Pater Familias: A Reading of Divine and Human Fatherhood in Selected Writings of Pope John Paul II

Noll, Megan (2009) Pater Familias: A Reading of Divine and Human Fatherhood in Selected Writings of Pope John Paul II. Master of Arts (minor thesis) thesis, UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

This thesis emphasises the theological significance of fatherhood in the context of Pope John Paul II’s Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body. Historical man, original man and eschatological man further provide a theological anthropology for fathers. In general, “man” may be used in reference to all of humanity, including both male and female although references made directly to human fatherhood are intended for the male gender alone. For a woman in her femaleness is never male, or able to be a father in a literal sense of the word; her role is one of motherhood. The literary style of this work uses the masculine form “man” intentionally in order to emphasise the father-figure. This is especially necessary as some words such as “Father” have been neutralised or degendered in various settings. The rejection of human fatherhood tends to correspond to a rejection of divine fatherhood.

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