Lesson 1: We are Created in God’s Image and Likeness

1. Lesson 1: We are Created in God’s Image and Likeness Path 1: Human MoralityPath 2: Christian MoralityPath 3: Jesus is the Ultimate Norm

2. Activity: Psychological Game“Sweets for the Sweet” We’ve all heard the story of the little girl and boy lost in the woods who stumble upon a house made of tempting sweets. And even when we know that it’s a trap laid by a cunning witch, it’s hard not to

3. sympathize with those hungry children as they begin to pick away at the cookie doorknobs, candy glass windowpanes, and sugar-frosted roof shingles. After all, what child could be expected to resist such treat?

4. Imagine you are lost in a dark forest and starting to feel the first pangs of hunger when you come across a cottage made of sweets. After checking the area to make sure no witches are lurking about, you get ready to dig in. how do you set about consuming the house?

5. I’d just start eating everything in sight. • I’d try sampling as many different kinds of sweets as I could find. • I’d find my one favorite sweet and stick to that. • I’m not very into sweets. Actually, I’d prefer some crunchy mixed of nuts.

6. This Psychological game mirrors your approach to the world of friendships.

7. I’d just start eating everything in sight. You are always up front and out in the open dealing with the world, almost like a child in you innocent enthusiasm. This straightforward approach makes you easy for others to understand and accept, but you should realize that not everyone is as forthright and honest as you.

8. Sometimes that honesty of yours makes you just a little to trusting, and you have been known to rush in where angels wouldn’t dare to tread.

9. 2. I’d try sampling as many different kinds of sweets as I could find. the world is full of people, and you wouldn’t mind the chance to meet them all. You are a true master at finding the good qualities in others.

10. But you desire to have a little taste of everything can also be read as unwillingness to get too deeply involved with any one person. While it’s good to be able to enjoy all kinds of tastes, there comes a time when you’re going to have to finally admit to someone, “You’re the sweetest of them all.”

11. 3. I’d find my one favorite sweet and stick to that. If you can find even a single person in the world who shares your interests, tastes, and aspirations, that’s enough for you.

12. It is indeed a wonderful thing to be able to find a person who sees the world exactly as you do, but by limiting yourself to a single flavor of relationship, you may be cutting yourself off from the whole world of delicious experiences.

13. 4. I’m not very into sweets. Actually, I’d prefer some crunchy mixed of nuts. For you, the word crazy has a positive connotation. Accordingly, your circle of friends and acquaintances has more than the average number of interesting characters.

14. The life of an outsider has its appeal, and enjoy the perspective that taking a step back from the crowd affords you. But in trying to set yourself apart, you may sometimes be seen as someone who’s trying too hard to be different. It’s important to remember that the people who are most afraid of being thought ordinary are those to whom the description best applies.

15. Group Activity: • Answer this question through a Commercial. How does media describe man?

16. You have only 15 minutes to prepare and 3 minutes to present. • Criteria: Creativity and Originality – 5 Content – 10 Cooperation – 2.5 Stage Presence – 2.5 ------- 20 points

17. “We are only humans born to make mistakes…”

18. Human – Craig David

22. Chorus:I'm only humanOf flesh and blood I'm madeI'm only human (what what?)Born to make mistakes (tell me whatchagonna do?)

25. I'm only human (to the, to the)Of flesh and blood I'm made (to the heart, tick tock you don't stop, stop)I'm only humanBorn to make mistakes

27. Humans? Morality- which means is the “measuring device“ or the norm or standard used in judging human acts as good or bad.

28. Exposition:

29. SACRED SCRIPTURES: Genesis 1:27 “God created man in His image, in the divine image He created him, male and female, he created them.”

30. It means… • A person’s very activity of thinking and loving, in fact his/ her very being, reflects the beauty, the wisdom, and the love of the Creator.

31. SACRED SCRIPTURES:Genesis 1:31 “God looked at everything He had made, and found it good…”

32. It means… • We are the very image of God that we are fundamentally good.

33. CHURCH TEACHING:Gaudium et Spes 12 (Joy and Hope) We are created to the image of God…

34. It means.. • Humans are unique from other creatures of God. We are the only ones created in God’s image and likeness that is capable of sharing God’s infinite knowledge and love.

35. Through reason and free will man is capable of self-knowledge, of self-giving of entering into communion with other persons in love.

36. With innate dignity, man is capable of free thoughts, words and deeds, climaxing in self-giving love.

37. Jesus, God’s begotten Son modeled and taught us what it means to be human.

38. CHURCH TEACHING:NATURAL LAW, CFC 687-92 Can you describe how people worked during the Stone Age? How did they survive to think that they don’t have electricity and the technology we are enjoying today?

39. CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN BEINGS ACCORDING TO NATURAL LAWHumanity survived because by nature, we are: 1. Rational One of the things we discover in ourselves is that we can think. It is the power of rationality that enables us to figure out problems, discover laws, within nature, improve our lives. It is this ability which helped us progress.

40. As rational beings, we can either use our knowledge or remain passive and lax. It is because as human beings we also have the ability to choose. Because by nature we are also:

41. 2. Free We have a certain amount of freedom which enables us to change, to improve our lives, and to direct our future. It is also traditionally called free will and it certainly is the faculty which enables us to choose between right and wrong.

42. Though psychology has shown that a great deal of a person’s behavior is determined by his heredity and environment, almost all scientists admit that a person does have a certain amount of freedom which enables him to choose. But we still have a certain degree of freedom to change our environment and to work with our particular talents.

43. Of the greatest proof of our freedom is that we can willingly desire the good of another person or he can willingly not desire the good of another person. If we desire the good for others, it is because by nature we can:

44. 3. Love It takes freedom to love. Love is the highest form of choosing: this is so because it is choosing “for others”. Choosing for others means advancing their well-being,

45. making sure that they grow, creating the atmosphere in which good things happen to them. We are not only thinking and loving persons, nor are we spirits alone. We express our thoughts and our feelings by using our body. Thus, we are also;

46. 4. Embodied Spirits / Body-Persons Having a body, which is part of material creation, manifests a person’s relationship to the rest of created reality. We become ourselves through the bodies we have.

47. We become ourselves and experience reality through our emotions, our desires and drives, our feelings, our likes and dislikes. All these help who we are. Though we are embodied spirits, no two persons are the same. Even twins are not 100% the same. This is because we are all:

48. 5. Unique yet Fundamentally Equal We are each distinct like the rarest of gems which has its own particular glimmer. And yet despite the fact of our uniqueness, we are social beings. Our uniqueness shines forth only in community with others.

49. We can only become who we are in relation to others. Because we are unique and social beings, we are still related to the people who came before us. This is because, by nature we are:

50. 6. Historical Another characteristic of human beings is our continuity with the past. In this sense we are historical beings. You sum up in your humanity all that has preceded you. You are your past.