The Value of Man

"The value of man, like the value of sparrow and flower, is his value to God; the measure of true joy in value is the joy in heaven. Because worth is worth in relation to God, therefore Jesus finds sacredness in all creation, and not in humanity alone - though his disciples are to take special comfort from the fact that they are of more value to God than are the also valued birds.

"...it became clear to the disciples that Jesus Christ's love of people was not merely an illustration of universal benevolence but a decisive act of divine Agape (that is, divine love)." Richard Niebuhr

With the Christmas season upon us, here is a quote for consideration:

"Neo-Platonism had no place for the Incarnation, but Augustine came to see that this central datum of Christian revelation was key to understanding the human story."
(Timothy George)

Where does evil come from? St. Augustine coined the phrase "inordinate desire" to describe the root of evil, which he identifies as "the desire for something that violates the rightful order of things. Evil is a turning away from immutable goods and a turning toward changeable goods--those that are in the moment. Whence comes this turning away from immutable to changeable goods, unless man, to whom God is the only good, replaces God with himself to be his own good, as God is the Good to Himself?"

"... the idea of moral self-development demands that we take seriously our flawed nature. We are capable of becoming better or worse through our dispositions and choices, and while our dispositions color our choices, our choices can alter our dispositions." (p.103,104,118 The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy)