Bible Verses About Human Dignity
Introduction
Human dignity is one of the most important biblical concepts for the contemporary world, and one that the Christian tradition has both championed and, at times, tragically violated. The slave trade was carried out largely by people who identified as Christian. The Holocaust was carried out in the most thoroughly Christianized continent in the world. The dehumanization of indigenous peoples across the globe was often accompanied by the language of civilization and mission. These are not peripheral embarrassments to be explained away. They are the evidence that the biblical teaching about human dignity was not received, or was overridden by the interests and ideologies that the human capacity for self-deception consistently produces.
The biblical foundation of human dignity is the imago Dei of Genesis 1:26-27: the human being created in the image and likeness of God. This is the most radical statement about the value of human beings in the ancient Near Eastern world, where the divine image was typically reserved for kings and the vast majority of humanity was valued in proportion to their utility. The Genesis account democratizes the divine image: every human being, regardless of gender, social position, ethnicity, or capacity, bears the image of God and is therefore the recipient of the dignity that the image entails.
The New Testament adds the specific weight of the incarnation to the imago Dei: the God who created human beings in his image became a human being in the person of Jesus. The incarnation is the divine affirmation of the human body and human existence. The resurrection of the body is the divine affirmation that the physical human existence is the specific form in which the eternal life of the people of God will be expressed. The Christian vision of human dignity is not the dignity of the soul that has escaped the body but the dignity of the whole person, body and spirit, that God made, entered, and will raise.
These verses speak to anyone wanting the full biblical picture of human dignity and its implications, anyone whose sense of their own dignity has been damaged by what others have said or done, and anyone wanting to understand how the biblical vision of human dignity applies to the specific issues of the contemporary world.
What the Bible Means When It Talks About Human Dignity
The Hebrew phrase tselem Elohim describes the image of God: the tselem is the image or likeness, and the Elohim is God. The imago Dei is the specific term theologians use for the human being created in the image of God. The implications of the imago Dei for the value and dignity of every human being are drawn out across the whole of Scripture.
The Hebrew word nephesh describes the living being or soul: Genesis 2:7's God breathed into the human being's nostrils the breath of life and the human being became a living nephesh. The nephesh is the whole person rather than the soul distinct from the body: the biblical anthropology is holistic rather than dualistic. The dignity of the human being is the dignity of the whole person rather than only the spiritual dimension.
Bible Verses About the Image of God as the Ground of Dignity
Genesis 1:26-27 — ("Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.")
The in the image of God he created them is the foundational statement of human dignity in the whole of Scripture. The both male and female created them establishes the scope: the image is carried by both genders without distinction. The let us make mankind in our image is the divine deliberation: the creation of the human being in the image of God is the specific, intentional act of the God who chose to create the image-bearer. The dignity of every human being is grounded in this act rather than in the human being's achievement, capacity, or social position.
Genesis 9:6 — ("Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.")
The for in the image of God has God made mankind as the ground of the prohibition of murder is the specific application of the imago Dei to the protection of human life. The taking of human life is the assault on the image of God in the person: the one who kills the image-bearer is the one who has violated the image of the God in whose image the person was made. The dignity that the image grounds is the dignity that demands the protection of the life that carries it.
Psalm 139:13-14 — ("For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.")
The fearfully and wonderfully made is the specific statement of the dignity of the human being as the work of the God who knit the person together in the womb: the dignity is from the beginning of the person's existence rather than from the point at which the person achieves the capacity that the dignity is sometimes thought to require. The your works are wonderful establishes the source: the dignity is the dignity of the one who made the work rather than the dignity that the work generates for itself.
Bible Verses About the Dignity of Every Person
James 3:9-10 — ("With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and worship. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.")
The cursing of human beings who have been made in God's likeness alongside the praising of God as the specific contradiction that James confronts is the application of the imago Dei to the treatment of every person regardless of their social position or relationship to the person speaking. The this should not be is the specific prohibition: the person who has cursed another person made in God's image has contradicted the praise of the God in whose image the person was made. The dignity of the other person is the theological ground of the prohibition of the curse.
Galatians 3:28 — ("There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.")
The neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor male and female in Christ is the comprehensive statement of the equal dignity of every person within the community of faith. The all one in Christ Jesus establishes the ground of the equality: the oneness is in Christ rather than in the achievement of the social equality that the world around the community has not produced. The dignity is the equal dignity of those who are equally in Christ rather than the dignity that is distributed according to the social hierarchies of the surrounding culture.
Proverbs 22:2 — ("Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them both.")
The LORD is the Maker of both the rich and the poor is the specific statement of the equal dignity grounded in the common origin: the social distinction of wealth does not map onto the distinction in dignity because both have the same maker. The rich and poor have this in common is the wisdom tradition's specific pushback against the tendency to assign dignity in proportion to wealth: the wealthy person and the poor person share the same Maker and therefore the same fundamental dignity.
Bible Verses About the Dignity of the Vulnerable
Proverbs 31:8-9 — ("Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.")
The speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves is the specific application of the dignity of the vulnerable to the obligation of those who can speak: the person who has the voice and the position to speak is the person who is called to use it for those who do not. The rights of all who are destitute establishes the legal dimension: the destitute have rights, and the defense of those rights is the obligation of the one who is in the position to defend them. The dignity of the poor and needy is the ground of their rights.
