The article “Pico Della Mirandola: Oration on the Dignity of Man” if a passage that is tailored to help explain why a man may be considered to be a very important creation of god, higher than all the other creations. However, the author of this piece goes ahead to try and show that there are those times and situations, where this kind of reason given seems not to help vividly explain the reason for a man to be considered to be the greatest creation that needs to be admired by all the other creations be it the stars or the angels themselves (Della, 2012). This essay will try to expound then the fact that man is truly the greatest creation and various passages from the creation theory and further the various articles have been able to prove this fact.
The issue of man being the greatest creation is an issue that has been accepted by all the religions in the world. Be it, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and even pagans. This is so due to the fact that all the religions believe in the creation theory. They believe that man was created by a supernatural being that took its time to come up with the best form of creature better than all the other creatures he had already created (Della, 2012). When it comes to Buddhists, they opine that whatever happens to man in most instances are all in his power and reach for him to change it and hence man will always be swayed with the decisions that he makes. This in turn shows that if all the religions are able to come together and meet on this issue of man being a very special creature in the face of his creation clearly shows that man needs to be respected by all the other creations.
In addition to this, man has been able to formulate the various ways that he can be able to ‘rule’ over the other creations. Man has been able to tame all the monsters of this world, from the beasts to the plants to even the rivers(Della, 2012). Man has been able to change the course of rivers; man has been able to create new water bodies, for example, the manmade lakes and the reservoirs. This in turn makes a man be able to be deemed a demigod; he has been able to come up with creations which might be likened to that of God. However, one thing has not yet been successful, creating man himself. They have been able to come up with the robots, which may be likened to man himself, but are unable to perform the same functions as a man. With all this advancement in technology, research has been carried out in order to give rise to man, for example, through cloning, but that has been realised to be a failure. This in turn may be able to show that truly a man is a special being, a being that needs to be respected, envied and respected.
In order to further explain this, man has been able to change how some animals are able to act. For example, man is able to make an elephant walk a rope, man has been able to make a dog have human characteristics such as understanding human language which in turn means that man is the superior creation of all the creations in the world. Man has formed the various learning theories that may enable him to programme these animals to act as he wants. Be it through coercion for example using the whip or by using treats such as biscuits. These ways of programming have enabled him to change how an animal will be required to act in its normal state. With this fact truly man is the greatest creation.
Man has an ability that many of the creatures will never have, man was given the right to make decisions. Although, the various books have a stipulated way that man is supposed to act, man has the ability to choose what he deems will be favourable to him. As per religion, man has a stipulated code of conduct; man has duties that he should always perform. As per the Buddhists beliefs, man has the ability to make decisions how he deems fit to meet his preferences; however, in making this decision, man will always have to take into consideration the Doctrine of Karma. This in turn means that Man will always be free to do whatever he feels like in whatever situation he deems fit. For instance, most animals in the world have a set diet in that a lion will never eat grass, whereas a gazelle will never eat meat, however, when it comes to man, he has the ability to choose what he will eat, he has the ability to choose whether or not he will eat a certain food, not because of health problems, but due to his or her personal reasons. For example, the vegetarians who go ahead and quit meat as a way of being activists for the animal generation.
It is evident that the other creations have a set law that will always be the determinant of how they exist in the world. These laws may not always be applicable to man, in that man is not in any way bound to these laws. This issue may be really explained further when one looks at the issue of sexual orientation. Most animals have a fixed sexual orientation that requires that the male and female mate. However, man has the right to choose what he or she deems fit, this means that man comes up with his own laws and through these laws a man is free to do as he perceives best (Holland, 1975). However, this may be met with various contradictions due to the fact that some animals tend to be homosexual in nature. However, the question that they must always ask themselves is how many species have a chance to choose their partners.
As God created the creations on this earth, he made them in such a way that the plants were immobile whereas the animals were always free to roam the earth. However, the freedom that these animals have to roam, cannot be really be compared to the freedom that man was given. This is evident from the article, where God stated that Adam has no set or fixed place where he must live, in that God gave him the chance to
Man is normally defined as the link between the various matters, both the visible and the invisible creations that God created. This is mainly due to the fact that man has both the intellect and the Godly matter and likeness. This may be inferred that man is the greatest of all creations due to the fact that he is deemed to have the sole purpose of uniting the various creations. Man is tasked with the duty of ensuring that man uses the voice of reason that he has been given to ensure that he takes care of the other creations.
It is in man’s nature to always act in a manner different from the other creatures. Man has gone ahead to show that in instances that an animal goes ahead to do some one of kind actions, such as play the piano, or in instances that he or she acts in such a manner that does not depict the human nature, he will always be deemed to be an animal. However, in instances that he acts according to the expectations, he or she will be deemed to be an angel. This in turn shows that man is truly next in line from the angels.
Lastly, the Bible and the other books have been written with guidance from God, be it the Bible where the prophets were given the revelations via the Holy Spirit or the rightly guided khalifs in Islam and the actions of the prophet Mohammed (PBUH) which were always influenced by God himself, means that whatever has been stipulated by the Bible or Koran will always be the truth from God himself. So I would like to finish this essay with the various verses in the Bible or Koran, which clearly show how man was important in the eye of God. Psalms 139:13-14, clearly states that God has a plan for man and he clearly knew somebody when he or she was still in the mother’s womb. This in turn means that somebody is not born out of lack but rather it is for a set purpose. In addition to this, Ephesians 2 clearly depicts man as a form of workmanship. What does this mean? This clearly means that man was created with certain specifications and hence clearly depicts him as an important creature.
In conclusion, the above clearly shows that man is a very important creation and hence man needs to be respected by each and every creature in the world. This is clear due to the fact that man may be ranked just below the angels and further man may be deemed to have the authority to rule over all the other creations.
References
Della Mirandola, P. (2012). Pico Della Mirandola: Oration on the Dignity of Man: A New Translation and Commentary. Cambridge University Press.
Holland, N. N. (1975). Hamlet-My Greatest Creation. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 3(4), 419.
