Physically and materially, there is nothing very valuable about a human person. Reduced to our elemental constituents, the human body is mainly comprised of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Wanting to estimate the cost of these chemicals, I asked ChatGPT to answer this question: "How much do the material components of the human body cost?" The AI's answer gets to the point of this post:
It's not possible to put a precise price tag on the materials that make up the human body, as they are not sold as individual components. However, various estimates have been made in the past to provide a rough idea of the cost.
For instance, a study published in the journal "Chemical and Engineering News" estimated the total cost of the elements that make up an average human body to be around $160. This includes elements such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, which make up the bulk of the body's mass. However, this estimate does not take into account the cost of trace elements and other compounds present in the body.
It's also worth noting that the value of the human body goes far beyond its mere chemical composition. Human life is priceless, and the unique combination of physical, intellectual, and emotional attributes that make up each individual cannot be reduced to a simple sum of its parts.
So, the value of a human person is somewhere between $160 and priceless.
A purely chemical description of the human person cannot capture what is "priceless" about us. But if that is so, to what within us does this priceless value adhere? Where is this value located and brought into view? What is the container, the receptacle, of human worth?
When we say "soul" we are naming what is priceless about a human person. The chemical elements making up your body and brain might only be worth $160, but your soul is irreducible and valuable beyond accounting.
Biblically, Christians confess that every human person is created in "the image of God." And while being created in the image of God can mean many different things, one of the things it is generally believed to mean concerns our value. Because humans are bearers of the Imago Dei, we posses value, worth, and dignity. The soul names that which "bears" and "reflects" the Imago Dei within us. When we say "soul" we are pointing to the image of God within a person, along with everything this entails. A value north of $160 among them.
