Karl Barth on Human Dignity

"[T]he honor which every man has as such is from God and therefore constant. Man can be godless. But God—and this is the decisive point—does not become 'man-less.' He is always the Creator and Lord of man. And because he is not 'man-less,' the godless of man can be only a human notion, however frightful in itself and serious in its consequences. There is no ontological godlessness. Even the most rabid atheist cannot achieve this either theoretically or practically" (CD III/4: 652).