Lumen Fidei - page 74

74
reproached Christians for an idea that he consid-
ered foolishness and delusion: namely, that God
created the world for man, setting human beings
at the pinnacle of the entire cosmos. “Why claim
that [grass] grows for the benefit of man, rather
than for that of the most savage of the brute
beasts?” 46 “If we look down to Earth from the
heights of heaven, would there really be any dif-
ference between our activities and those of the
ants and bees?”47 At the heart of biblical faith is
God’s love, his concrete concern for every per-
son, and his plan of salvation which embraces
all of humanity and all creation, culminating in
the incarnation, death and resurrection of Je-
sus Christ. Without insight into these realities,
there is no criterion for discerning what makes
human life precious and unique. Man loses his
place in the universe, he is cast adrift in nature,
either renouncing his proper moral responsibility
or else presuming to be a sort of absolute judge,
endowed with an unlimited power to manipulate
the world around him.
55. Faith, on the other hand, by revealing the
love of God the Creator, enables us to respect
nature all the more, and to discern in it a gram-
mar written by the hand of God and a dwelling
place entrusted to our protection and care. Faith
also helps us to devise models of development
which are based not simply on utility and prof-
46 Origen , Contra Celsum, IV, 75: SC 136, 372.
47 Ibid., 85: SC 136, 394.