theo chapter 5

The meaning of life– “Why am I here?”

• We have the right to life and freedom.

• Christians were the first to affirm the equal dignity of women and children, abolish slavery, and abolish abortion.

• Christians invented universal education for everybody and hospitals (especially for the poor).

1. We are created in God’s image and likeness– to think, choose, and love sacrificially.

2. We fell from grace because of sin.

3. God made a plan to rescue us– to restore us to be in communion with Him and with each other.

Human dignity is to be worthy of honor and respect, even after death. If we fail to see other’s dignity, we begin to look down on them and see them as something to be disregarded.

We have intellect, free will, and the ability to freely give ourselves in sacrificial love.

To experience God’s communion of love, first with God, and then with other people.

The human body possesses great dignity because we are created in God’s image and likeness and because God became one of us and took on human flesh. Also, the human body is not just mere matter, but joined to the soul. So, we must treat our bodies with the greatest respect, care, and honor.

What you do with your body matters. God created two sexes male and female and gave us each the same dignity as human persons. When a man and woman get married they fully experience this communion of love.

It is “the act of being made flesh”. Jesus existed before he took on flesh, but there came a time when he took on flesh. He had a human soul and body and became a man in the person of Jesus. We know He’s human because he was born and died. We know He is God because He rose from the dead.

Jesus taught us how to live and love during his life on Earth. Jesus showed us the proper way to live as humans and He showed us that God wants us to love by dying for us on the cross.

It is God’s creation, so we have to respect animals and the planet. Since we are made in God’s image and likeness, we share in His creative ability and responsibility by using the gifts that He has given us.

Once you know your value, you start to see the value in other people. We must treat others according to their value and dignity.

Mother Teresa didn’t see people’s sickness, dirtiness, or any other flaws. She saw Jesus in others, no matter what. She thought of everyone as an opportunity to love Jesus.

the scientific term for our human species. Latin for “wise man”

the quality of being worthy of honor or respect, and of possessing great value.

the philosophical name for the human soul, referring to the human powers of intellect or reason, and free will.

someone, rather than something, with the inherent capability of self-knowledge, self-possession, and of freely giving themself in love to another person.

the fact that the Son of God assumed human nature and became man in order to accomplish our salvation. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, is both true God and true man.