A Brief History
of Religious
humanism as
espoused by the
Church of
Humanism
The roots of
humanistically
oriented
theology can be
traced deeply
into ancient
history. Its
evolution was
signified by
several
developments.
First, the
acknowledgement
of the
fundamental
value and
important role
human beings
assume in the
process of
social and
universal
redemption;
second, the
attempt to
reverse the
prevailing blind
belief in
reality-denying
symbolisms, and
third,
resistance
against the
oppression of
mind and body by
individual and
collective
tyrants,
particularly
those claiming
divinity or
omnipotence.
An exemplary
personality
representing
this spirit was
Akhenaten (1380
B.C.), the
Egyptian Pharaoh
who instituted a
naturalistic
worship of the
sun as the main
life-giving
source. It is
interesting to
note that this
naturalism led
to profound
expressions of a
new aesthetic
realism in art
and poetry. One
of his greatest
moral
achievements can
be seen in the
fact that the
king, queen and
princesses were
not shown as
gods but as
human beings
with human
attributes.
Akhenaten's sun
God was
acknowledged as
belonging to all
nations equally
and was to be
found not in
wars and
victories but in
flowers, trees
and all forms of
life and growth.
To Akhenaten the
sun was also the
"Lord of Love",
the creator of
"the human child
in woman", one
who "fills the
Two Lands of
Egypt with
Love".
Akhenaten's sun
God emerges as a
compassionate,
life-affirming
carer - a God of
gentleness and
peace.
A humanistic
element among
ancient Hebrews
can be found in
the prophetic
call in the
Bible. The
premise "Ye
shall be holy"
has a profound
qualitative
human meaning.
The core idea of
Judaism touches
on issues that
preoccupy modern
humanistic
psychology.
These ideas were
best expressed
in the context
of prophetic
utterances such
as: "A new heart
will I give you
and a new spirit
will I put
within you. And
I will remove
the heart of
stone from your
flesh and I will
give you a heart
of flesh". The
restoration of
the capacity of
feeling was a
prerequisite for
one's ability to
love oneself and
one's neighbors
and to serve
God.
The evolution of
the Jewish
concept of God
is of particular
humanistic
interest. When
the ancient
Israelites
conquered
Canaan, the
local Canaanite
God was called
El. The
Israelites first
took over the
same name of
God, which even
in today's
Judaism is
called Elohim,
but refined this
concept by using
the
tetragrammaton
JHVH. This
acronym for -
"that which will
be, is and was"
- signifies an
existential
concept of
being. As the
concept of God
in Judaism
evolved, the
attributes of
God,
particularly as
expressed by the
prophets of
Israel, emerged
in stronger
ethical
utterances. God
demands devotion
to the cause of
justice,
righteousness,
rationality and
peace. To serve
God means to
help in the
great task of
advancing the
creation of a
redeemed world.
In the East,
another
spiritual force
paralleled this
humanistic
trend.
Siddhartha
Buddha, a young
prince, lived a
sheltered life
in three palaces
in Northern
India, and his
awareness was
limited to the
experience of
luxury and
tranquility.
Suddenly he was
exposed to the
outside world
where he
discovered the
reality of
suffering,
disease and
death. This
awareness
motivated him to
devote his life
to the task of
ameliorating
these
conditions. When
the Great
Enlightenment
came over him,
Siddhartha
realized that
the stumbling
block to his own
salvation and
the cause of all
human misery was
greed: the
craving of a
sick ego, the
desire for the
wrong things.
Buddhism is a
religion without
a specific God,
and some of its
ethical-psychological,
salvation-oriented
teachings are of
prime humanistic
import. The true
yogic mystic is
not a religious
fanatic, but a
person who has
achieved an
inner quality of
being, making
for a greater
awareness of the
self and the
world.
Contemporary
humanistic
theology has its
roots in Greek
mythology and
philosophy.
Among the
significant
archetypes
are: Prometheus,
Antigone and
Socrates. When
Zeus denied
humanity the
vital element of
fire, Prometheus
brought to earth
sparks from the
sun. Thus he
challenged Zeus,
who punished him
severely, but
humanity gained.
