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Document Details :

Title: Orthodox Christians, Human Rights and the Dignity of the Person
Subtitle: Reflections on Charles Malik (1906-1987)
Author(s): ROEBER, A.G.
Journal: Journal of Eastern Christian Studies
Volume: 70    Issue: 3-4   Date: 2018   
Pages: 285-306
DOI: 10.2143/JECS.70.3.3285156

Abstract :
Based on an analysis of the writings of Charles Malik (1906-1987), this essay examines the late Lebanese philosopher-diplomat’s understanding of human rights from his self-identification as a Chalcedonian Orthodox Christian. This perspective has been overlooked by scholars who have identified Malik with western Scholasticism. The essay attempts to place Malik’s own religious and intellectual contributions within the context of his concerns for the fate of Arab Christians in the Middle East and their relationship to the broader contours of the Orthodox Catholic world in which Malik declared himself to be a member. The essay concludes by offering some perspectives on how Malik’s contribution to human rights concerns, centered on the human person and not the individual, should inform contemporary and future Orthodox engagement with human rights issues.