Human Rights, Dignity and Freedom: An Orthodox Perspective

Abstract

When as Christians we engage with human rights, we can give a new meaning to the basis of this concept. So it is that we must return to these questions: What is a human being? What is their nature? What is their purpose and meaning on earth? In this paper we engage with these questions based on a revised characterization of Orthodox anthropology. Our purpose is to ascertain what Christian convictions are present in the foundations of human rights and how human rights are influenced and changed by these beliefs. According to Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” My argument in this paper is that this is consistent with Orthodox anthropology, where every human being is made in God's image and likeness, and that man has been created in God’s image and likeness as a conscious, mindful, free and moral personality.