The Right Of Seigniory In Theocratic Society
Chapter 4
The servitude due to God is full and absolute
542. Consequently, the servitude owed to God is full and absolute.
543. Does this absolute servitude imply a right in God over our very personality in such a way that he can use it as a pure means?
544. The human person is an end because of the divine element which informs it.(42) This element, which in God is God, cannot be employed as a simple means even by God himself who, being essentially end, cannot use himself as means. Hence Scripture says that God made himself the end of all things, and could not do otherwise.(43)
545. He is end, therefore, in so far as he communicates himself to humankind, either through the light of reason or through gifts superior to nature. This teaching, which ennobles human creatures, is echoed in divine Scripture when it says that God, in his absolute, all-powerful dominion, treats mankind `with great reverence'.(44)
Notes
(42) Principles of Ethics, 101-105.
(43) `The Lord has made all things for himself' (Prov 16: 4 [Douai]).
(44) `You are master of power, you judge with tranquillity, and with GREAT REVERENCE dispose of us' (Wis 12: 18). The words, `you judge with tranquillity', are also worthy of attention. God Almighty uses his power with `calm judgement', which conforms to reason and lacks passion. He never sacrifices what is reasonable to his power; what is reasonable is always the end of his activity.