At the Name of Jesus

Abstract

Abstract In this chapter the focus turns from God’s call to human beings to human beings calling upon God in prayer. This is especially exemplified in the practice of hesychasm or calling on the name of Jesus. This practice stimulated a series of philosophical and theological approaches to language among early twentieth century Russian thinkers: Pavel Florensky, Sergius Bulgakov, A. S. Losev, and Gustav Shpet. Despite significant differences these converge on the fundamental importance of the personal name as the core of human beings’ capacity for language. These thinkers also share an emphasis on the social concreteness of language, a focus further developed in Bakhtin’s dialogism. Bakhtin shows how the prosaic everyday world can become a milieu in which to seek and express authentic personal being and therewith a spiritual life in the condition of secularity.