A critical
principle in
theology was
thus
mythologically
established,
namely the human
encounter with
arbitrary power.
The classical
humanism of the
Renaissance is
best represented
by Erasmus of
Rotterdam, who
in his "Handbook
of the Militant
Christian"
demanded a new
humanistic
theology based
on a universally
understandable
idea, a religion
which would be
more spiritual
and more humane.
Instead of
stressing dogmas
and rituals, his
emphasis was on
education and
his ideals
included the
striving for a
civilization
united in
speech, religion
and culture. He
detested war and
expressly
declared that
persons of
intelligence and
learning in
every land must
keep the
channels of
communication
open at all
times. Erasmus
did not aspire
to abolish the
Church, but
desired a
"reflorescentia",
a renascence of
religion, a
renewal of the
Christian ideal
by a return to
its Nazarene
ethics. Erasmus
detested
fanaticism and
never wished to
impose his view
upon others. He
deeply affirmed
freedom of
conscience and
absolute
independence of
mind. Thus, the
true servant of
God is one who
is oneself.
A very important
contribution to
the development
of humanistic
theology was
made by the
philosopher,
John Dewey. In
his profound
essay "A Common
Faith", Dewey
provides a
concept of the
religious which
is purely
naturalistic.
According to
him, God is the
active fusion of
the ideal and
the actual. We
might
counterpose this
with the idea of
the diabolic as
the fusion of
the destructive
and the false.
It follows that
a religious
person is one
whose life is
devoted to the
highest (God),
and to serve God
means to live
and act so as to
bring more
social justice,
love and peace
into the world.
In this context
Dewey points to
another basic
humanistic
imperative,
concerning the
process of
growth. Growth,
to him, is the
only moral end.
That does not
mean perfection
as a final goal,
but a constant
process of
transformation
through
perfecting,
maturing and
refining. This
is the aim in
living. And so
the growth of
the ideal, and
its further
realization, is
an act of
divinity in its
most profound
natural and
vital sense.
A major
extension of
these ideas can
be found in the
work of Julian
Huxley. At one
point he refers
to God as Sacred
Reality. Reality
is identical
with the facts
and actuality
and encompasses
the major
challenges of
life and death,
emotional and
intellectual
development,
interpersonal
relations,
marriage and
divorce, health
and disease.
Other components
of reality
consist of
beliefs having
to do with
ultimate issues,
such as ideas
concerning that
which determines
destiny,
acknowledgement
of principles
and forces in
nature, and
ideals such a
peace, truth,
social justice
and love. All of
these become a
part of the
organized idea
system of a
person. This is
the meaning of
the phenomenon
Huxley calls
"finding
religion".
Through the
interpenetration
of the inner
life of a person
with the
all-inclusive,
outer, universal
existence, a
distinctly
religious
feeling emerges,
namely that of
communion with
God.
The art which
must be
practiced in
order to
optimally
coordinate all
human faculties
toward this end
requires
biological,
naturalistic
awareness. The
development of
the senses and
the raising of
individual and
collective
consciousness
are therefore
essential to
evoke this
feeling of
sanctity. The
maximal
enhancement of
the evolutionary
process becomes
a sacred duty,
having a pure,
religious, human
quality.
Worship and
prayer-meetings
are not to be
degraded to
appeals to
appease
idolatrous
forces, but
rather to be
seen as a
communal
proclaiming,
affirmation of
belief and
values for the
delight of the
heart,
edification of
the mind,
meditative
contemplation
and the
uplifting of the
spirit.
An interesting
thesis of
organismic,
evolutionary
being is
elaborated upon
by P.H.J. Van
Leer in
"Challenge and
Answer." The
oneness of
existence is
seen as
dependent on
organisms, each
one being in
itself composed
of parts whose
harmonious,
relationship
constitutes
their creatively
functional
nature.
Therefore, the
process of
self-realization,
the
transformation,
and maintenance
of the whole as
well as of all
its components
becomes the
object of
supreme concern
in the quest for
the achievement
of high states
of civilization
and universal
being.
