It's said that all men are created equal, but

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pete_29 said:
do we remain equal throughout our lives ?
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From a philosophical point of view, the concept of ‘equality’ is not straightforward and is highly contested, so it would depend on what you mean by equality. There are a great many ways in which we are not equal. There are also different kinds of equality, such as formal equality and proportional equality, etc. Could you be more specific?
 
pete_29 said:
do we remain equal throughout our lives ?
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None of us are equal. Some people are kind, others cruel. Some are brave, some cowards. Some are generous, others misers. Some intelligent, others stupid.

But we all deserve to be treated equitably.
 
Equal doesn’t mean congruent / identical. A TV and a $100 bill might be equal in value, but not in weight. A TV and a brick might be equal in weight but not in value.

If you are talking about “equal in value in the eyes of God” then I believe we do remain equal throughout our lives.
 
hicetnunc said:
From a philosophical point of view, the concept of ‘equality’ is not straightforward and is highly contested, so it would depend on what you mean by equality. There are a great many ways in which we are not equal. There are also different kinds of equality, such as formal equality and proportional equality, etc. Could you be more specific?
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I guess I’m trying to understand the concept of being created equal in God’s eye and wondering if decisions we make can change that status.
 
pete_29 said:
I guess I’m trying to understand the concept of being created equal in God’s eye and wondering if decisions we make can change that status.
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I understand, thanks for the clarification. It seems you are thinking of the dignity of the person in virtue of the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of God.

In this sense, there is nothing we can do to alter this kind of dignity, since the origin of the dignity of the created person is found in God and derived from the Divine Will.

St Thomas tells us that, "Changes receive species and dignity, not from the term
“wherefrom,” but from the term “whereto.” (ST I, q.45, a.1, ad.2). What he means by this is, in part, that dignity is not derived so much from the condition we find ourselves in (of change and alteration) but in the destiny to which change is drawing us to. Since the destiny of human life is found in God, this is the source of our dignity and God of course is unchanging, regardless of what actions we do or do not do in this life.
 
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