Building a House on the Rock – On Christian Vision of the Process of Upbringing

Abstract

Christian personalism which accepts the fundamental reality of God-the Father and man-a person is the right path leading to full understanding of the concept of personality as a combination of spirituality, individual traits and socialization which are inseparable features of human person. Pedagogy gives priority to problems essential for the theory of education , namely 'Who is a man' and 'What is his nature'. The reply to these questions determines the goal of upbringing, the reference to the appropriate system of values , that is the connection of ethics and education, as well as defines the components which are responsible for a harmonious and integral development of personality according to the personalistic norm.

Personalistic pedagogy places emphasis on the affirmation of a person and on such upbringing which protects relationships with other people and man's whole environment. The immanent elements of this way of upbringing are the formation of man's rationality and his freedom, as well as that of his world outlook and emotions. It allows space for the protection of relationships with – through friendship with and love for – other people, and creating relations with God through religious education. Such upbringing consists in building relations with everything that is genuine and kind, upright and honest- thus being aimed at the harmonious growth of man's entire personality.