Biblical Origin of Human Dignity

When discussing human dignity, we often hear the voices of those who represent traditional religions and claims that in those paradigms a human being is provided with the deepest unworthiness in front of a Deity; that he is deprived of rights and only has responsibilities. However, should we address the primary sources, especially the Bible, it's easy to see how far such position is from the truth.

Fundamentally, the Bible is the first chrestomathy in the history of mankind that proclaims the principle of human dignity (and not that of specific people or groups of people). This principle is primarily founded on perceiving a man as a unique and sole image of the God in this world. Even the story of the Great Deluge that tells of total depravity and death of the humankind, ends with the description of new humanity as a united family entering in a deal (making a testimony to) God.

The New Testament goes even further and proclaims salvation of every human being (and not building empires, founding institutions, political success or economic prosperity) as the superior purpose. As a matter of fact, this idea was so alluring for people of all origins and social statuses that in Rome Christianity transformed from punishable into dominant religion in less than three centuries.

One of the paramount tasks of our time in our country is getting back to the origins of Christian culture — not to find new bases for current ideological constructs but for understanding what constitutes its basic values and what meaning they may have in today’s world. The concept of human dignity is, without a doubt, one of such values.