Ask the Pastor 122

Is it possible for there to be Christian Humanism?

In last week’s article we looked at the subject of secular humanism, but is it possible for some of the things that humanist stand for, be also considered Christian? Humanism comes from the concept of being humane, which is defined as having tenderness, compassion and sympathy for people and animals. The reason why we refer to secular humanism is because biblical Christianity is the most humane of all religions and philosophy. I say biblical Christianity because down through history some very inhumane things were done to people in the name of Christianity which was not what the Bible teaches. The Roman empire was a very cruel and inhumane place to live, as biblical Christianity took hold, Christians were far more humane to people, especially to the poor, slaves and people who had trouble helping themselves. The Roman world was turned upside down through Christian love and charity. To this day there are schools and hospitals in countries around the world which were founded by Christian missionaries. In countries where Christians are routinely persecuted and killed, their testimony is one of forgiveness and love for their enemies. Humanism in terms of being humane was founded by biblical Christianity and the term was hijacked by non-believers to bring in the ungodly form of humanism which emphasizes man as his own god and a form of compassion that is compromise without an absolute truth. To the secular humanist, there is no absolute definition to compassion as compassion or being humane can be to kill for the greater good or to put a person out of their misery. It is important to remember that the final solution to any social problem for the secular humanist is death, but for the biblical Christian there is life, both a better life in the here and now and eternal life after this one is completed.

Have questions about the Bible? Send them to Dr. Greg Koehn at gak4850@gmail.com and read the answer here in this article.