HUMAN DIGNITY

The Dignity of the Human Person

The dignity of the human person is rooted in his/her
creation in the image and likeness of God. It is fulfilled in
his/her vocation to divine beatitude. It is essential to a human
being freely to direct him/herself to this fulfillment. By his/her
deliberate actions, the human person does, or does not,
conform to the good promised by God and attested by moral
conscience. Human beings make their own contribution to
their interior growth; they make their whole sentient and
spiritual lives into means of this growth. (CCC #1700)
The Dignity of Man

The dignity of the human person is

rooted in his/her creation in the image
and likeness of God - IMAGO DEI
(CCC#1700)

Gen. 1:27 “God created man in his image, in the

divine image he created him, male and female,
he created them.”
- Man is placed by God as the center, the
summit and the crowning glory of
creation.
“Things have a price and can be for sale,
but people have a dignity that is priceless
and worth far more than things.
-Pope Francis
Nature of Human Dignity
● Inherited - something given to us by God
● Intrinsic - an inner quality of the human person that cannot
separated from His being.
● Inalienable - an essential part of every human being that
cannot be taken away.

2 Faculties of Man:
1. Higher Faculty
2. Lower Faculty
2 elements of Higher faculty2:
● Intellect - nature to seek for the truth
● Will - nature to do good

2 elements of Lower faculty:

● Concupiscible appetite- sensual/sexual appetite for the
propagation of man
● Irascible appetite - tendency of man to possess or to
acquire (wealth, power, fame,etc)
● Our existence comes from God
● Man was the last creature that was created by God
before He rested on the 7th day (Gen. 2:2)
● He was said to be the crown of creation.
● Man is God’s perfect creation.
❖ Our dignity comes from God that is why our life is sacred.
❖ Life is the most central and clearest manifestation of God
among us. It is the transcendent value and worth of every
human person that comes from God.
❖ Man’s giftedness:
1. Reason: refers to the faculty that has the capacity to grasp
the truth and knowledge of the good.
2. Freedom:the inner power that is rooted in the reason and will,
to act or not to act, to do this and that,and so to perform
deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.
3. Conscience: refers to the law written in the hearts of man that
commands to do good and avoid evil.
 ALL HUMAN LIVES ARE BASICALLY EQUAL IN VALUE AND
DIGNITY

● “From the Christian point of view, there is no such thing as valueless,

unwanted or useless life, whether in the beginning or at the end of
earthly existence.” (Human Life is Beautiful, p. 26)
● “In poverty, retardation, ‘unwantedness,’ suffering, old age
or even in ‘vegetable status,’ human life is still precious. In
these conditions, personhood is never lost.”

HUMAN LIFE IS INVIOLABLE

- No one can directly dispose an innocent human life and justify it.
HUMAN DIGNITY according to our Christian Faith
“God created man in his image, in the divine image he
created him, male and female, he created them” (Gen. 1:27).

Implications:
● Humans share in the divine image of God
● We participate in God’s divine Trinitarian nature and
called to belong in the community of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit.
Church teaches:

● Persons are open and relational in nature

● Persons are conscious beings, aware of
themselves and their acts.
● Persons are embodied spirits.
● Persons are historical realities
● Persons are unique, yet fundamentally equal
● Each person is responsible for all.