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Christian Adulthood
| Article
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15321 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1989 |
5,573 Words |
| Author
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Leroy S. Rouner
Leroy S. Rouner is professor of philosophy, religion and
philosophical theology; and director of the Institute for
Philosophy and Religion at Boston University. His most recent
book is a memoir, The Long Way Home (Langford Books, 1989).
In the spring of 1991 Beacon Press will publish his To Be At
Home: Christianity, Civil Religion, and World Community. |
The Christian understanding of adulthood changes and develops in the course of history, reflecting the Christian conviction that God reveals his purposes through historical events. This development takes place, however, within a framework of basic beliefs concerning the relation between God as Creator and humankind as creature; between human sin and divine salvation; and between God's work and human work. It may be useful to summarize very briefly those key beliefs that most Christians hold in common, since they control this development and help define it as Christian.
God, as Creator of the world, is different from the Creation. A fundamental metaphor for the relation between humankind and the Creator is that of a child of God, whom Christian scriptures regularly refer to as "the Father." Adulthood is therefore never totally antithetical to childhood, since the mature Christian is always a creature/child in relation to his or her Creator/parent.
Christianity understands the fundamental human problem to be "sin," turning away from God. The solution to this problem is to turn back to God by participation "in Christ." To be in Christ is to achieve the fullness of Christian maturity, since Christ has broken "the power of sin and death." That fullness is more function than status, however, in keeping with the dynamic notion of a God whose work in the world continues to be revealed in historical events. To be adult in the Christian tradition is therefore to be continually a co-worker with God for the salvation of the world. The nature of that work is defined in relation to the nature of God as Creator. To be a co-worker with God is to be a co-creator. A functional definition of Christian maturity is therefore creativity in one's God-given vocation. To be uncreative is to be less than fully mature.
To be in Christ means both to have "the mind of Christ" and also to participate in "the body of Christ." Participation in the body of Christ is celebrated symbolically in the community eucharistic meal through eating bread and drinking wine, representing the body and blood of Christ; but it is also experienced historically in relation to "the body" of those who are "in Christ." The predominant image of the church in New Testament thought is "the body of Christ." As a result, Christian adulthood is never a free-standing individualism, but always individuality-in-relation to this larger community of the body of Christ. But that larger community has been conceived of in various ways throughout Christian history.
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