Leviticus 19:34 — ("The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.")
The treat the foreigner as the native-born and love them as yourself is the specific extension of the dignity of the covenant community to the foreigner who lives within it. The for you were foreigners in Egypt is the memory that grounds the command: the community's own experience of the vulnerability of the foreigner is the ground of the obligation to treat the foreigner with the dignity that their own vulnerability required. The I am the LORD establishes the authority: the dignity of the foreigner is the LORD's concern.
Matthew 18:10 — ("See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.")
The do not despise one of these little ones is the specific protection of the dignity of the child and the vulnerable in the teaching of Jesus. The for I tell you that their angels always see the face of my Father is the theological ground: the most vulnerable and the most easily dismissed are the ones whose angels are in the presence of the Father. The dignity of the little one is the dignity that the Father takes seriously even when the social order does not.
Bible Verses About the Dignity of Every Body
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 — ("Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you are bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.")
The bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit is the specific statement of the dignity of the physical body as the dwelling place of God. The honor God with your bodies is the implication: the dignity of the body is expressed in the honoring of the God who dwells in it. The you are bought with a price establishes the specific ground: the body's dignity is the dignity of the thing that was worth the price of the cross.
Romans 8:23 — ("Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.")
The redemption of our bodies as the specific hope of the Christian life is the statement that the body is within the scope of the redemption that Christ has accomplished. The redemption is not the escape from the body but the redemption of it: the physical human body is the specific thing that the resurrection redeems. The dignity of the body in the present is grounded in the destiny of the body in the new creation.
A Simple Way to Pray These Verses
Human dignity is most honestly prayed from the honest acknowledgment of both the dignity we have received and the dignity we have failed to extend to others. These verses can become prayers that form the person into the one who sees and honors the image of God in every person they encounter.
Genesis 1:27 — ("In the image of God he created them.") Response: "Let me see the image in the person I find most difficult to value. The one whose social position, appearance, capacity, or choices make them easy to dismiss: let me see the image of God they carry. The image was placed there before I formed my opinion of the person."
James 3:9 — ("We curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness.") Response: "Let me not curse what you have made in your likeness. The specific person I am most tempted to diminish with my words: they bear your image. Let the praise of you be consistent with the honoring of the image you placed in them."
Proverbs 31:8 — ("Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.") Response: "Give me the voice for the person who does not have it. The specific person or group that the social order is currently not hearing: let me be the one who speaks because I have received the dignity that grounds the speaking."
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about human dignity? The Bible grounds human dignity in the imago Dei of Genesis 1:26-27: every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore bears the dignity that the image entails. Genesis 9:6 applies the imago Dei to the protection of human life. Psalm 139:13-14 extends the dignity to the person formed in the womb. Galatians 3:28 establishes the equal dignity of every person in Christ regardless of ethnicity, social position, or gender. And James 3:9-10 applies the imago Dei to the prohibition of the cursing of any person made in God's likeness. The dignity is universal because the image is universal.
What is the imago Dei and why does it matter? The imago Dei is the Latin term for the image of God in which every human being is created (Genesis 1:26-27). It is the foundational statement of human dignity in the biblical tradition: the value of every human being is grounded in the specific act of the God who created the human being in his own image rather than in the human being's achievement, capacity, social position, or stage of development. The imago Dei matters because it is the theological ground of the claim that every person, regardless of any distinguishing characteristic, has an inherent dignity that cannot be revoked by any human decision. The dignity is given by the Creator and is therefore not dependent on the recognition of any human community.
How does the incarnation relate to human dignity? The incarnation, the becoming human of the Son of God in the person of Jesus, is the divine affirmation of the human body and human existence. The God who created human beings in his image chose to become a human being: the incarnation is the specific endorsement of the human body and human life as the form in which the eternal Son of God chose to exist. The resurrection of the body adds the further affirmation: the physical human body is the form in which the people of God will exist in the new creation. The Christian vision of human dignity is not the dignity of the soul that escapes the body but the dignity of the whole person that God made, entered, and will raise.
How should the biblical view of human dignity affect how Christians treat others? James 3:9-10 makes the most direct connection: the praising of God and the cursing of the person made in God's image are contradictory. The person who genuinely honors the God who made every person in his image cannot consistently dehumanize, diminish, or dismiss any person made in that image. The Proverbs 31:8-9 command to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, the Leviticus 19:34 command to love the foreigner as yourself, and the Matthew 18:10 warning not to despise the little ones are the specific applications: the dignity of every person grounds the specific obligations to the vulnerable, the foreigner, and the child.
What does the Bible say about the dignity of people who are different from us? Galatians 3:28's neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor male and female is the comprehensive statement of the equal dignity of every person regardless of ethnicity, social position, and gender within the community of Christ. Acts 17:26's from one man God made all the nations establishes the common origin of every human being: the dignity of the person of a different ethnicity or culture is the dignity of the one who shares the same origin. And Revelation 7:9's great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language worshipping before the throne is the eschatological vision of the human community in which the full diversity of the creation is preserved and celebrated rather than dissolved.
