Western culture is experiencing a quiet but powerful struggle over the meaning of words. Not long ago, terms like love, justice, freedom, compassion, and dignity carried Christian assumptions about truth, human nature, and moral responsibility. But today, many of these old, once-stable words have been redefined under the pressures of progressive ideology.

The battle is not merely political. It is spiritual. Language shapes thought, and thought shapes values. When a society accepts new meanings for old moral words, the change often takes place without resistance simply because the words sound familiar. People assume continuity where there is actually rupture.

Among these captured terms, dignity has become a favorite tool of the modern left. It is used in public policy discussions, in moral debates, in DEI training sessions, and in ideological campaigns. Sometimes it appears harmless. Sometimes it appears noble. But behind the scenes, the word has been quietly emptied of its historic Christian meaning and filled with a new ideological content that serves the goals of progressivism.

This article examines the meaning of dignity from both a Christian and a progressive perspective. We will explore how Christianity roots dignity in the image of God, how the Fall distorts this dignity, and how redemption restores it. We will contrast that with the progressive definition, which divorces dignity from God and anchors it instead in human self-expression and self-definition. We will also examine how the modern left engages in semantic warfare to seize words from the Christian worldview and repurpose them as weapons against the Christian conscience.

Finally, the article equips the Christian reader with probing questions to ask the progressive—questions that expose deep inconsistencies, especially regarding abortion, gender ideology, sexual ethics, criminal justice, and other areas where the progressive redefinition of dignity collapses under its own weight.

As we proceed, Scripture’s call to spiritual warfare over false ideas will guide our approach (2 Corinthians 10:3–5). Christians are not commanded to be hostile, but they are commanded to be discerning, courageous, and unwilling to surrender truth under social pressure.

The Christian Meaning of Dignity

Created in the Image of God

Christian dignity begins with the very first chapter of the Bible:

“So God created man in his own image… male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

This declaration gives every human being an inherent, non-negotiable dignity. Human worth does not come from intelligence, usefulness, personal desire, sexual expression, race, ethnicity, economic status, mental functioning, or stage of development. It comes from God Himself.

The image of God means several things:

Humans are created with moral responsibility.
Humans possess rationality and relational capacity.
Humans exercise dominion and stewardship under God.
Humans reflect God in a creaturely, finite way.

This is why Scripture later warns:

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6)

Human life has value because it is God-made, not self-constructed. James reminds believers to be cautious with their speech “because we are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9).

The Christian understanding is unmistakable: dignity is rooted in being, not in feeling. It is rooted in creation, not in self-expression. It comes from God’s design, not from our desires.

Dignity Corrupted

When Adam sinned, humans did not lose the image of God. They damaged it. They distorted it. But they did not cease to be image-bearers. That is why human beings can act with tremendous creativity and tremendous cruelty. The Fall explains both the beauty and the brutality of human nature.

Christian anthropology insists that man is both:

dignified because he is God’s creation,
and corrupt because he is a fallen creature.

This dual truth guards Christians from naïve optimism about human goodness and from cynical despair about human worth.

But the progressive worldview rejects this realism. It insists that humans are essentially good, and that sin is merely a social construct.

That mistaken belief leads to the moral confusion we see today.

Redemption: The Image Restored Through Christ

Scripture teaches that Christ is the “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). To be united to Christ through salvation is to begin recovering what sin has corrupted.

Paul teaches:

“Put off your old self… be renewed in the spirit of your minds” (Ephesians 4:22–24).
“Put on the new self… after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:9–10).

True dignity is not found in celebrating our brokenness. It is found in being restored to holiness.

This is important:

Christian dignity cannot be separated from sanctification.

To live in dignity is to live under God’s rule, reflecting His character.

The progressive worldview rejects this entirely.

To them, “dignity” means affirming whatever the individual desires—even if the desire is destructive or sinful.

Sin Degrades the Image of God in Mankind

Scripture teaches that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26–27). This gives all people eternal value, dignity, and worth. Yet the same Scripture also teaches that sin has deeply corrupted this image—not erased it, but disordered and disfigured it. The Fall introduced a moral distortion into the soul of man. What God created upright (Ecclesiastes 7:29) became twisted by rebellion.

Paul describes fallen humanity as “darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God… because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardness of heart” (Ephesians 4:18). This hardness of heart is not merely a moral attitude; it is a distortion of the very image we were created to reflect. Sin disorders desire, blinds the mind, and warps the will. Instead of reflecting God’s holiness, fallen man reflects his own corrupted passions.

