It must be frankly admitted that the modern concept of human rights, though rooted as I have attempted to show in Christian ideas and ideals, is not textually normative within the Bible. Add to this the admittedly bad record of the church over the centuries and there is sufficient reason to humbly express a measure of serious consternation about the role Christians have actually played in advancing human rights.

Since human rights are rooted in the Creator we have a responsibility to care for the whole creation (Genesis 1:26-27). This view limits human rights in some sense. When human rights are exploited by attacking nature, by plundering people, by needlessly mistreating animals or the earth, then the abuse of human rights must be addressed by the stewards of planet earth, human beings.

In a previous article I mentioned the German experience and the blatant denial of human rights in Nazi Germany. The church plainly failed to understand its mission when the German state assumed too much power and then systematically abused it. The German church had lost all meaningful connection to the biblical story and the practice of the early church. When this loss of faith transpired the people of the light, and the people of the darkness, were so blended together that German patriotism became more important to most Christians than prophetic fidelity to the gospel. Eventually it was hard to tell any significant difference between a Christian view of human rights and a Nazi German view. Because of this tragic compromise the church (on the whole) failed to save the lives of the weakest and most vulnerable in society. The result was a virtual loss of all credibility to the mission of Christ.

I believe the modern church faces some significant challenges regarding the understanding and application of human rights. The story changes, given a particular political and social context, but the need to embrace and defend human rights will always remain. The intricacies of human rights issues will continue to challenge us if we are faithful to Christ’s call to be “martyrs” who bear true witness to the grace of God. We can see the seeds of this witness in the first centuries of the Christian Church. Let me elaborate.

We saw last week how the modern understanding of human rights developed from classical Greek and Roman law through the teaching of the early Christian church fathers. This emphasis was not lost in the Middle Ages but it wasn’t fully developed either. Eventually the Reformation opened new opportunities for rethinking a Christian contribution to defining and defending human rights. I previously showed how the Enlightenment had a deep impact upon human rights thinking and practice. But in considering this historical development the tendency, of both Christians and non-Christians alike, has been to miss the vital role that Christian theology had in these historical developments.