«ОСНОВЫ УЧЕНИЯ РУССКОЙ ПРАВОСЛАВНОЙ ЦЕРКВИ О ДОСТОИНСТВЕ, СВОБОДЕ И ПРАВАХ ЧЕЛОВЕКА»

1. Достоинство человека

как религиозно-нравственная категория

1.1. Базовым понятием, на которое опирается теория прав человека, является понятие человеческого достоинства. Именно поэтому возникает необходимость изложить церков­ный взгляд на достоинство человека.

Согласно библейскому откровению, природа человека не только сотворена Богом, но и наделена Им свойствами по Его образу и подобию (см.: Быт. 1, 26). Только на этом основании можно утверждать, что человеческая природа обладает неотъ­емлемым достоинством. Святитель Григорий Богослов, соот­нося человеческое достоинство с актом Божественного творе­ния, писал: «Так щедро всех людей наделил Бог, конечно, для того, чтобы равным раздаянием даров Своих показать и оди­наковое достоинство нашей природы, и богатство благости Своей» (Слово 14, «О любви к бедным»).

Воплощение Бога Слова засвидетельствовало, что и после грехопадения достоинство не было утрачено человеческой природой, ибо в ней остался неистребимым образ Божий, а значит, и возможность восстановления человеческой жизни в полноте ее изначального совершенства. Это запечатлено и в богослужебных текстах Православной Церкви: «Образ есмь неизреченныя Твоея славы, аще и язвы ношу прегрешений... Древле убо от не сущих создавый мя, и образом Твоим Боже­ственным почтый, преступлением же заповеди паки мя воз- вративый в землю, от неяже взят бых, но еже по подобию воз­веди, древнею добротою возобразитися» (тропари по непо­рочных из чина погребения). Восприятие Господом Иисусом Христом полноты человеческой природы кроме греха

(см.: Евр. 4, 15) показывает, что достоинство не распространя­ется на искажения, возникшие в этой природе в результате грехопадения.

1.2. If the inalienable, ontological dignity of each human person, his highest value, is raised to the image of God in Orthodoxy, then the life befitting dignity is correlated with the concept of the likeness of God, which by Divine grace is achieved through the overcoming of sin, the acquisition of moral purity and virtues. Therefore, a person who bears the image of God within himself should not be exalted by this high dignity, for this is not his personal merit, but a gift from God. Moreover, he should not justify his weaknesses or vices with them, but, on the contrary, be aware of responsibility for the direction and way of his life. It is obvious that the very concept of dignity contains the idea of responsibility.

Thus, in the Eastern Christian tradition, the concept of "dignity" has primarily a moral meaning, and the idea of what is worthy and what is unworthy is strongly connected with the moral or immoral actions of a person and with the inner state of his soul. Given the state of human nature darkened by sin, it is important to clearly distinguish between the worthy and the unworthy in human life.

1.3. A worthy life is to live according to the original calling laid down in the nature of man, created to participate in the good life of God. St. Gregory of Nyssa asserts: "If God is the fullness of goodness, and man is His image, then the image has the likeness of the prototype in order to be filled with every good" (On the Structure of Man, ch. 16). Therefore, the life of man consists in "likening himself to God in virtue, as far as it is possible for man" ("An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith"), as St. John of Damascus notes. In the patristic tradition, this revelation of the image of God is called deification.

The God-given dignity is confirmed by the presence in each person of a moral principle, which is recognized in the voice of conscience. The holy Apostle Paul writes about this in his Epistle to the Romans: "The work of the law is written in their hearts, of which their conscience bears witness, and their thoughts, now accusing, now justifying one another" (Romans 2:15). That is why the moral norms inherent in human nature, as well as the moral norms contained in Divine revelation, reveal God's plan for man and his destiny. They are guides for a good life, worthy of the God-created nature of man. The greatest example of such a life was revealed to the world by the Lord Jesus Christ.

1.4. A life in sin is unworthy for a person, since it destroys the person himself, and also causes harm to other people and the world around him. Sin overturns the hierarchy of relationships in human nature. Instead of the spirit ruling over the body, in sin it submits to the flesh, to which St. John Chrysostom draws attention: "We have perverted the order and evil has increased to the point that we force the soul to follow the desires of the flesh" (Discourse 12 on the Book of Genesis). Life according to the law of the flesh is contrary to God's commandments and does not correspond to the moral principle laid down by God in human nature. In relations with other people, under the influence of sin, a person acts as an egoist, who cares about satisfying his needs at the expense of others. Such a life is dangerous for the individual, society and the surrounding nature, because it violates the harmony of being, turns into mental and physical suffering, diseases, vulnerability to the consequences of the destruction of the environment. A morally unworthy life does not ontologically destroy God-given dignity, but darkens it to such an extent that it becomes indistinguishable. That is why it takes a great effort of will to see, and even more so to recognize, the natural dignity of a serious criminal or tyrant.

1.5. For the restoration of a person's conformity to his dignity, repentance is of particular importance, which is based on the awareness of sin and the desire to change one's life. In repentance, a person acknowledges the discrepancy between his thoughts, words, or deeds and bears witness to God and the Church about his unworthiness. Repentance does not humiliate a person, but gives him a powerful incentive for spiritual work on himself, for a creative change in his life, for the preservation of the purity of God-given dignity and growth in it.

That is why patristic and ascetic thought, the liturgical tradition of the Church, speak more about the unworthiness of man, conditioned by sin, than about his dignity. Thus, in the prayer of St. Basil the Great, read by Orthodox Christians before communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, it is said: "In the same way, though I am unworthy of heaven and earth, and sowing temporal life, having obeyed all my sin, and enslaved with sweetness, and defiled Thy image; but having been Thy creation and creation, I do not despair of my salvation, accursed, daring to dare Thy immeasurable mercy, I come."