Learn by Topic: Transfiguration

The Disfigurement of Man

At Eden, Man tried to transfigure themselves into “gods” through knowledge (Gen 3) but instead fell into Original Sin (CCC 396-412).  Sin disfigured Man, from sinless children of God into sinful outcasts of Eden.  The effects of Original Sin tragically deformed Man, leading to all sorts of sin: pride, murder, greed, envy, lust, sexual perversion, wrath, gluttony, duplicity, sloth, rebellion and death.

The Post-Modern “Make over” Culture

After Eden, Man has tried to recapture what was lost.  In early times, Man sought to gain greatness by building the Tower of Babel (Gen 11).  With the “Enlightenment”, Man deliberately turned away from God and tried to redefine the moral life based solely on reason.  Failing, Man then attempted to find answers to human depravity by putting faith in “feelings”, economics, political systems, sex, power, psychology and technology, in a progressive fantasy of a soon-to-arrive happy utopia.  All of these frail attempts failed, leaving Man in a post-modern “anything goes and nothing matters” slump.   Today, rather than face the reality of God and Original Sin, post-modern Man desperately seeks a “make over”: cosmetic makeovers, divorcing or leaving “partners”, killing inconvenient children, attempting to redefine gender and marriage, creating new identities on social media, etc.  All of these attempts at “make-overs” fail to transform in the end; Man dies, disfigured, in Sin.

The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ

In the Transfiguration (Matt 17:1–8; Mark 9:2 –8, Luke 9:28–36), Jesus Christ gives Man hope.  Jesus: (more…)