The Satanic Origins of Humanism, Part IV

The humanism of today is primarily naturalistic in its metaphysics. The first affirmation of Humanist Manifesto I, for example, is that the universe is self-existing and not created. Likewise, the second affirmation is that man has come about as the result of a continuous process.

Over the last several days, I have discussed two epistemological problems with humanism (again, "epistemology" refers to one's theory of how we come to know things). But there is a third epistemological problem of humanism. This problem is centered around the correspondance between human perception and the real world. If all that exists is matter in motion (per the humanist's naturalistic metaphysic), then human thought and perception is nothing more than matter in motion. Our thoughts are just the result of chemical reactions in our brains—matter operating in accordance with natural law. But we know that impersonal matter has no interest in leading us to right conclusions based on sound observations. So if our thoughts and perceptions were merely the result of matter operating in accordance with natural law, we couldn’t really know anything. There would be no reason to believe in a correspondance between our thoughts and a real world. Thus, the logical implication of naturalism is nihilism

Nihilism says that nothing can be known and all things are, therefore, meaningless. Of course, for those who are willing to embrace nihilism, we must ask how they know that nothing can be known if nothing can be known, but most are not willing to live with these implications.

So the question for the humanist is: If your thoughts are the result of matter operating according to natural law, how do you know that your thoughts correspond to reality?

The epistemological problems about which I've been writing in my last three blog posts corroborate the Satanic origins of humanism. These problems demonstrate the biblical truth that we reap what we sow. When we follow the example of Satan by attempting to establish ourselves as autonomous human knowers, we are suppressing the truth of God in unrighteousness. When we suppress the truth in this way, we reap the negative consequences of our sinful thinking. The epistemological problems, logical contradictions, and incoherence of the humanist position are prime examples of the negative consequences of sinful thinking--the kind of fruit we reap when we sow the seeds of rejecting Christ as the Lord of all knowledge.

The Satanic Origins of Humanism, Part III

Another epistemological problem with humanism is that human reason is not autonomous. As a humanist begins to reason, he utilizes the laws of logic. So the question becomes, where do these laws come from? Human autonomy can’t account for the laws of logic because these laws are universal—they are transcendent. And if the humanist seeks to argue otherwise, he must presuppose the laws of logic before he gets started. So the laws of logic are prior to human reason. And this is inconsistent with the humanist contention that humans are autonomous. This shows that there is something that precedes human thought. The thoughts of human beings are dependent upon a transcendental way of thinking. So, in the end the humanist is unable to account for the laws of logic.

The Satanic Origins of Humanism, Part II

As I mentioned yesterday, humanism is based on human autonomy. Humanist epistemology, then, is a theory of knowledge in which it is believed that man is able to know and understand the world around him based on this autonomy.

Now, there are several serious problems with this that I will look at over the next several days. These are problems we can exploit in our efforts to poke holes in the humanist worldview. First, humanism is a position in which it is believed that an individual independently come to a place of objectivity from which he or she is able to judge the world. Humanists might say things like "let us look at this objectively” or "let us set aside our differences and think about this rationally.” The problem here is that the humanist is unable to view things from an objective standpoint. The minute that a person believes that humans can be objective in-and-of themselves is the moment that he or she becomes biased. Whenever we embrace the notion that we can be objective, we have already become biased. This is a bias that dictates that any viewpoint contrary the humanists own "objective" viewpoint is faulty. So ultimately, one cannot hold that he is objective in-and-of himself and be objective at the same time.

In light of this, one question we might ask a humanist, then, is this: How can you be objective about something if you’re not willing to believe that you cannot be objective? Objectivity from a humanist perspective implies a level of openness towards truth claims that have not been tested by human reason. But what about the possibility that their epistemology (theory of knowledge) is flawed? This line of questioning may be fruitful by the power of the Spirit to help the humanist to begin to see his or her need for a Savior.

While the humanist is unable to be objective, the Christian worldview is the objective standpoint. God’s standpoint is the only objective standpoint and one cannot be objective without God's perspective. Since the Christian worldview is one in which divine revelation is a reality, only the Christian worldview can account for how people are able to view things from an objective standpoint. As Christians we understand that God Himself has given us the God’s-eye view that is necessary for objectivity.

The Satanic Origins of Humanism, Part I

As we begin to think about humanism, we first need to understand exactly what it is that we’re talking about. Most historians consider humanism to be a relatively recent development. During the Renaissance, the word humanism was created to refer to an educational program—the humanities. It was created to differentiate the classical curriculum of Greek and Latin from the then newer emphasis on science and mathematics. So at this point the word wasn’t used to signify a philosophy or a worldview, but it was used to refer to an educational program.

It was not until the Enlightenment came about several hundred years later that the word humanism came to refer to a philosophy. Now as you know, the 17th-18th century Enlightenment is known as the age of reason. So humanism came to be used to refer to the Enlightenment philosophy in which human reason became the philosophical basis for human dignity. Whereas it was once understood that human dignity and value was based on the fact that man was created in God’s image, humanism says that man is valuable because he is the only being which has the ability to reason.

Protagoras is considered by many to be the founder of humanistic philosophy. His motto was homo mensura—which means man is the measure of all things. Protagoras said man is the measure of all things, of things that are, that they are; and of things that are not, that they are not. And so this is a philosophy in which man is elevated to the place of God. While the Christian worldview is one in which we say let God be true and every man a liar, humanism says that the human being is the final judge of all things. In the words of R. C. Sproul, in the case of humanism, "there is no ultimate distinction between a supreme being and a human being because the human being is the supreme being."

Most historians see humanism as are relatively recent development; they see it as having come about during the enlightenment. And I think that most philosophers probably recognize Protagoras’ motto "man is the measure of all things," which goes back to around 400 BC, as the philosophical basis for humanism. But as Christians, we ought to recognize that humanism is much older. When Adam and Eve determined that they had a right to decide whether or not to obey God, Humanism was born. When Satan tempted Eve in the garden, he said, "you will be like God…” And it was Satan himself who said:

I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.' (Isaiah 14:13-14)

Adam and Eve determined to follow the devil’s example. Therefore, a more appropriate description of humanism might be Satanism. For as we are Christians who seek to follow Christ’s example, so too those who follow Satan’s example can be described as Satanists. If I might bottom line this for you, I would do so using Van Til’s implementation of the word humanism. He uses the word synonymously with the word autonomy. And that’s what this is all about—human autonomy.