Christian Humanism

Abstract

Abstract Throughout the history of theological reflection, this term has acquired various and complex meanings. The basic idea, however, derives from the claim in the Hebrew scriptures that God created the human person in God's image, “a little less than God, crowned with glory and honor” (Ps. 8). This dignity accorded to the human person deepens through the Christian belief in the Incarnation, the claim that God became human in Jesus Christ out of love for the world. Consequently, Christian humanism claims that the more one comes to understand and love humanity, the more one will resonate with Christianity as good news, because God is a lover of humanity. Indeed, it believes Jesus Christ embodies this love so perfectly that, in him, God and humanity are intimately united. These basic convictions find theological expression in various ways: Irenaeus's claims about deification (paraphrased as “Christ became human, so that humans might become what He is Himself,” Against Heresies , bk. V, preface); his positive assessments of the theological significance of the humanum (“the glory of God is the human person fully alive,” Against Heresies , bk. IV, ch. 20, pt. 7); and medieval appropriations of Aristotle's account of friendship to describe humanity's union with God (Thomas Aquinas' Summa theologiae , which includes the important Christian humanist slogan “grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it,” [I.1.8 ad 2]).