Another enemy of the cross today is secular or atheistic
humanism. This humanism should not be confused with the humanism that arose in
Europe and led to the end of the Dark Ages. That type of humanism believed
in mankind’s potential as beings created in His image with the divine command
to subdue the world. This involved understanding how the world worked as
created by God and putting that knowledge to work for humanities’ benefit.
Secular humanism is the belief that mankind is the highest
being; it is the religion of man. The foundation doctrine of humanism
today is naturalism. There is no God according to humanist teaching so any
explanation which requires anything supernatural is rejected. This means
the world and all life on it is the result of natural processes. This
process is evolution, and it is applied to nearly every field of scientific
study. In order for that to be possible, the earth must be an
ever-increasing number of years old.
The foundation of naturalism makes it an
enemy of the cross. But its real damage is when the idea of naturalism is
applied to the realm of religion. Every society wants to know where it came
from. The ancients from around Palestine all had their creation myths
involving activities of their gods. The influence of humanistic thought is
seen when people professing Christianity refer to the Genesis account of
creation as a myth as happened several years ago in a college founded by, and
supported by, members of
the Lord’s church. Why is this dangerous?
The foundation of Christianity is Genesis 1-12. In chapters 1 and 2 we
learn of the origin of the world and all life on it. Chapter 3 records the
beginning of sin and the promise of a coming Savior who would defeat Satan
(Genesis 3:15). In chapter 4 we find the struggle between good and evil
depicted in the events of Cain and Abel’s worship, and Cain’s decision to
kill his brother. Chapters 6-9 record the events leading up to, during,
and immediately after the flood. Chapters 10 & 11 deal with the origin of
the various languages and the migration of people as they re-populated the
world. Chapter 12 accounts for the birth of the Jewish nation and the
promise of the Messiah coming through them.
The origin of sin, the punishment of the world for sin in the flood, the
confusion of languages because of sinful rebellion, and the need for the Jewish
nation through Abraham all fall if we are not a product of God’s special
creation in His image. If the account of creation in Genesis 1 & 2 is
a myth, then there is no truth in it. No truth and all the rest of the
Bible attempts to solve a problem, sin, has no foundation in reality.
Another area of religious teaching which suffers at the hands of humanist
influence is the life and actions of Jesus. Miracles are by definition not
possible. They simply could not have happened. Jesus did not
walk on the water, He did not feed the 4000, the lame we not made to walk,
etc. These are exaggerations about Jesus which grew over time by zealous
disciples much like modern folklore has developed. This means the New
Testament is not really truth! Yet Jesus said it is the truth of His
teaching which sets us free (John 8:31,32).
—Denny