On humanism

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+On Humanism
+###########
+
+:date: 2021-03-07T22:00:24
+:category: faith
+:tags: Christianity, 
+
+I have heard today yet another sermon where the preacher fought
+against the great of evil of humanism (fortunately, this was
+a tangential comment, the main point of sermon was something else
+and it was very good). It irked me again as it does anytime (most
+often) American protestant pastor fights against the evils of
+humanism. Two reasons:
+
+1. Calling humanism evil is just using wrong label, the label
+   which means a lot of very good things. Humanism_ was very
+   strange combination of things which very good and some which
+   were very bad, but making it sound all bad is just great
+   disservice to many things which I hold dear. Humanism means
+   the beginning of the rationalist tradition of modern Europe,
+   it means great movement *ad fontes* which gave us the modern
+   translations of Bible, modern Biblical hermeneutics,
+   Reformation, revival of the doctrine of the Incarnation, sons
+   of humanism were all great Reformers of the sixteenth century,
+   Martin Luther, Jean Calvin, Czech brethren, Jan Ámos Komenský.
+   Yes, it also meant an unsuccessful Florentine revival of the
+   Greek paganism, first weak attempts of atheism, but still
+   I don’t think it was that unequivocally bad.
+
+   Even if the author of such claim admits that it was just
+   a sloppy using of the term humanism for just its modern
+   version, still I am not persuaded I can take this modern
+   humanism as unequivocally evil. I gave today to my Mum as
+   a gift a book “Skoro modlitby” (Almost prayers), a collection
+   of quotations from the books of Karel Čapek, who is one of the
+   most fundamental representative of the Czech humanist
+   tradition (together with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, our first
+   President, whose one of the most fundamental books is “Ideály
+   humanitní” (Ideals of humanity)). Again, I am not completely
+   persuaded about this tradition, there is a lot on it, which is
+   not great, but older I am getting more I am returning to some
+   of its aspects: stress on “práce drobná” (small acts of work,
+   which is usually more important than a great showy
+   accomplishment), humility, patience with us and with others.
+   Again, I cannot say this humanism is the root of all evil of
+   the modern world.
+
+2. And yet, if we even mention that it is just a wrong label for
+   something which is truly evil, I still don’t know what we are
+   talking about. Whenever I ask what actually is that humanism,
+   which is so evil, I am pointed towards anthropocentrism and
+   statement by the ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher
+   Protagoras that “Man is the measure of all things”. Wikipedia
+   claims that Plato interpreted it (in the Socratic dialogue
+   named after Protagoras himself) as there is no objective
+   truth.
+
+   First, I have no idea what does it have to do with Erasmus of
+   Rotterdam, Lorenzo Valla, or Karel Čapek.
+
+   Second, and what’s much more important, I still don’t
+   understand how the obscure Socratic dialogue has anything to
+   do with the pains of the current world, and especially what
+   should I do to overcome its ultra-evil influence. The word
+   “humanism” is so incredibly vague, that I really don’t know
+   what specifically I should be worried about, what should
+   I avoid. The term sounds more than useful label for something
+   specific as a shibolet, public declaration of membership in
+   the community, with no meaning whatsoever. “I am a good guy,
+   because I declare my opposition to humanism, whatever it
+   means”.
+
+   What exactly I am supposed to do, or not to do? Would that
+   preacher take the time and make one sermon specifically
+   explaining what exactly he/she means under this term?
+
+.. _Humanism:
+   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_humanism