Klaipėdos universitetas

The early beginnings of Christian caritative social work against a Biblical and Ancient Greek background have been well explored in literature. The methodological approach, the use of theological analysis of social work approach to the client, opens the doors to the positive identification of burning issues in the practice of modern social work. The Christian world-view has always put personal responsibility and involvement on micro, mezzo and macro levels in focus, and the realisation of personal potential in social functions is revealed by the application of the Trinitarian view of God in Christianity. The theological approach to the analysis of the meaning of social work, its mission and mechanisms, focuses on the crossing of both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the Christian faith as a practice, and puts forward service to the needy and the poor, solidarity with outcasts and marginal people, support and encouragement, as following in the footsteps of Christ. By that approach, the essence of caritative social work is discovered: personal engagement versus estrangement, community resources versus individualism, mutuality versus ignorance. The innovative discourse inviting the disclosure of possible personal transformation dynamics has an impact on the positive solution of the client’s social problems within the community, especially during a humanitarian crisis. The methodological approach may also be helpful for the identification of stagnation in the social work profession.

The affiliation of the family with the land, ownership rights as necessary for a sufficient means of existence on one hand, and God’s blessings on the other, is a founding triangle constituting the basic principles of every ancient society. The triangle is also described in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible. For many centuries, the ‘nation-land-God’ triangle has been an undisputed foundation for the sustainability of every society. The ancient intuition foresaw the inalienable constituents of society as still being worth remembering for modern man. However, in the 21st century, all three constituents could be described and named differently. Our reflections go far beyond the ancient book (or rather, collection of 39 books) composed more than 2,000 years ago for the needs of society in Ancient Israel. The house, the household, was the key concept for both the family, posterity and economics in Biblical times, and so it is today. We tend to think that family ties and economic relationships are separate concepts, but they are made by affiliation with the land, and changes in relations between the three elements have a deep impact on the stability of the nation, with far-reaching consequences.

The current article sketches some peculiarities of the Christian worldview manifested as Roman Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox traditions shaped by unique social activities of nations and their luminous representatives. These three traditions are described as Roman Catholic (society which pleases God), Protestant (Professional calling from God) and Russian Orthodox (merge of religious and national identity). Traditions are characterized by illustrations from the key documents representing local peculiarities of the Christian mindset. Being mutually interactive, these vectors open up unlimited ways to carry out practical Christian ministry both within the Church and outside its walls at the same time acting as preconditions for Christian social teaching and development of caritative social work.