Conversation with God: philosophical and theological aspects of dialogue

The article discusses philosophical and theological aspects of the dialogue that man has with God in search of the meaning of being and the meaning of his own existence. Using the teachings of M. M. Bakhtin, V. S. Bibler, M. Buber, E. Levinas, H. Yannaras and the research undertaken by Archpriest Georgy Zavershinsky as examples, the dialogue’s conceptual characteristics existing in philosophy and theology are highlighted. Following M. Bakhtin, the dialogue in philosophy is considered as the very characteristic of being, and dialogic relations are considered as semantic relations. However, a philosophical conversation with being, as shown in the article, leads a person to a situation of dispute-consent with himself and with other individuals. A person turns out in a "corridor of voices", unable to find the ontological truth. Using works of M. Buber, E. Levinas and H. Yannaras as example, a different type of building a conversation with God is presented. Being (God) is recognized as a fact of absolute truth, with which a person internally agrees, but, nevertheless, maintains a continuous conversation with God, striving to develop his life in the right direction according to the will of God. Being an existential event for a person, such a dialogue is ontologically characterized by a distant form, and is carried out by rational-volitional efforts of the human personality. The article presents crucial differences distinguishing Christian dialogue with God. The conceptual uniqueness of Eucharistic dialogue is revealed through the prism of personality ontology developed by H. Yannaras, which makes it possible to differently imagine and justify the religious essence of the dialogue, i.e. as a hypostatic union that completely renews human nature.