The Sacredness of Human Life: Why an Ancient Biblical Vision Is Key to the World's Future

by David P. Gushee

Overview

This authoritative book is the most comprehensive examination ever of the sacredness of human life. Never before has one volume explored this subject in such a multifaceted way, encompassing biblical roots, theological elaborations, historical cases, and contemporary ethical perspectives.

Tracing the concept of the sacredness of human life from Scripture through church history to the present day, David Gushee argues that viewing human life as sacred is one of the most precious legacies of biblical faith — albeit one that the church has too often failed to uphold.

Besides providing a masterful historical survey, Gushee’s discussion covers the many current ethical challenges and perspectives that will impact the survival and flourishing of human life, including biotechnology, the death penalty, abortion, human rights, nuclear weapons, just war theory, women’s rights, and creation care.

Gushee’s Sacredness of Human Life is a game-changing book that will set the standard for all future discussions of this key ethical concept.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802844200
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	01/14/2013
Pages:	477
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

David P. Gushee is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University and Chair of Christian Social Ethics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/IBTS. One of the world's leading Christian ethicists, he is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including Changing Our Mind, After Evangelicalism, Kingdom Ethics, Still Christian, Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, and The Sacredness of Human Life. Gushee is also a frequent speaker, Kingdom Ethics podcaster, and activist. He and his wife, Jeanie, live in Atlanta, Georgia. Visit davidpgushee.com or @dpgushee on social media.

