Christian humanism
Christian humanism regards humanist principles like universal human dignity, individual freedom, and the importance of happiness as essential and principal or even exclusive components of the teachings of Jesus. Proponents of the term trace the concept to the Renaissance or patristic period, linking their beliefs to the scholarly movement also called 'humanism'.
Theologians such as Jens Zimmerman make a case for the concept of Christian humanism as a cogent force in the history of Christianity. In Zimmerman's account, Christian humanism as a tradition emerges from the Christian doctrine that God, in the person of Jesus, became human in order to redeem humanity, and from the further injunction for the participating human collective (the church) to act out the life of Christ.[1]
The term has been criticised by figures associated with the humanist movement, with some noting that it lacks coherence, or is in fact used to argue for the "exceptionalism" of Christianity. Some Christian humanists, for example, go so far as to suggest that other understandings of humanism are inauthentic, saying that "common humanity, universal reason, freedom, personhood, human rights, human emancipation and progress, and indeed the very notion of secularity... are literally unthinkable without their Christian humanistic roots."[2][3][4]
Criticism[edit]
Andrew Copson refers to Christian humanism as a "hybrid term... which some from a Christian background have been attempting to put into currency." Copson argues that attempts to append religious adjectives like Christian to the life stance of humanism are incoherent, saying these have "led to a raft of claims from those identifying with other religious traditions – whether culturally or in convictions – that they too can claim a 'humanism'. The suggestion that has followed – that 'humanism' is something of which there are two types, 'religious humanism' and 'secular humanism', has begun to seriously muddy the conceptual water."[19]