Working Order: Health, Personal Responsibility, and Rights in an Age of Limited Agency

Abstract

A seeming contradiction exists between the approach to health as a fundamental human right or as the natural consequence of human responsibility. This paper investigates a Christian approach to health attempting to reconcile these disparate views. The Biblical basis of human responsibility for health is considered as well as the greater forces affecting the health choices of individuals and communities. Ultimately, a combined approach or "working order" toward the fundamental right to health based on human responsibility is attempted.

Keywords

• personal agency
• human rights
• health
• responsibility