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One of the ideas that's taken for granted in the West is the idea of human dignity. But it has not always been the case that people were seen as valuable based on who they are. We often hear, for example, that democracy came from the Greeks, but it wasn't democracy for all. It was for some, it was for the wealthy, it was for the men. It was not for the ethnic minorities, it was not for the women.
So where did the idea of universal human dignity come from?
Well, the answer to that question is that it came from Christianity. And you don't have to believe other Christians who say that. You can actually listen to atheists, at least two of them. First of all, the one and only Frederick Nietzsche. Nietzsche, of course, is famous for saying God is dead.
He also talked about human dignity being born out of a Christian ideal. He thought it was a bad idea. He thought it was a sign and show of weakness to acknowledge that everyone, including those who are disabled or who are older, or the infirmed or something like that.
somehow possessed the same dignity as the rest of us, but he acknowledged none the less that the idea came from Christianity. Another is the philosopher Luc Ferry from the University of Paris. In his book, A Brief History of Thought, Fairey talks about Christianity. being the source also. of human dignity.
And that's because, as he put it, Christianity offered inequality between human beings In dignity. In other words, not based on any characteristic or quality that was shared on the outside, because there is no quality or characteristic that all humans share on the outside. It was because of something intrinsic. And as Dr. Ferry acknowledges in the book, that is a notion that is rooted deeply in this idea that humans are made in the image and likeness of God.
Think about our own founding documents in the United States. We hold these truths to be. Self-evident that all are created equal. The next time you're in a crowded room, look around and just see how self-evident it is that all are equal. won't be self evident, in fact, at all, because again there is no characteristic and no quality that all human beings share on the outside.
Therefore, it's got to be something that we all share on The inside. And the only religion, the only worldview. that grounds human dignity and has throughout history. as it applies to all people, is the notion that humans are made in the image and likeness of God.
Now don't get me wrong, this is an ideal. And in the American Project, it wasn't a realized ideal. It was an aspirational ideal. In most countries around the world, there were plenty of people being left out of the category of equality and human dignity. because of bias, because of discrimination.
Because of values that were imported in from other religions and other worldviews. other than Christianity. And yet it is the influence of that idea. that was central to the core of Western civilization becoming all that it has become. There has never been.
A more sweeping and dominating civilization on the face of the planet. than the Western world. But there's a reason also we don't often talk about civilizations. As my friend Osgenis says in our new film True. Truth rising.
We usually think about civilizations when it comes to looking at history books or being in museums and looking at their artifacts. The great civilizations in the history of the world are no more. They've been swept into the dustbin of history. There is also no reason, Ah says. for us to assume at any level that the Western world will have a different fate.
In fact, as he puts it, we are a cut flower civilization. In other words, those ideals, those truths that animated the Western world That brought it to life and led it to flourish. We've been cut off from those ideals. Chief among them? is the understanding of what it means to be human.
that our value is somehow intrinsic to who we are. and not based on any quality or characteristic that we have. or, as it's been defined in recent decades, our ability to choose our own destiny, particularly when it comes to sexuality. Civilizations, when they're cut off from those ideals and those forces that animate them, will eventually, like flowers, fade and wither and die. And so the future of civilizations when they are cut off from the ideals that brought them to life.
Are only three, according to Oz Guinness in the new film Truth Rising. The first is revival. that there will be a reattachment and a recommitment to those ideals, and life will flow through that civilization once again. Another option is revolution. We're a completely different set of ideals, and not all of them good.
Will then take over and drive forward this civilization. But the most common destiny of civilizations that have been cut off. from those ideals that brought them to life is simply decline. What is the future of the Western world? It's impossible to say.
I have no idea whether this will be a Wilberforce moment for the Western world. or whether this will be a Bonhoeffer moment for the Western world. But I do know that both Wilberforce and Bonhoeffer were called by God to particular moments. And despite the success of their various efforts, they were still called to that moment as an agent of restoration and renewal. and so are we.
That's what the new film Truth Rising is about. Truth Rising is a new documentary project and partnership between Coulson Center, And focus on the family featuring the one and only Osginis, talking about the civilizational moment that we are in and what that means for people of faith. The question we must answer is, how should we now live in this time and in this place? And that's why Truth Rising not only describes the current state of the Western world, But it highlights five stories of remarkable courage. People willing to tell the truth.
Despite great opposition, despite great cost and consequence to them, and how God has used their stories of courage to inspire so many others. The global streaming premiere of Truth Rising will be Friday, September the 5th. To learn more about how to watch the film or host a watch party, or if you're a pastor, how to host a watch party in your church, go to truthrising.com. That's truthrising.com. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint.
