Issues of the Historical Cognition of Civilizational Heritage according to the Spiritual Paradigm

Abstract

The article analyzes the most important stages in formation and development of the spiritual and cultural paradigm in Western Europe. Formation of both spiritual and religious systems and their subsequent transformations have considerably influenced human consciousness, accompanied by fundamental social, economic, and political changes. The article emphasizes that it is possible to comprehend the nature and scope of these phenomena only provided a comprehensive analysis of European spiritual and religious discourse based on the basic foundations of the historical realities of definite periods. The role of Christian values in creating European civilization is emphasized. The significance of religious norms in the creation process of spiritual algorithms is substantiated. A comprehensive analysis of the Christianity impact on society reveals both the objective reasons of the religious ideas emergence in history and the reverse influence of Christian values and beliefs on secular culture. The crystallization of historical contacts between religious and secular types of spirituality is accompanied by a change in their positions: secular spirituality becomes a dominant category. The article emphasizes that in the modern context religion, largely related to traditional values and outlook, responds to the challenges of globalization. Complex historical and scientific retrospection shows that issues of global culture and global values are the focus of attention due to the religious context which stimulates the complex comprehension of globalization rather than only as a political and economic phenomenon. For many centuries it has been the spiritual and religious paradigm that has formed the global idea. Understanding this algorithm helps to comprehend spiritual and religious values as an enzyme of cultural and secular development.