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Chapter 4 Gerkin's Theological Anthropology Laura was the on­call chaplain at the hospital on the weekend. She was called to an emergency to deal with the death of a seven­year­old girl named Samantha, who was killed in a motor vehicle accident. Samantha's mother, who was driving the van, was in the hospital recovering from serious inju­ ries. Laura spent most of the weekend with Samantha's father, older sister and mother. She was present when the husband tried to tell his wife about Samantha's death; he could not get all the words out and asked Laura to complete the task. The husband asked Laura: "Can God help us at all in this crisis?" Laura felt the pain and despair of the question. In a panic, she phoned her supervisor and asked for some way to proceed with the family. She wondered: "Where is hope here?" Laura's wondering about hope in this crisis also raises the place of hope in human beings. Such an issue involves an understanding of theologi­ cal anthropology. Theological anthropology examines the person from the standpoint of theological interpretations. Grace, sin, redemption, faith, hope, love and soul are some concepts used in theological anthropology. Gerkin's theological anthropology is a fusion of a variety of horizons, drawn from many sources. The horizons include interpretations from theology, the social sciences, narrative and hermeneutics. His understanding is rooted in practice. Standpoint in the Christian Fact In The Living Human Document, Gerkin describes his theological anthro­ pology as the "life of the soul."1 Gerkin believes that the image of soul best describes the human person. He uses the Freudian notion of ego, id and drives. Drawing on Ricouer's interpretation of Freud, he describes these Freudian terms as the language of force.2 He also uses the concept of the self drawn from object relations theory. Gerkin describes the self in Ricoeur's language of meaning.3 The life of the soul combines the concepts of ego and self, and transcends them. The soul acknowledges the presence of God in humankind which the ego and self do not. For Gerkin, the soul roots the ego and self in the Ground of Being. Soul integrates the human being and is the gift of God and the very breath of life. Without the breath of life from God, ego and self would not exist. These are grounded in God's life. In the life of the soul, the notions of creation, sin and redemption are present. Creation acknowledges that humans are made in God's image and likeness and that God gives humankind a soul which is the very breath of God. All created reality has its origin in God's graciousness. Sin is the radi­ cal evil present in the world and humankind's willful thoughts and actions that break the relationship with God, others, self and the environment. Re­ demption is enacted through Jesus who took flesh as man to redeem human­ 60 Gerkin's Theological Anthropology 61 kind from sin. Redemption also includes the gift of the Spirit and the forma­ tion of the church which incarnates and continues the work of the Risen Christ. Through the redemption of Jesus, humankind is saved from sin for life with God. Gerkin's notions of creation, sin and redemption describe the life of the soul, which takes form through narrative. The narrative is interpreted in a hermeneutical manner in order to discover meaning, to make sense out of the life of the soul. Gerkin does not present doctrinal statements on creation, sin and redemption. As a practical theologian, these are woven into his many case studies, verbatims and critical incidents and are the lens through which he views reality. In creation, God confers upon the human person an eschatological identity. This eschatological identity affirms that the person belongs to God's Kingdom and has the presence of God within. At the same time, the person lives in the world and develops an identity shaped by the contextual experi­ ences of family, society, "race," gender, class and psycho­social develop­ ment. The eschatological identity given by God at the moment of creation is the very ground upon which the person lives and moves. This is God's image and it allows the human person to be radically open to God's initiative. The eschatological identity contains the virtues of faith, hope and care, which are needed to respond to God's initiative in the...

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