The Value of Human Life

From where is the value of human life derived?

Virtually all rational people, both Christian and non-Christian, assert that there is dignity in the human spirit, that wasting a human life is a tragedy, that we ought to strive towards preserving and not destroying life. We really do value human life. And, for good reason.

But what is our explanation for doing so? Why ought we to value human life? There are hundred of thousands of "living" organisms on this planet--in the sense that they are capable of growing, reproducing, etc. From plants to animals to humans. Yet, apart from card-carrying PETA members, we do not pause to end the life of a tree or a cow. I point this out not for the purpose of suggesting that we should be more morally conscious of killing such things as trees and cows, but to show that there really is a difference between human life and all other life.

Only a Christian worldview correctly supports this understanding. Darwinism explains humanity as only that of a higher life form, but it does not distinguish between man and animal except that man is more advanced. We are only further along in the progression, or so the argument goes. In fact, we are "classified" as part of the kingdom Animalia (Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia, Order: Primates, Family: Hominidae, Genus: Homo, Species: Homo Sapiens, Sub-Species: Homo Sapiens Sapiens (the other "known subspecies" is Homo Sapiens Idaltu, which is extinct)). Thus, Darwinism does not furnish an explanation for why humanity should be valued while other life-forms do not receive such value.

Christianity, however, asserts that man was made in the image of God. Thus, Christianity affords an explanation for why mankind has value, while other members of the "Animalia kingdom" do not.

Many non-Christians hold the assumption that a human life has worth, that it has value. This assumption is derived from the truths of Christianity.

One has to wonder, though, if non-Christians hold Christian assumptions, what about our assumptions as Christians? What non-Christian assumption do we hold that need to be picked up, dusted off, and replaced with truth?


Soli Deo Gloria