THEOLOGICAL TIDBITS
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In addition to grace, freedom is necessary for love. God willed that there should be realized in the world true love which is possible only on the basis of freedom. Since God gave us both freedom and grace for love, grace does not destroy our freedom. Thus, even with grace, man has the capacity to accept God and His holy will—love, but also the capacity to oppose it—sin. Clearly, God was willing to risk the horrendous evil of sin for the sake of love. In other words, it was more important to God that there be love in the world through freedom than the fact that those beings, created as images of God, may abuse their freedom against the Creator. This “risk” by God allows us to view dimly the incredible importance of love.

God did not only create us with the capacity for grace—but He also gives us the gift of His own life. Since God created man in the divine image and likeness, He created him to act as He acts—i.e., to love. Human persons cannot love as God loves without grace because lacking grace, we would not share His ability to love. Common experience provides an analogy. At times, we want our pets to act as we act—e.g., we want them to celebrate a birthday party with us. They cannot because they do not share human life. To act as we act, our pets would have to share human life. In a similar way, if we are to act as God acts, we must share the divine life. Therefore, God blessed man not only with the capability of grace—but also with grace itself. We, through grace, are at one and the same time human and divine. Unlike the animals who cannot simultaneously share animal life and human life, we can simultaneously share human life and divine life. Of course, we are divine in a different way and in a different sense than we are human. Through grace, we are capable of acting as God acts. We are capable of doing what God created us to do—i.e., of loving Him, and ourselves and others through Him.

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.

The sin of Satan and his devils was different from most of the sins human persons commit. Since the angels do not have bodies, their sin was a choice in their wills, uninfluenced by any bodily desires, to accept a false understanding of their own position as creatures vis-à-vis God. While we are capable of such sins of pure pride, most often our sins begin with the selfish seeking of bodily pleasure or the avoidance of pain. The desire for bodily self-gratification makes it difficult for us to express in and through our bodies the values we choose. Our bodily desires influence our minds and wills. This kind of sin does not occur in angels because they do not have bodily desires. But sins of pure pride do occur because the angels do have intellects and wills. Satan and his followers were guilty of a sin of pure pride. Satan and his followers seek to entice others—i.e., human beings to follow them in their rejection of God. Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the garden of Paradise. He and his followers continue to tempt human beings to reject God. Thus, human persons are enticed not only by their bodily desires, but also by Satan and his followers.

The fallen angels did not accept that God knew what was good for them. They wanted to define what was in their own best interests. In other words, they themselves wanted to define truth—i.e., they claimed to “know good and evil” like God. In making this claim to define truth, they rejected God, Who is Truth, and tried to make themselves gods. Satan and his followers wanted to be more perfect than they actually were—i.e., they wanted to be truth as God is Truth. All this is summed up concisely in the words: “I will not serve.” With this rejection of Truth, Satan and his followers became liars. A liar is one who rejects truth. Satan himself became the cosmic liar and the father of lies. In addition, he consigned himself to hell, that place of loveless, everlasting separation from God. Totally separated from God and deprived of grace, Satan will never be as he was before he sinned. Further, he will never be fulfilled. Milton aptly expresses Satan’s rejection of God and its results when he has Satan say, “Better to reign in hell than serve in heav’n” (Paradise Lost).

Men and women can “change their minds” because we often make our choices based on incomplete knowledge or understanding. When we gain further knowledge or understanding, we “change our minds.” But it is not possible for an angel to change his mind because angels are created with all the knowledge they will ever have. Thus, an angel does not acquire greater knowledge or a greater understanding as we do. Therefore, angels always make an informed choice. Consequently, once an angel has chosen, the choice cannot be changed.

Some might suggest that we “change our minds” because of new and unforeseen circumstances. This is true. However, this also betrays an incomplete knowledge or understanding—i.e., we did not know what possible circumstances could occur. The angels know all the possible circumstances regarding any decision they make.

