are at the center of the personality of Seth and Horus, and other deities who have the zeal of the late myth associated with them.

In the Article of Oksana Shepetyak "Statistical Analysis of the Relationship between the Numbers of Christian Churches of the Middle East"is analyzed the modernity of the Christians communities in their historical regions and tendency in their development. The diversity of Eastern Christianity requires a broad and multifaceted study. Most researchers focus on the history of formation, theological and liturgical aspects, and contemporaneity. This study is devoted to the comparison of only statistics, which, however, reveal an entirely new picture of the (...) Christian East. The comparison of the number of believers in the Eastern Churches shows that the Oriental non-orthodox churches dominate in the Alexandrian tradition, while the Eastern Catholic Churches predominate in the East Syrian and Western-Syrian tradition. Instead, the Churches of the Byzantine tradition in the Middle East turned into small religious communities. (shrink)

The article deals with analysis of the formation and historical significance of two traditions in Eastern Christianity, which emerged as a result of the rejection of theological decisions of the Chalcedon Ecumenical Council, that means, they adopted into their own theological tradition significant influences of monophysitism. This concerns Syriac Jacobite and Coptic Churches, as well as the churches that are associated with them in historical and theological cognation.

In the article of Oleh Shepetyak "The Christianity of Franks: the Formation of the Vector of European Civilization" is analyzed the Christianization of Western Europe and the Rolle of Franks in this difficult process. The basis of the European civilization is Christianity. The Christianization of the European peoples was a difficult and ambiguous process. Many Germanic peoples, which settled down in Europe, had accepted the Christianity in its Arianism version. The main factor, which caused the domination of Catholic Church in (...) Western Europe and the crowning out of the Arianism, was the political domination of the Franks and the Frank's conquest of the Germanic peoples. The changes of the dynasties of Frank's Kingdom and the change of Europa's political map Europe had played very impotent role in the Christianization Europa's. In the article is highlighted special role of two Frankꞌs Kings Clovis and Charles the Great in the Process dissemination of Christianity in Europe. The analyze of these facts of the religious history Europe's is the object of this article. (shrink)

In 1921 was published the book of the famous Austrian-British philosopher and funder of the analytic philosophy Ludwig Johann Wittgenstein, in which he wrote, that the big part of our philosophical problems, which were subject of the thinking of the thousands philosophers, are created not by the difficulty of reality but by the complication of the language. When a philosopher analyzes a language he uses, he will find that the biggest part of the philosophical problems is illusory. Following Wittgenstein's advices, (...) in this article we probe to analyze what means the concept "polytheism" and to answer the questions: did the phenomenon, what is with this word described, anytime exist, or it is only a phantasies' fabrication, and all attempts to think about it are wandering in the dark labyrinths without exit. The first problem we have in our way is absolutely darkness in this question. We could not find any research, in which the concept of polytheism is analyzed in this way we changed. So we must get through the forest of an unknown ourselves without opportunity to have support from the experience of the predecessors. We hope our mistakes might be useful for the following researches. The Greek word "doxa polytheos" was first time used by Philo of Alexandria and after them many Judaic and Christian authors repeated this word opposing own religion to the paganism. Jan Bodin 1n 16th Century used this word in the modern mean as a France word "polythéisme". The Greek word "doxa polytheos" and the France one "polythéisme", though they are constructed of the same Greek word "Θεός", based on the different concepts, because in 16 centuries the word "Θεός" changed its means. In Greek-speaking society this word was used to detonate any being who overstate the material world. When Thales of Millet wrote, that "the world is full of gods", he did not mean that there is an Absolut in every small part of the world. When he used the word "Θεός" in this mean, Thales thought about different objects, as we called "God" now. The mean of the term "polytheism" is unclear and is the cause of many researches problems in the religious studies. The Greek word "Θεός" detonated every sacral being, which was the object of the worship, but not the Absolut. When this word went in the term "polytheism", its mean was changed, and it was used for the calling Absolut in the Christian meaning. This transformation of the meaning created the wrong conception that in the world there were or are religions, the members of them believes in the existence of some or many Absolutes. The problem of using concept "polytheism" is not a real academic problem but an illusions problem, what is caused by the wrong and incorrect using of the term. The Greek word "Θεός", of them are created the terms "monotheism" and "polytheism", is used in both terms in different meanings. In the term "monotheism" the word "Θεός" means God-Absolut, and in the term "polytheism" – any beings, what are the objects of the religious worship. The monotheism and polytheism are not two different phase of the entvelopment of the religious consciousness. These ideas are created by the wrongness of Hegel's philosophy and must be uprooted from the lexicon of the religious studies. (shrink)

The article «The scriptures of Judaism» of Shepetyak O.M. analyzes and brief systematization of the spiritual literature of Judaism, to study ways of its formation and the role of the Jewish religious environment, considered the scriptures Tanakh, the Talmud, the Mishnah, Midrash, Halacha, and others, the ways of their origin and role in religious operating time of Judaism.