What is Humanism

[hmbld]

What is humanism, and is there a term that covers the popular concept of when people state things like, "you have to love yourself first before you can love others" or some variation of the make yourself happy, its all about me.  

[Guest Butero]

4 minutes ago, hmbld said:

What is humanism, and is there a term that covers the popular concept of when people state things like, "you have to love yourself first before you can love others" or some variation of the make yourself happy, its all about me.  

I think you are covering two different things.  The idea of loving yourself is not Biblical.  They are actually teaching people to be full of pride.  Humanism as I understand it is when people are their own god.  They are rejecting the true and living God, and seeking to take his place, either by becoming their own god, or by looking to other people to be their god and meet their needs.  That is when we join together as one to fix all the problems ourselves instead of trusting in God.  It makes me think of the story of the tower of Babel.  I admit that I haven't looked up the term "humanism" in the Dictionary.  Perhaps I will do that later on since you started this topic, but when I think of humanism, that is how I see it.  It is a false religion. 

[missmuffet]

We live in "It's all about me" world. Humanism is secular. Looking at humans rather than God.

[Guest Butero]

1 minute ago, missmuffet said:

We live in "It's all about me" world. Humanism is secular. Looking at humans rather than God.

Well said.  "Looking at humans rather than God," is short, to the point, and accurately describes secular humanism as I understand it. 

[hmbld]

2 minutes ago, Butero said:

I think you are covering two different things.  The idea of loving yourself is not Biblical.  They are actually teaching people to be full of pride.  Humanism as I understand it is when people are their own god.  They are rejecting the true and living God, and seeking to take his place, either by becoming their own god, or by looking to other people to be their god and meet their needs.  That is when we join together as one to fix all the problems ourselves instead of trusting in God.  It makes me think of the story of the tower of Babel.  I admit that I haven't looked up the term "humanism" in the Dictionary.  Perhaps I will do that later on since you started this topic, but when I think of humanism, that is how I see it.  It is a false religion. 

Thanks for the reply, when I did look it up it sounded very much like two different things, which made me realize I probably don't understand what humanism is referring to after all.

[Flsnookman]

18 hours ago, Butero said:

The idea of loving yourself is not Biblical.

Matthew 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

This is actually a huge part of the new covenant. We can not love anyone as we love ourselves until we 1st love ourselves and we can not love ourselves until we realize who we truly are, we are redeemed,forgiven and loved saints and children of God. That is our true identity, not this bag of flesh and bones we are encased in now. The lack of that understanding is why the road is narrow indeed.

[hmbld]

37 minutes ago, Yowm said:

Because of our fallen nature self love comes natural. The 2nd Commandment is to love our neighbor, it assumes we are already loving ourself. 

This is how I see it.  Even when we abhor our past actions, it is difficult to stop loving oneself, as we over eat, get lazy about things, etc.   

[Ezra]

On 9/28/2016 at 9:00 PM, hmbld said:

What is humanism...

This definition (below) sums it up nicely, and shows that the Bible is not considered the final authority by humanists. Thus humanism is really "Secular Humanism" and it is the philosophy of western governments, universities, and institutions:

Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence over acceptance of dogma or superstition. The meaning of the term humanism has fluctuated according to the successive intellectual movements which have identified with it. The term was coined by theologian Friedrich Niethammer at the beginning of the 19th century. Generally, however, humanism refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of human freedom and progress. In modern times, humanist movements are typically aligned with secularism, and today humanism typically refers to a non-theistic life stance centred on human agency and looking to science rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world.

Unfortunately, there are many Christians who also think humanistically, and many churches which promote a humanistic approach to their ministries.

[Ezra]

20 hours ago, hmbld said:

This is how I see it.  Even when we abhor our past actions, it is difficult to stop loving oneself, as we over eat, get lazy about things, etc.   

Christians should understand that the Bible teaches a legitimate "self-love" (if you will) as opposed to catering to "the flesh".  Please note carefully (Ephesians 5:29):

For no man ever yet hated his own flesh [body]; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

What is Paul saying in this context? (There are passages where "flesh" means the old sinful nature and other passages where it means the physical human body.)

1. Human beings nourish and cherish their bodies, and this is legitimate, since he compares it to how Christ nourishes and cherishes His Body (which is the Church).

2. Since husbands and wives are "one flesh" (equivalent to one body) husbands are to nourish and cherish their wives just as they look after their own bodies.  In fact this passage teaches that husbands are to love their wives in the same way as Christ loves the Church.

3. Nourishing and cherishing our bodies legitimately means proper diet, rest, and exercise, so that we can function properly and fulfil our responsibilities to God as well as to others. A person who is weak, sick, or disabled cannot properly serve others. Also, since our thoughts affect our health, we are commanded to focus on that which is positive and good.

4. This has no relationship to self-indulgence, but to self-preservation, which is built into every creature. When faced with danger all creatures have either a fight or a flight response, and the physiology of the human body is immediately altered.

5. Self-preservation means protecting ourselves against external harm and danger as well as internal diseases and debilitation. A healthy and fit Christian can do much good for others and serve God with his "whole strength".

[RustyAngeL]

On 9/28/2016 at 10:08 PM, Butero said:

I think you are covering two different things.  The idea of loving yourself is not Biblical.  They are actually teaching people to be full of pride.  Humanism as I understand it is when people are their own god.  They are rejecting the true and living God, and seeking to take his place, either by becoming their own god, or by looking to other people to be their god and meet their needs.  That is when we join together as one to fix all the problems ourselves instead of trusting in God.  It makes me think of the story of the tower of Babel.  I admit that I haven't looked up the term "humanism" in the Dictionary.  Perhaps I will do that later on since you started this topic, but when I think of humanism, that is how I see it.  It is a false religion. 

That term Butero always sounded rather New Age to me.  Maybe I'm way off base but I tend to lean toward to what you are saying.