Page 140 - Prayer Book

140
Prayer B o ok
nothing along with God before the creation of the world—
not even “nothingness”! God is absolutely and supremely
free and unique!
The “Person” in Human Reality
What we have just discussed was not mentioned to
satisfy some metaphysical curiosity, but to emphasize pre-
cisely what was said earlier: that the existence of God and
Love are identical—they are one and the same! The being
of God is Love, Interpersonal Love! And Interpersonal
Love is the existence of God! This, as we will see later, is
something very important for human existence, especially
for the “being towards death” of humanity!
So, after this theological journey into the divine con-
cept of the “person,” we now return to the way of human
existence, but now with the Trinity’s three divine Persons
as our compass and model.
Starting from the “personal way” of existence of the
Triune God, as defined by the Cappadocian Fathers, Met-
ropolitan John explores the possible potential for humans
to exist as true “persons,” to exist as unique, free, and im-
mortal beings.
With the experience of the revelation of the mode of
existence of the three divine Persons, we immediately real-
ize the deficiency in the human way of existing as a “per-
son.” The true “persons” are the three divine Persons, the
three divine Hypostases, where unity and difference are
harmoniously identified and coexist.
Since man is created, he is necessarily mortal! Human
nature does not possess a foundation within itself to sus-