Humanism and Christianity.

[Clement]

Francis Schaeffer was an interesting guy. People have compared his "Theological Outlines" to the "Summa Theologica" for their clarity and logic. Just before he died he penned a few thoughts on why humanism is destined to fail as a moral compass.

Man has for ages asked what is an adequate basis for law. Humanism, with its inherent Marxism and Darwinism, will always lead to moral chaos, anarchy, and finally totalitarianism, because it cannot control the tendency of man toward lawlessness. Freedom must have form, but without biblical law, its concepts of justice, and accountability before God, the only form powerful enough to restrain moral freedom is totalitarianism. When democratic government has been imposed on cultures without the moral foundation of the Bible, it has almost always led to totalitarianism.

The idea that laws that hold sway over both men and kings serves as
an essential foundation to the form-freedom balance America enjoyed for
most of its history. John Witherspoon, the only pastor to have signed the
Declaration of Independence, preached on the first Thanksgiving Day that
“a republic once equally poised must either preserve its virtue or lose its
liberty.” Another founding father, William Penn, once expressed the balance
thus: “If we are not governed by God, then we will be ruled by tyrants.”
These men understood how Christianity as a worldview established the
delicate balance of liberty and freedom in our country's government.
Therefore, the First Amendment to the Constitution may not be construed
to imply that the founding fathers intended to separate faith and government
the way secularists wish to imply. The First Amendment sought to prevent
the establishment of a state church, and ironically to prevent the government
from interfering in the practice of religion. However, as Humanism has
taken root as the predominant worldview of America, the First Amendment
has been turned on its head. Under the guise of the First Amendment,
Christianity specifically and religion in general is being forced out of civil
government.

William Blackstone, the author of the very important Commentaries on
the Law of England, held that the law was upheld by two foundations, nature
and “revelation,” or Holy Scripture. Throughout most of America’s
history, Christianity was recognized as forming the basis of our law.Today, Christianity no longer serves as a foundation for America’s law
and government. Sociological law, as the natural consequence of the establishment of Humanism, now governs America's concept of law.

Sociological law sees man as the arbiter of right and wrong, rather than seeing right and wrong as a fixed principle apart from man. It removes the concept of absolute morality as integral to just law and replaces it with whatever is perceived as best for society at the moment. It is fundamentally different.

Promoters of Humanism do not realize its failure to address life as it is,
its failure as a measure of truth. The idea that law is established apart from
man gives form to the freedom we once enjoyed. Humanistic thought, on
the other hand, faces the daunting challenge of accomplishing what no
other civilization in history has accomplished, namely, the maintenance
of a moral ethic without the aid of religion.

Humanism has led to the new pluralism, the idea that every option is
acceptable. This concept drives not only matters of personal decision, but
also those of society and government.

All of these factors have combined to create a culture where law is situational, arbitrarily decided by a select few and imposed on all through the
court system, and especially the Supreme Court. While the Humanist worldview has inevitably produced such fundamental change, Christians largely failed to recognize the danger until it was far too late. Christians must see the totality of the situation, realizing that the symptoms spring from the root of culture's worldview.

“Law in this country has become That is, a small group of people decide arbitrarily what, from their viewpoint, is for the good of society at
that precise moment and they make it a law, binding the whole society by their personal arbitrary decisions.” (Emphasis mine)


The cultural battle of ideas is in full swing, and many of the most persuasive
voices stand with Humanism against Christianity. The media, for
example, holds tremendous power in our culture. Public tax money is
used to promote the ideas of Humanism as expressed in the issues of
Darwinism and abortion. The news media functions as a fourth branch
of the federal government, shaping the public perception of events. Such
power has dramatic implications for the future of democracy, especially
because so much of the media is dedicated to the principles of Humanism.
If Christians are to faithfully live out the implications of their faith,
they must engage the culture on all fronts. If Christ is Lord in the life
of a Christian, he must bring Him to bear on the question of Truth,
even as it relates to civil government.

Advocating civil disobedience is a sober step, one that should be taken
with a great deal of caution and care. As Christians, we respect the rule
of law and, like Rutherford, are the opposite of anarchists. However, it
is when the rule of law abandons its own foundation that the Christian
must weigh his response.

Rutherford explains three different levels of resistance appropriate for
a private person. The first level involves protesting the breach of God’s
law and may involve litigation. The second level is to flee if possible.
When these methods fail, he advocates the use of force in self-defense,
if necessary.

For a corporate body, he advocates protest and, if necessary, the use
of force. It should never be lawless rebellion, but proper force to compel
or restrain.

Such resistance should always begin at the appropriate level rather
than the highest level and should always be viewed with an eye first to
reconstruct and correct rather than to disrupt and destroy. Because we
live in a fallen world, force of some form will always be necessary. However,
on this point, Christians will often stop short with regard to government,
unaware that the use of force is not just the right of a state. So in
advocating this position, we must always remember that the exercise of
force must always be legitimate in reason and exercise, and must never
cross the line into unmitigated violence.

In the face of unjust government, it bears repeating that force is a last
option. Are we willing first to suffer unjustly, and even endure prison or
civil penalties, to protest wrong government? We face such challenges
as our government becomes more secular and more humanistic, because
the humanistic worldview is exclusive. It does not tolerate any viewpoints
different from its own, and it elevates the state to godlike status.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

Humanists are humanists because they do not know God. It goes back to the Greeks, philosophy, worship of the mind, intellectualism, hedonism etc. where the void is? Perversion fills it completely..

Still it takes God to know God, it takes God to love God, to repent, to do anything of genuine value..so for the humanist - we must pray always..

A.W. Tozer wrote some excellent books on the subject of humanism. One of my favorite quotes from him is this:

“We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. “No man can come to me,” said our Lord, “except the Father which hath sent me draw him,” and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the out working of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: “Thy right hand upholdeth me.”

- A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

 

[Clement]

Humanists are humanists because they do not know God. It goes back to the Greeks, philosophy, worship of the mind, intellectualism, hedonism etc. where the void is? Perversion fills it completely..

Still it takes God to know God, it takes God to love God, to repent, to do anything of genuine value..so for the humanist - we must pray always..

A.W. Tozer wrote some excellent books on the subject of humanism. One of my favorite quotes from him is this:

“We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. “No man can come to me,” said our Lord, “except the Father which hath sent me draw him,” and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the out working of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: “Thy right hand upholdeth me.”

- A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

The piece I posted is from Francis Schaeffer's "http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Manifesto-Francis-A-Schaeffer/dp/1581346921/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399747131&sr=8-1&keywords=a+christian+manifesto". Schaffer is always a good read.

 

[Clement]

Humanists are humanists because they do not know God. It goes back to the Greeks, philosophy, worship of the mind, intellectualism, hedonism etc. where the void is? Perversion fills it completely..

Still it takes God to know God, it takes God to love God, to repent, to do anything of genuine value..so for the humanist - we must pray always..

A.W. Tozer wrote some excellent books on the subject of humanism. One of my favorite quotes from him is this:

“We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. “No man can come to me,” said our Lord, “except the Father which hath sent me draw him,” and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the out working of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: “Thy right hand upholdeth me.”

- A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

The piece I posted is from Francis Schaeffer's "[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Manifesto-Francis-A-Schaeffer/dp/1581346921/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399747131&sr=8-1&keywords=a+christian+manifesto"]A Christian Manifesto[/ame]". Schaffer is always a good read.