10 Pillars For A New Christian Humanism
A Letter to the Prince of Humanists from Agapetos Mathetes
Dear Mentor,
Peace and Prudence be with you fellow Dutchman, wise scholar of primary sources, craftsman of satire, and beloved Prince of Humanists.
I am writing to you by my own hand from the vast swinging bridge, that suspended link between heaven and earth where mortals’ virtues are burned away in conveyance over Jordan’s stormy banks to that lush garden city of the happiest life where God himself will be, who will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore.
May it be that we walk together and share our minds after the days of our old age on the far side of that sacred boundary where the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb and where the tree of life is ever in bloom for the healing and refreshment of the saints.
Meanwhile, I must humbly presume upon your grace and solicit the employ of your sagacious mind regarding a work that continuously burdens my heart even while the doldrums of daily life so often impede the fulfillment of this hallowed task. I confess I have frequently sought to free myself from its miserable weight; but, try as I might, I was unsuccessful in all of my attempts to dispatch the albatross with my crossbow. With each attempt its noose only grew tighter around my neck.
So it was, some months back, I acquiesced to my fate and determined to wear the Ave like a garment. Unfashionable as it may be in my present circumstance, I have heard tales of Titans who embraced similar affliction and their vexing compulsions became the darlings of posterity. One may take that blind bard from Ionia, the beloved disciple of Jesus, or venerable Bishop of Hippo as some of our preeminent examples.
Certainly, I am no poet. I am barely a theologian, and perhaps only a philosopher in the oldest sense of the word, a simple lover of wisdom. And, although some have conferred upon me the titles of διδάσκαλος and umanisti, I have to admit I’m really only a scribe, and one still in apprenticeship to bote.
So, please believe me when I tell you I have no pretensions of glory in pursuing this work, only a desire to feed the albatross, and the logos-impoverished in the process. And while productivity in this work has so far only been achieved in the smallest of degrees (and even those small successes were only accomplished in fits and starts), I trust that I can find some measure of satisfaction if I begin by clarifying the work.
At the very least, I will know in which direction I should be digging my path. As that modern muse, Dillard, has instructed us,
When you write, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is miner’s pick, a woodcarver’s gouge, a surgeon’s probe. You wield it, and it digs a path you follow. Soon you find yourself deep in new territory. Is it a dead end, or have you located the real subject? You will know tomorrow, or this time next year. You make the path boldly and follow it fearfully. You go where the path leads. At the end of the path, you find a box canyon. You hammer out reports, dispatch bulletins.
To ensure I’m digging in the right direction and sending meaningful dispatches to the most admirable of assemblies and audiences, I’m writing to request your critique of what I’m calling the ten pillars of BOOKS AND LETTERS, the axioms I expect will guide my own digging. This is no manifesto, per se; neither is it an exhaustive list of topics I mean to report on.
Rather, these ten pillars are simply statements that attempt to clarify some of the chief tenants of a Christian humanism in our modern age. The goal is to articulate these statements so they will be comprehensive enough to require some extensive unpacking, concise enough to be memorable, and precise enough to be remarkably accurate.
The meaning contained in each of these statements is far more sophisticated than they might seem prima facie. I suspect, in some cases, their meaning is inexhaustible. Yet, all of these issue from one fountainhead: The Incarnation of the Logos, that historic event through which God communicates, interacts, and redeems the world.
Without further delay, please consider the following ten pillars of Christian Humanism—and please, by all means, as you did with More, Vives, and Luther, provide me with your sincerest and ablest critiques:
The Incarnate Logos is Lord of every square inch of the Cosmos. His name is Jesus and he is the Christ.
Christianity has ultimate purchase on the culture because the glory of God is a living man.1
An irenic theology—albeit not a compromised one—rooted in eucharistic hermeneutics is preferred to a polemic spirit of contest.
The Church is the recollective body of Christ; the family is the essential building block of society; and the magistrate is merely the elected body of executives commissioned with preserving peace and ensuring justice.
Western civilization offers the best model for human flourishing because Christianity animated its virtues and provided the authoritative means of self-critique.
Mankind is, by common grace, a sub-creator; therefore, wherever truth, goodness, and beauty is discovered, it belongs to the Logos. Those who are in Christ Jesus are God’s own poiema, fallen human beings regenerated for good works.
Language is an essential component of the divine order, a conceptual bridge for conveying divine truth and human thought, albeit a sometimes complicated and often deficient medium for mediating signs and their meaning.
Letters, conceived in the broadest sense (i.e., literature), are the golden threads inherent in the fabric of every civilized culture and society (Ad fontes!).
Good writing is clear thinking made visible, including poetry which is, essentially, concentrated and superfluous language which reflect God’s most creative and generous impulses.
Education is an ultimate possession and, with human flourishing at its aim, its activity is the transmission of our cultural inheritance from one generation to the next.
Indeed, dear Mentor of Rotterdam, my attempt to supply some supporting pillars for a Christian Humanism in this post-modern age may seem ambitious, but as has been widely acknowledged that the man who aims his bow at nothing hits his mark every time.
I humbly welcome your gift of insights and corrections; for the man who receives instruction and/or correction is better off than he who supplies it. It is a gift and blessing to him who receives it in humility.
As I eagerly await your reply, I will occupy myself with further reading and research so that I may have somewhat intelligent responses to your gracious but exacting critiques.
Yours, most sincerely,
Agapetos Mathetes
Irenaeus, Against Heresies (4.20.7) in Alexander Roberts et al., The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325 (Edinburgh, Grand Rapids, Mich: T. & T Clark ; Eerdmans, 1989), 490.
Point 3 is huge for me. We need more Reformed Irenicism! Also, I saved this post, definitely coming back to these 10 points because they are fantastic.