The Gift of Being Human

The Gift of Being Human What are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor -Psalm 8:5-6

Questions to Consider in this Chapter • Do we consider ourselves as only a marginal phenomenon in the universe produced by chance or are we produced, for our own sake, by the will of God? • Do we consider ourselves just something or someone? • “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” • 1 Cor. 13.12

It is of the greatest importance to recognize that over and above what is visible, the reality of which we discern through the sciences, God has give us an intellect which can attain to that which is, not merely the subjective content of the structures and developments of human consciousness • Pope Paul VI

So as the Pope claims in the last quote, we can know objective truth—God by natural sciences but eventually we hit a wall and further explanation is needed • The creation stories for example were never meant to be scientific accounts. What we are concerned with is spiritual meaning in our existence so we can look to the Bible to be able to jump over this walls and to see with what Plato called the “eye of the soul” • Understanding Genesis therefore requires us to see through the symbolism and see the truth being spoken

The Imago Dei • The development of the theology of the Imago Dei is a task within moral theology • A good starting point in understanding morality is to admit that we are creatures—we are not the source; we are not the answer; we are not the end • If we want to know what we are to do, we need to go back to the meaning for which we were created

Creation is Good • For St. Augustine, creation is God’s ‘love song.’ God creates us so we can share in His love • However some philosophies of life take a very different view: • Nihilism: denies any meaning in existence or in religious beliefs. Nihilists maintain that the only thing that comes after life is nothingness, annihilation

Creation: The Creative Pause of God • Man is not created according to a natural succession. The Creator seems to halt before calling him into existence, as if he were pondering within himself to make a decision: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." (Gn 1:26). • -John Paul II • On the sixth day all the commands stop. In a sense God when creating man and woman almost in a reflective and meditative gesture, putting his hand to his chin, considering the creation of being like himself. • Before creating man, the Creator withdraws as it were into himself in order to seek the pattern and inspiration in the mystery of his being, which is already disclosed here as the divine “we.” From this mystery the human being comes forth by an act of creation • -John Paul II

Creation: The Creative Pause of God • The world arises from a command, but man comes into being after an intimate consultation in communio

The Meaning of Adam's Aloneness • It can be understood that this “aloneness” is not the first instance of a feeling of depression. This aloneness is Adam looking into is personhood, his identity • Adam becomes aware: • Cogito ergo sum: I know therefore I am • -Rene Descartes • “I doubt therefore I am” • -St. Augustine • And what he discovers is that he is not complete so long as he is only one.

The Meaning of Adam's Aloneness • This solitude brings forth Adam’s capacity to experience consciousness—awareness • The beginnings of awareness for Adam comes from God’s call to till the soil. • Adam realizes his own existence by relating to the visible world. • But the act to till and the awareness the Adam has is not just merely a cerebral relay among neurons, his body is also incorporated • He sees that he is different from the rest of the visible world • Solitude—the first discovery of personhood and freedom

The Meaning of Adam's Aloneness • When God calls Adam to name the animals, this action reveals Adam’s personhood. • “Action gives to us the best insight into the inherent essence of the person and allows us to understand the person most fully” • Blessed John Paul II • One of the first things that Adam does is distinguishes himself from all other animals

The Lack of Fulfillment • In naming the animals, Adam who is conscience of himself realizes a significant difference between the animals and himself. • “but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him.” • Genesis 2: 20 • Adam cannot be happy with the beasts. “Something is still needed to round out and to complete the origin and nature of man…the original solitude is not sufficient man—that is to say, the human being—is not meant to be alone.”

Adam's Solitude • Made in the image of God, Adam is given the ability to choose (freedom). This freedom is given to Adam so that he can love. In Adam’s solitude he realizes that love is his origin, his vocation, and his destiny. • Adam is invited to enter a “covenant of love” with God, and this love Adam also wants to share with another.

Importance of the Helper • When no being is discovered to be fit for man, “the Lord God caused torpor [or a state of unconsciousness] to fall upon the man, who fell asleep; then he took one of his ribs and closed the flesh again in its place. With the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he formed a woman’ (Gen 2:21-22)

Importance of the Helper • The “helper” is the helper in terms of the man’s very identity. • But this search is not the one that he has been doing internally (coming to know his identity). This is a search that includes looking outside of himself and being open to another in relation

Creation from Adam's Rib • The sleep of Adam has many meanings: • The insufficiency of the animals demonstrates that man is not fulfilled by what is extrinsic to him but instead the solitude of man is to be fulfilled from within • This gift given to Adam from God is something that nothing else in the world could afford: • “It is through being overpowered in a ‘deep sleep’ and robbed of part of himself, near to his heart, that man is given fulfillment.” –Balthasar • We see relationships require sacrifice, openness, and trust • The sleep reveals that Eve is created by God alone • Eve shares the same humanity as Adam

Man and Woman • ..\Man and Woman.docx

Man and Woman • Man and woman are “complementary” meaning that each gender makes up what is lacking in the other. • Pope Benedict XVI writes in his encyclical: • The idea is certainly present that man is somehow incomplete, driven by nature to seek in another the part that can make him whole, the idea that only in communion with the opposite sex can he become “complete.” The biblical account thus concludes with a prophecy about Adam: “Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh: (Gn 2:24).

