Beautiful Creatures: On Being Created and Being Human

Let us say plainly: the unredeemed state of the world consists precisely in the failure to understand the meaning of creation, in the failure to recognise the truth… —Benedict XVI

What sort of creatures are we? Asked in one way, this question poses a problem for religion or philosophy to consider. Asked in another way, it expresses bafflement at the mystery we are to ourselves.

As a problem to consider, we can engage it in an orderly manner with the help of revelation and reason. When we ask it in bafflement, it becomes more fraught, particularly perhaps when contemplating the frightening evils we can commit, but also the ways in which, as individuals, we can become lost to ourselves through unhappy circumstances, bad choices, and forces beyond our control. Reflecting on what it means for human beings to be creatures, in both ways of asking this question, might be a helpful approach to considering the challenges that now confront us.

Fiction is another avenue for exploring…