The Teacher of His Heart

Chapter Two. Christ — Creator, Redeemer, and Savior

Chapter Two Christ — Creator, Redeemer, and Savior The three terms Creator, Redeemer, and Savior occur frequently in the writings of Francis and are sometimes applied to Christ. On the other hand, these titles often appear together, as if to suggest that the latter two (Redeemer and Savior) are not synonymous. These observations cause us to raise the following questions: 1) How did Francis view God as Creator and the role of Christ in creation? 2) Are the terms Redeemer and Savior synonymous in the language of Francis? 3) Why are these three terms so often found together? I. God: Creator In the first chapter we noticed that the title of Creator is attributed twice to Christ in Francis' writings. But for a deeper understanding of how Francis viewed the role of Christ in the creative act of the Father, we think it necessary to look at the matter more carefully and to analyze all the texts in which Francis speaks of creation. A. Creation Is the First Motive for Thanksgiving Besides the Canticle of the Creatures, which is entirely a hymn to God the Creator, there are fifteen texts where Francis mentions God the Creator, the King of heaven and earth. Nearly all of these texts are found in the context of thanksgiving or of an exhortation to give thanks. Chapter XXI of the Earlier Rule is a model exhor-tation that Francis suggests to his brothers for use on any occasion. Such an exhortation ought to begin with an invitation to praise the Creator: Fear and honor, praise and bless, give thanks and adore the Lord God Almighty in Trinity and in Unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Creator of all. 1 The brothers who go among the Saracens, when they receive the gift of the Word, should preach "in order that [unbelievers] may believe 1RegNB XXI 2. 60 / Norbert Nguyên–Van–Khanh, O.F.M. in the all-powerful God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Creator of all, the Son, the Redeemer and Savior."2 In the great prayer of thanksgiving that concludes the Earlier Rule, Francis mentions the creative activity of God five times.3 This proves that creation is the first motive for thanksgiving in the prayer of Francis. Going back to the contents of the Creed as well as the message of Genesis, Francis gives thanks to the Father for having created us that we might enjoy happiness in paradise: All-powerful, most holy, Almighty and supreme God, Holy and just Father, Lord King of heaven and earth, we thank You for Yourself, for by Your holy will and by Your only Son with the Holy Spirit You have created all things spiritual and corporal and, after making us in Your own image and likeness, You placed us in paradise. Through our own fault we fell.4 From Genesis Francis has retained three ideas that were important to him: God created us in His image and placed us in the earthly paradise, but we sinned. In the second Admonition, Francis states clearly that if we humans are unhappy it is because, having disobeyed God, we bear the punishment of our sin. Francis' use of the words "all things spiritual" most likely goes back to the decree of the Lateran Council against the Cathari, where we read in the first chapter: ...Creator of all things visible and invisible, spiritual and corporal, who by His almighty power at the beginning of time created from nothing both spiritual and corporal creatures, that is to say, angelic and earthly, and then created human beings composed as it were of both spirit and body in common. The devil and other demons were created by God naturally good, but they became evil by their own doing. Human beings, however, sinned at the prompting of the devil.5 2RegNB XVI 7. 3RegNB XXIII 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 11. 4RegNB XXIII 1-2. 5"...Creator omnium visibilium et invisibilium, spiritualium et corporalium: qui sua omnipotenti virtute simul ab initio temporis utramque de nihilo condidit creaturam, spiritualem et corporalem, angelicam videlicet et mundanam:ac deinde humanam quasi Ch. 2: Christ—Creator, Redeemer, and Savior / 61 According to the dualism of the Cathari, the good God created the invisible world of spirits, and the evil God created the visible world. From this doctrinal principle follows the moral principle that matter is evil and is to be...