Imago Dei • After everything that has been said we see the Imago Dei manifested in multiple ways: • Human beings are capable of understanding the “self” by reflecting inward, diving deep into the conscience where we find our existence and its significance. • Here in the depths of our being we always find that we are free to make a choice. We can determine who we are and we can accept the call of God or not accept this call. • We also realize that we are not meant to be alone but we are called to love. This love comes from the desire to want to be in communion with another. For the greatest actualization of this desire man and woman come together to form one flesh

The Imago Dei • Hans Urs von Balthasar notes: “For a long time people…sought man’s image-character in what raises him above the animals: self-consciousness, reason, free will, personality, responsibility and then in his dominant position in the cosmos, which is explicitly highlighted (Gen 1:28)

The difference between Image and Likeness • We are made in the Image of God because we are born with the facilities of reasoning and free choice which is the common nature we all share • This as we will see is what gives us our dignity as persons which makes us more then just something but someone—we are capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and most importantly the free choice to give ourselves freely to another • The Likeness of God refers to the call within us for greater growth in communion with God, again we will see what this means for our dignity

Human Dignity • Made in the image of God we possess profound dignity • According to Catholic Tradition, there is a threefold dignity proper to human beings • Intrinsic, inalienable • Intrinsic, achievement • Intrinsic, divine

Intrinsic, Inalienable • Every new human life is valuable, surpassing in dignity the entire material universe • Why? • We are made in the image of God • Therefore this dignity is a gift because it has been given to us by our Creator

Intrinsic, Inalienable • We are never to be used as an object nor a means for an end • The only proper response toward us is love • It needs to be understood early on that when we come into existence, we are already, by reason of this intrinsic dignity, persons; we do not “become” persons after a period of development

Intrinsic, Acheivement • As intelligent and free persons we are capable of giving ourselves the dignity we deserve by choosing to shape our choices and actions in accord with the truth • We can do this because: • We can think: we can reason, and come to know truth • Free will: the power rooted in reason and will…to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility (CCC 1731) • Ability to love: We are made from Love so that we can love • Responsible beings: We are accountable for ourselves and others. Everything has a consequence and we decide if it will be a good or bad consequence. • Capacity to grow: All above allows us to grow either is truth and love.

Intrinsic, Acheivement • We also have within our conscience this deep seeded voice that calls us to follow certain laws: • Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. The voice of this law, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, tells him inwardly at the right moment, do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law written by God. His dignity lies in observing this law, and by it he will be judged. His conscience is man’s most secret core, and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God, whose voice echoes in his depths. By conscience, in a wonderful way, that law is made known which is fulfilled in the love of God and of one’s neighbor • Gaudium et spes

Intrinsic, Acheivement • This fidelity to conscience means a “search for the truth” and for “true solutions” to morality • Going back to the previous quote JPII reflects on “man’s most secret core:” • The importance of this interior dialogue of man with himself can never be adequately appreciated. But it is also a dialogue of man with God, the author of the law…It can be said that conscience bears witness to man’s own rectitude or iniquity to man himself, but, together with this and indeed beforehand, conscience is the witness of God himself, whose voice and judgment penetrate the depths of man’s soul, calling him fortiter et suaviter to obedience. • JPII

Intrinsic, Divine • As children of God we are brothers and sisters of Jesus, members of a divine family • In baptism we become adopted children of God and given the vocation to be holy; to be co-workers with Christ and be collaborators in redeeming the world • We are on a journey to become fully what it means to be human—to be united with God

Consequences of the Fall • Sin is what wounds our dignity: • It prevents us being in the “likeness” of God because we choose vice over virtue • We harm ourselves • And ultimately we remove ourselves from the presence of God • Sin is extremely powerful and attractive and we look to St. Augustine for some insight

The Wounds of our Human Nature • The story of St. Augustine “The stolen fruit” • In a garden nearby to our vineyard there was a pear tree, loaded with fruit that was desirable neither in appearance nor in taste. Late one night…we…set out to …rob this tree. We took great loads of fruit…not for eating, but rather to throw it to the pigs. • After this St. Augustine asks: • …let my heart tell you [God] what it looked for there, that I should be evil without purpose and that there should be no cause for my evil but evil itself…I loved it…

The Wounds of our Human Nature • St Augustine wonders why he loved an act of moral-self-destruction. • We have already gone into detail of the Fall and its significance but now we have to ask how does this relate to morality? • In general, we as persons we are made in the imago Dei are called to be in the “likeness of God” and we do this by living out the virtues, following the laws of God (more on that later), receiving the sacraments, etc., and because we are to “become” like God we are “becoming” or if you want to think of it as maturing. Sin is was stunts our growth, it prevents us from becoming the people God calls us to be. This is why we have morality to guide us in the right direction because we are wounded • As human beings we are meant to become holy, this is the task of morality, to penetrate deep into our being and to find the Divine voice calling us to share in His life—a life of love

The Gift of Being Human