Truth Month - July 2024 - Day 17 - Our worth as human beings is not based on external characteristics, what we can give society, our development level, or any conferred status, but on our intrinsic value as creatures made in God's image.

 

Truth Month - July 2024

Day 17 - Our worth as human beings is not based on external characteristics, what we can give society, our development level, or any conferred status, but on our intrinsic value as creatures made in God's image.

Why are human beings valuable?   Is it based on power, title, or influence?  Does my personal self-image determine what I can contribute?  Are babies worth more/less than people in their prime?

From the dawn of civilization, it has been recognized that it is wrong to intentionally kill an innocent human being.  However, the definition of human being has been more fluid.  In some cultures, killing and eating a captured enemy was appropriate.  Some have viewed women or minorities as property to be owned or treated as objects.  Others have been okay with abandoning or killing the old, the infirm, or inconvenient members of their society.  Infanticide of the unwanted and killing of the unborn are allowed by others.  In all these cases, the humanity of the subject was viewed as less than others, thereby justifying their treatment.  

Should the value of a human being be determined by subjective factors?  The Christian worldview holds that all people are made in the Image of God, and hence have fundamental value and dignity.  This worth is not dependent upon their station in life, their level of development or dependency on others, what they can contribute to society, or any other mental or physical characteristics (see S.L.E.D.)  It is solely based on the fact that we bear the likeness of God, and that is reason enough.   

Truth Month - July 2024 

Truth Month - July 2024 - Day 14 - All people have dignity and worth, but not all actions and beliefs are true or good

 

Truth Month - July 2024

Day 14 -  All people have dignity and worth, but not all actions and beliefs are true or good.

Most people would agree that all people have dignity and worth.  The Christian worldview grounds this belief in the fact that we are created in the Image of God, and thus have inherent value.  However, it is a fallacy to assume that because of this status, criticizing the actions of a person or challenging their deeply held beliefs is out of bounds.

So what is good or evil?  Intuitively, we know that all beliefs and cultures are not necessarily good or true, or at least some are better than others (e.g. cannibalism, torture of babies).  But only a worldview that holds to objective morality has the grounding to justify calling something good or evil, right or wrong.  Cultures that hold to relativistic morality lose the ability to fairly criticize others, since they have no objective basis to claim their views are morally superior.  In fact, relativism results in moral claims becoming just preferences (e.g. "I don't like that").  

For example, given relativistic morality, one can't claim that slavery is actually wrong, since slave owners can just as easily claim that it is right.  The most that can be claimed is "I believe that you are wrong and I'd prefer that you don't do it".  The problem is that we all actually have a moral intuition that tells us that it is wrong.  The Christian worldview explains this insight as a reflection of the Image of God in all of us.  Relativism fails to have that explanatory power.

Truth Month - July 2024 

Truth Month - July 2024 - Day 4 - Men and Women are made in the Image of God but marred by sin

 

Truth Month - July 2024

Day 4 - Men and Women are made in the Image of God, but marred by sin

The great mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal pondered the seeming paradox that human beings exhibit qualities of both greatness and wretchedness.  What worldview best explains this enigma?  Are humans basically good, but sometimes do bad things?  Or is there a more fundamental problem at the root of it?  Are we just products of untold ages of unguided evolution, molded by the struggle to survive?  Is there more to life?  Is there purpose in life beyond something we give ourselves?

I believe that Christianity has the best explanation for this dilemma.  From the beginning, God created mankind in His own image, as complementarian male and female beings.  While we are not God (or gods), we bear a likeness to Him.  But now the rest of the story… that image has been marred and distorted by our disobedience and rebellion against the Creator's design (i.e. "sin").  That is the tension that we all war with our whole lives.  Even the apostle Paul struggled to do what he knew to be right, when he wanted to do otherwise.  

What is the image of God (or the Imago Dei in Latin)?  The Bible never explicitly says what this is, but reading the whole thing gives us some insights.  Here are three (nonexclusive) ways to understand the image of God.  

1. Resemblance - We look like God in some ways.  We bear a likeness by sharing some of His communicable characteristics, such as love, intelligence, moral awareness, and creativity.

2. Representative Ruler - We are meant to be God's representatives on Earth, with the power to rule over the earth and subdue it.  We also are tasked with sharing the revelation and knowledge of God to others.

3. Relational - We have a relational nature between ourselves and others, just as the triune God has loving relationships between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Because of this, we are also capable of having a relationship with our Creator.

God chose not to leave us to wallow in our sin, but rather provided a way to be reconciled to Himself.  Jesus became a man, lived among us, was brutally executed, and then rose again.  His sacrifice paid the price of our debt and took the punishment in our place, so that we can have a new start and be conformed to His image once again. 

 

Truth Month - July 2024