Table of Contents

Prelude xii

Acknowledgments xiv

Introduction 1

0.1 Why a Book about the Sacredness of Human Life? 1

0.2 How This Book Came to Be 2

0.3 Joining the Archaeologists 4

0.4 Plan of the Book 5

0.5 Notes about My Approach 6

0.6 Two Scenes from Europe 11

0.7 Sacredness as Moral Reality and Moral Task 13

1 What It Means to Say That Human Life Is Sacred 16

1.1 Definitions and Etymologies 17

1.2 A Sacredness Paradigm 20

1.3 Sacred Human Beings 22

1.4 Does Sacredness Require God? 24

1.5 Humanity as Sacred: Ancient Christian Doctrine or Recent Innovation? 26

1.6 Current Christian Definitions of the Sacredness of Life 29

1.7 My Christian Definition of Life's Sacredness - and Puzzles That Remain 33

2 The Old Testament and the Sacredness of Human Life 37

2.1 Creation, Humanity, and the Image of God 39

2.2 God's Compassionate Care and Liberating Deliverance 54

2.3 Biblical Law and Life's Sacredness 61

2.4 The Decalogue 66

2.5 The Prophetic Demand and Yearning for Shalom 77

2.6 Toward Jesus Christ 83

3 Jesus Christ, the New Testament, and the Sacredness of Human Life 85

3.1 The Ministry of Jesus Christ 85

3.2 The Incarnation of Jesus Christ 94

3.3 The Image of Jesus Christ 105

3.4 The Expansive Reach of the Body of Christ 110

3.5 The New Testament and the Sacredness of Life: A Dialogue with Richard Hays 114

4 The Sacredness of Life in Early Christianity 116

4.1 The Christendom Question 116

4.2 The Church against War 122

4.3 The Church against Abortion and Infanticide 124

4.4 The Church against Judicial Torment and Killing 126

4.5 The Church against the Mayhem of the Arenas 127

4.6 "Regard People as Truly Sacred" 128

4.7 An Army of Peace and Piety 129

4.8 Love without Partiality 130

4.9 Sojourners of Christ 132

4.10 Christians as the Romans Saw Them 134

4.11 How the Early Church Retained Its Moral Vision 136

5 The Fateful Transition to Christendom 146

5.1 The Constantinian Transition 147

5.2 Theodosius Mandates Orthodox Christianity 153

5.3 Moral Damage at the Foundations 156

5.4 Advances and Regressions for the Sacredness of Life 163

6 Christendom Divided against Itself: Three Case Studies 164

6.1 The Crusades, Francis, and the Sacred Lives of Enemies 164

6.2 Colonialism, Las Casas, and the Sacred Lives of Indians 178

6.3 Anti-Semitism, Overton, and the Sacred Lives of Jews 197

6.4 A Tragically Mixed Legacy 212

7 Enlightenment Transitions: Natural Rights, Rule of Law, and Human Dignity 214

7.1 Enlightenment Transitions and the Sacredness of Human Life 214

7.2 Natural Right/s: Bridge Concepts between the Medieval and Modern Worlds 216

7.3 John Locke: Equality, Rule of Law, and Resistance to Tyranny 226

7.4 Immanuel Kant: Dignity, Autonomy, and the Moral Law 242

7.5 Trial Balance: The Journey So Far 256

8 Nietzsche Rejects the Christian God and Christian Morality 260

8.1 New Challenges to Belief in the Sacredness of Human Life 260

8.2 Reading Nietzsche 262

8.3 Biographical Basics 263

8.4 Tragic Pessimism: The Birth of Tragedy (1872) 266

8.5 The Pathos and Delusion of the Great Quest for "Truth" (1872-1873) 274

8.6 Acknowledging That We Are Human, All Too Human (1878) 281

8.7 No Justice, No Rights, No Equality 289

8.8 No Pity 290

8.9 Cruelty Not Necessarily Evil 292

8.10 The Right and Dignity of Suicide 293

8.11 Social Contempt and Suppression of "Degenerating" Lives 294

8.12 The Benefits of War 297

8.13 Nietzsche and the Sacredness of Human Life 299

9 Desecrations: Twentieth-Century Nazi Assaults on Human Life 304

9.1 Hitler and His Crimes 306

9.2 How They Got There: The Nazi Party Platform of 1920 321

9.3 Aggrieved Nationalism 322

9.4 Imperialism and Colonialism 324

9.5 Racism and Anti-Semitism 326

9.6 Disenfranchisement - Exclusion from Political Community 328

9.7 Expulsion and Statelessness 329

9.8 Statist, Racist, Homogeneous Communitarianism 331

9.9 Ruthless Avenging Violence 334

9.10 National Health and Racial Hygiene 339

9.11 Authoritarianism, Propaganda, and Suppression of Civil Liberties 341

9.12 The Religious Politics of National Salvation 343

9.13 "Contempt for the Sanctity of Human Life" 351

10 Honoring Human Life: Twenty-first-Century Challenges 352

10.1 Rebuilding the Moral Order after World War II 352

10.2 Abortion 355

10.3 Biotechnological Innovations 360

10.4 The Death Penalty 367

10.5 Human Rights 372

10.6 Nuclear Weapons 378

10.7 Women's Rights 382

10.8 Other Issues 387

11 The Sacredness of God's Creation 388

11.1 The Sacredness of Human Life and Ecological Degradation 388

11.2 Problems of a Sacredness-of-Human-Life Ethic for the Care of Creation 389

11.3 The Development of Alternative Theological Paradigms 395

11.4 Toward a Broadened Christian Sacredness-of-Life Ethic 399

11.5 Rediscovering Scripture 401

11.6 Some Moral Implications 407

11.7 Embracing a Sacredness-of-Created-Life Ethic 408

12 Final Words: For the Church and Its Neighbors 411

12.1 Where We Started: What It Means to Say That Human Life Is Sacred 411

12.2 Summary of Major Discoveries 412

12.3 The Thirty-six Righteous 420

12.4 Honoring Life Together 422

Bibliography 424

Index of Subjects and Names 441

Index of Scripture References 456

Editorial Reviews

