Page 123 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 8

Foundational Discussions in Christian Psychology

Anthropology in the Christian tradition has of- was excluded from ‘soulfulness’ and reduced to
ten been dominated by two paradigms: (a) the the realm of ‘flesh’. The genitals were not part
Platonic schism and dualism between body and of the beauty of the human soul and have most
soul, and (b): the pessimistic view that the hu- of times been viewed as dirty and filthy. One
man body is merely ‘flesh’ and, thus, the tenden- should convert your heart (kardia) by means of
cy to link corporeality to sinfulness. All human the mind (noes), not your penis and vagina.
misery is then viewed as the result of the com-
bination between worldliness, sinfulness and
divine punishment. However, there is another
perspective, namely to rethink Christian an-
thropology from the perspective of stereome-
tric thinking and a theological aesthetics. In this
regard, it is argued that every part of the human
anatomy, every organ, is designed to reflect the
beautification of life; i.e. to enjoy life and to heal
life (cura vitae). Healing in a spiritual approach
to human embodiment is closely related to si-
gnificance and a sense of meaning and destiny
that view the human body as a signal of trans-
cendence (P. Berger); i.e. life as determined by
the ethos of a sacrificial ethics and the spiritual
notion of ‘eucharistic intimacy’, unconditional
love, diaconic charity and graceful kindness. As
illustration of a holistic approach, two diagrams
for an integral anthropology in a diagnostic and
hermeneutical approach are designed.

Due to the notion of corruptio totalis, it was
always difficult for Christian theology to ack-
nowledge the ‘goodness’ and constructive si-
gnificance of our being human. The connection Depiction of human sinfulness and hell in the Last Jud-
1
between ‘soulfulness’ and human embodiment gement . Baigio da Cesena, a papal master of ceremonies,
was difficult to articulate due to the dominant criticized Michelangelo‘s work saying that nude figures
association between sinfulness and the corpo- had no place in such a sacred place, and that the paintings
would be more at home in a public tavern. Michelangelo
real dimension of being. Humans are therefore included da Cesena in the Last Judgement as Minos, one
always crippled by their sinfulness and rende- of the three judges of the underworld. When Baigio com-
red as victims of the fall. plained to the Pope the pontiff explained that he had no
For example, The Canons of Dort (Psalter Hym- jurisdiction over hell and that the portrait would have to
nal 1959:44)) starts as follows: “ As all men have remain. In Greek mythology, Minos was the king of Crete
and was the son of Zeus and Europa. He became one of
sinned in Adam, lie under the curse, and are de- the three judges of the underworld after his own death
serving of eternal death, God would have done and Michelangelo has depicted Minos with ass-ears and
no injustice by leaving then all to perish and de- wrapped in serpents coils. The coils indicate to what circle
livering them over to condemnation on account of hell the damned are destined. The serpent‘s bite on the
of sin”. The text of reverence is then: Romans 6: genitals of Minos (da Cesena) illustrates Michelangelo‘s
disdain for the Cardinal and the fact that official ecclesio-
23 “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glo- logy always connected human sinfulness to sexuality and
ry of God”. the area of the human genitals.

The connection between human sinfulness and
human sexuality was well established in many 1 Online: http://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Last-
pietistic circles. In general, the human body Judgement.html. Accessed: 23/05/2014. Public domain.

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