Animals, The Likeness of God
But are animals also created in the image of God, who created them? Thomas has a unique answer: in all creatures there is some kind of likeness to God, he argued. But in the thinking person, whom he called "the rational creature," there is a likeness of "image"; whereas in other creatures we find a likeness by way of a "trace." Thomas explains the difference between trace and image. “An 'image' represents something by likeness in species, while a 'trace' represents something by way of an effect, which represents the cause in such a way as not to attain to the likeness of species."
Read more about this topic: Catholic Theology Of The Body, History, Thomas Aquinas
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