Between Progress and Faith: Religious Education, Theology and the Retrieval of Person

Iryna Antonyuk; Oksana Hrabovska; Anton Sopiga; Nataliia Kovalenko; Yuliia Kamenetska

doi:10.63931/ijchr.v7iSI1.2.474

Authors

Iryna Antonyuk Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4979-3828
Oksana Hrabovska Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2886-4903
Anton Sopiga Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy, Lviv, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9474-6892
Nataliia Kovalenko Kyiv Municipal Academy of Circus and Performing Arts, Kyiv, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4851-955X
Yuliia Kamenetska Interregional Academy of Personnel Management https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9172-8923

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63931/ijchr.v7iSI1.2.474

Keywords:

cultural transformation, individual values, personal identity, personal independence, multiculturalism

Abstract

Cultural transformation profoundly influences human consciousness, spirituality, philosophy, and traditions, shaping how individuals perceive themselves and society. This process manifests in the creation of a multilayered cultural identity that ensures freedom of expression while reflecting both continuity and fluctuation. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of evolving cultural trends, shifting from continuity to cultural fluidity, on personal identification. The methodological framework combines structural and conceptual analysis, questionnaires, and Pearson’s statistical calculations. Findings reveal that stages of cultural continuity, including primitive society, antiquity, and the Middle Ages, strongly shaped individual identification within collective frameworks. In contrast, cultural fluidity, characteristic of modernism, postmodernism, and the digital age, has fostered greater social independence and a search for new meanings through cultural interaction. Current trends such as digitalization, polycentricity, ethics, decolonization, and new cultural orientations reinforce the perception of culture as a sphere of direct human participation and engagement with history. The analysis showed that respondents in Group 1 (younger generation) are more oriented toward cultural fluidity (73%), which facilitates the revision of established values and the embrace of change. Meanwhile, respondents in Group 2 (older generation) prefer cultural continuity (68%), reflecting their inclination to preserve traditional norms. Importantly, 82% of students in Group 1 reported a strengthened sense of belonging, expanding their worldview. Their adaptability was further confirmed through situational tasks, where they achieved the highest results in integrating into a European university setting (S=0.83; 4.7 points).

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