God, Humanity, and Human Dignity

Running head: GOD, HUMANITY AND HUMAN DIGNITY
God, Humanity and Human Dignity
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1GOD, HUMANITY AND HUMAN DIGNITY
Question 1
What is the Christian concept of the imago Dei? How might it be important to
health care, and why is it relevant?
The Christian concept of Imago Dei translates in English as the “Image of God”.
Imago Dei is a Latin phrase and describes human beings. Imago Dei is a concept that comes
from Judaism, Christianity and Islam Sufism which propagates that the humans are created as
an image or likeness to god (Iozzio, 2017). It is believed by the Christian theologists that
while creating the first man, God created him as a reflection to his self and bestowed many
such abilities that he never did to other creatures. Through the fall of man from Paradise, this
likeness was somewhat lost which could only be gained through Jesus’s sacrifice. Thus,
Imago Dei is essentially a concept that makes human body sacred as the Hebrew bible
Genesis says that each human being, whatever their ability or disability, has an image of God
inherently (Cherry, 2017).
In healthcare, this idea of Imago Dei is relevant because Imago Dei leads to the
concept of sanctity of life which propagates the sacredness of human life and its superiority
over all other animals. This leads to the basics of healthcare which says that all humans
deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Their race, class, religion and socio-economic
background cannot become any kind of factor when it comes to providing healthcare
(Huckaby, 2017). This idea focuses on preserving human life over everything else and
emphasizes that this is what God’s intentions were while creating humans. Thus, in
healthcare, following Imago Dei ensures that no human is killed or ill-treated due to any
sickness or disability.