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Richard Runski
Stephen Putney
RLGN 104-B11
09 October 2017
Critical Thinking Paper
In today’s world there are so many opposite views that people find themselves dealing
with. It is all around us with “peaceful” protesting and politics that we typically find ourselves
siding with one side or the other, it is hard to stay neutral with such passionate views.
Everything feels in question and people’s opinions are quickly being challenged. Religion is not
exempt from this new world of harsh criticism; in fact, it takes the hot seat quite often. Different
world views are becoming popular including Secular Humanism. Secular humanism could
arguably be the complete opposite of Christianity. The basis of secular humanism is that humans
exist and function with the exclusion of God and his principles. The exclusion of God and his
teachings from the bible transcend into several areas for the Humanist including, origin, identity,
meaning or purpose, morality, and destiny.
Where do we humans come from and how did the universe come into existence? This
question is often explored in schools and churches. Now a day’s school systems will try to dance
around or avoid anything with a Godly belief and will often take the Humanist approach to teach
the youth of today. Secular Humanists would argue that the universe was not created but rather
is self-existing. They would also argue that man was not created but rather has evolved from a
continuous process called evolution. Christians take the opposite stance on this subject and
firmly believe that God created man in his image. They also hold firm to the belief that God
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created the heavens and earth. In Genesis 1:3 it states “And God said, “Let there be light,” and
there was light.” Humanists believe in evolution where Christians turn to God for the
explanation of origin.
The question of identity involves thinking about what it means to be a human and the
value of life. Humanists hold to the belief that humanity is all physical and not spiritual because
there is no proof of life after death. It is easy to understand the appeal to this Humanist way of
thinking because it is hard to grasp spirituality and believing in the unseen. However, Christians
do believe that we are made up of mind, body, and spirit. Furthermore, Christians wholly believe
that heaven and hell are very real places and the way to heaven is through a personal relationship
with Jesus because he took our place on the cross and paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
Humanists would argue that this way of thinking gives off false hope and that goodness is natural
to human nature which in turn leads to a fulfilling life. Both worldviews can agree that being a
good person is an advisable way of living, they just disagree on why.
The reason we are here; the meaning of life is important for all of us as it guides us on
our journey while alive on earth. Secular Humanists simply believe that the measure of a good
life is based solely on the pursuit of happiness during one’s lifetime. A happy life equals a life
well lived. The problem with this view is that it is superficial in it’s depth. Christians believe
that the purpose is to love God by having a relationship with him through his son Jesus Christ.
Once you have a personal relationship with Jesus you can then follow God’s plan for your life.
He gave us all a purpose as stated in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
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future.” With the Christian way of believing one has hope and a promise to hold onto whereas
Humanism can only suggest to be happy in this life. Happiness doesn’t come easily for
everyone therefore this way of thinking could be harmful.
Morality can be defined as the distinction between right and wrong or good vs evil. For
Christians morality is absolute whereas Humanists are opposed to absolutist mortality.
Christians believe that God’s word gives us absolute guidance regarding right and wrong. The
ten commandments are a good example of God stating exactly how we should morally live.
Secular humanists, on the other hand, believe that moral values derive from human experiences,
meaning that based on the experiences one has in life that will be their compass for what is right
and wrong. On this particular subject these worldviews have more differences than similarities.
The topic of life after death is a touchy topic for most people. Options tend to be strong
on the topic of destiny with Christians and Secular Humanists. Secular Humanists take the
stance that human life takes a naturalist approach in that once the body dies all life is over, there
is nothing after life on earth. Christians go to the other end of the spectrum with their belief in
destiny. Christians believe all life begins and ends with God and that heaven and hell are places
that exist in eternity. In John 14:2-4 Jesus states “My father’s house has many rooms; if that
were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be
where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Christians hold firm to these
promises of heaven and eternal life from the word.
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In conclusion it should be apparent that Christianity and Secular Humanism are vastly
different in their beliefs both in the religious realm and the civil realm. I believe that the great
divide that we are seeing in this country has a lot to do with these 2 worldviews. They directly
tie to many of the social issues we face in what seems like the beginning of another civil war.
