Do Humans Have Value?
The modernist worldview asserts that human beings are nothing more than smart animals or highly complex biochemical machines: the product of mindless, random natural processes. As such, humans have no objective, intrinsic value, no meaning or purpose, and their only destiny is obliteration, both individually and as a species.
Many humanists, such as Paul Kurtz, author of the Secular Humanist Manifesto 2000, insist that humans do have objective value and dignity. However, having no grounds or basis on which to justify this assertion, they fail to acknowledge or address the inherent incongruence of their position. In a secular, naturalistic worldview, the only value humans have is that which they arbitrarily ascribe to themselves, which is anything but objective. As observed by Abdu Murray, author of Grand Central Question and Saving Truth,
To vaunt human autonomy, we have to say humans have inherent dignity. But for humans to have objective dignity, we can’t be the autonomous definers of dignity.
When there is no objective standard, there is no objectively just way to resolve conflicts arising from the inevitable inconsistencies with which value is ascribed. What happens when one person decides that he or she has more value than another? Who wins? Ultimately, it’s the one with the most power, as history has demonstrated time and again. One group of people concludes that they have more value than another group, and proceeds to commit genocide, as in Germany or Rwanda. A woman who decides that the child in her womb has no value simply snuffs out that child’s life with no apparent consequences. Ultimately, the most vulnerable among us are the ones who suffer the most.
In contrast, the Christian worldview affirms that:
- You were created by an all-powerful, all-knowing, personal, loving God.
- God loves you deeply and knows you intimately: every thought, hope, desire, and struggle.
- God desires to have a close and loving relationship with you.
- God desires good things for you; He desires to bring healing and wholeness into your life.
- God has a plan and a purpose for you; He is the one who gives your life meaning and dignity.
- God desires to spend eternity with you in a world free from pain and suffering.
The message of the gospel is that you matter. You matter infinitely to God, and your life has tremendous value. There is an objective standard, of truth, of justice, of virtue, of morality, of human value and dignity, and that objective standard is firmly grounded in the Creator of All Things. All humans, even children in the womb, are meant to be treasured, cherished, protected, and loved, not simply because some people think so, but precicely because of the love God has for each and every one of us.
The human soul longs for meaning. Theists and non-theists alike both long to know that they have value. Why would that be so? Naturalism has no answer to that question. But Christians know that it is because we were created that way. We were created with love, with intention, and with purpose, to live forever with the One who brought us into being, the One who truly values us.
His name is Jesus.
