PL_LESSON 3: JESUS CHRIST AS THE ONE WHO SHEDS LIGHT ON THE MYSTERY AND DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

SOUL

Defined as “primus actus corporis physici organici”

SOUL

First act of a physical organic body

SOUL

It is the principle of life

SOUL

Any being, therefore, that manifests life and thereby performs vital operations has a soul, or in the language of some philosophers, any living being is a besouled being

God

Angels

Humans

Animals

Plants

Minerals

HIERARCHY OF BEING (SCALA NATURAE)

OPERARI SEQUIT UR ESSE

OPERATION FOLLOWS BEING

OPERATION FOLLOWS BEING

This principle affirms human dignity because it shows that our capacities for truth, goodness, and freedom are rooted in what we are by nature—created in the image and likeness of God.

NUTRITION

Refers to the operation by which the creature’s life is conserved

NUTRITION

A vital operation that transforms food into nutritive substances by the process of metabolism and the ability to assimilate these nutritive materials into the different parts of the body

GROWTH

This operation refers to the augmentation and refers to the operation by which living beings acquire by nourishment the quantity characteristic to it

GROWTH

It is a result of the assimilation of food

GROWTH

It is the vital operation then by which, for example, the baby increase in size and obtain the development characteristic of the species to which it belongs

REPRODUCTION

This refers to the operation by which a new organism is generated from a previous organism (origo viventis a principio vivente conjuncto in similitudinem naturae)

REPRODUCTION

It is the vital process whereby living beings, after reaching maturity, perpetuate their species

SENSATION

This operation manifests the capacity to perceive accidental properties of things

LOCOMOTION

The operation that manifests the capacity to move from one place to another

INTELLECTION

Considered as an immaterial operation because its object is the idea which is an immaterial presentation of reality

INTELLECTION

The ability to know immaterial truths

VOLITION

This is an immaterial operation and its object is the idea which is immaterial because it is a movement consequent upon the immaterial apprehension of the intellect

VOLITION

The freedom to love beyond instinct

INDIVIDUA SUBSTANTIA NATURAE RATIONALIS

Biologically, man is a higher primate, sharing DNA similarities with animals, yet set apart by intellect and moral capacity.

An individual substance of a rational nature

INDIVIDUA SUBSTANTIA NATURAE RATIONALIS

Capax Dei

Capacity for God

Capax Dei

with an innate capacity for God inscribed in our very nature.

Capax Dei

made capable of God

Obediential Potency

the natural facility given by God to us, enabling us to know God

Obediential Potency

that is to say that the human mind is in obediential potency to the knowledge of God

OPEN AND RELATIONAL BY NATURE (HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE)

Social and gregarious by nature

OPEN AND RELATIONAL BY NATURE (HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE)

We are being by, with, and for others

OPEN AND RELATIONAL BY NATURE (HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE)

Trinitarian in origin

OPEN AND RELATIONAL BY NATURE (HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE)

Social well-being and Common Good

OPEN AND RELATIONAL BY NATURE (HUMAN PERSON IN EXPERIENCE)

God is the source and fulfillment of all human person’s relationships

CONSCIOUS BEINGS

Possess self-awareness through our knowing and free willing.

CONSCIOUS BEINGS

We “image” in our small way the Creator’s infinite knowing and loving.

CONSCIOUS BEINGS

Reason understands the order of things and recognize the voice of God

Hylomorphic Theory

stresses the unity between our body and soul

Hylomorphic Theory

metaphysical view according to which every natural body consists of two intrinsic principles,

Hylomorphic Theory

a philosophical concept developed by Aristotle and deepened by St. Thomas Aquinas

Hylomorphic Theory

applied to the human person, this means that man is not merely a soul trapped in a body, nor a body functioning like a machine, but a unity of body and soul

Body

the matter; essential part of our being human; not merely an instrument that we use according to our whims; good and honorable

Body

our physical, visible, and tangible reality

Soul

the form; the nature or essence of a thing; the unifying principle and forms one unique human being

Soul

our spiritual, immaterial essence that gives life, identity, and purpose to the body.

Soul

not an abstract addition but the principle that makes us one unique human being

Imago Dei

First, every human person is created in the image and likeness of God

Imago Dei

This means that unlike other creatures, we are able to know and love our Creator, willed by God for our own sake, and called to stewardship of creation.

Imago Dei

Our dignity does not come from wealth, success, or ability, but from the fact that we reflect God Himself.

Irreplaceable and Non-substitutable

human beings are not objects of use or means to an end. We must treat our fellow human beings as equals

Called to Responsibility and Stewardship

According to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si, both man and woman are equally ordered to "subdue" the earth