PART III 48. What is man?
Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God.
(a) The soul and the body are not loosely connected parts of man, they are united in a substantial union to form one complete human nature. The soul is not located in any particular member of the body but is whole and entire in each part.
49. Is this likeness to God in the body or in the soul?
This likeness to God is chiefly in the soul.
(a) All creatures bear some resemblance to God inasmuch as they exist. Plants and animals resemble Him insofar as they have life, but none of these creatures is made to the image and likeness of God. Plants and animals do not have a rational soul, such as man has, by which they might know and love God.
50. How is the soul like God?
The soul is like God because it is a spirit having understanding and free will, and is destined to live forever.
(a) Men are especially like God when they know and love Him:
first, in a merely natural way without the aid of grace;
second, in a supernatural way here on earth, with the aid of grace;
third, in a perfect way in heaven, with the aid of the special] light God gives to the souls of the blessed.
(b) Understanding is the power of the soul to apprehend, to judge, and to reason, and thus to know right and wrong.
(c) Conscience is that judgment by which we decide here and now what we should do as good or avoid as evil.
(d) Free will is that power of the soul to choose either to act or not to act.
(e) Human souls live forever because they are spirits.
(f) The never-ending life of the soul is called immortality.
51. Who were the first man and woman?
The first man and woman were Adam and Eve, the first parents of the whole human race.
(a) The theory of evolution which teaches that higher forms of life develop from lower forms has offered no convincing, scientific proof that the human body developed gradually from that of a lower animal.
(b) If scientific proof of such development of the body of man could be had, it would not be opposed to Catholic doctrine provided that some special action of God is admitted not only in the creation of the soul but also in the production of the body of Adam.
(c) The human soul, being spiritual, could not possibly have developed from a lower, material form of life.
(d) Sacred Scripture teaches that Adam's soul, like every human soul, was created directly by God.
52. What was the chief gift bestowed on Adam and Eve by God?
The chief gift bestowed on Adam and Eve by God was sanctifying grace, which made them children of God and gave them the right to heaven.
(a) Sanctifying grace is a supernatural gift which is a sharing in the nature of God Himself and which raises men to the supernatural order, conferring on them powers entirely above those proper to human nature.
(b) Together with sanctifying grace God gave Adam and Eve the super natural virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
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