Gushee, professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, attempts to rescue the phrase “sacredness of life” from its narrow application by pro-life activists. After offering a carefully constructed Christian definition of sacredness of life, Gushee situates this ethic as arising directly from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. The theology he espouses is evangelical but moderate. Situated thus, he marches through Christian history to show how this ethic has been supported or undermined and lived or tossed aside. His chapters on Nietzsche and Nazism present them as prime examples of the ultimate rejection of the sacredness of human life and the costs of doing so. The final quarter of the book focuses on contemporary implications of this ethic, especially abortion, the death penalty, women’s rights, and ecological concerns. Christians, Gushee concludes, should welcome non-Christian allies in these ethical battles. The lengthy historical excursus dilutes the urgency of his message, but provides a sense of the complexity of the issue. The accumulation of details sometimes derails analysis and application, but this work is a good entry into a broader Christian ethic of the sacredness of life. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Georgia Author of the Year Award (GAYA) in the Inspirational-Religious category

Jim Wallis
— Sojourners
"David Gushee is one of the preeminent Christian ethicists in the country, and his work is important for both those in the academic world and all of us trying to live out obedient and biblical lives. In The Sacredness of Human Life he rescues this most spiritual of concepts from the narrow realm of political rhetoric, which it has come to inhabit in recent years. This book should be read by anyone who desires to reclaim a broader definition of how 'the sacredness of life' should truly be understood."

Jeremy Waldron
— New York University School of Law
"No one, to my knowledge, has come up with a deeper or more sustained account of what it means to say that human life is sacred than David Gushee in this magisterial work. The analysis is overwhelming — in a good sense. . . . The title might suggest a preoccupation with abortion, but there is so much more than that in this book. Gushee applies his analysis to issues like the death penalty, environmental degradation, racism, nuclear weapons, and biotechnology. And even on abortion, those who disagree with his position will not want to miss the cornucopia of insight he provides and — most strikingly — the sensitivity and openness of his discussion."

Glen Stassen
— Fuller Theological Seminary
"This is the most significant book I have ever seen about what it really means to say that human life is sacred. It combines conservative loyalty to preserving the sacredness of human life with liberal loyalty to caring for the basic needs of life. . . . Gushee's work can bring the healing we need in our time of dangerous polarization."

Robin Lovin
— Southern Methodist University
"To believers and skeptics alike, Christian ethics sometimes appears to be little more than a collection of commands and prohibitions. Gushee makes it clear that there is a central idea to the discipline, one that connects to the core of biblical faith and has implications for human rights, ecology, and global politics. . . . A masterful guide to thinking about the choices that will shape Christian life in the twenty-first century."

Amy Laura Hall
— Duke University
"This story of Christian witness will preach and reach. David Gushee is an uncommonly patient writer. He relates biblical testimonies to the sacredness of life with subtlety and clarity. . . . His summons to think hard and live well invites baffled undergraduates, weary pastors, curious laity, and careworn activists to reengage in small, intentional practices of prayer and study on abortion, torture, immigration, and women's rights. I can't wait to teach this book."

Peter Ochs
— University of Virginia
"The question of 'human life' has become a major theo-political battleground today in the USA — and battlegrounds are not the best environments for nurturing human life. David Gushee has entered the battleground the way he suggests St. Francis confronted the Crusades — not with another sword but with the Word. . . . Gushee's voice is one that believers of all faiths will want to engage. . . . This book leaves me happily breathless!"

Charles Mathewes
— University of Virginia
"David Gushee is one of the most important theological ethicists writing today, and this book is a landmark for future work in Christian ethics. If you are interested in fundamental moral and theological concepts, or in the character of religious discourse in our public life, or in the future health and sanity of the Christian churches in the USA (and beyond), you owe it to yourself to read this book."

Charles Camosy
— Fordham University
"Today's political discourse artificially and problematically separates discussion of the dignity of the human person into 'social justice' and 'pro-life' approaches. But in this fantastic book David Gushee articulates how sacred Scripture and tradition offer a coherent and timely defense of the sacredness of life that refuses to accept this simplistic and polarizing binary. A dynamic, readable, and historically aware account of issues like war, abortion/infanticide, racism, biotechnology, and women's rights."

