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In a world where identity has become increasingly fragmented and fluid, what if the most profound answers about who we truly are have been waiting for us since the beginning of creation? The modern man has an identity crisis and the solution is Christian anthropology. This might sound like advanced terminology, leaving you wondering: what does this actually mean?
In simplest terms, Christian anthropology is understanding human persons as God created them. Ultimately what is at stake is human identity. As our culture moves farther away from the true understanding of the nature and purpose of the human person, the need for education in Christian anthropology is more necessary than ever before in our experience.
The Christian understanding of the human person was once taken for granted in our culture as the standard by which all understood themselves and others. Today this is not the case. We see evidence of identity confusion all around us or even within ourselves. Just do a Google search of “define identity” and one can see the confusion that surrounds the idea.
The Fundamental Questions of Human Existence
Christian anthropology seeks to answer the deepest and most universal questions every person must wrestle with in some seasons of our lives: Who/what am I? What is my purpose? What is the point of my existence? Why are humans embodied? Are humans really created only male and female? What is the relationship between the body and soul?
Saint John Paul II begins his meditation on the Christian understanding of the human person by referring to the beginning. From this perspective he paints an amazing picture of what God intended for humans when He created them.
In his fifth speech of Theology of the Body, which he subtitled, “Man in Search of His Essence,”1 Saint John Paul II, regarding the creation of man, says, “…man is the object of the creative action of God-Yahweh, who at the same time, as Legislator, sets the conditions for the first covenant with man.”
Three Foundational Truths About Human Nature
In this one half-sentence Saint John Paul II articulates three foundational truths about the nature of the human person from the Christian perspective. Imagine it, God breathes His Spirit into the nostrils of the creature, which scripture says is the moment, “the man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7) and as he comes into consciousness for the first time, he finds himself in relationship with his Creator. This is the first foundational and most important aspect Christian anthropology teaches us about human nature. To be the “object of the creative action of God,” is to say God created the human person. God is the creator. We are creatures. We do not create ourselves. Our nature, our humanity, our existence is a gift from a Creator who gave His own breath to give us life. This is the foundation of our humanity.
In this same sentence, Saint John Paul II uses a capital “L” for the word “Legislator.” Why? Or, a better question is, “who”? Obviously, he is referring to the Father – but, why “Legislator”? Identifying the Father in this way introduces the second foundational truth about the nature of the human person namely, God is the one who makes the rules. Humans do not decide for themselves what is good or evil. That’s the Creator’s job.
The Covenant Relationship with God
The third foundational truth of human nature as God reveals it and Saint John Paul II articulates it, is revealed by the word, “covenant.” The human person enters a unique relationship with God the Father and Creator. This relationship differs from a common contract that either party can dissolve at any time. A covenant is meant to be permanent. It is entering into a relationship, a communion of persons. Contracts are about things or services the parties will exchange. Covenant is about persons, contracts are about things. What does this tell us about the nature of the human person? We are not things to God. We are persons who are set into a relationship of communion with God.
These three foundational characteristics of human nature or identity is just the beginning of what the Christian anthropology Saint John Paul II articulates in Theology of the Body. Imagine how much more there is to say about human nature if we can understand all that in just one half-sentence from Theology of the Body!
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