Review article
https://doi.org/10.31337/oz.72.2.6
The Original Path to the Realization of Humaneness in the Thoughts of John Paul II
Emanuel Petrov
orcid.org/0000-0002-0224-7803
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Split, Split, Croatia
Abstract
This article provides an overview of anthropological truths based on the experience of
original man which can be understood through the return to man’s original state, before
the first sin. Although, after the experience of shame, these truths have been burdened
by pain and suffering and marginalised by contemporary society, they remain
everlasting principles for the building of a humane society, the premise for personal
fulfillment and the well–being of civilization as a whole. Original truths are inherent
in human beings and provide them with perennial values such as the dignity of the
human body, the value of the person, freedom and love which should be identified
as the primary tasks of parenting, the family and the Church. These truths render humanity
joyful and are intertwined, affecting a binding, continuous cycle which aims
at the realization of human communion in the love of God and the revival of this
very love through self–giving. This is what generates human subjectivity.
Based on the above claims, we aim to clarify the original anthropological truths
and their significance in the process of cultivating humaneness. The first section refers
to the importance of the original human experience. The second and the central
section of the article deal with the cycle of anthropological truths based on the original
absence of shame in the very first human beings (Gen 2:25). The original human
body is the repository of an individual’s values, communication, pro–existence associated
with parenthood, and the affirmation of the person in freedom and self–giving,
which ultimately lead to the communion of Love and Life. The third section refers to
the original anthropological truth aimed at building a humane society as the primary
task of parents and the Church, but all for the sake of society as a civilization of love.
Keywords
man; cultivation; shame; human body; personality; sociability; love; John Paul II
Hrčak ID:
184146
URI
Publication date:
10.7.2017.
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