Isaiah captures this moral vandalism in stark terms:

“Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God” (Isaiah 59:2).

Sin not only separates man from God relationally; it separates man from his own purpose. It pulls him deeper into behaviors and identities that contradict the design of his Creator. The Fall causes man to seek dignity apart from God, meaning apart from the only Source who can truly give it.

This explains why Scripture repeatedly calls sinners to repentance—not to shame them, but to restore the image that sin has degraded. Salvation is not merely forgiveness; it is renewal. Paul tells believers to “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). The redeemed person begins recovering the image marred by sin.

The progressive worldview denies this biblical truth. It treats the fallen self as inherently good, inherently wise, and inherently worthy of affirmation. In doing so, it blesses the very patterns of life that degrade God’s image even further. Sin is reframed as identity. Brokenness is rebranded as authenticity. And the decay of the soul is marketed as liberation.

But the Bible is clear:

sin diminishes human dignity because sin diminishes the reflection of God’s character.

Only Christ restores it.

This is why any moral system that affirms sinful desires is not protecting human dignity—it is obscuring it. True dignity is found not in celebrating the fallen self but in being renewed into the image of Christ.

Holiness and the Restoration of Human Dignity

Christian dignity is not merely something we possess because we are made in the image of God—it is also something we increasingly reflect as we grow in holiness. While the Fall corrupts and distorts the imago Dei, the work of Christ restores it, and the Holy Spirit renews it day by day. Scripture consistently connects human dignity with the pursuit of holiness because holiness is nothing less than the visible expression of God’s character in His people.

Paul teaches that salvation includes being “renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10). Notice the connection: restoration begins with new birth, but it continues through sanctification. As the believer grows in holiness, he grows in clarity, self-control, wisdom, charity, and obedience—all of which reflect God’s moral beauty. This means that holiness is not an optional enhancement to human life; it is the reconstruction of all that sin damaged.

Far from diminishing human dignity, holiness enhances it. The person who walks uprightly, who repents of sin, who cultivates virtue, and who lives according to God’s Word is becoming more fully human, not less. He is being reshaped into what God always intended humanity to be. The apostle Peter says that through the promises of God we “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4)—not in essence, but in moral character. This is why Peter immediately lists the virtues of faith, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (2 Peter 1:5–7). These are the traits of restored dignity.

Holiness also restores dignity by liberating the believer from the degrading power of sin. Sin enslaves, deforms, and humiliates (Romans 6:16–21). It pulls a person downward into bondage, addiction, confusion, and dishonor. Sin promises freedom while producing shame. But holiness reverses that trajectory. A holy life steadily repairs what sin has vandalized. It brings order where sin brought chaos, clarity where sin brought deception, and joy where sin brought misery.

Paul says, “the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:22). Sanctification—growth in holiness—is fruit. It is life. It is restoration. It is dignity reborn.

Even the outward life of a believer often reflects inward restoration. A Christian who grows in holiness tends to grow in peace, stability, gentleness, integrity, and strength. This is not superficial moralism; it is spiritual renewal manifesting in the actual contours of a life. The world celebrates the broken self as authentic; Scripture celebrates the restored self as dignified.

In short, holiness is not the enemy of human dignity. Holiness is human dignity. The more a believer reflects the moral beauty of Christ, the more he reflects what humanity was meant to be. Every step toward holiness is a step toward the full restoration of the image of God—and thus toward the fullness of true dignity.

The Progressive Meaning of Dignity

Dignity as Self-Definition

In progressive thought, dignity is no longer about being created by God. It is about expressing one’s inner self. The phrase “live your truth” summarizes the worldview.

In this system:

The self defines reality.
The self determines identity.
The self constructs morality.
The self demands affirmation from others.

Dignity becomes a demand:
“You must affirm what I feel, or you are violating my dignity.”

This is why debates about pronouns, gender identity, sexual ethics, and emotional safety are framed as “dignity issues.” It’s a rhetorical trick. By using the word dignity, the progressive cloaks ideology in moral language.

An Anthropology Without Sin or God

To the progressive, human beings are essentially good. They are victims of outside forces—society, oppression, inequality, patriarchy—but not of their own sin. This is why progressive politics focuses on changing systems rather than changing hearts.

It also explains why progressives are attracted to toxic empathy—compassion that refuses to confront wrongdoing. In their worldview, confronting sin is seen as harming dignity.

As a result:

Employers are pressured to affirm identities.
Schools must socially transition children.
Medical professionals must perform or refer for harmful procedures.
Christians are accused of “hate” for holding biblical beliefs.

