The Eternal in Man

«Man's eternity is implanted in the soil of creation. Being loved and loving are the two moments of his life, separate before God, yet united in man, and creation would be the And between them. Being loved comes to man from God, loving turns toward the world. How else could they count as one for him? How else could he be conscious of loving God by loving his neighbor if he did not know from the first and the innermost that the neighbor is God's creature and that his love of neighbor is love of the creatures. And how could he be conscious of being loved by God other than as the equal of him whom he himself loves in the neighbor; how else than because God has created in his image that which is common to him and his neighbor, namely the fact that the latter is "like him" so that both "are men". He is the creature of God and the image of God, and this is the foundation, laid down from creation, on which he can build the house of his eternal life in the temporal cross-currents of love of God and love of neighbor.»

Franz Rosenzweig, The Star of Redemption