Episode 228: Nathaniel Peters on the Christian Roots of Human Dignity (February 9, 2022)

On this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Christopher Zehnder discuss dignity, its Christian roots, and whether secular liberalism can sustain it. Our special guest and returning guest is Nathaniel Peters. He is Contributing Editor of Public Discourse and Director of the Morningside Institute. Among the questions we will ask him are the following. Please feel free to suggest others!

1. How do you define “human dignity”?

2. You argue that Friedrich Nietzsche, unlike secular liberalism, offers at least a coherent alternative to the Christian view of dignity. How do you reach this conclusion?

3. Did classical Western civilization have a concept of human dignity?

4. How does the Christian understanding of dignity emerge from the Old Testament?

5. Is there a link between the Christian understanding of dignity and Kant’s Enlightenment view of dignity?

6. You cite St. Gregory of Nyssa as the first to articulate the incompatibility of Christianity with slavery. How does he do so?

7. You cite the Byzantine emperor Theodosius, perhaps influenced by St. Basil, as first showing the incompatibility of Christianity with prostitution. What sort of argument does he make?

8. Why was it left to Christians to invent shelters and hospitals for the poor?

9. What reception has Christianity received from the Dalit caste?

10. Alasdair MacIntyre has recently contended that dignity is a possibly dangerous concept. What do you make of his claim?