In some respects, man resembles an animal. He is a material being because he has a body that is not unlike the bodies of animals. However, as an image of God, man is a person, a spiritual being. Thus, within the sphere of material creation, man represents the boundary between the visible and invisible creation. The pinnacle of earthly development is reached in man because all other earthly beings are material—but man is both material and spiritual. Above man is God Who is perfect spirit. It is reasonable to suggest a gradation in the spiritual world similar to the one that exists in the material world—i.e., the order in the universe suggests the existence of pure spirits, beings in between God and man.

In creating human beings and angels, God establishes their value creating them in His own image. As images of God, they are persons—i.e., they have the faculties of thinking and choosing, minds and wills. Unlike human persons, the angels are pure spirits. As pure spirits, they do not have bodies and therefore are more like God than are human beings. However, they still are not God because they are not the source of their own being. Rather, God created them.

In creating persons, God gives Himself to them—i.e., He loves them. God’s love establishes a value—i.e., a goodness, in those He creates. Without God’s love, there would be no value or goodness outside of God because nothing outside of God would exist. Clearly, then, God’s love is not a response to an already existing value because His love is the source of all value. However, the self-gift of created persons does not establish value in others as God’s love does. Instead, the love of created persons is a response to the value they discover in others.

The creation of persons out of nothing is a stupendous act of power. We, as powerful as we are with all our advanced technology, cannot create. We cannot call things, not to speak of persons, into being from nothing. In creating persons from nothing, God shared His power. However, the creation of persons also reveals God’s wisdom—divine self-knowledge—because God makes Himself known in a unique way through persons who are made in the image and likeness of God. Further, the creation of persons is an act of love because in creating persons, God shared existence. Since He is existence—Being—itself, God gave Himself when He gave existence to persons. In other words, He loved. Thus, the creation of persons was not only an act of power and wisdom, it was also an act of love.

Since there is no necessity in God or for God, His creative acts are not necessary. Still, He does create angelic and human persons. However, it is fairly clear that many of those God has created have turned their backs on Him. He knew this would happen. Since He does not “have to” create, one might well ask: Why does He bother?

God is Power, Wisdom, and Love. Human beings possessing these attributes give them to others. Power is meaningless if it is not exercised. For example, what benefit does bodily strength have if it is never used in work or in play? Wisdom is useless if it is not shared. For instance, why would a scholar spend years studying if he never intends to transmit his knowledge either in teaching or in writing? Love is a self-gift of one person to at least one other person. Thus, how can one love without giving oneself to another? As human persons, we share our strength, our wisdom, and our love. God is like us. As Power, Wisdom, and Love, God seeks to share Himself. He does not create out of any necessity, but rather out of a burning desire to give His power, His wisdom, and His love to others.

When God shares His life—grace—with human beings, it is not only an act of His love, it is also an act of His power. In giving Himself to us, God gives us new life. Just as God’s gift of human life in His creative act is an act of power, the giving of His divine life is also an act of power. God’s caring for those He has blessed with His grace is also an act of His power. He not only gives His divine life, He cares and nurtures that divine life in all those who share it. The awesome number of people who share God’s own life indicate the scope and magnitude of His omnipotence exercised through the gift of His own life. All those who share God’s life have “Put on Christ” (Gal 3:27). They are other “Christs” because they live God’s own life.

God lacks absolutely nothing. In other words, God does not need anyone or anything outside of Himself to fulfill Himself. It was not in any sense necessary for Him to create anything. In fact, God is completely free of any and all necessities. If something were necessary in Him or for Him, there would obviously be some cause outside of Himself responsible for the necessity. Since He is the uncaused cause, there can be no outside cause acting upon Him. Therefore, there is no necessity in God or in any of His actions.

God carries on the work of sanctification by giving human beings His very own life—grace. This self-gift of God is clearly identified with the Holy Spirit. Just as it is fitting for the Son, Who is the Wisdom of God, to reveal the truths about God to us, so it is fitting for the Holy Spirit, Who is Love, to sanctify us by giving us God’s life. Love unites persons. In the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit—Love unites Father and Son. In the world, the Holy Spirit through His gift of divine love—i.e., divine life or grace, unites human beings in the union of all those who share God’s grace.

The incarnation shows us the self-gift—love—of God. God “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:7). He emptied Himself—i.e., He gave Himself and he who gives, loves. God’s stupendous love is also marvelously present on the cross: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).