Saint Pope John Paul II’s Notion of the Experience of a Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ Cover Image

Šventojo popiežiaus Jono Pauliaus II asmeninio santykio su Jėzumi Kristumi patirties samprata
Saint Pope John Paul II’s Notion of the Experience of a Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ

Author(s): Vilma Šliužaitė
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, History of Church(es), Theology and Religion
Published by: Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas
Keywords: Christian experience; Inward experience of Jesus Christ; Sequela Christi; Communal dimension of the experience of Jesus Christ;

Summary/Abstract: The article analyzes Saint Pope John Paul II’s Notion of the Experience of a Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ, by highlighting three aspects. First, for Saint Pope John Paul II, an authentic Christian experience always contains the dimensions of ‘givenness’ and ‘inwardness.’ In other words, man enters into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ only if his heart has inwardly been touched by God‘s love first. Second, the experience of faith in Christ is dynamic by its very nature: to believe in Christ means to follow Christ through concrete acts of love and service to God and other human beings. Third, a person can have an authentic Christian experience only if he belongs to the Body of Christ, the Church.

  • Issue Year: 91/2017
  • Issue No: 63
  • Page Range: 9-32
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: English