Resurrection and Jesus' Enemies

Monday: Humanism

Romans 12:2 In this week’s studies, we learn that if we are to avoid conforming to the world around us, we must learn to recognize God’s truth and pursue it.
Theme
Humanism

In our last study, I introduced the Christian doctrines of God and revelation as the biblical response to the world’s way of thinking. The Christian doctrine of God is the Bible’s answer to secularism, humanism, relativism and materialism. The only one I did not write about explicitly was humanism, and I come to the answer to that “ism” now. The answer to humanism is the Christian doctrine of man. 

Humanism is the philosophy to which human beings inevitably come if they are secularists. Secularism means eliminating God or anything else that may be transcendent from the universe and focusing instead only on what we can see and measure now. But when God is eliminated in this process, man himself is left as the pinnacle of creation and he becomes the inadequate and unworthy core for everything. 

This seems to elevate man, but in practice it does exactly the opposite. In effect, it deifies man, but this deification always debases man in the end, turning him into an animal or even less than an animal. Moreover, it causes him to manipulate, ignore, disparage, wound, hate, abuse, and even murder other people.

Study Questions
  1. What are the four “isms”? Briefly define each.
  2. How does humanism both deify and debase man?
  3. What is Christianity’s response to humanism?
Application

Reflection: Humanism places man at the apex of all things. How do you see the philosophy of humanism around you? What is a Christian response to these examples of humanism?

For Further Study: Download for free and listen to James Boice’s message, “Walking by God’s Word.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)

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