Abstract
Human dignity has become a major moral directive in the contemporary ethical reflection on human rights and bio-ethics. This article examines the theological foundations laid by the reformer Calvin regarding the inherent dignity of people, and his influence on post-World War ethical reflection about the violations of human rights. In this article his views on the “imago dei” and common grace, the “lex naturae” and the obligations of the civil authority are investigated in order to illuminate his ideas about the dignity of human beings. The article then deals with the influence of these ideas in the influential works of the twentieth century’s reformed theologians Barth, Berkhouwer and Moltmann.
Highlights
The concept human dignity has become a major directive in modern ethics
Since World War II Christian theology showed an increasing interest in human dignity as the leading principle in Christian anthropology, and in the way in which human dignity can be founded in Scripture and in the Christian tradition
Reformed theology developed the implications of human dignity for human relations and holds the view that Scripture teaches the inherent human dignity of all people, which should be respected by fellow human beings and social institutions
Summary
The concept human dignity has become a major directive in modern ethics. This concept underlies the modern constitutional state and has become an important guideline in the development of medical ethics, bio-ethics and the ethics of human rights. Calvin’s original teachings were periodically challenged by major crises in the West – the French Wars of Religion, the Dutch Revolt, the English Revolution, American Colonization, and the American Revolution In each such crisis moment, a major Calvinist figure emerged – Theodore Beza, Johannes Althusius, John Milton, John Winthrop, John Adams and others – who modernized Calvin’s teachings and converted them into dramatic new legal and political reforms. The central theoretical argument of the article is that Calvin laid the foundation of the modern-day reformed reflection on human dignity as the concept can apply to human rights and bio-ethics His vision becomes clear especially when his ideas of the image of God and common grace, natural law and civil authority are outlined. The heritage of Calvin’s views on these particular issues in post-war reformed ethical reflection will be described
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