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On The Human Person In God's Image |
Excerpted from Sentences II |
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I respond: We must observe the intelligence of the things said before, because the image speaks a clear similarity. It is moreover necessary that every creature is like God in some way; it is also necessary that for the completion of the universe some creature is distinctly like God: And therefore every creature has the measure of a trace, but some have the measure of an image, the one, clearly, which is openly similar. This, indeed, is a rational creation, like man; and therefore it must be conceded, that man is the image of god, because his likeness is visible. Ad quod intelligendum notandum est, quod quaedam est similitudo per convenientiam omnimodam in natura, et sic una persona in Trinitate est alteri similis; quaedam per participationem alicuius naturae universalis, sicut homo et asinus assimilantur in animali; quaedam vero secundum proportionalitatem, sicut nauta et auriga conveniunt secundum comparationem ad illa quae regunt; quaedam est similitudo per convenientiam ordinis, sicut exemplatum assimilatur exemplari -- Primis duobus modis nulla creatura potest Deo assimilari; secundis duobus modis omnis creatura assimilatur; sed illa quae assimilatur magis de longinquo, habet rationem vestigii; illa vero quae de proximo, habet rationem imaginis; talis autem est creatura rationalis, utpote homo. |