Проаналізовано основні онтологічні підходи до розгляду сутності та буття прав людини – практичний, конвенціональний і природний. Показано відмінності у розумінні фундаментальних принципів концепції прав людини, котрі існують між секулярними і християнськими теоріями. Розкрито основні положення християнського трактування онтології таких базових категорій, як право на життя і людська гідність. У руслі християнської парадигми доведено, що сутність прав людини має духовний характер, а їхнє буття визначається синергетичною єдністю свободи і відповідальності.
The article aims to research the ontological basis of modern Christian inter-pretation of human rights concept. Having made a critical analysis of the secular concepts – practical, conventional and natural – the author argues that the vision of the essence of human rights offered by itsʼ apologists is superficial and does not reveal the deep dialectic of being. The Christian interpretationʼs logic of human rights ontology is based on the fact that their primary source lies in the supreme law. Divine law defines the essence and determines the existence of fundamental human rights. The right to life serves as their cornerstone. The right to life is abso-lute, it does not depend neither on the biological nature of human, nor on agree-ments with any other social actors, nor from the practice of survival, because this life is given by God. This fact imposes the responsibility of a person not only to pre-serve the lives of others, but also to manage his own life. Therefore, the Christian apostolic churches strongly condemn not only suicide but abortions and euthanasia, in contrast to the secularists and some Protestant confessions. Differences also ap-pear in the interpretation of such basic category as human dignity. While secular theories absolve the dignity of an individual, the Christian interpretation points to its relational character. Original dignity, due to the creation of human in the image and likeness of God, is not a frozen constant. The social nature of human requires the continual feeding of this virtue by making a conscious free choice in favor of good in relation to other people and to the environment. According to the Christian philosophical thought, the existence of human rights is determined by the synergetic unity of freedom and responsibility. In current Christian interpretation, the answer to the questions of human rights clearly indicates that it is essentially spiritual, mor-al formation and the rules of positive law only formalize itsʼ Divine content, which is revealed to human in the evangelical commandments. Such understanding of human rights ontology opens the way for an effective reform of Ukrainian legal system, which should be based on the humanistic principles of Christian doctrine.
