CHRISTIAN VISION OF HUMAN
XAVIER JAMES
In the course on ‘Theological Anthropology’ we are looking for Christian vision of God, ourselves, things, nature and events. This course has brought tremendous change in my understanding of myself and others. If we grasp this course well then it brings gradual transformation in ourselves. If I see someone as my enemy then my actions and thinking will be negative. But if I see someone as my friend then my actions and thinking will be positive. Hence, our vision of reality governs our actions. We believe that we are created by God and by the very creation we are in touch with everything and everyone. It makes us go beyond all boundaries we have made for ourselves. God made us in his own image and likeness to represent and to mirror him. God as a community created us in a community to be a communitarian being. Hence we are relational beings as our God is. Through our relationship we become what we are. By creation we are what God shares, we are what He is, in a seed form. Therefore, we are loving and lovable creators; we are creators of ourselves and of our world. Since Jesus was clear in his vision of reality, he accepted himself as received from God and obedience was present in him.
We agree that God cannot force us since he has made us in his own image. He is a free and freedom giving God. Because he is a God of compassion he suffers with us when we do what is not of our own image. All of us are brothers and sisters since he is our creator and father. We are empowered with creative response-ability. To the extent I am present to a person the other is present to me. And to respond to the reality is my responsibility. If I am passive then I do not reflect the creative-ness in me. The way Jesus responded to the father made him obedient; the way he responded to himself made him as son, the way he responded to others made all brothers and sisters and his response to everything made him to see and experience the divine presence. So our growth as persons depends upon this response-ability. Creation is an on going relationship. I need to comprehend that God is breathing within me in my every breath. As it is a relationship of total responsibility, just like the stream being conscious of the spring it is also total dependence on God who gave such life. It is not in enslavement but in freedom. If my actions are in line with love and creative freedom then I act like God. We human beings are the crown of creation. God has given the creative power to us and rested. Therefore we are called to live as a contrast community which has the vocation to freedom, love and creativity.
In the second Chapter we deal with theology of original sin. The Scripture does not say anything about original sin but certainly says about the origin of sin. The early fathers of the church misread and misinterpreted original sin. Any sin alienates us from God, one another, nature and self. All that prevents me from growing into Christ’s likeness is sin and missing the mark.
In the third chapter we discuss the Christian vision of society. Jesus had tremendous trust in men and women. His spirituality is the spirituality of love. For Jesus, love means loving God and neighbour. We love God by meeting the needs of the needy. For love the word ‘Agape’ is used in the Bible. It means effective love. To love is to be with and for the other. This leads us to let go of all our misconceptions and prejudices. It is to understand the other as s/he understands himself/herself. To love is to do for the other what we want to do. This demands willingness and not mere sacrifice. To love is to be sensitive to the other and to look from other’s point of view. To love is to die to oneself and let go all of one’s perceptions as final. To love is to be compassionate; such love never dies but is eternal. Love does not blame or judge the other. To forgive the other is to understand the other as s/he is and in doing so we realize that there is nothing to forgive.
Jesus’ preaching and miracles over throw the power structures, which enslave human beings. When God wills and when we work for his kingdom by creating awareness, uniting people and working with others, then the good news will surely become good news. ‘Our Father’ is a prayer of confession of who we are and promise to become what we are. Work is something natural in human and it is the humanization of the earth and of human. Work is the deepest self expression of oneself. Work is love made visible. The fourth chapter deals with our attitude to God. Prayer is opening myself to God and becoming aware of the divine within me. Prayer is the willed, chosen and wanted openness to the reality.
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