Abstract
This collection brings together reflections on the meaning of Christian Humanism and its bearing on education. Although education as a whole is envisaged, the essays have most relevance to teachers working in higher education. Humanism comes in various forms, including in patristic, scholastic, Renaissance, German idealist, as well as Marxist, existentialist, atheistic-secular and Catholic-personalist versions. One definition of Christian humanism is offered here by Martin Schlag: ‘Christian humanism is the unity of the natural and the supernatural dimension in the life of the baptized Christian’ (p. 208). The contributors draw from many different traditions, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Reformed, and more broadly evangelical. Jacques Maritain’s advocacy (quoted on p. 213) that Christian political philosophy should be ‘personalist, pluralist, and peregrinal’ fits well for the sphere of Christian education today. That is, it should address the multiple dimensions of personhood, be open to and inclusive of people with different worldviews and commitments, and carried out conscious of being in the presence of God and aiming for communion with God along life’s journey.
The book is divided into four parts, each with three chapters. Part one examines the theological roots of Christian humanism and their enduring significance. Part two has as its focus Christian humanism in the Renaissance and Reformation. Part three relates Christian humanism to education and the arts (although only poetry receives attention). Part four is on Christian humanism and modernity. Contributors are mostly working in North America, with one based in Switzerland. They represent expertise in history, literature and theology. A well-informed historical perspective runs throughout. Every contribution is well written and interesting, but coherence between the chapters seems elusive. Cumulatively, they show what treasures the Christian intellectual tradition has offered education over the centuries. The editor (rightfully) claims that ‘the culture of modernity that forms our mental habits and moral horizon has lost a shared vision of a common good towards which human nature tends’ (p. 8). Previously, ‘Embedded in a meaningful cosmos, human consciousness participated in a larger natural rational order and moral law that provided common reference points for the questions who we are, why we live, and what we live for’ (p. 9). In contrast, this book demonstrates that Christian faith offers a metaphysical frame of reference and an imago Dei anthropology as fertile resources for educators.
By careful selection from across the twelve chapters, a number of features of Christian humanism can be identified. It will be holistic in taking into account all dimensions of human living. It should be disciplined by virtuous living, and formed in, familiar with and appreciative of the living tradition of Christian faith. It will be positive about and open to all sources of knowledge and seek to love the world. Christian humanists should be in a positive relationship with the church, informed by her Scriptures, nourished by liturgy and rooted in prayer. They should be humble because they are aware of the limitations of the human mind and the debilitating effects of sin on cognition as well as behaviour. They should reach out beyond disciplinary boundaries and seek to contribute to the integration of knowledge in service of healing and caring for the world. While being immersed in the immanent they should be open and responsive to the transcendent. Christian humanists are very willing to learn from sources outside Christianity, but in the process of appropriating selectively from insights external to the faith, they modify and recast what they learn. Their task is to hold together and integrate prayer, virtue and their intellectual endeavours. At the heart of education in a Christian perspective is the expectation that teaching and learning should be patterned on Christ, as model, path and goal (as the Way, the Truth and the Life). As the editor points out, ‘the humanistic goal of Christianity is deification, becoming like Christ … [The] idea of the imago Dei has allowed for an intrinsic human dignity apart from race, nationality, mental or physical abilities, and thus apart from our instrumental usefulness to society’ (p. 146).
A particularly interesting notion for this reviewer is the observation, noted by two contributors, that Christian humanists can serve in a mediating role. They operate in ‘a cultural space between theology, oriented to salvation and the next life, and the professions … whose task is to remedy the physical and civil ills of mankind’ (p. 56). An alternative rendering of this mediating potential is articulated thus: ‘Christian humanism conserves the radical middle between secularism and theocracy’ (p. 190). It holds together the difference and yet also the unity between humanity and divinity.