There is no doubt that the man was made in the image of God and that God, as is written in another text, "gave him power to rule all things." Yes, all things were under him, but above him was the One who created all. And the man had responsibility for everything that was under him, but even more so, he had to attend to the One above him. Keeping in mind the One who was above him, he would have peacefully dominated what was below him. Separating himself from the One who was above him, he came to be dominated by what was below. Take the example of three people. One of them has a servant and also a master (it often happens that wealthy servants have servants under them). Note well: such a person has a servant and a master. He is subject to the one and commands the other. With respect to the servant he is superior, with respect to the master he is inferior. In the third position we place the one who is the servant of the servant, and in the first position the one who is the master of the master. In the middle is the one who is servant and master"the master of his servant and the servant of his master. The third is therefore only a servant, the first only a master, whereas the one in the middle is both servant and master. He will possess his servant peacefully if he is not in conflict with his master. And yet we have spoken of three persons, all three of the same race, all three of the same essence, all three of the same nature. The same cannot be said of the following three: God, human beings and creatures inferior to human beings. Of an entirely different condition and of a very different substance are the maker and what is made, the producer and the product, the craftsman and his work, the creator and his creature. As for created things, by a generic term they are all called creatures, but they differ between them in nature, dignity, merits and condition. - "Newly Discovered Sermons 21.5"
