Human Dignity in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition: Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Perspectives

Dignity is a fundamental aspect of our lives, yet one we rarely pause to consider; our understandings of dignity, on individual, collective and philosophical perspectives, shape how we think, act and relate to others. This book offers an historical survey of how dignity has been understood and explores the concept in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. World-renowned contributors examine the roots of human dignity in classical Greece and Rome and the Scriptures, as well as in the work of theologians, such as St Thomas Aquinas and St John Paul II. Further chapters consider dignity within Renaissance art and sacred music. The volume shows that dignity is also a contemporary issue by analysing situations where the traditional understanding has been challenged by philosophical and policy developments. To this end, further essays look at the role of dignity in discussions about transhumanism, religious freedom, robotics and medicine. Grounded in the principal Christian traditions of Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, and Protestantism, this book offers an interdisciplinary and cross-period approach to a timely topic. It validates the notion of human dignity and offers an introduction to the field, while also challenging it.

Table of Contents:
List of Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction, John Loughlin 1. 'So God Created Humanity in His own Image' (Genesis 1.27). What Does The Bible Mean and What Have People Thought it Meant? John Day 2. The Pre-Christian Greek and Roman Notions of Human Dignity, Josef Lössl 3. Christ as Imago Dei – A Missed Opportunity of Ante-Nicene Christian Theology, Vladimir Latinovic 4. The Holy Trinity as Source of Human Dignity According to St Thomas Aquinas, Richard Conrad 5. Human Dignity and Human Wretchedness from St Irenaeus to Pico della Mirandola, John Loughlin 6. The Beauty of the Person in Christian Thought and Art, Timothy Verdon 7. Western Christian Sacred Music and Human Dignity, Jonathan Arnold 8. Human Dignity, Equality, and Liberty in Protestant Thought, John Witte, Jr 9. The Dignity of the Ancients and the Dignity of the Moderns, John Milbank 10. Human Dignity inJohn Paul II'sPersonalist Philosophy, Miguel Acosta 11. Religious Freedom and Dignity, Roger Trigg 12. Human Dignity in a Biotechnological Age, Michael Burdett 13. Bioethics and the Secular Belief of Inherent Human Dignity, Calum MacKellar Index

About the Author :
John Loughlin is a Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford, UK and Emeritus Fellow of St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge, UK.

Review :
[A] fascinating read. A fine set of essays designed to explain and defend the notion of human dignity in the Judaeo-Christian tradition . . . individuals like Loughlin and his colleagues turn to the history of philosophy in their studies of the concept of dignity, and by knowing our history-the history of humanity and the history of thinking-we are in a better position to know our proper trajectory. A thoughtful, necessary and scholarly contribution ... [the essays] repay serious study on a subject of crucial concern for everyone, whatever their creed or ethnicity. John Loughlin and his colleagues provide an engaging and lively reconsideration of the value of human dignity in these troubled, contested times. This groundbreaking and important contribution to our understanding of ourselves and of the worth of each individual draws on a number of disciplines and perspectives, which reminds us that autonomy has to be debated, defended, redefined and prized, if it continues to serve as an ethical foundation for human interaction. A rich and powerful treatment of the idea of human dignity. This work draws together an impressive array of well-known international scholars to explore the Judeo-Christian and aesthetic dimensions of the concept. They mount a robust defense of the spiritual, biblical, and historical aspects of the idea against those who reject human dignity as a mere religious construct with no relevance for modernity. This volume provides a needed reassessment of the roots of human dignity from the vantage of the relational model of “likeness and image of God” in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The authors' attention to the unmistakable contribution of this idea, its development alongside classical ideals, and the way it has broadly impacted culture and rights theories make this book a most valuable resource. Loughlin has drawn together for this collection a very impressive field of international scholars from a wide variety of disciplines . . . This is a very significant volume which should become a standard text in the field; a short review cannot really do justice to it. . . This brief summary of such a panoramic collection shows how worthwhile this enterprise has been, and Loughlin is to be congratulated. This book is thoroughly recommended as a contribution of lasting value to the Christian notion of human dignity. The greatest strength of this text is that it accomplishes what it sets out to do - to offer a comprehensive view of Judeo-Christian perspectives on human dignity. This volume would be a helpful accompaniment to any course in human rights, as well as any upper level course in philosophy and theology seeking to more fully understand the philosophical and theological heritage of human dignity. Overall, this book is not a systematic historical, theological or bioethical account but rather a rich, academic introduction to influential Christian ideas about human dignity and their application to contemporary issues. It offers a valuable resource for academics and students seeking historical context and diverse theological perspectives on this important and contested concept.