Abstract

Joshua Hochschild credits John Paul II for the success of the expression “meaning of life” among Christians, but he warns that this expression stems from a modern framework different from classical theism. Hochschild’s criticism challenges theists to clarify how the quest for meaning channels the basic questions of classic theism while advancing new ones. First, I will propose a different historical reconstruction of the “meaning of life,” tracing its origin back to the medieval sensus and its use in Biblical hermeneutics. Second, I will show that existentialism and phenomenology are the heirs of this legacy, and their use of the “meaning of life” is mostly positive. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI adopted this expression under their influence. Finally, I will argue that the theistic quest for the “meaning of life” addresses classic questions such as happiness and the purpose of human life in the universe, and raises new questions regarding the individual purpose, the history of salvation, and the narrative of life.