Christian humanists

Christian humanism emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, his social teachings and his propensity to synthesize human spirituality and materialism. It regards humanist principles like universal human dignity and individual freedom and the primacy of human happiness as essential and principal components of, or at least compatible with, the teachings of Jesus. Christian humanism can be seen as a philosophical union of Christian ethics and humanist principles. The term humanism was coined by theologian Friedrich Niethammer at the beginning of the 19th century.

Christian humanism has its roots in the traditional teaching that humans are made in the image of God (Latin Imago Dei) which is the basis of individual worth and personal dignity. This found strong biblical expression in the Judeo-Christian attention to righteousness and social justice. Its linkage to more secular philosophical humanism can be traced to the 2nd-century AD writings of Justin Martyr, an early theologian-apologist of the early Christian Church. While far from radical, Justin in his Apology finds value in the achievements of classical culture. Influential letters by Cappadocian Fathers Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa confirmed the commitment to using preexisting secular knowledge, particularly as it touched the material world.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, there were thoughts of a more Christianized humanity for society. Western Christian clerics controlled education, since only the monasteries remained as seats of learning. Charlemagne requested that scholars set up places of learning that would become universities in the 12th century. Eastern Christians meanwhile continued the late Antique practice of studying in the homes of secular masters, studying the same curriculum of classical Greek authors as their predecessors in the Roman period: Homer's Iliad, Plato's dialogues, Aristotle's Categories, Demosthenes' speeches, Galen, Dioscurides, Strabo, and others. Christian education in the East largely was relegated to learning to read the Bible at the knees of one's parents and the rudiments of grammar in the letters of Basil or the homilies of Gregory Nazianzus.

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