Imitation and Following the Humanity of Jesus Christ in the Context of Moral Virtues

Abstract

The most important figure of Christianity, which has existed for more than two thousand years, is undoubtedly Jesus Christ. His importance stems from the fact that besides being a matter of faith for Christianity, issues related to his extraordinary birth and death, unlike other people, are constantly discussed in the Christian world. As a matter of fact, an important part of the discussions about Jesus was that he was born without a father from the Virgin Mary and that he sacrificed himself on the cross for the sin of all humanity. This situation brought with it the debate whether Jesus Christ was a human or a divine being. Finally, in the meetings they held over time, the Christians resolved the issue by deciding that Jesus Christ was both a “God” or “Son of God” and a “man”. However, how to “model” or “imitate” Jesus Christ as a God or human being by Christians, in other words, “imitatio Christi” has also been another topic of discussion. In this context, the phrase “A Christian is a person who imitates and follows Christ in everything” is important in terms of showing that Jesus Christ is the “most perfect model” for Christians. For this reason, the issue of the imitation of Christ was primarily on the agenda of Paul and the Church Fathers, Francis of Assisi in the 13th century and Thomas a’ Kempis, author of De Imitatione Christi in the 15th century, and Western Christian theologians in the following centuries. In the aforementioned process, three kinds of imitations of Jesus Christ are mentioned: “imitation of his divinity, humanity and corporeality”. In this study, rather than imitating his divinity and corporeality, imitation or following the human characteristics of Jesus Christ will be the subject. Especially the subject; it will be discussed in the context of basic moral virtues such as “love of God and neighbor, humility and meekness” which are frequently emphasized in the teaching of Jesus Christ.