A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL WORLD VIEW


 
 

15. IS HUMANISM THE ODD ONE OUT?





The Influence of Humanism
I didn't realise its influence at the time, but as I look back I see that humanism has had a powerful influence on my life. I attended a church run Secondary School, where at the time the Principal was also a Minister of Religion who taught religious studies at the school.

I remember that during his teaching on the feeding of the five thousand by Jesus, he explained how it was most likely not a supernatural miracle, but that the miracle was that people had been encouraged to overcome their shyness and take out and share their own lunches after a boy had been willing to share his five loaves and two fishes with others.

Likewise the Israelites' crossing of the Red Sea was explained as the result of an earthquake tidal wave that caused the sea to withdraw for a time where the sea was quite shallow, to allow the Israelites to walk across, and then return to trap the Egyptians who with their horses and chariots got stuck in the mud. Everything was explained in natural terms.

That treatment of the Bible says more about a humanistic understanding of the Christian faith, than what it does about the Bible. It must have been thought that by reinterpreting the Bible miracles this way that students could more easily accept the Bible. At the time I had not made any Christian commitment and I was quite open to accepting the explanations that were given, but they influenced my thinking and were a barrier to me in coming to a Christian faith. I wondered, "What is the point of accepting the existence of God if everything can be explained by natural means anyway?".

There was a positive experience that happened for me at that school though. There was a science teacher who inspired me in my lifelong interest in science. As he taught he also witnessed his faith about the amazing and beautiful order in the world because it was God's world. He explained that in learning science we were discovering the mind of God.

What is Humanism?
Secular humanism is the dominant world-view of our age, particularly in the Western world.

Reaper and Smith summarise humanism like this:

Humanism believes this is the only life we have so it is important that it is good. It is based on agnosticism and atheism. Humanists regard human reason as being the guiding force in life. They are secular, wanting to rid society of religious beliefs which, in their view, prevent human progress. Humanists are materialists, not believing in a spiritual world; and empiricist in their approach to knowledge, holding that knowledge comes through the senses. Unlike Christians, humanists see no particular value in having faith, being humble, obeying God's commandments or practicing self-denial. Humanist morality is a code of human conduct, constructed by human beings for human benefit." [ABGTI pg 105]

Humanism has had a long history in the Western World, but probably started with Adam and Eve, when Eve was tempted to eat the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, because "God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what s good and what is bad." [Genesis 3:5] Instead of accepting the authority of God in determining what is right and wrong, the temptation was to make themselves as God in deciding what was right and wrong. Humanism puts mankind as the arbiter of truth and morality, rather than God. God may not specifically be denied, but he is left out.

The roots of our humanism lie in Greek Philosophy however rather than in the Bible. Plato taught the division of the person into body, through which we receive sense impressions, and the soul, which was capable of knowing eternal truths. Although even his pupil Aristotle did not agree with Plato, the stage was set for this division of body and soul, that has remained in our thinking of today.

The 18th century enlightenment saw the rise of humanism that began to use the increasing scientific knowledge to criticise Christian beliefs. Hans Kung explains, "The first came when Copernicus showed that man's earth was not the centre of the universe; the second when Marx showed how dependent man is on inhuman social conditions; the third when Darwin described man's origin from the subhuman world; the fourth was Freud's explanation of man's intellectual consciousness as rooted in the instinctive unconscious." [OBC pg 37]

Humanism claims that all knowledge of reality comes from observation through our senses, and that we should not accept what came only from faith. It is based on a philosophy of naturalism that says we can explain everything in terms of purely natural causes.

In the 20th century the growth of science and technology has made a humanistic worldview the public perception. It seems that everything that we need can be provided for by our own human effort, so why be concerned about faith? Increasingly Governments operate on a humanistic basis, leaving out considerations of faith or morality. Public education in NZ and many places is totally secular, and the media strongly leave religious matters out or bring them up only where there is something that is controversial.

The division of body and soul has swung very much the way of the body, leaving the soul to the realm of private belief.

