One of the exceptionally important, basic truths of revealed religion
relating to the teaching about man is the truth of the unity of mankind. This
truth belongs to the basic truths of the Christian worldview, affirming the
dogmas of the Fall of all mankind in Adam and of the Redemption
of the whole world through Christ. All mankind, in the light of this truth,
represents in itself a family unity, and this family is one complete organism,
having one common root in Adam and one crown in his general Redeemer, Christ.
Without
this truth, the teaching of the necessity of Redemption for all mankind and the
teaching about the general meaning of the redeeming sacrifices of Christ for
all mankind could not be understood. This truth also determines the substance
of the ethical principle underlying the understanding of the dignity of the
personality of every man. Not in one of the natural religions do we find a
clear and full expression of this truth, and, because of this, not one of the
systems of pagan morality contains a universal latitude and depth of
understanding of man’s personality, created in the image and likeness of God.
Only Christian teaching of morality has widened the ethical horizon of mankind
to a fitting scale. Only Christianity can be a truly unyielding foundation for
authentic humaneness, in the loftiest and best meaning of the word. From this
Christian foundation, humaneness grew through an inclination to missionary
activity to enlighten wild peoples (our smaller brothers), through an
inclination to liberate enslaved and oppressed peoples and tribes, through an
inclination to establish international peace, and other magnanimous social
inclinations.
“All
for one and one for all are to blame”; this is the social truth of
Christianity. The coarsest perversion of Christian social ethics is the
teaching of so-called socialism (and communism), which does not understand either the universal, mystical root of evil, the necessity
of saving mankind by Christ, or the blissfulness of this salvation.
The
question of whether mankind consists of one or several kinds has, up to the
present, been controversial in the natural sciences. To the teaching of the
unity of mankind is connected the question: Is the origin of all mankind from
one initial pair possible, or not? There are no scientific data forcing us to
doubt the truth of the biblical teaching of the origin of all mankind from Adam
and Eve.