What is a human being? Take 2.

So here is my second attempt at defining what it is to be a human being; should be simple enough..!

Humans are relational beings and have the ability to have relationships with one another as well as with God. In Genesis 1:26-27 we read that humans were created by God in his image, ‘imago dei’. We must therefore explore God’s nature in order to infer how this reflection is relevant to human nature. In the ‘Nicene Creed’ - a statement of belief written for believers to outline their faith – the concept of the Trinity is highlighted. God is referred to in three forms: Father, Son and Holy Spirit whereby each of these has a ‘role’ to play in fulfilling God’s will. They are all God whilst still being able to work together in a communicative, relational manner; the three aspects to God are connected and associate with the others. This notion of relation must in turn be a quality of humankind and must apply to human beings seeing as they are made in the very image of God himself. The Bible states, “Love your neighbour as yourself,” in Mark 12:31 which enforces and further suggests human capability for relation. The link between “neighbour” and “self” proposes that humans cannot only interact but have the ability to feel emotion for others through their relationships.

The creation of the world is accounted in Genesis 1 in which we also read of the creation of mankind. Psalm 139 provides an intimate insight into God’s individual, unique design of every single human: “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (139:13) – this vivid image shows how from the moment that we are created, we rely on God purely for our existence. The Psalm also speaks of God’s omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence and how He has “written all the days that were formed when none of them yet existed” (139:16). This shows our human dependence on God throughout our life and the way that we supposedly rely on his provision as we follow the ‘path’ that he has laid out for us.

Finally, it is the ability to be rational that clearly sets humans apart from other species. Christian Theologian St Thomas Aquinas developed several arguments for the existence of God (namely the ‘Cosmological Argument’ and the ‘Design Argument’) both of which essentially conclude by claiming that God exists because he was the ‘first cause’ and ‘intelligent designer’ of the universe. The intelligence that Aquinas uses (through reasoning) to try to understand God’s relationship with the world around us acts as evidence of a rational, human brain. The idea of reason is another aspect of human nature that is enabled by human experience. CS Lewis, in the poem ‘Being Human’ compares angels and humans and outlines the fundamental difference between the two being a human’s capacity (being on earth) to have a sensory experience of the world whilst angels lack sensitivity to these tactile details. Our ability to reflect on experiences, whether painful or joyous, thus influences our future decisions through anticipation and imagination, once again connoting rationality.

To conclude, the human being is relational, created by, dependent and reliant on God with the ability to reason and be rational.