COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course offers a presentation of the identity of the human person. As such, the human person is presented as he appears through three stages of history. First, the human person’s identity in theological prehistory of original innocence is presented. This picture emerges to present the human person as a being who is a union of body and soul. The human person, as a creature who has the capacity of intellect and will, and influenced by the appetites, may act in the world in an utterly unique way: he can choose the true and the good and act for it. Second, the human person is wounded when he acts against the true and the good. The effects of sin fundamentally impact the human person’s identity and impede his living in the image and likeness of God. Third, in the accomplishment of the mission of salvation, God extends to the human person the fullness of His saving plan in a manner which corresponds to the human person’s infirmity wrought by sin. The Son performs the saving deed which redeems the human person. This deed is extended to the human person in and through the Church. Throughout each stage of this presentation emphasis is given to the unique identity of the human person in his or her response to the initiative of God.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Successful completion of this course will enable the student to:
– appreciate the central role an adequate understanding of the human person plays in Catholic theology.
– base his or her understanding of the human person in notions central to Trinitarian theology.
– develop an understanding of the human person from Sacred Scripture and Tradition, which appreciates the features of the human person’s creation in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27).
– integrate an appropriate understanding of how Original Sin and personal sin affect the understanding of the human person.
– articulate an understanding of the human person in light of the mystery of salvation and Redemption.
– formulate an understanding of the human person which includes an appropriate understanding of freedom and equips the student to begin to confront erroneous notion of human personhood.
– consolidate an appropriate base from which to internalize further mysteries of the faith, and the manner in which the same dramatically impact the human person.
TEXTS AND MATERIALS
Catechism of the Catholic Church. Second Edition. Roma: Libreria Editrice Vaticana,1997.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. United States Catholic Catechism for Adults. Washington D.C.: USCCB, 2006.
__________. Compendium: Catechism of the Catholic Church. Washington, D.C., 2006.