According to Kant, we are bound to reverence for autonomy itself: “Autonomy is therefore the ground of the dignity of human nature and of every rational nature.”70 And “the dignity of man consists precisely in his capacity to make universal law. . . .”71 I owe respect, or reverence, to Jones precisely because Jones is a rational/autonomous being, and I must respect Jones as a final end in himself or herself.72 By contrast, in the biblical understanding, the imago Dei is present in humanity as a dynamic means—our relationships with our fellow image-bearers are designed to lead us to a stronger
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