In the 1980's Christian ayatollahs such as Jerry Falwell and John Hagee began alarming the world about the insidious threat posed by secular humanism. In their slash and burn strategy even the word humanism sans secular became a word despised by the right wing religionists of the day.These ignorant hayseeds ignored the fact that it is possible to be a Christian and a Humanist at the same time...ever heard of Michaelangelo or Erasmus? They ignored the fact that Christian Humanism helped liberate the masses from the theological tyranny of the Medieval Roman Catholic Church. They ignored the fact that Christian Humanism laid the foundations for the liberal arts education seen in America's high schools and most universities.
To them, anything with the word humanist associated with it needed to be tried by the Calvinist inquisition and burned at the stake.
But I'm with the Christian Humanists. There are four major pillars to their philosophy. I will deal with each in an individual post...
1.) Man has dignity.
2.) Life should be lived to the fullest.
3.) Traditions should be challenged.
4.) Man should be well rounded.
First,
1.) Man has dignity. Since man is a creation of the most high and holy God and that His son Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross so we could receive forgiveness and become His adopted children...that gives us dignity. Michaelangelo demonstrates this beautifully in one section of his Sistine Chapel Masterpiece. Here is God reaching out to man to impart wisdom to his creation. God is stretching out...man is reclining and seeming a bit blase about the whole matter. Man is naked because that is the way God created him and should not be embarassed about God's craftsmanship. (Tragically ironic how today's presentation of nudity tears down and humiliates human beings as mere objects while the Christian Humanist's nudity builds up and dignifies human beings as God's handiwork.)
The angels are smaller beings than man and seem inferior to humankind. This refuted the old medieval presentation of angels as majestic creatures higher than humanity on the spiritual food chain. Michaelangelo was being true to the scriptures which expressed that man was a far higher being than the angels because of mankind's free will.
The shape behind God and the angels resembles the shape of a giant brain. God is imparting wisdom to man. What a special gift! Yes, man is sinful by nature...but God still loved him enough to send his only son. When we receive his salvation...we become an adopted child of God. What position in the universe is more dignified than that?
Falwell and his ilk turn man into a monster doomed to hell unless he repents. The humanists focus on the potential that lies in man if only he chooses to accept God's salvation. Certainly Hell is the consequence to rejecting God. But we should focus on God's wondrous blessing. If we focus on God and Heaven then the path toward Hell will never seem so attractive again.
Always remember that God first reached out to us...not the other way around. Now it's our turn.
