Name: PABLO GATT ALBUQUERQUE DE OLIVEIRA
Publication date: 09/05/2024
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| LENI RIBEIRO LEITE | Examinador Interno |
| LUDMILA NOEME SANTOS PORTELA | Examinador Externo |
| MARCUS VINICIUS DE ABREU BACCEGA | Examinador Externo |
| SERGIO ALBERTO FELDMAN | Presidente |
| TEREZINHA OLIVEIRA | Examinador Externo |
Summary: The symbol of the original sin of Adam and Eve not only resonates as a chronological marker in the Christian imagination but also as a sculptural force that has shaped the Christian identity nuances across time and space, reshaping the essence of the Christian subject over the centuries (Genesis 3:14-24). The echoes of these transformations date back to the beginnings of the Christian “Good News” and the intertwined discourses of the Church Fathers. Through these discourses, the process of constructing Christian identity began, in contrast to other groups surrounding the Roman Empire, such as Jews, Gentiles, and pagans. According to the methodology of French Discourse Analysis, these discourses are considered constitutive because they are absolute and transcendent, permitting, authorizing, and regulating the emergence of other discourses. In seeking to differentiate and characterize the Christian identity, these men redefined the practices of circumcision and baptism, and forged the symbol of original sin in an understanding contrary to the perfection of divine Creation. In the High Middle Ages, these discourses were reinterpreted under the aegis of Thomas Aquinas's NeoAristotelian theology and philosophy, revitalized by the resurrection of reason in integration with theological teachings. Therefore, this thesis aims to understand, within the pages of the Treatise on Man in the Prima Pars and the Treatise on Vices and Sins in the Pars Prima Secundae, volumes in the monumental work Summa Theologiae (1273), by Thomas Aquinas, how the religious and philosophical discourse of the Doctor Angelicus constructed an identity for the Christian subject by comparing the human nature before and after the symbol of the original sin of Adam and Eve. From this analysis, we propose the hypothesis that the narrative of original sin established a moral and normative standard for humanity, delineating right and wrong based on religious teachings, where the reference to the symbol of the first sin can be interpreted as a continuation of the idea that humanity has been subject to a sinful condition since the beginning of time (ST, Ia-IIae, q. 81, a. 2, resp.). Furthermore, this identity, evidenced by the corruption of human nature, demonstrates that these intrinsic dichotomies between different natures permeated the fabric of everyday life in the High Middle Ages, where alterity did not represent a rupture with routine but was an integral component that guided the standards of existence.