A major
contribution in
this context is
made by the
existential
theologian,
Martin Buber.
His concept of
reality is based
on three ideas:
1) the idea of
unity, 2) the
idea of the
deed, and 3) the
idea of the
future. The
principle of
unity determines
the existence of
the organism,
the deed
enhances the act
of creation, and
therefore a
particular type
of future
emerges.
Elementary in
this process is
the I-It and
I-Thou
principle. Both
connote a primal
relation. In the
I-It relation
the other is
seen as an
instrument or
object. In the
I-Thou relation
the other is
validated as an
authentic being,
a part of the
same whole. The
I-Thou, the
highest
expression of
authenticity,
can be spoken -
verbally and
non-verbally -
only with the
whole being.
When it is
spoken, its
basic substance
is love, reason
and sanctity.
The dialogical
life leads to
authentic being.
Erich Fromm, the
humanist social
psychoanalyst,
raises important
issues and
provides some
preliminary
solutions. His
social critique
concerns a
condition which
he calls the
pathology of
normalcy.
Contrary to
general belief,
the average
person is not
capable of
loving, rational
thinking or
creative living.
Therefore
certain
prerequisites
have to be met
to enable the
individual to
develop one's
capacities for
reason and love.
One of Fromm's
major theses is
based on the
destructive
effect of
self-centeredness,
narcissism. This
narcissism is
not a simple
sense of
self-adoration,
but is the
result of a
person's
unsatisfied need
for genuine
relatedness and
love. In the
effort to escape
one's state of
separateness and
aloneness a
person tries to
establish
symbiotic,
obsessive, "love
relationships"
which,
reinforced by
the negative
influence of
social reality,
lead to
self-defeat.
Emotionally
deprived people
experience
powerful
feelings of
alienation,
forfeit their
personal freedom
while trying to
attach
themselves to a
love object, and
eventually lose
their sense of
objectivity and
reason. Their
love hunger
leads to
possessiveness
and jealousy,
which in turn
destroy their
relationships.
Moreover,
because of the
excessive
emotional
dependency of
such
individuals, a
whole neurotic
complex ensues
leading to
authoritarian
domination or
submission
expressed as
sadistic or
masochistic
behavior. The
object of
obsession may be
a love partner
or it may be
anything and
anyone on whom
such a fixation
has been
developed. At
the core of the
loss of the
ability to love
lies the
compulsive
parental
attachment which
must be
dissolved before
a truly mature
personality can
emerge. The same
principle
applies also to
whole societies.
Fromm provides
us with a new
humanistic
concept of love,
not based on an
irrational,
romantic process
of "falling in
love", but on
the values of
caring, respect,
responsibility,
knowledge and
joy. Love is a
state of being
and an art, a
challenge of
emotional
transformation
that calls for
the creation of
new human
resources and
modalities
helping to
transcend the
prevailing
ineffectual and
self-defeating
cultural and
institutional
attitudes.
In focusing on
practical ways
of making
creative love,
as a redeeming
personal and
social power
possible, Fromm,
in our time, is
actually helping
to complete the
task started by
Jesus 2,000
years ago.
Further
important work
has been done by
the humanistic
psychologist
Abraham Maslow
who also aspired
to overcome the
tragic and
deficient human
condition. His
major goal is
self-
actualization,
meaning that a
person can
become actually
what one is
potentially -
i.e., the
development of
one's fullest
human potential.
Maslow is the
great unifier of
religion,
science,
psychology and
art. With his
uniquely
insightful book,
"Religions,
Values and Peak
Experiences,"
Maslow's
psychology may
be equated with
religion in
dealing with
ultimate
concerns and
highest forms of
being, centered
around the same
naturalistic,
humanistic
values
promulgated by
the great
founders of
world faiths:
truth, goodness,
beauty,
wholeness,
aliveness,
justice,
meaningfulness.
Maslow provides
us with new
insights and
methods for
transcending
mediocrity and
hedonistic
vegetation, and
for prompting
the spiritual
uplift of human
creativity.
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