Humanism (Research Paper Sample)

Apologetics Application Paper: Part 2 Submission Form
TITLE: Humanism
Humanism
As he starred into the eyes of his audience Paul, knew that his message of salvation through Jesus Christ was going to be a hard sell. Previous to his appearance in the Aeropagus, Paul had been challenged, insulted and harmed physically. He had escaped to Athens after risking disturbing the Roman peace in Thessalonica and Beria. The people of the city in Aeropagus considered Paul a “babbler,” a word which describes a person who repeats knowledge heard and not gained. He was also known as proclaimer of foreign divinities, a charge most likely proclaimed by attendees in his famous speech, in the Temple of Mars.
In the Aeropagus Paul was attempting to inform them of their idolatry. His aim was to replace the multitude of pagan gods with the belief in one true God, and he was trying to dissuade his audience from worshipping false idols, and he was trying to convey to his audience that man was not the controller of things but only God. Surrounding him was a myriad of different beliefs. There were the Polytheists, a pagan structure that believed in a multitude of gods. They established a god for every possibility. They had greater gods of who resided on mount Olympus, lesser gods, who lived among men and whose responsibilities were natural events, such as rain, storms etc. Stoic Philosophers were also in attendance. They believed that a man’s destiny was preordained by the gods. Every facet of their lives was under the control of the gods and any desire to change it was futile (Ogilvie 256). The Epicureans were also in attendance, and they believed in the ability of the scientific method to explain away unknowns of the world around them and the universe. They believed that there was a god or a multitude of gods that they were not interested in man or even involved themselves in human events.
Unlike Christians, who believe in a personal God who is involved in man’s future, the Epicureans adopted the idea that the gods were detached from the human race. They also accepted the philosophy that the meaning of life was to seek contentment and happiness (Ogilvie 257). This combination of Stoic belief and Epicurean belief was considered to be perhaps the birth of the Humanistic movement.
The Humanistic movement is a belief structure which embodies many positive ideals and runs parallel with that of the Christian philosophy. The concept of being a moral person and an honest person do not run against Christian beliefs and/or practices. The concepts of charity, goodwill and self sacrifice, are all tenants which are practiced by Christians, as well. Yet from the many similarities between both Humanism and Christianity there are a few glaring differences.
To begin with, the existence of God or a god is not an essential part of the humanist movement. As a matter of fact, they clearly identify this point in their own definition of Humanism: “Humanism is a progressive life stance that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead meaningful, ethical lives capable of adding to the greater good of humanity” (American Humanist Association). Second, their disbelief in an afterlife precludes them from the acknowledgement of the gifts of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It also does not allow for the acceptance of a designer of the universe concept to take hold. It was not a matter of a deliberate design or creation; it instead was an accidental occurrence that this planet, the universe, and even life itself took shape. Finally, the rise of humanism must be explained through a historical context with an emphasis on reason and science. Paul began his discussion by bringing his audience together by claiming that they were [Epicureans and Stoics] "very religious in every way" (Acts 17:22). I will attempt the same by declaring there are many shared qualities between humanism and Christianity.
Historical background of the Humanist movement
Hellenic period
During this period, the ancient Greeks included reasoning in their activities and believes rather than live on the believes on faith and supernatural beings. They started their quest for knowledge and emphasized on reasoning. People also focused on their responsibility to the community, and development of themselves. It is these characteristics of the people who lived during this time that led to their adoption of humanism (Annas, 1992).
Midevil period
During this period, most of the humanists were religious people. During this period, most f them had studied the bible very much. One of the very notable humanists of this time was Pope Nicholas who became the first humanist pope. During this time, most humanists were highly educated with quite a good number of scholars among them. It was during the medieval period that the humanists put more emphasis on the physical world and improvement of their arguments. The rise of Christianity came about after the fall of the Roman Empire. Christianity arose from Judaism and was mostly based on the life of Christ and his disciples. There were bishops who considered themselves spiritual successors of the apostles of Christ. Christianity replaced the roman religion. It was divided into eastern and western church. Christians mainly believed in pilgrims and the religion restricted movement of people to local pilgrimage sites. Christianity led to the rise of missionaries who lived worked and studied in monasteries. These Christian missionaries were very important in the spread Christianity in areas such as Ireland and Britain mostly by the work of St. Patrick.
Age of enlightenment period
During this period, humanism developed in the form of arguments that people had about the society. A hand full of people abandoned their traditional believes that were based on faith, and emphasized more on the scientific and more rational methods. They put much emphasis on personal freedom, critical reasoning, and personal progress. Humanism during this period of time was based on the reaction of the people and the reaction of the society in the past times, and giving a lot of consideration to philosophy rather than their former believes, like the ones taught by Paul. The people living during this period rejected superstations and believe in supernatural beings that Paul had been teaching, and started believing in logic and reasons (Bugental, ET. Al., 2001). This was a more modern type of humanism where people rationalized their ways of lives and were able to emphasize on thoughts in all they dealt with. It is during this period that humanism was clearly defined as the radical exodus of believes in the church which were traditional.
Industrial age
It was during the industrial revolution that most people were more and more concerned with improving themselves and appreciating what the humans were able to do, rather than appreciating them as the dealings of god as Paul had taught. People realized that they could do more and bigger things than they could have earlier imagined, something that led to their disregard of god and godliness (Wright, 2009).
Modern day Humanism
The secular humanism has totally denied any existence of god or godliness and put more focus on what humanity has accomplished over time. Its main focus is to oppose the religion, rather than giving support to humanity. Religious humanism, on the other hand, puts more emphasis in celebrating the achievement of human beings and gives consideration to the potential of the same human beings. Typically, religious humanism has all its intention in human beings. However, unlike secular humanism they do not deny the God excels all. It is in this category that the Christian humanists, Jewish humanists, and all the other versions in the other religions lie. In the beginning, this was seen as a positive achievement to what Paul was teaching; however, this changed with the emergence of both secular humanism and anti-humanism among some religions (Bugental, ET. Al., 2001).
Areas in which Christianity and Humanism do not agree
Importance of the human life
This is one place where humanists and the believers in godliness have contrasted most. Humanists view man as being very good and are of the opinion that man always should be very positive about themselves despite their behaviors (Hadas). They, humanists, dealt with guilt with positivity. On the other hand, believers in God believe that human beings are by nature sinners and regard all that they do to God whom they believe enables them to do all that. They believe that God made everyone uniquely and with their own purpose. They believe that man can only be brought together with God through repentance. This shows how humanists are very positive about human beings, while, on the other hand, the believers in God can be considered negative.
Morality is it evolving or absolute
The humanists do not view life with many regards, for example, they support abortion and infanticide. They have also gone ahead to reject the norm than human beings are sinful by nature, and everything they do is okay and that the same is not harmful to the people in the society. What matters most to them in life, is to get the best out of life. This together with the disregard of wrong doing has meant that morals are not at all regarded by humanists. They also believe that morals and values are controlled by each person that is whatever one thinks is good is actually good. Those who believe in God believe that all human beings are born in the image of God, and they treasure life very much. They believe t...