Although created to be fundamentally good creatures in a loving relationship with God and in unity with one another and God, mankind used the freedom granted by God for our own desires and turned away from God. As a result, man is in a fallen state, condemned to the reign of death and to a separation from God, where only God’s intervention through the Son can reunite us with God.
To understand the fallen condition of man, it is first necessary to understand the importance of the Trinity and the purpose of God’s creation. To claim belief in the trinity means to claim that “there is only one God, the almighty Father, his only Son and the Holy Spirit: the Most Holy Trinity.” As a necessarily perfect being, it follows that God is perfect unity …show more content…
Because of this gift, it is reasonable to say about humanity that “the basic thing about us is that we are loved.” Our response to God for this generous gift of love from God, who also created us purely out of love, should naturally be worship and thanksgiving. This is why, as McCabe states, mankind can be at least partially defined as the “Creator-worshipper,” who “worship only the mystery by which there is anything at …show more content…
Ratzinger explains that “the goal of worship and the goal of creation as a whole are one and the same—divinization, a world of freedom and love.” This world would ideally be where we love both God and one another to the fullest extent and join in unity with one another. This does not mean we are to negate ourselves entirely, but rather that we are meant to join as one in love similarly to the Trinity. The Trinity displays the value of distinction being together in a perfect unity, and God hopes for us to find this same perfection with Him and others. In order for a world such as this to truly exist, the love that brings unity with God and others must be genuinely given, seeing as coerced love cannot really be love at all. Because genuine love must be a gift that is freely given, we must be given freedom, another defining characteristic of humanity, so that we can make the decision to love for ourselves. It is because of this “true freedom” that it is reasonable to say that we are a “manifestation of the divine image” in that we can freely give our love and enter in communion with
To understand the fallen condition of man, it is first necessary to understand the importance of the Trinity and the purpose of God’s creation. To claim belief in the trinity means to claim that “there is only one God, the almighty Father, his only Son and the Holy Spirit: the Most Holy Trinity.” As a necessarily perfect being, it follows that God is perfect unity …show more content…
Because of this gift, it is reasonable to say about humanity that “the basic thing about us is that we are loved.” Our response to God for this generous gift of love from God, who also created us purely out of love, should naturally be worship and thanksgiving. This is why, as McCabe states, mankind can be at least partially defined as the “Creator-worshipper,” who “worship only the mystery by which there is anything at …show more content…
Ratzinger explains that “the goal of worship and the goal of creation as a whole are one and the same—divinization, a world of freedom and love.” This world would ideally be where we love both God and one another to the fullest extent and join in unity with one another. This does not mean we are to negate ourselves entirely, but rather that we are meant to join as one in love similarly to the Trinity. The Trinity displays the value of distinction being together in a perfect unity, and God hopes for us to find this same perfection with Him and others. In order for a world such as this to truly exist, the love that brings unity with God and others must be genuinely given, seeing as coerced love cannot really be love at all. Because genuine love must be a gift that is freely given, we must be given freedom, another defining characteristic of humanity, so that we can make the decision to love for ourselves. It is because of this “true freedom” that it is reasonable to say that we are a “manifestation of the divine image” in that we can freely give our love and enter in communion with