Identity Politics Replaces the Imago Dei

The progressive substitutes identity categories for the image of God. Instead of being defined by creation, fall, and redemption, people are defined by:

race,
gender identity,
sexual orientation,
“lived experience,”
trauma,
victim status.

In this system, dignity belongs not to humans as humans, but to identity groups as groups.

This is not dignity.

This is ideological tribalism wearing a moral mask.

Semantic Warfare: The Left’s Hijacking of Moral Language

Borrowing Moral Capital

Secular ideologies cannot invent moral authority. They must steal it. So they take Christian words—love, justice, compassion, dignity—and repurpose them. They preserve the emotional power of the word while changing its meaning.

This tactic is called semantic warfare.

The strategy works because people hear the familiar word and assume the old meaning. But beneath the surface, the foundation has shifted. It’s like taking the word “marriage” and redefining it to mean something entirely different. People still think they know what the word means, but they no longer do.

The Implicit Accusation Against Christians

When progressives say:

“Everyone deserves dignity,”
“Affirmation is dignity,”
“Opposition is harm,”
“Disagreement is hate,”

they imply Christians are the ones denying dignity unless they affirm sin.

This is deeply deceptive.

The Christian affirms inherent dignity while refusing to affirm sinful behavior.

The progressive collapses the categories so they can accuse Christians of cruelty.

Why the Redefinition is Spiritually Dangerous

When dignity is defined as self-fulfillment rather than obedience to God, the moral order collapses. Sin becomes identity. Brokenness becomes authenticity. And repentance becomes oppression.

Isaiah warns:

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.” (Isaiah 5:20)

This is exactly what the progressive redefinition of dignity accomplishes.

Satan as the Master Wordsmith Behind Progressive Deception

One of Scripture’s most sobering lessons is that Satan rarely attacks truth head-on. Instead, he manipulates language. He twists definitions. He rebrands sin with appealing vocabulary. He sows confusion by subtly shifting meanings until error sounds like virtue. From the very beginning, the Tempter has used linguistic deception as one of his favorite tools.

In the garden, Satan did not begin with an outright denial. He began with a question—gentle, seemingly reasonable, and linguistically manipulative: “Did God actually say…?” (Genesis 3:1). He engaged in semantic warfare long before there were political theorists or ideological activists. His strategy was simple: change how Eve understood God’s words and the rest would follow.

Jesus identifies Satan as “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Lies do not merely hide the truth; they counterfeit the truth. They dress themselves up in truthful-sounding vocabulary. This tactic becomes especially potent when Satan recruits human “intellectuals” to carry out this work. Often, false teachers and cultural influencers become polished vessels for spiritually destructive ideas (Romans 16:18; Colossians 2:8).

Modern progressivism repeats the serpent’s original strategy. Instead of denying moral reality outright, it redefines moral words—love, justice, compassion, dignity. The left steals the vocabulary of historic Christianity and empties it of biblical substance. It offers linguistic counterfeits that mimic moral virtue while pushing the opposite of what God commands.

The apostle Paul warns believers of this danger when he says:

“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:13–14)

The goal of this deception is not simply moral confusion; it is spiritual destruction. If Satan can redefine the meaning of dignity, then he can smuggle sin in under the banner of compassion. He can frame rebellion as authenticity, and he can turn opposition to sin into a supposed violation of someone’s “human rights.”

This is why Christians must guard not only the truth itself, but the vocabulary of truth. Words shape moral imagination. Words shape conscience. And Satan—through modern ideological movements—continues his ancient craft of distorting language to distort reality.

Recovering biblical definitions is therefore not merely an intellectual exercise; it is an act of spiritual warfare.

Toxic Empathy: When Compassion Becomes Cruel

What Is Toxic Empathy?

Toxic empathy is emotional compassion devoid of moral truth. It believes feelings must be validated even when those feelings are rooted in falsehood or sin.

Toxic empathy:

refuses to say “no,”
refuses to confront harm,
refuses to uphold God’s standards,
willingly sacrifices long-term well-being for short-term emotional comfort.

How Progressives Use Toxic Empathy

Toxic empathy allows progressives to claim the moral high ground while promoting harmful beliefs:

Affirming gender confusion instead of guiding toward truth.
Affirming sexual lifestyles Scripture condemns.
Affirming destructive choices as “authentic.”
Affirming abortion as “empowerment.”

Toxic empathy produces broken people rather than restored people.

