for humanity and the world at large when we believers better recognize the ecological commitments
which stem fromour convictions.
II.
THEWISDOMOFTHEBIBLICALACCOUNTS
65.
Without repeating the entire theology of creation, we can askwhat the great biblical narratives
say about the relationship of human beings with the world. In the first creation account in theBook of
Genesis, God’s plan includes creating humanity. After the creation of man and woman, “God saw
everything that he had made, and behold it was
very good
” (
Gen
1:31). The Bible teaches that every
man and woman is created out of love and made in God’s image and likeness (cf.
Gen
1:26). This
shows us the immense dignity of each person, “who is not just something, but someone. He is capable
of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with
other persons”.
37
Saint John Paul II stated that the special love of the Creator for each human being
“confers upon himor her an infinite dignity”.
38
Those who are committed to defending human dignity
can find in theChristian faith the deepest reasons for this commitment. Howwonderful is the certainty
that each human life is not adrift in the midst of hopeless chaos, in a world ruled by pure chance or
endlessly recurring cycles! TheCreator can say to each one of us: “Before I formed you in thewomb, I
knew you” (
Jer
1:5). We were conceived in the heart of God, and for this reason “each of us is the
result of a thought ofGod. Each ofus iswilled, each of us is loved, each ofus is necessary”.
39
66.
The creation accounts in the book of Genesis contain, in their own symbolic and narrative
language, profound teachings about human existence and its historical reality. They suggest that
human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our
neighbour and with the earth itself. According to the Bible, these three vital relationships have been
broken, both outwardly and within us. This rupture is sin. The harmony between the Creator,
humanity and creation as awholewas disrupted byour presuming to take the place ofGod and refusing
to acknowledge our creaturely limitations. This in turn distorted our mandate to “have dominion” over
the earth (cf.
Gen
1:28), to “till it and keep it” (
Gen
2:15). As a result, the originally harmonious
relationship between human beings and nature became conflictual (cf.
Gen
3:17-19). It is significant
37
Catechism of theCatholicChurch
, 357.
38
Angelus
inOsnabrück (Germany)with the disabled, 16November 1980:
Insegnamenti
3/2 (1980), 1232.
39
BENEDICTXVI,
Homily for the Solemn Inaugurationof thePetrineMinistry
(24April 2005):AAS 97 (2005), 711.
