„Equal to Angels” (Lk 20, 36). Human Sex in the Aspect of Eternity

  • Sławomir Kunka The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Faculty of Theology
Keywords: masculinity and femininity; human sex; eschatology; resurrection; celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom

Abstract

A Christian reflection on human life flows from the person of Jesus Christ. Currently, „the mentality of gender” is being developed. This necessitates showing the meaning of sex for a human being. The meaning of masculinity and femininity for a risen man can be inferred from the Gospel accounts of the Risen Lord. In conversation with the Sadducees (cf. Lk 20, 27-36) Jesus shows that the risen participants of the future world to come will be transformed. The marriage and the procreation will be transformed, but it doesn't mean that the sexuality in the risen body will be negated. The risen bodies will still be marked by the masculinity or the femininity, but they will express their „nuptial” meaning in some other way. The words of Jesus have also great importance for the theological meaning of virginity and celibacy. These states of life are prelude to the „nuptial” meaning of the body in an eschatological aspect. However, in the resurrection, the relationships between human beings do not lose their importance. They will be transformed. It has the connection with the reference of all to God. A saved man will experience communion with the Triune God. The man will live in a perfect union with God by seeing Him „face to face”, that is by seeing Trinitarian communion of the divine persons. It will be done in the whole truth of psychosomatic subjectivity and in aspect of the whole communio sanctorum. In the words of St. Paul: „there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3, 28), there isn't any eschatological „trivialization” of masculinity and femininity in the saved man. The Virgin Mary, in the mystery of the Assumption, is seen as the witness of the dignity of the human body, of all aspects of human life: including the motherhood, work and suffering.

Published
2020-07-14
Section
Articles