Beautiful Creatures: On Being Created and Being Human
Let us say plainly: the unredeemed state of the world consists precisely in the failure to understand the meaning of creation, in the failure to recognise the truth… —Benedict XVI
What sort of creatures are we? Asked in one way, this question poses a problem for religion or philosophy to consider. Asked in another way, it expresses bafflement at the mystery we are to ourselves.
As a problem to consider, we can engage it in an orderly manner with the help of revelation and reason. When we ask it in bafflement, it becomes more fraught, particularly perhaps when contemplating the frightening evils we can commit, but also the ways in which, as individuals, we can become lost to ourselves through unhappy circumstances, bad choices, and forces beyond our control. Reflecting on what it means for human beings to be creatures, in both ways of asking this question, might be a helpful approach to considering the challenges that now confront us.
Fiction is another avenue for exploring…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins