| Abstract [eng] |
Research object: stereotypes of spiritual growth. Research goal: to analyze the main stereotypes of spiritual growth and their impact on the Christian spiritual growth in the light of sources as well as principles of Christian faith. Research objectives: 1. To discuss the authentic principles and guidelines of Christian teaching for spiritual growth, rooted in the Teachings of Catholic Church, the Holy Scripture, and the Tradition. 2. To analyze the main stereotypes of spiritual growth in the context of authentic Christian principles. 3. To discuss the effects of stereotypes of spiritual growth on personal spiritual growth. 4. To conduct an empirical research of the impact of these stereotypes on personal spiritual growth. In their way of spiritual growth Christians suffer from emotional problems, which are caused by false faith assumptions. These false assumptions originate from the wrong interpretations of the faith, the Holy Scriptures, and the Teachings of the Church. They distort the Christian teaching about the behavior of the faithful as well as about the process of emotional spiritual growth. They also estrange them from the resources for renewal of spiritual life, which are offered by the Bible, the Teaching of the Church, and the Tradition. With the goal to reveal the impact of false assumptions on the spiritual growth a qualitative study was conducted. During the in-depth semi-structured interviews 6 active members of Kretinga parish were interviewed. The data analysis revealed that the biggest damage to the spiritual growths stems from the wrong interpretations, inability to integrate the Christian principles into the personal faith and life. As a consequence personal relationships and communication suffer; a person loses emotional balance, poses excessive requirements for her/himself, tries to escape the reality, and has a wrong understanding about self-esteem. The findings of this research permit to claim, that Christian principles of spiritual growth, based on holistic perspective on human growth, retain the balance and help to avoid the extremes, which very often cause painful emotional consequences. The research has found that the faithful are more protected from this negative impact, if they foster close, informal and constant relationships in small faith communities and groups. The theoretical and practical importance of this Master’s thesis consists in the fact that it can be used for further comparative analysis of stereotypes of spiritual growth and their damage to spiritual growth. |
