Between secular and religious – dignity as the highest value of the human spirit

author: Anna Laputko

Urgency of the research. The evolution of Christian ideas about human dignity prepared the emergence and development of European humanism, which necessarily led to the creation of decent living conditions. In Christianity, the understanding of human rights is inextricably linked to responsibility, justice, charity, freedom and love of neighbor.

Target setting. One of the eternal problems of philosophy and one of the universal questions of the human spirit is the question of human dignity. Man is understood as an important component of the supernatural. In Christianity, common to all denominations is the understanding of man as the image and likeness of God. Such a high appreciation of the essence of man is the main leitmotif in anthropology and religion. The desire to be perfect, happy, immortal reflects a person's awareness of the dignity of his own spirit.

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis.  In Ukrainian Religious Studies and Theology, the topic of dignity is studied by a wide range of specialists using historical, comparative, hermeneutic, phenomenological methods. In the context of the Revolution of Dignity, L. Fуlуpovych and O. Horkusha explored the place of understanding human dignity in the formation of civil society. P. Yarotsky, O. Sagan, Y. Chornomorets, T. Havryliuk reveal the problem of human dignity in the context of modern and historical realities of the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches.

The research objective. The aim of the article is to analyze the Christian understanding of human dignity. The main objectives of the study are to reveal the biblical sources and basics of understanding dignity as an ontological component of man, his image and likeness of God.

The statement of basic materials. It is analyzed that the secular assertion of human dignity, rights and freedoms in its practical plane in certain periods of human history has been and is a great challenge for Christian churches. It is studied that the Christian understanding of human dignity, balancing on the border of its theoretical proclamation and its practical implementation, served to promote the ideas of humanism, its ability to resist destructive, degrading manifestations of social life forms, in the dialectic of social and religious forms of life.  It is shown that the dignity of the individual is inseparable from the understanding of his rights and freedoms, and therefore, the struggle for dignity and human rights is an integral part of the preaching of the truths of Christianity.

Conclusions. It is highlighted that it is often the Christian understanding of human dignity that has led to social revolutions and, conversely, powerful secular processes have forced churches to return and rethink their basic anthropological foundations. It is proved that the basic anthropological value of Christianity, the dignity proclaimed by the apologists of Christianity two thousand years ago, has come a long way in the public consciousness, overcoming all manifestations of distortion and oppression of the human spirit. Dignity transformed human society into a single family not only in the context of the Church as the one Body of Christ, but also in its secular expression.

Keywords: dignity, Christianity, rights, freedoms, Orthodoxy, Catholicism, image and likeness of God, Christian anthropology

 

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