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What Is Humanism?
The true agenda of secular humanism includes nothing less than the following:
Whether or not most Christians realize it, the battle lines have been drawn. The battle that is now beginning to rage will eventually determine who will be the true voice of authority in our culture. Will it be God’s infallible Word, or the humanistic “logic” of men who are at war with God? The humanists know, even if Christians do not, that “the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their roles as the proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity . . . These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers . . . for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach.” [13] Before this article comes to a close, let’s consider the biblical principles that apply to the issue of humanism. The Lord God, not man, is Sovereign. God alone is the Creator, not man or mere physical forces. All power in heaven and earth belongs to God alone. “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17). The earth, the heavens, the seas, and man did not evolve; they were created ---by the Lord God. “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind . . . And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:24, 26). “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). Humanism is not new to this world. It made its entrance in the Garden of Eden. It slithered in, subtle and beautiful to behold, yet it was evil! And the serpent said to the woman, “You shall surely not die: For God knows that in the day you eat thereof [of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil], then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4, 5). “You shall be as gods!” In the face of this one lie Eve fell, and Adam, along with the whole human race, has been falling for the same basic lie and delusion ever since. Humanism calls men to worship the creature rather than the Creator. God’s Word makes it clear: those who do so are liars. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (Romans 1:25). Humanists reject God’s Word, and deny God’s rightful claim to having authority over them and their children. They are corrupt teachers, doers of abominable works. The Lord Himself declares that such ones are worthy of having a millstone tied around their neck, in order that they may be tossed into the sea to drown, for the crime of misleading/offending those who are young (Matthew 18:6). “Behold, they walk every one after the imagination of their evil heart, that they may not hearken unto Me” (Jeremiah 16:12). “The fool has said in his heart, There is no god. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works” (Psalm 14:1). “The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him; but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him” (Ezra 8:22). “There is none that understands, there is none that seek after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:11-12). The humanists put their gods before God; they create a false religion that seeks to make the true Lord of heaven and earth irrelevant. God clearly commanded, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). The Scriptures also warn: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord” (2 Peter 2:1). The humanist holds that man is autonomous, that man is the means and measure of all things. He seeks to exalt himself, and human reason and intelligence, above God. The consistent humanist relies upon man’s intellect and reasoning rather than God’s Word. The Lord warns His people to turn away from such ungodly and foolish individuals. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3: 1-5). Humanism seeks to please man (self and society) rather than God. Thus, it cannot please God. “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). In the battle between the followers of humanism and the followers of biblical Christianity, the ultimate issue centers upon who will be able to influence and inspire the minds and souls of children. The destiny of our beloved nation hangs in the balance, as more and more Christians are being forced to answer the question: ‘Whose side am I on?’ and, when will I be willing to stand up for the truth of God’s Word, and for the children He has sent into the world? Dr. Robert Simonds has identified some of the battle zones where the struggle will rage the hottest. These include the right to life, (upholding the rights of the preborn and the elderly as persons who deserve protection) versus abortion-on-demand and euthanasia; heterosexuality (defining a family as male and female, husband and wife), versus sodomy; morality, chastity, and fidelity, versus sexual license and promiscuity; Christian virtues and health, versus licentiousness and VD, AIDS, and herpes; Christian faith and creation, versus religious atheism and evolution; and parental rights and responsibilities as ordained by the Lord God, versus the state or children having power over parental rights in education. [14] For the Christian, the follower of Christ, there is no discharge in the war against secular humanism. As Paul the Apostle told believers in the sin- laden city of Corinth: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2 Cor. 10:3-5). The only real question, at this critical hour, is whether God’s people will arise and begin to live out the immortal declaration of the courageous man of God named Joshua: “But as for me, and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15b)! End Notes [1] The Humanist, January/February 1983. [2] Neal Frey, “Getting The Humanism Out of The Teaching and Writing of History,” Education for Eternity, Christian Heritage College, August-September 1981, p. 4. This article originally appeared as a chapter in a book published in 1994 by Christian Liberty Press entitled Biblical Solutions to Contemporary Problems. The original book, first published in 1988, was reprinted with the permission of the Plymouth Rock Foundation who holds copyright over the writings of Mr. Walton. The author, Rus Walton, died in 1999. The writings by Rus Walton entitled What Is Humanism?, were edited and updated by Michael McHugh in 2009. |
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