ABSTRACT
The roots of human rights culture are many, varied and the property of no particular tribe. The Christological argument for human rights in writers such as Moltmann is heavily dependent on Barth's theology. As the churches gained political significance, it became possible to mobilize the state against dissent. Individual civic rights grew up within a context of communal institutions that were shaped in part by the growing law of the church. Medieval canon law was based, in part, on the concept of individual and corporate rights. It defined the rights of clergy, ecclesiastical organizations, church councils, the laity, the poor and the needy. The World Council of Churches (WCC) continues to be engaged with human rights at various levels, from UN and government levels to supporting the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The churches became explicitly concerned with human rights talk in the 1970s and 1980s.
