The Christian Understanding of the Human Person

According to James Keenan, "the real discussion of [virtue] ethics is not the question "What should I do?" But " who should I become?" (Keenan, J., “Virtue Ethics.” In Christian Ethics: An Introduction). We should not live our lives trying to think of things to do that we believe will make us a better person, but more worry about the person we will become and the virtues that we hold. We are called to be an image of God, and through time, more and more alike god.

God is full of compassion, loving, kindness, mercy, truth, and mystery. Aquinas agreed with Aristotle that the ultimate or final goal of a human being is connected to happiness, but Aquinas also connected ultimate happiness with human virtues. A ‘good’ human being involves doing good human actions. Habits form who we are because the more often we endorse certain attitudes and feelings, and the more often we act in certain ways, the more those attitudes, feelings, and actions become genuine characteristics of ourselves.

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Good habits are virtues, bad habits are vices. Guided and formed by the virtues, our passions, emotions, intelligence, reason, freedom, our choices, even our memories, work together so that we can live in ways characteristic of flourishing human beings. Within catholic social teaching, it is shown that “the beginning, the subject and the goal of all social institutions is and must be the human person….” (Gaudium et Spes, n25). This is most vital to demonstrate through the early childhood years, as the way we teach these children will shape who they are for the rest of their lives.

We are all created in the image of God, and therefore by living through his virtues, we are able to become the best versions of ourselves. We must be open to who we are as human beings and the mystery of life. We will not always get it, and that is ok because we are human. We are going to make mistakes and go through challenging times, but it is how we stand up in the face of adversity that shapes us to be the humans that we are today. It will allow for freedom, the more we bridge the gap, the more we begin to see god on earth in other human beings. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5-8). The people we surround ourselves with either raise or lower our standards. They either help us become the best version or the lesser versions ourselves. We become like our friends. No man becomes great on his own. No woman becomes great on her own. The people around them help to make them great. We all need people in our lives who raise our standards, remind us of our essential purpose and challenge us to become the best version of ourselves. “Deep within their consciences men and women discover a law which they have not laid upon themselves and which they must obey. Its voice, ever calling them to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, tells them inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that. For they have in their hearts a law inscribed by God.” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church, Gaudium et Spes, 1965, 16.)

What we take in makes us who we are. Different experiences, actions, and feelings will result in each person having different perspectives and virtues when it comes to life. We are taught throughout our lives to understand the difference between being good and doing good, which therefore shows us that we are responsible for the type of person we turn out to be as well as the actions we decide to do or not to do. Our individual perceptions of what we believe makes a good person and what acts does a good person do will be different for everyone, but ultimately god suggests that we are created by love, for love. “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). Our moral ‘compass’ will steer us in the direction of which we choose, but we need to understand that even if we make the wrong decisions, we can still be forgiven, as God created us all to love each other. “Love. It always protects, always trusts, always hope, always preserves. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:7-8). Our actions merely build upon our moral principles, whereas our virtues will shape the person we will become. We are not given a good or a bad life. It’s up to us to make it good or bad. We learn from experiences, whether they are happy or sad, and they shape us to become the people we are today. They teach us how to react to situations which are good and bad, and they will show in our everyday life and others we interact with.

“The social worker whose character is formed in Christian love has, as a deep part of her character, a radical humility-which is necessary both to the virtue of love and to professional competence.” (Adams, 2013). Within the early childhood years, we are responsible for showing the children the difference between wrong and right and developing their moral values. “Moral virtue ‘is formed by habit,’ and it is through this habituation process that it becomes second nature, a firm character. Explaining the criteria of virtue, Aristotle states: ‘‘first of all, he must know what he is doing; secondly, he must choose to act the way he does, and he must choose it for its own sake and in the third place, the act must spring from a firm and unchanging character.” (Clark, 2014) Educators play a vital role in children’s perceptions of situations and must have a strong relationship to ensure they feel like they are in a safe environment, where they have the ability to be themselves and share opinions. Educators must show love for all children and not discriminate, judge, or stereotype them. God teaches us to love everyone, and see the good virtues in every person, therefore we must follow this to become the most effective educator. We must add value to children’s lives to treat others with respect and love and create a better world. Educators are shaping the future of our world, so we must be diligent and effective in what we teach them. Education today is a complex task, which is made more difficult by rapid social, economic, and cultural changes, but an educator's specific mission will always remain to be the formation of the human person. Children and young people must be guaranteed the possibility of developing their own physical, moral and intellectual gifts, and they must also be helped to develop their sense of responsibility, learn the correct use of freedom, and participate actively in social life.

Our virtues help to shape who we will become. They shape our decisions, personality, and moral compass. If we aim to more like a god, then we will become better versions of ourselves. God is full of compassion, loving, kindness, mercy, goodness, truth, beauty, and mystery. He also shows us that merely doing good things does not make you a good person, but the more often we endorse certain actions that we believe are good, the more they become a permanent part of who we are. We have all been created in the image of God, and therefore the more we love God, the more we can love others. At the end of life, what really matters is not what we bought but what we built; not what we got but what we shared; not our competence but our character; and not our success but our significance. Living a life where we can not only have to love, but can spread it to others is the best possible way to live. “If we are to share our lives with others and generously give of ourselves, we also have to realize that every person is worthy of our giving. Not for their physical appearance, their abilities, their language, their way of thinking, or for any satisfaction that we might receive, but rather because they are God’s handiwork, his creation. God created that person in his image, and he or she reflects something of God’s glory,” (Evangelii Gaudium, No. 274.). This is instrumental within teaching as we must show love to every single person, no matter if we believe that they are worthy of it or not. We must strive to show the children what is morally and ethically right within our world and how we can follow in gods’ footsteps and become the best versions of ourselves we could possibly be.