Human Person
“The loss of this participation and the subsequent diminution and corruption of their being is what it means for an angelic being to fall. The same is true for human persons….Sin materially corrupts and destroys the human person and the creation around him. Sin is a sort of anti-theosis. Sin makes human persons less human, less like God, and brings shame and the curse rather than glory and blessing…To be corrupted by sin means that the body and soul of a human person lose their connection with the life of God, and they become subhuman and unliving. Condemnation on the Last Day consists in the permanence of this state…sin distorts the relationship between the human person and God and between human beings. It is impossible for us to imagine that any human action, no matter how heinous, could detract from or diminish the glory or majesty of God. Furthermore, sacramental forgiveness…is always complete and immediate.” (Fr. Stephen De Young, Dr. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou)
“The reason why sin leads to disease and other distortions of the human person is that sin is not natural to us. It is not what we were made for. It is not inherent to the human nature that God created for us. So when we sin, we are making use of what can be called rightly an “alien power.” And where does that power come from? Not from God, Who cannot sin. Rather, this dark energy is demonic in origin. When we sin, we are using the powers of demons. And because it is alien to us, it destroys and distorts human nature.” (Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick)
“The salvation of the human person must include the salvation of the whole person. It is the transformation of our life into the image of Christ. I can easily imagine Jesus the carpenter making tables and chairs. I expect Him to have made truly excellent tables and chairs according to whatever knowledge he was given. But I don’t expect Him to have carved little Stars of David on them to make them acceptable. If a chair rightly fulfills its role as chair – then it is good. It does not also have to be a carving post for religious anxieties.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“We read in Genesis 2:18 that, “It is not good for the person to be alone.”…the human person can only exist and develop in relation to another…This is one of the foundational things we know about the human person, right from the beginning.” (Andrew Williams, Jean-Claude Larchet)
“By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Savior heals and strengthens us so that we may become radiant with the light of the gracious divine energies shining from our hearts like a city on a hill or a lamp on a stand to the point that people “may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in heaven.” Such illumination occurs through our personal participation in the Lord’s restoration and fulfillment of the human person as a living icon of God. Instead of humbly and mindfully offering ourselves to Him for the healing of our passions every day, we too often want a religion that blesses whatever assumptions, preferences, and attachments we find most appealing. That is a path that leads to the spiritual darkness of worshipping ourselves, and it has nothing to do with embracing the healing of the human person worked by the God-Man.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
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