A Christian Philosophy of Man

Man’s Many Splendored Personality

 Philosophy should not flatter, nor
exaggerate
 Genesis (1:24-28) It is no flatter nor
exaggerated praise for man to say.
 Psalms- Man is the appointed lord of the
earth. Man is the apex or summit of earthly
creation
Psalm 8 of Holy Scripture
“What is man that thou art mindful of him? Or the
son of man that thou visiteth him? Thou hast made
him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned
him with glory and splendor, thou hast set him over
the works of Thy hands; thou hast subjected all
things under his feet”
According to the Holy Writ:
 Man, following his redemption by the Savior from eternal
bondage, now shares in the infinite merits of his Redeemer and has
become not only the inheritor of the new earth but also the heir of
the heavenly kingdom.

 However that the different stars representing the different

aspects of human nature (MAN) are not of equal category or value
 -for instance, the moral aspects is much higher in the hierarchy of
values than the physical, the political and social.

 It should be noted further that each stars does not only represent
a single value but constellation of values.

THE GIFTS OF MAN ORDERED FOR THE PERFECTION OF MAN

AND SOCIETY
 Jewels of human personality are not meant by Donor and Creator,
merely as ornaments of man for vain display, say, before the other
lower creatures, to feed man’s pride and vanity

 Man’s most holy purpose:

 To serve for the betterment and perfection not only for the
individual man but for all humanity of which he is inseparably a
member

 These talents and faculties given to man are intended by Infinitely

Wise Creator and Benefactor of the universe not to be buried and
hidden deep mines or kept locked up in treasure vaults by man’s
folly

 The scriptures warn and stress that the Divine Auditor:

 Will demand a strict accounting on last day.

 A final inventory of how faithfully man has applied and employed

his talents and powers.
 On the day of final reckoning:
 God will judge man according to his work not on his gifts,
possessions and position.

Man’s supreme purpose and destiny:

 Happiness- not only of himself but all human beings.

Great encyclicals (the Rerum Novarum, 19 and mater et

magistra, 199)
“Whoever has received from the divine Bounty a large share of
blessings, whether they be external or corporal, or gifts of the mind has
received them for the purpose of using them for perfection his own
nature, and at the same time that he may employ them as the minister
of God’s providence, for the benefit of others.”

THE DIGNITY AND DESTINY OF MAN

 Human Dignity
 The exalted position man holds in the hierarchy of earthly
creation as the only rational and responsible being on earth, and his
appointment by the creator to be the lord of the earth and
everything thereon.

 As the heir of the heavenly kingdom- being the recipient of all the
fruits and awards of his redemption by Christ

 It is possible for man, owing his free nature, to choose the kind of
life he would lead
 Man must also show and prove himself worthy of dignity to which
nature and nature’s God has ordained and elevated him.
 Dignus

means worthy
 Dignity

means worthiness

Human perfection, the distinction is also appropriate,

for our purpose.
 Metaphysically, everything is affected according to its own
degree of perfection, in as much as everything is good, has
goodness or perfection in it, and is therefore, valuable and
desirable

 Human nature, for instance, is perfect in the sense that all

things required for the exigencies of human nature are realized I
it.

The Fallacy of the Existentialist View

 To the existentialist there is no such a thing as the inborn
original nature of man; everything is made or acquired by man
and for man.
 Comment:
 Man must first have an essence or nature before he can add
anything to it essence precedes existence. Agere sequitur esse. This
is the universally accepted truth or maxim that everything acts in
accordance with its essence or nature.

MAN’S DESTINY
 Dignity, according to the Divine Plan, is not pre-tailored, ready
made, and donated to man like baptismal royal robe at birth once
and for all. It must be maintained, worked for and deserved by
constant good works.

 Dignity without dignification is worthless; dignification without

dignity is baseless.