In the first place, we should value a human soul, because it is in itself superior to any thing else in the world. The whole world, indeed, with every thing in it, is good, for God made it. But He proceeded in a very different manner in the creation of the material world from what He did when He made the soul. He made the world, the trees, the rivers, the lights of heaven, the living creatures on the earth, by the mere word of his power. "_God said, Be light made. And light was made_." [Footnote 124] And God said, "_Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind. And it was so_." [Footnote 125]
[Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Gen. i., 11,12.]
But when He made the soul, the Scriptures tell us, "_He breathed into the face of man and he became a living soul_." [Footnote 126]
[Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Gen. ii., 7.]
By this action we are to understand that God communicated to man a nature kindred to his own divinity. The Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, is the uncreated Spirit of God, eternally breathing forth and proceeding from the Father and the Son; and God when He breathed into the face of man, signified that He imparted to man a creative spirit kindred to his own eternal spirit. { 297} The Holy Scriptures indeed, expressly tell us that such was the case; "_Let us make man to our Image and our Likeness_." [Footnote 127]
This likeness consisted in the possession of understanding and free will, the power of knowledge and love--the two great attributes of God Himself. You are then, my brethren, endowed with a soul which raises you immeasurably above God's material creation. You have a soul made after God's image. This is the source of your power. The two things go together in Holy Scripture. "_Let us make man to our Image and Likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth_." [Footnote 128]
[Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Gen. i., 26.]
In the state of original innocence, no doubt, this dominion was more perfect, but even now it exists in a great degree. "_Every kind of beast, and of birds, and of serpents, and of the rest, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind_." [Footnote 129]