Fall 1968

Page 48

Herman Melville once said that in order to write, one should choose a mighty theme. Hence, he chose the theme of good and evil in Moby Dick, personifying these in the great white whale and the strange Captain Ahab. I would like to apply his axiom to this article. The theme is a mighty one--philosophy, the person and Christianity-each aspect of it has been in development Philosophy and theology for at least two thousand have not always done years. Obviously, one cannot in a short article do full jusjustice to personalism, tice to the topic. What I prothe trademark of pose rather is to take a brief look at the development of Christianity. the theme of personalism from an historical point of view, expose its theoretical + foundations and lastly, but GERALD F. KREYCHE most importantly, suggest some concrete implications for man today. This will entail some skipping back and forth, but in this matter I ask your indulgence. We have all heard and, I am sure, used the admonition, "Don't get personal!" We used it when we thought someone was becoming too prying, too intimate, too close to us and our feelings; for what is personal signifies what is private, innermost, and a root of all subjectivity. But let us begin¡ at the beginning.

P4iloMph~,

lhe P.rjon, and Chrijlianil~

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