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Christian Humanism
A website maintained by John P. Bequette, Ph.D., Historical Theology
What is Christian Humanism?
Christian humanism is a faith-informed worldview that considers all things in the light of the redemption wrought by God in Jesus Christ. Like any humanism, it has the human person as its principle focus, the human person created in the image of God, wounded by sin, redeemed by Christ and called to eternal life in communion with God. The redeemed human person, in turn, cooperates with God in extending this redemption to all creation, "summing up all things in Christ."
There are certain terms that figure prominently within the vocabulary of Christian humanism, terms that express various aspects of this comprehensive summing up of all things in Christ. One such term is integration. Integration carries two meanings in a Christian humanist worldview. Its basic meaning refers to the integrity of every individual created thing. Everything that exists has been created by God carries his blessing, for when God created everything he "saw that it was good." Christian humanism affirms the integrity or innate goodness of everything God has created. Moreover, integration refers to the interrelation of all things within the created order, an interrelation that finds its center or conduit in the human person. Christianity teaches that the human person is created in the image of God and that his bestows upon the person a fourfold relational capacity: a capacity for self-knowledge, self-possession, communion with others, and covenant with God (Catechism of the Catholic Church). According to God's original plan, these four relational dimensions of the human person were to exist in harmony for the fulfillment of humankind and all creation, to the glory of the Creator.
A second important term for Christian humanist thought is stewardship. Being created in God's image, human beings have been given the mandate to care for, nurture and perfect God's creation. The concept of stewardship over creation expresses this mandate. Through stewardship, human beings perfect creation by causing it to express concretely its innate integrity and beauty. Stewardship is the call to integrate creation, to bring creation to its integral perfection.
However, due to sin, this integration has been disrupted. This leads to a third term that figures prominently in the vocabulary of Christian humanism: alienation. Alienation refers to that estrangement that has displaced the harmony of creation. It is felt at all relational levels of the image of God. The human person is alienated from self, from others, and from God. This alienation also affects the stewardship mandate given to humankind by God. We are alienated not only from ourselves, others and God, but also from creation itself. This alienation is expressed in Genesis 3 where God, in response to the sin of our first parents, pronounces a curse upon each of their primal vocations: upon childbearing for the woman, and upon labor for the man. The woman experiences alienation within her own vocation to motherhood, and the man likewise experiences alienation within his vocation to provide for his family.
Another prominent term in Christian humanism is redemption. By becoming man and assuming our nature and our alienated human condition, God has redeemed humankind and through them, all creation from the alienating effects of sin. In and through Christ, the God-man, the human race and all creation have achieved re-integration and restoration. The human person is crucial in this redemptive process, both fundamentally in the particular person of Christ, in so far as man remains the conduit of creation, and in terms of the concrete realization of the redemption in and through the human stewardship mandate.
Thank You, St. Jude. By your intercession, God has answered my prayer. All glory to God, and may devotion to you be furthered.
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