Human Beings
"WHAT ARE HUMAN BEINGS?"
by Dr. Carl Schultz, Houghton College
The eighth psalm confronts us with a profound question: "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?" (Psalm 8:4)
It is raised, as we will subsequently note, in the context of surprise and amazement that God is cognizant of humans. Here in Psalm 8 such divine attention is viewed as flattering but in the book of Job where the same question is raised (Job 7:17) the man Job is distressed that God is so aware of him. Little did he know, given the narrative at the beginning of the book, the extent of that divine focus. Perhaps none of us are fully cognizant of God's attending awareness.
This question of Psalm 8 is located in the context of the physical world. Psalm 8 is a night liturgy, reference only being made to the night sky, against which vastness the worshipper feels insignificant. Given that humans are related to and assessed by way of the universe (so here and in Genesis 1) it is appropriate that we turn to science and raise the question "What are human beings . . .?" to which query we find an array of answers. A human is:
* An animal
* A physico-chemical being
* A creature occupying a small place in space and time
* One of the extraordinary diversity and profusion of living forms
* Highest form of life
* A creature, homo sapiens, at the highest level of animal development characterized especially by a highly developed brain.
* Occupant of an infinitesimally small body in the solar system
These are significant responses which have enabled scientists to contribute to our physical well-being and to the improvement of our living conditions by effecting advances in medicine and technology. Such responses are not to be minimized or trivialized.
Such biological explanations ought to be most acceptable...
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