Humanism puts humans at the centre of thought and action, and leaves out spiritual matters. Instead of belief in God, it stresses the resources we have within ourselves to meet our own need. It attempts to leave spiritual matters out of community life, by sidelining it as personal belief.

Humanists believe the following:

Secular humanism has strongly affected the way we see the world and ourselves. It reduces the role of spiritual things in our society. Many people are reluctant to ask spiritual questions. Many Christians put their main emphasis on material prosperity, and don't expect miracles to happen to them. Hans Kung, a Christian theologian asks, "Why should one be a Christian? Why not be human, fully human? Why in addition to being human, should we be Christians?" [OBC pg 25]

Holes in Humanism
We should be aware of the seduction of humanism however. Not many people in our society have really thought through the implications of humanism and are simply sucked into it because it is the predominant worldview taught in our schools and media, and our society seems to be providing all the goods that are needed through advancing technology for a good life.

The emptiness of modern life that affects so many people is a troubling phenomenon in the West particularly. The abundance of wealth has not solved our problems. The increase of crime and violence, and the breakdown of family life are dire consequences of our humanistic society. The increase of STD's and particularly AIDS is worrying. One cannot expect that the breakdown in morality that has been spawned by humanism will not be without its consequences. Drug problems are also on the increase, a result of both a personal need to escape from the awful realities of life and a breakdown in moral standards.

The collapse of communism in Europe should be a warning to us. Communism which proclaimed a freedom from religion and based its vision of utopia on an atheistic state economy and ethics, found that it reduced people's freedom in practice.

Now the Western World is being challenged by the rise of Moslem nations which don't go along with the division of spirit and body in our secular society. Their private and public unity of faith confronts the West with a powerful mix. I must point out here of course that the Islamic version of faith and politics is based on religious law, which brings an unacceptable lack of freedom as is seen in the oppression of women, lack of true democracy, and their resort to terrorism to maintain or gain power.

Philosophically there are many holes in humanism.

Multi-dimensionality also provides a powerful argument against humanism. Naturalism restricts itself to the consideration of only the physical dimensions, and ignores the others. It is not a complete explanation of our universe or human experience. Humanism is an artificial mental construction that does not fit with our human nature as spiritual beings. Dimensions are open to each other, and not a closed system, so do not require us to be closed to the possibility of other dimensions.

Multi-dimensionality provides an explanation of why Intelligent Design works. To fully understand our universe, a basic need for us as humans, we must take account of the dimension of knowledge that was built into our universe from the beginning. The expansion of this dimension is having a powerful effect on our world with the growth of information technology. This is definitely the way of the future. Our world-wide concern for material goods which in the end is limited, must give way to a concern for the growth of knowledge which does not have any limits.

Humanism is a flat earth kind of world-view that will give way to a 'multi-dimensional' round earth world-view that recognises that there are more dimensions in our universe than what humanism recognises.

CS Lewis Again
C.S. Lewis presents a brilliant exposure of naturalism, one of the underpinning philosophies behind humanism. [M pg 17 - 51 ]

In summary his argument goes:

"The human mind in the act of knowing is illuminated by the divine reason." [M pg 34]

Naturalism logically invalidates itself. Why do we persist with such an imbalanced philosophy and put up with the humanistic worldview that is supported by it? Humanism is not a valid alternative for societies to choose. It is not another form of spirituality as it denies spirituality itself. As such it denies the freedoms of many people to express their spirituality in a variety of ways.

Multi-dimensionality is a Balanced Worldview
Western spirituality says that matter and spirit are opposing realities, and separates out the natural from supernatural. This has led to the development of science, but also to a secular humanistic society, that tends to leave God out.

Eastern spirituality says that it is God who is the ultimate reality, and that the stuff of the universe is a mere shadow. The world is not treated as real but a mere illusion. In this view, the world is something to be escaped from.

But a multi-dimensional world-view says that all dimensions are real, including both physical and spiritual dimensions. They are all necessary for the existence of our world. Multi-dimensionality is a balanced world-view.

Multi-dimensionality contrasts to humanism in the following ways:


Rev Brian Brandon, Revised November 2004

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