M. Cathleen Kaveny
— University of Notre Dame
"This magisterial volume draws upon biblical studies, philosophy, theology, history, and law in order to illustrate the breadth and richness of the concept of the sanctity of human life. Gushee shows us that the ideal of life's sacredness must not be confined to the narrow quarters of the abortion debate."

John F. Kilner
— Trinity International University
"In the face of today's heated debates over ethical issues, Gushee does a fine job of laying out so-called progressive, conservative, and other Christian perspectives. This book is a valuable resource for all those who want to understand and thoughtfully engage perspectives other than their own."

Timothy George
— Beeson Divinity School
"I welcome this new study on the sacredness of human life including, but not limited to, those members of the human family still waiting to be born. Drawing on both biblical wisdom and the witness of Christian tradition, David Gushee makes here an impressive case that the whole church needs to hear — and heed."

Noam Zion
— Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem
"This book's subtitle perfectly conveys the way scholarship of classical texts can speak to contemporary culture wars. David Gushee has identified a crucial debate over the relationship between the modern Western value of human dignity and classical Christianity that seems to be driving an ill-considered polemical political wedge between 'liberals' and 'conservatives.'. . . May Gushee's sophisticated contribution enhance the religious axiom of the sacredness of human life."

Choice (American Library Association)
"The volume is both in-depth and comprehensive in its provision of tools for serious contemplation. Most appropriate for an undergraduate audience, it superbly presents complex ideas in accessible and organized ways. Highly recommended."

Publishers Weekly
"A good entry into a broader Christian ethics of the sacredness of life."

Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith
"This book is comprehensive, highly nuanced, well informed by diverse and relevant interdisciplinary scholarship, and is biblically and theologically thick in its descriptions, arguments, and ethical vision. . . . It is a book that can deeply clarify and strengthen one's understanding and theological convictions concerning why and how one practices science as a Christian. . . . I highly recommend it."

Reviews in Science and Religion
"This is a serious examination of the precept, not of mere human sanctity, but of sacredness, a word which pulls us up somewhat in our recognizing that not only human beings, but the world and all other living creatures within it, demand a divinely inspired moral respect. . . . It is well worth buying and reading, and would make a useful present for all thinking men and women — everywhere."

Theology Today
"Offers a very sophisticated evangelical discussion of human sacredness. It makes a timely addition to current public discourses on human rights."

Tikkun
"Gushee takes the best ethical tradition within Christianity and shows how it still provides a significant and sensitive path for dealing with the complexities and conundrums of the contemporary world."

Themelios
"A worthwhile addition to the library of pastors or scholars who wish to reflect further on what it means to live as a human made in God's image."

Reviews in Religion and Theology
"This excellent and challenging book merits a wider readership."

Mission Today
"This eminently illuminating book . . . opens the eyes of students and teachers of not only ethics or moral theology, but also theological anthropology, political philosophy, human rights and related fields. It should certainly be welcomed as a very significant work."

Catholic Library World
"An excellent outline of why and how human life has been considered sacred within the Christian tradition. . . . An excellent primer on social justice related to a Christian respect for all human life. Highly recommended."

Theological Book Review
"Delves deeply into the core of Christianity's treatment of human life as revealed in Scripture and in ancient Christian writings."

Studies in Christian Ethics
"Gushee seeks to rescue the language of human sacredness from 'bad right wing' American politics where it figures almost exclusively in debates about abortion and euthanasia but rarely in criticism of other threats to human life and flourishing. He crafts a rich and compelling narrative regarding the disclosure of human worth in divine revelation, subsequent Christian reverence for and betrayal of that worth, the emergence of secular categories for articulating and affirming it, and its import for a range of problems that imperil human well-being."

Living Church 
“A fully developed, carefully considered evaluation. . . . This is a thoughtful, heartfelt, and deeply Christian treatment of a vitally important topic.

From the Publisher