"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." - VoltairE

The case for Christian humanism

Posted by Anne Witton on Sunday, June 21, 2020 Under: Resources


I just watched a video about humanism which I found very interesting, particularly because of the use of words like ‘wonder’, ‘awe’, ‘dignity’, ‘infinitely precious’, ‘miraculous’. There’s lots that I can agree with, even if I don’t hold to the overreach of scientism or the naive optimism that we can all somehow get along fine if we try to be good and use ‘common sense’.
Many people don’t realise that humanism owes a lot to a Christian worldview. The difficulty is that secular humanism attempts to keep humanist beliefs whilst rejecting the faith that underpins many of them.

There isn’t beauty without a standard by which beauty can be measured. Beauty is more than utility but that doesn’t make sense without the ultimate Beautiful.

There isn’t infinite value without a transcendent Value-maker.

Nothing is infinite if there is only the material world and nothing else. Nothing lasts and nothing will ultimately matter.

The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible gives a much more realistic picture of life without God - there are pleasures and the moment can be enjoyed, but that’s all there is. You’re not entitled to overreach and find any meaning. For that, you need to recognise the truth that intelligence came from Intelligence; beauty came from Beauty; goodness came from the Good; love came from Love; we are valuable because we’re made in the image of the one who has ultimate value - the one true God.

If you want to explore further, may I commend “The Case for Christian Humanism: Why Christians should believe in humanism, and humanists in Christianity”. It will take you much longer than watching a quick video, but if you think that exploring this stuff is important it’s well worth it. 

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