“In the Cave of the Heart”. The Stratifications of Human Nature in the Anthropology of Romano Guardini and Pavel Florensky

Abstract

Approached in a theoretical proximity that crosses geographical and historical distance, both Florensky and Guardini were committed themselves to develop and clarify a Christian worldview, from which arises the centrality of the question about man, his nature and his destiny. Created in the image and likeness of his Creator, the fall into original sin has warped his existential condition, which now appears characterized by the structural necessity of struggle. The awareness of this origin and the will to face the present condition are able to reveal the heart as the ontological centre of the human being, as a point of connection and unification of all his faculties and all the stratifications of human nature. The power and ontological depth of the heart, when reaching the summit of the ascetic journey that everyone is called to undertake, come to shine on the face of man, illuminating the truth of his features.