This reflection has two parts. First, we present the value of life, especially human life, in the perspective of the Holy Scriptures. From there we then offer some operational orientations especially for those who are engaged in the life sciences.

I. Life in the Scriptural Perspective

This first section can be developed around three thesis : 1) life is something properly divine; 2) Life is more perfect the more conscious it is of itself; 3) Christian Revelation sample that divine life is given to man to participate in Christ (*).

1. Life comes from God and at its highest Degree is an essential characteristic of God himself. In his encyclical Evangelium vitae, John Paul II takes seriously the statement in the Gospel of John that life is something divine. And this, in a strong sense, as an attribute or characteristic of the divine being: "In him [the Word=the Son of God] was life, and life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not receive it" (Jn 1:4-5).

In this text, life is attributed to God. For the Bible, life not only belongs to God as its author and Lord, but ultimately life is properly divine.

Hence, when Christians speak of "divine or supernatural life" - and that the Christian life is a participation in that Life, which must be written with a capital letter - we do not do so in a merely metaphorical sense. 

To put it briefly: for St. John, life is, above all and simply, something divine, transcendent. And, therefore, it is neither fully realized nor fully understood without God. In any case, it is a divine gift. In this perspective, whoever lives apart from God does not really live a true life.

2. Life is more perfect the more self-conscious it is. If for St. John the divine life is the first reference letter in a descending line of analogates (the element on which all depend or to which all refer is called the principal analogate in a comparison), it can be deduced from this that, among living beings, plant life is the "weakest echo" and, therefore, the least accessible to us, because we do not have the experience of that life as we have of our own, of human life, which in itself is much more complex than animal life and much more so than plant life.

"Spirit, consciousness," Spaemann deduces, "are not opposed to life, (...) but are rather the highest expression of life. Life in its plenary session of the Executive Council sense is conscious life". Hence, according to Thomas Aquinas "he who does not understand, does not live perfectly, but has a half life".

This is so, although this should not lead to the conclusion that a person who is unconscious (asleep or in a coma) or unaware - for whatever reasons - of the big issues, has a less dignified or valuable human life. The fundamental dignity of the person and the value of human life do not depend on circumstances or on its acceptance or non-acceptance by others.

It is thus understandable that the Gospel of St. John affirms: light is the life of man; and God alone is light, he alone is life completely transparent to itself. And human life is worthy and valuable in itself because it comes from God as his image and likeness.

In short, God is the true life of man, made in the image and likeness of God. The more man realizes what this Life is like and the more he consciously participates in it, the more and the better he lives.

3. Christian revelation manifests that the divine Life is given to man to participate in Christ. Christ is the full revelation of the image of God that each human person bears within himself. In Christ is revealed God's love for human beings, which led him to establish a plan of salvation. This plan included the death of Jesus on the Cross, in order to free us from sin and its consequences for each of us, for others and for the created world (cf. Rom 8:22).

II. Some conclusions and operational guidelines

In sum, the value of human life-not only in the face of abortion and euthanasia, but also in the face of indifference to the pain and needs of any human being-and its relationship to God can be shown simply by reason.

Christian revelation powerfully illuminates the value of human life, in dependence on God, and also the value of living beings, which in their beauty reflect in their own way the beauty of God, which is identified with his love.

Some conclusions and operational orientations can be drawn from this (**): 1) the person who lives fully is the one who knows and loves God; 2) biblical faith assures the dignity of the human person and the value of human life; 3) Christians are committed to promoting a "culture of life".

According to the Christian faith, the person who properly "lives" is the one who is united to God, the one who lives according to God, the one who participates more perfectly in knowledge and in the love that God himself has. And in this way, through this human life, God is better known and loved. The greatness of authentic human life leads to extolling and praising its Creator. This is the proposal of the Christian faith and this is called "the glory of God".

Thus the expression of St. Irenaeus († 202) is well understood: "gloria Dei vivens homo", which could be freely translated as "the life of man is the glory of God", or also "the living man is the expression of the glory of God".

2. Biblical faith assures the dignity of the human person and the value of human life, insofar as it reveals that the human person has been created in an unrepeatable way by God, endowed with intelligence and will in the image of his Creator, and redeemed by Jesus Christ.

This is why we aspire to a full and infinite life, which can only be found beyond earthly existence and which, according to Christianity, can be initiated already now to the extent that we live out of love for God and for others.

Dignity staff is ultimately based on God. And, according to experience, respect for it is only assured when God is "present" in society and is not expelled from it.

3. For all these reasons, the "humanism of life" that springs from God's passion for the human creature must be vigorously relaunched. Christians are committed to promote a culture of life; that is, they are - must be - ready to "understand, promote and defend the life of every human being" (Francis, Letter of 6-I-2019), in any of its phases or stages, in any circumstance and beyond the criteria of mere economic and political expediency.

Since the human work is a continuation of the creative work, science and technology must also be placed at the service of the person and his fundamental rights, contributing to the integral good of man and to the realization of the human project of salvation (cf. Gaudium et spes, 35).

In the current context (inclined to the degradation of the human, motivated by the obsession with individual well-being, an obsession that leads to major ecological crises), a new universal ethical perspective and a new humanism, based on fraternity and universal solidarity, are necessary.

a) According to John Paul II, this should be manifested, in the words of Francis, in "gestures of acceptance and defense of human life, the spread of a sensitivity against war and the death penalty, as well as a growing interest in the quality of life and ecology. The holy Polish pope also indicated as a sign of hope the spread of bioethics, understood as "reflection and dialogue - between believers and non-believers, as well as between believers of different religions - on ethical problems, even fundamental ones, that affect human life" (Evangelium vitae, 27).

In this line is the defense of every human life from conception in the womb until natural death. Human life is linked to fundamental human dignity that is not lost with the loss of health, social role or control of one's own body.

b) Along with this Francis points out: "The perspective of global bioethics, with its broad vision and its attention to the repercussions of the environment on life and health, constitutes a B opportunity to deepen the new covenant of the Gospel and of creation" (Letter of 6-I-2019).

c) The Pope proposes that this be carried out today, especially by those engaged in the life sciences, taking into account the current environment with its intercultural and interreligious dimensions; ensuring the fundamental needs of people (food, drinking water, basic instruction or elementary health care); wisely using the new information and communication technologies, biotechnologies, nanotechnologies and robotics (for example in interventions on the human body that can be exposed to the simple demands of the market) (cf. Letter of 15-I-2019)

d) Finally, this requires on the part of all a constant discernment and therefore an adequate training of conscience in the framework of universal fraternity and openness to God, as the horizon of meaning of human life: "The power of fraternity, which adoration of God in spirit and truth generates among human beings, is the new frontier of Christianity" (Ibid).

For Christians, this discernment and this training must also be situated "within and in the light of the relationship with Christ, assuming his intentionality and his criteria of choice in action (cf. Phil 2:5)" (Ibid.). Indeed, because Christ does not contradict reason, nor does he take anything away from what is authentically human, but brings it to its fullness.