Theological Tidbits

God created us in His image and likeness as immortal persons. Since we are images of God, we should act as God acts—i.e., we should love as He loves. God loves Himself and all other persons. We are called to love God and through Him ourselves and all other persons. Thus, God made us so that we can relate to Him and through Him to others on a personal level. If we had not been created in the divine image, we would not have minds and wills. We could not love God on earth or in heaven because we would be incapable of knowing Him—the foundation of love—or choosing Him—the means of love.

In making us in His likeness, God made us for heaven, for salvation. By God’s creative act, human persons are “capax Dei”—fit for God. Making us in the divine likeness, God made us able to share the divine life—i.e., grace. As St. Thomas Aquinas taught, “the soul is naturally capable of grace because it is made in the image of God.”

Created with personal souls, human beings are immortal—i.e., they do not cease to exist. Plants and animals cease to exist when they die, when their souls separate from their bodies. Since souls give life to bodies, when the souls of plants and animals separate from their bodies, their bodies cease to have life. Further, in this process, the souls of plants and animals also cease to be because they have no functions independent of their bodies. Unlike the plants and the animals, persons have the capabilities of thinking abstractly and choosing freely. They have the powers of mind and will. Since these two powers are spiritual, immaterial, and non-corporeal, they can function without the body. In fact, they survive even if the body does not. Therefore, human beings are immortal because they are persons, because they are created in the image and likeness of God.

All living beings have souls. However, not all living beings have personal souls, souls that possess the capacities of thinking and choosing, souls that give life to persons. The soul of a plant is merely vegetative. It enables the living organism to do only the vegetative functions. A plant takes nourishment, grows, and gives off waste. An animal possesses a sensory soul that enables it to perform the vegetative functions—which a plant can do—as well as the functions of the senses. Most animals see, smell, taste, hear, and touch. They have a memory and an imagination, and can move. The personal soul, unique to man, has all the vegetative and sensory functions, and also the personal ones. A human person has a mind and a will, powers of the personal soul, that enable him to think and to choose.

There could never be a human person without a personal soul. Thus, if Christians choose to accept the theory of evolution, they still would believe that when a suitable body had evolved, God infused into that body a personal soul. In other words, by giving man a personal soul, God gave him life and made him into the divine image and likeness—as distinct from all other bodied beings in the universe. Further, God’s creation of personal souls continues today. Every time a human being is conceived, God creates a personal soul that gives life to a human body.

The human body is the greatest of God’s material creations because it is the expression of a human person. When God created man, He said, “Let Us make man in Our image” (Gen. 1:26). Among all the earthly beings God created, only man was created in the divine likeness—i.e., only men and women are persons and are reflections of the divine Persons. Thus, among all earthly bodies, only human bodies are the expressions of persons.

From God’s viewpoint—i.e., from the aspect of the eternal present, the angels and human beings were created at the same time. From God’s perspective, all creation happens “at once.” However, from the human viewpoint, it is possible to conceive of our creation as a progressive series of events—i.e., evolution. In other words, it is possible to place the theory of evolution within the context of the divine creative act. Guided by the creative hand of God, the human body with all its physical powers and properties could have evolved through the process of gene mutation and natural selection. Such a gradual unfolding of God’s creative act would in no way diminish His divine power, wisdom, and love demonstrated in and through creation. Certainly, God could and might have created us without an evolutionary process. But if He willed the creation of the human body through an evolutionary process, the act of creation becomes an even greater mystery with an incomprehensible complexity. If the human body did evolve, God would have willed and foreseen every single gene mutation and natural selection process on the path from the very first, most simple animal species to the most complex animal and ultimately to the crowning glory of material creation: the human body.

Since the angels participate in the lives of all men and women, they were present at the beginning of time. Sometimes it is thought that the angels were created before man. It must be remembered that God “sees” everything in an eternal “now.” He knows everything as events of the present that we view as events of the past, present, and future. Therefore, He creates man at the same moment—the eternal present—that He “sees” Satan and his followers sin. In fact, God created the angels and man simultaneously.

The angelic participation in worldly affairs is primarily directed towards people. The word “angel” signifies a messenger or a delegate. The angels, spiritual creatures, have a function of mediation and of ministry in the relationships between God and man. Two of the archangels mentioned by name in Scripture, Raphael and Gabriel, clearly acted as messengers, and made God’s will known to the people to whom they were sent (Tob 12:15; Lk 1:26-38). The third, Michael, protected the Jewish people (Dan 12:1). The guardian angels assigned to each one of us not only guard and protect us from spiritual and, sometimes, bodily harm, but they also bring our prayers before almighty God. The participation of the angels in worldly affairs extends to the incarnation and the work of salvation. They are found at the beginning of Christ’s life, indeed at His birth. They assist Him after His fast of forty days. They are at the tomb after His resurrection. They speak to the Apostles after the ascension and they will be present at the second coming.