Human nature and the human condition

Human nature and the human condition

1. Jewish perspectives

   • Humans were created in the image of God
     • No other creatures were made with such honour
     • "In the image of God and likeness of God" (Genesis 1:26)
   • The purpose of Jewish ethics is to work out how to live in a way that shows that they understand that they carry the image of God within them
   • Its not thought that humans are physically similar to God
     • It might be that humans have some divine quality within them (Ontological)
     • It might be that humans have the capacity to behave in a God-like way to each other (Behavioural)
   • Humans could be like God because of some holiness inside of them, irrespective of what they do because they have the capacity to go good rather than bad, to love rather than hate

2. Christian perspectives

   • Bible teaches that people should love God and love your neighbour as yourself
     • The basic rule of self-respect and respecting others is a moral teaching that links to the central beliefs on the nature and value of humans
   • Humans have a unique nature and value in all creation
     • They have sanctity relating to their dignity
       • Have a natural dimension in terms of rational thought and moral decision-making powers
       • Have a supernatural dimension in terms of their ultimate purpose and destiny to be with God
   • God has given humans a distinctive purpose
     • God had purpose in creating the world and humans within it and the intention of saving humanity from sin and death through the discovery of the image if Christ in every person.
     • Early Christian thinker Lactantius (c.240-c.320) said that God made humankind as a scared animal and so humankind has dignity
   • Humans have the choice to reject God's love and fail to show love to others
     • They can choose to do ill, rather than good.
     • Humans are imperfect and flawed with a tendency to sin, hence the fact that they need to be saved and redeemed by God
     • The power to think and act morally means there exists the possibility to make mistakes and do wrong
   • Some Protestant traditions hold that the dignity that human had is largely lost due to sin
     • Humans have the power of rational thought and will but it has been corrupted and lost
     • It is possible to regain it through a life focused on Christ
     • Even the possibility of salvation makes humans a being of value
     • God's intention for everyone is salvation so even if a persons currently shows no feature of dignity because of their sinful conduct, they have potential to be saved and so have value
   • Since the fall of man human beings have the stain of the original sin within them
     • Sin entered the world through Adam's act when he ate the forbidden fruit in the book of Genesis
       • His act caused a much harder life for humans
         • Men had to work
         • Women had to suffer pain in childbirth
         • This bought death into the world
       • From early Christian times, children were baptised to wash away the original sin
     • Human condition is one of hardship, suffering and death
       • The devil and sin have some influence over the world so human nature is tainted, weakened by its presence, and humans are inclined to sin even though they are free

3. Muslim perspective

   • "We have bestowed dignity on the progeny of Adam [...] and conferred on them special favours, above a great part of Our creation" Sura 17:70, al-Isra
   • All humans have dignity regardless of who they are, what they are or what they do
   • Human dignity is not earned by moral behaviour, by doing good things, or behaving righteously, but it there from the moment of birth
   • Some Islamic scholars describe dignity as the right of every human being
     • It is a right which is conferred not by any honorific status in society (special role or position), but because of their human nature as children of Adam
   • Islam also specifically addresses the issue of religion
   • Dignity is conferred irrespective of the person's religion
   • Mohammad Hashim Kamali draws attention to the actions of the Prophet in rising at the passing funeral procession of a Jew
     • When challenged about this he refers to the humanity of the person emphasising the fundemental nature of the quality of dignity

4. Hindu Perspectives

   • Begins with an understanding of the divine or immortal soul within sentient life (the Atman) born and reborn in the cycle of rebirth
   • Every individual life - mineral, vegetable, animal or human - has a beginning and an end, a creation and a destruction which is part of the process of the world (Ramaswami Aiyar, 1965)
   • Every individual ego (jivatman) is at some stage of of the process
   • The point at which a human is born is an especially important turning point
   • Humans have special value
   • There is something divine or immortal within humans and other sentient creatures so they are special
   • The ultimate goal of all sentient creatures is union with God, the ultimate spirit
   • The value of the body is instrumental and it makes possible the ultimate goal

5. Buddhist perspectives

   • There is not the emphasis on the person having and individual value found in Western religious traditions
   • Harvey writes that there is no permanent 'I' or 'self'
   • The more attached we are to the self, the more that we seek gratification or satisfaction and push aside others
     • So all selfish action towards others is rooted in self-centredness
   • The idea of 'not-self' does not mean that each of our personal histories or characters are denies
     • They are linked by factors which are universal or common to all
   • Peter Harvey writes that the suffering we share in is the suffering that all share in
   • Each person is formed by combinations of universal factors
   • Liberation is understood in terms of the five precepts for most lay-people
     • To abstain from killing (non-injury)
       • The first precept (non-injury) directly concerns the importance of living beings
     • Stealing
     • Misconduct of the senses
     • False speech
     • Drinking intoxicating substances
   • All sentient beings are in the cycle of rebirth and so the non-injury precept applies to all such beings
     • This precept has a powerful impact on many ethical issues related to the taking of life
   • 'The Noble Eightfold Path' - an important guide to buddhist ethics - is a profoundly ethical path to enlightenment
     • Elements of it include 'right resolve', 'right action' and 'right livelihood', all of which relate to moral virtue or, more specifically, virtuous living.
     • By following the Noble Eightfold Path a person can become a noble person
     • A noble person is one who has been changed permanently by spiritual insights and may be reborn into a lower and ultimately higher heaven
     • Each stage is progress towards the final goal of enlightenment
     • Following the ethics of the Noble Eightfold Path is principally about reaching the final goal (Harvey 2000)
     • This progress towards perfection involves purity of mind and view, and the abandonment of attachment
     • Holy life is lived for the final goal

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