The Christian Alternative: Truth in Love

Christians are called to compassion rooted in truth (Ephesians 4:15). We are commanded to warn the wicked (Ezekiel 33:8). Toxic empathy is not love. Love corrects, warns, confronts, heals, disciplines, and restores.

The Abortion Test: Where the Progressive View Collapses First

Progressives loudly proclaim dignity for “all people”—yet they exclude the unborn.

Nothing exposes the bankruptcy of the progressive definition of dignity more sharply than abortion.

Questions to Expose the Inconsistency

If dignity requires affirming identity, what about a child with a unique genetic identity from conception?
If all humans have dignity, why is the unborn denied it?
If harming another person violates dignity, how is abortion not the ultimate harm?
If bodily autonomy is sacred, does the unborn child have any?
If dignity is rooted in humanity, how can development stage erase it?
If denying someone’s existence is the greatest violation of dignity, why is abortion celebrated?

These questions reveal a profound contradiction:
a worldview that demands dignity for adults while denying life to children is not coherent.

Additional Questions: Where Else Does Progressive “Dignity” Break Down?

Gender Ideology

If dignity means affirming reality, why must people affirm a falsehood about biological sex?
If dignity requires honesty, why promote a system that forbids truthful speech?
If dignity means protecting children, why encourage medical harm through gender transitions?

Sexual Ethics

If dignity is inherent, why is it tied to sexual expression?
If dignity rests on identity, why must identity be rooted in sexual appetite?
If dignity requires protecting the vulnerable, why celebrate behaviors that produce broken families and fatherlessness?

Criminal Justice

If dignity applies to all, why excuse criminals while ignoring victims?
If dignity involves moral accountability, why deny criminals moral agency?
If dignity includes safety, why undermine law enforcement?

Medical Ethics

If dignity requires protecting life, why support euthanasia for the depressed or disabled?
If dignity involves human worth, why treat suffering people as burdens?
If autonomy is everything, why pressure dissenting doctors to violate conscience?

Education

If dignity involves truth, why demand schools teach ideology rather than facts?
If dignity prohibits harm, why expose children to explicit sexual content?
If dignity is universal, why discriminate based on race through DEI programs?

In every case, the progressive definition produces contradictions, not clarity.

Spiritual Warfare: Why Christians Must Resist

Scripture Commands Us to Confront False Ideas

Paul writes:

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

The battle is intellectual, moral, and spiritual—not physical. Ideas matter because they shape souls.

Christians must test everything (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and avoid being conformed to the world (Romans 12:2).

Resisting Indoctrination Is Not “Mean”

Progressives accuse Christians of cruelty for refusing to affirm sin. But Scripture warns believers to protect the vulnerable from deception.

Parents are commanded to teach children truth diligently (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). Shepherds must protect the flock (Acts 20:28–31). Remaining silent while falsehood spreads is not kindness—it is surrender.

Fear God, Not Man

Jesus warns:

“Do not fear those who kill the body… fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

Christians today are often more worried about being disliked, mocked, or labeled bigots than they are about dishonoring God. But the early church did not fear Caesar’s disapproval. The Reformers did not fear the authorities of their day. True dignity is rooted in knowing God and obeying Him, not in gaining approval from the world.

How Christians Can Respond with Courage and Clarity

Reclaim Biblical Vocabulary

Christians must define dignity according to Scripture, not according to progressive ideology.

Teach Biblical Anthropology Clearly

This includes:

creation,
fall,
redemption,
restoration.

Once young people understand this framework, the progressive worldview loses its power.

Live Out True Dignity

Holiness is dignity.
Obedience is dignity.
Repentance is dignity.
Truthfulness is dignity.

Christians should model the dignity the world needs but cannot create.

Speak Truth Without Fear

The progressive redefinition of dignity will collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. But Christians must speak clearly and courageously so that others are not swept away by confusion.

Conclusion: Recovering a Word Worth Fighting For

Dignity is not a political slogan. It is not a tool for ideological manipulation. It is not a demand for unquestioning affirmation. Dignity is the God-given worth of every person made in His image.

The Christian meaning of dignity stands firm on the foundation of creation, fall, and redemption. The progressive meaning stands on the sand of self-expression, emotional fragility, and toxic empathy.

Christians must reclaim this word—not out of hostility, but out of love for truth and for neighbor. In a world that is losing its moral compass, the church must bear witness to reality, courageously and without apology.

May God give His people the boldness to fear Him rather than man, to speak with clarity rather than compromise, and to engage in spiritual warfare against every false idea raised against the knowledge of God.

S.D.G.,

Robert Sparkman

MMXXV

rob@christiannewsjunkie.com

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