11. Biblical Revelation teaches that all human beings possess inherent dignity because they are created in the image and likeness of God: “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’ […] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:26-27). With this, humanity has a specific quality that means it is not reducible to purely material elements. Moreover, the “image” does not define the soul or its intellectual abilities but the dignity of man and woman. A very simplistic and incorrect view of Man in Scripture. Man’s worth depends upon his relation to God. Be non-righteous and you could be swept away in Noah’s Flood, be annihilated by God as the first born of Egypt were, etc. Even blameless people could find themselves in a terrible spot: Job. Twenty-first century notions that build up Man without reference to God, find little support in Scripture.
12. Born and raised in humble conditions, Jesus reveals the dignity of the needy and those who labor.[20] Then, throughout his public ministry, he affirms the value and dignity of all who bear the image of God, regardless of their social status and external circumstances. That is called missing the point. Christ called on all to follow the Gospel. He said almost nothing about what we would call social justice. Christ spoke clearly that His Kingdom was not of this world, but on this point He often seems to be speaking to the deaf. Christ shocked public opinion by having a tax collector as an apostle, a man who would have been regarded as a collaborator with Rome and a traitor to the Jewish people. Christ simply transcended such concerns.
13. The Christian humanism of the Renaissance later emphasized this ontological dignity and its preeminent manifestation in free human action.[23] Even in the writings of such modern thinkers as Descartes and Kant, who challenged some of the foundations of traditional Christian anthropology, one can still strongly perceive echoes of Revelation. Building upon some recent philosophical reflections about the status of theoretical and practical subjectivity, Christian reflection then came to emphasize even more the depths of the concept of dignity. In the twentieth century, this reached an original perspective (as seen in Personalism) that reconsidered the question of subjectivity and expanded it to encompass intersubjectivity and the relationships that bind people together.[24] The thinking flowing from this view has enriched contemporary Christian anthropology.[25]
This attempt to baptize modern concepts of human “rights” can only be done by ignoring the traditional Christian focus on God. All of mankind have worth, not because that quality is inherent in the human condition, but because they are children of God. Jefferson noted that with his “They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.”
14. Today, the term “dignity” is mainly used to emphasize the uniqueness of the human person, incomparable to all other entities in the universe. From this perspective, we can understand how the word “dignity” was used in the 1948 United Nations Declaration, which speaks about “the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.” Only this inalienable character of human dignity makes it possible to speak about human rights.[26]
The UN rears its ugly head again. The Cardinal seems to want secular authority to support his argument rather than to have God as the fount of whatever dignity and rights Man has.
15. All human beings possess this same intrinsic dignity, regardless of whether or not they can express it in a suitable manner. Absent God, most human beings throughout history have possessed only the rights and dignity that their rulers cared to grant them.
16. For this reason, the Second Vatican Council speaks of the “sublime dignity of the human person, who stands above all things and whose rights and duties are universal and inviolable.”[27] Pretty words and historically false. Only Man’s relation to God makes them in in any sense true.
17. The Church proclaims the equal dignity of all people, regardless of their living conditions or qualities. As a practical matter the Church has been quite comfortable with great inequalities among people Twenty centuries is a vast amount of time and the Church was not created in 1965.
18. The first conviction, drawn from Revelation, holds that the dignity of the human person comes from the love of the Creator, who has imprinted the indelible features of his image on every person (cf. Gen. 1:26). This is true, and the only real basis for human dignity and equality.
19. The second conviction follows from the fact that the dignity of the human person was revealed in its fullness when the Father sent his Son, who assumed human existence to the full: “In the mystery of the Incarnation, the Son of God confirmed the dignity of the body and soul which constitute the human being.” Overstated. Christ came to save as many of us as He could from eternal damnation.
20. Indeed, “the dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God,”[32] destined to last forever. Correct.
More tomorrow. Go here to read the passages summarized.
Infinite dignity, is it? The good sisters who taught me taught that only God is infinite. Our dignity ends when we enter a state of sin. Our dignity is regained with contrition and confession and penance.
But it is certainly never infinite.
Talk of human rights is redundant if the rights do not include those of the unborn. The UN is the last mob they should quote, not just because it’s fails to live up to its purpose, but also because it’s an impermanent organisation. It’s like saying the cafe down the road is the be-all and end-all of what coffee is and should be. Well no, that cafe could shut down tomorrow and coffee will still be around.
Yes, talk of Human Dignity is redundant if it is not connected back to God our Creator. Every person is endowed with a human dignity because we are made in the image and likeness of God. We don’t possess it merely by being of the human species. It goes back to our origin. And our origin is God.
The document gets there. I feel like it’s targeted to a secular audience or a lukewarm audience. It’s no St JP2 or Benedict calibre, but It is good nonetheless. It’s resonating amongst secular readers I think.