Xvii. Of Man'S Origin Or His Creation By God
XVII. OF MAN'S ORIGIN OR HIS CREATION BY GOD
(A)
Do all men on earth, and all those who preceded then come from one father and one mother?
Yes.
This first man and this first woman from whom all men come, what were they called?
They were called Adam and Eve.
Who was the author of Adam and Eve?
Almighty God.
How did God make Adam and Eve?
By giving them a body and a soul.
How did God give a soul to Adam and Eve?
By creation (XC. 1, 2).
How did God give a body to Adam and Eve?
God tells us that He made the body of Adam from the slime of the earth and that He built up Eve's body from a rib of Adam (XCI., XCII.).
(B)
Must we say that man was made to God's own image and likeness?
Yes (XCIII.).
What is understood by this?
By this is understood that God has given to man a nature and corresponding actions of such a kind that in their highest reach man is enabled to enter in some measure into the spiritual life of God and appreciate the inner life of the three august persons; and owing to this he is enabled to imitate the perfection proper to the Divine Persons (XCIII. 5-9).
Is it possible to show how the nature of man and his actions, viewed in their highest endeavour, enable him to know God in His spiritual nature and to catch a glimpse even of the intimate life of the three Divine Persons?
The reason is because man's soul as regards its highest faculties is also spiritual in nature; moreover its supreme acts are those of thinking and loving, which are capable of reaching to the First Truth and the First Good which is God Himself (XCIII. 5-7).
In these acts of thought and of love how can we catch a glimpse of the inner life of the three Divine Persons?
By these acts we can attain even unto this because when our mind thinks of God it forms within itself an interior word wherein it reads an object; and under the very impulse of the thought which conceives the word there is begotten an act of love for this same object conceived by the mind (XCIII. 6).
How can we imitate the perfection proper to the Divine Persons?
We can do this, as God Himself does, by making God conceived in our mind and loved by our will the first object of our life of thought and of our life of love. (XCIII. 7).
In the corporeal world is man only made to the image and likeness of God?
Yes; and this by reason of his spiritual nature (XCIII. 2).
Do not other creatures in this world resemble their Creator in some way?
Yes, all creatures in the world bear a mark or a trace of God who made them, by reason of their perfections which are of a lower order (XCIII. 6).