ANUARUL ACADEMIC 2003-2004 - Facultatea de Teologie "Andrei ...

The value of the human body and the relevance of thephysical and psychological suffering in the Communistprisons to the Theology, the Mission and the Unity of theChurch, todayPr. Conf. Univ. Dr. NICOLAE MOŞOIU1. The Human Body – “transparent organ of God’s infinitemystery” 1This expression belongs to father Dumitru Staniloae 2 . Since he has struggledagainst the teaching on the pre-existence of the souls (actually of the noeses) andimplicitly against the serious devalorization of the body perceived as “the soul’sprison”, father Dumitru Staniloae pointed out in different contexts the deepmeaning of the human body. Before referring to his work, we will demonstrate thatother contemporary theologians also considered necessary to underline theimportance and the value of the human body.A good synthesis on the Old Testament anthropology is due to a youngresearcher 3 . The human being – he says – fundamentally belongs both to theearthly and heavenly world, but he must undergo an endless ascending movement.Would it be possible this way to come to a disparaging conception regardingcorporality, to a dualism of Jewish origin, together with the Platonic one? Theexegetes of the Law reject such sharp distinctions between the body and the soul: asignificant argument is the fact that the term designating the body – basar – isnever understood separately of the soul – nefesh. 4 The body must be understood notfor a single moment, not even theoretically, apart from its deep relationship with1 Dumitru Stăniloae, Chipul nemuritor al lui Dumnezeu, Craiova, Editura Mitropoliei Olteniei, 1987,p.16.2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumitru_Staniloae.3 Marius Lazurca, Invenţia trupului, Bucureşti, Editura Anastasia, (f.a.),p. 97.4 The terms used in the Old Testament in order to refer to the spiritual part of the human being are:nefesh, neshamah, ruah and leb, the last bearing the meaning of both the anatomical organ (the heart)and of “the intimate life of the feeling, passion and thinking” ( Dictionnaire de Theologie Catholique,Paris, 1923, tome I, p.969). Very frequently by the term nefesh one might understand the humanbeing in its integrity, see: Petru Semen, Învăţătura despre suflet în cărţile Vechiului Testament, in“Studii Teologice”, nr.9-10, Bucureşti, 1977, p.674.149