Articles
The Value of a Human Being
One of the great ironies of humanism is that it purports to elevate humanity by touting mankind’s intellect, resourcefulness and adaptability, but at the same time devalues man as the mere end product of a mindless, accidental natural process. That is, humanism asserts that man does not have special purpose, that nature is not interested in developing and perfecting mankind (because there is no intellectual oversight of the process) and that there is no value to humans beyond our biological existence in the here and now. Such hypotheses strip mankind of our intrinsic uniqueness, dignity and value.
Richard Dawkins, a prominent, contemporary apologist for naturalism, attributes man’s superior place in the animal kingdom to one basic evolutionary feature: “We have big brains. Other species are marked out by other qualities. Swifts and albatrosses are spectacularly good at flying, dogs and rhinoceroses at smelling, bats at hearing, moles, aardvarks and wombats at digging. Human beings are not good at any of those things.
“But we do have very big brains; we are good at thinking, remembering, calculating, imagining, speaking. Other species can communicate, but no other species has true language with open-ended grammar. No other species has literature, music, art, mathematics or science. No other species makes books, or complicated machines such as cars, computers and combine harvesters. No other species devotes substantial lengths of time to pursuits that don’t contribute directly to survival or reproduction. Our uniquely big brains evolved after our habit of walking on two legs …” (Dawkins, The New Statesman, 1/6/2014).
As you can see, Dawkins and others of his ilk see no material distinction between man and lower animals. It just so happens that the vagaries of evolution bestowed upon homo sapiens a bigger brain.
This kind of thinking itself has evolved – or rather devolved – into a dim view of humanity. Radical environmentalists see humans as a plague on the planet, overpopulating and polluting it – basically blighting the beautiful landscape. Population control advocates declare there should be drastically fewer of us, and they have successfully shamed Western culture for having families. Abortion and euthanasia eat away at both ends of the human species. We openly deliberate whether it is convenient to support and sustain life, and we debate which lives are most cost-effective to preserve.
With such casual view of life it is no wonder that it is viewed across a spectrum from nonchalance to callousness, contempt and nihilism. Strip away the connection with the divine and you are left with abhorrence of our own existence.
But contrast humanity’s growing contempt for itself with Scripture’s affirmation of our intrinsic value.
1. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gn 1:26-27). As if anticipating how humanity would eventually come to such a corrupt view of itself, God opens His revelation by declaring our special status among the rest of His creation.
2. “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor” (Ps 8:3-5). One can picture David in the sheepfold at night looking up at the heavens in awe of his own existence. Though mankind has always fallen short of God’s initial hopes and designs, God has continued to involve Himself with us and implement a plan that would enable us to find our way back to Him. This He did at great cost to Himself.
3. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16). The “world” here is not the planet but that part of His creation made in His image – mankind. Naturalism posits a universe that is indifferent to the accidental creation of humans while Scripture affirms that we are created with purpose and loved by our Creator even though defective.
4. “Of how much more value are you than the birds? … If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Lk 12:24, 28). Jesus’ words directly contradict radical biologists and environmentalists who blather that the only difference between a human and a blue jay or a buttercup is one of degree. Further, Jesus elevates man over plants and other animals in a context that tempers our anxiety over the uncertainties of life. The context of the above quotation begins with, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life …” (Lk 12:22) and ends with, “For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you …” (12:30-31). Atheists tell us there is no loving, caring, overseeing heavenly Father who is concerned for us. Any wonder our faithless culture is distressed, anxious, overdosed, addicted, impulsive, violent and selfish? It senses its vulnerability, impotence and mortality in a universe that is untended and chaotic, and this angst surfaces in neurotic, unhealthy ways.
The Pharisees, like modern humanists, also inverted man’s value relative to animals. When Jesus miraculously healed a man’s withered hand in a synagogue on the Sabbath, they accused Him of breaking the law of Moses (Mt 12:9ff). But Jesus exposed their inconsistency: “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?” (12:11-12).
But that’s not all Jesus did for the man; He died for him on the cross. That death, and its eternal implications, eloquently testifies to the value of every human being. Every fetus, child, adolescent, adult and geriatric – no matter the cost, condition or time – bears the image of God. Do not let the elites – the biologists, accountants, politicians, celebrities, HMOs and/or radical environmentalists – convince you that humanity is a scourge on the planet. We are of infinite value to God, others and to our own selves.
