Overview
ONLY USE THE BOOK NO AI What Does It Mean to Be a Person?
Reading: Olivier Clément, On Human Being "The Person in the Image of God" (25-42).
Introduction
Every human being has some understanding of what it means to be a person. Some define personhood through reason or consciousness. Others emphasize freedom, relationships, identity, autonomy, achievement, or emotion. Still others understand the human person primarily through biology, psychology, or culture.
Throughout this semester, we will encounter another vision: the Orthodox Christian understanding of the human person as one who is created in the image of God, called into communion with God and others, and continually becoming closer to synergetic communion with the Divine through love, freedom, repentance, beauty, and participation in divine life.
To investigate this foundational concept, this course does not assume that theology alone will entice you to think about the relationship in the human experience of the Divine. Rather, it begins from the conviction that both theology and literature/film are attempting to understand the same mystery: what it means to be a person.
Sometimes theology speaks directly through doctrinal language. Sometimes literature, poetry, music, or film reveals aspects of the person that cannot easily be expressed through abstract concepts alone. Neither replaces the other. Instead, throughout this semester, they will remain in conversation.
This assignment begins that conversation.
Your goal is not simply to understand Clément's ideas, nor merely to agree or disagree with them. Instead, you are invited to compare his understanding of the human person with your own assumptions, to listen carefully to another person's perspective, and to begin recognizing how literature, philosophy, theology, and art together illuminate questions that no single discipline can answer completely.
Throughout the semester we will return repeatedly to one central question: What does it mean not merely to be human, but to continue to become a person?
Learning Goals
By completing this assignment, you will begin to: identify central concepts within Orthodox Christian theological anthropology; distinguish between biological existence, individuality, and personhood; begin developing a theological vocabulary concerning the human person; reflect on your own assumptions about freedom, love, suffering, beauty, and identity; practice communal theological inquiry through dialogue; and prepare to place Clément's theological anthropology into conversation with literature, philosophy, and film throughout the semester.
Step One – Read Individually
Before you read, write a single sentence that states what you think it means to be a person.
Then, read the assigned chapter from Clément carefully and take notes according to the setup I gave in the opening powerpoint.
As you read, annotate passages that seem especially important; underline unfamiliar theological terms; mark ideas that challenge your assumptions about human beings; write questions in the margins.
Do not worry about understanding everything immediately.
The goal is thoughtful engagement rather than perfect comprehension.
Step Two – Individual Reflection
A. Clément's Understanding of the Human Person
In approximately 300 words, explain how Clément understands the human person. Avoid merely summarizing. Instead, identify the central claim he makes about what distinguishes human beings and what they are created for. Support your discussion with at least two quotations (words in quotations don't count toward the ~300 words).
B. A Working Definition
Write your own one-paragraph response to the following prompt imitating Clément's style and structure:
What does it mean to continue to become a person?
This is not a test. It is a beginning.
Your definition will almost certainly change throughout the semester.