Return to Christian Humanism Part II


CHRISTIAN HUMANISM PART III


THE HUMANISTIC SYNTHESIS


As we have seen from the previous page, neither Rationalism; The Age of Reason and all that came out of it, nor Empiricism; The Age of Romanticism and all that came out of it (nor any other Philosophical System put forward as an Absolute) co9uld ultimately solve the Humanistic problem of a Universal.

Both Systems had been defeated in turn: Rationalism by Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason, and Empiricism by Hume in his An Essay on Human Understanding. Hume also defeated Rationalism as well.

Therefore mans' Humanistic attempt to find a valid Humanistic Universal from the source of himself was at an impasse. Then came George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831).

Hegel, who came out of the philosophical movement called "German Idealism", was a man of powerful intellect in his own right. He was also a student of theology. Hegel saw the irreconcilable tensions between these two opposing Systems and other systems of philosophy as well. He saw that each fought with the other to establish the pre-eminence, as the Absolute. Logically, it had to be one or the other. Yet could this be reconciled? Could all Systems be reconciled as well? This resulted in The Hegelian Dialectic.


THE HEGELIAN DIALECTIC


Up to Kant, all Logic had been divided into "circles" to determine truth. A Philosophical Systen put forward as "valid" was in one circle termed "A". Everything that was outside that Philosophical System was placed within another "circle" termed "A" or "not A" and therefore invalid.

Hegel took these two circles and said they could be combined. That combination of "A" and "-A" resulted, not as in valid or invalid, but in a whole new result: a "Synthesis". The Synthesis became the validity, the answer, the reconciliation. It gave them the precedent (we could say by a form of "intellectual evolution") to base their thinking upon, and theoretically practice.

Evolution as a Theory was making great inroads at the time, and Hegels' Dialectic reflected that type thinking. Charles Darwin had also been a student of theology. Hegel said that even all human history was based on such a tension, and that human history itself was born of this conflict, one System "synthesizing" with another. Therefore it possesed its own inherent "validity". Hegel simply threw the entire time-honored Method of previously determining Truth straight out the window.

It is the Hegelian Dialectic that is taught in colleges and universities today. This is where the idea comes from that "the only thing you can be sure of is Change", and "there are no absolutes" because one System synthesizes itself with another over and over again, so "get used to it".

Using the Hegelian Dialectic as a model many Systems then appeared which would not have otherwise been accepted. Even atheists were now contributories using the Hegelian Dialectic. One man and two Systems we should think of are Sigmund Freud, and the rise of Psychology and Psychiatry.


DR. SIGMUND FREUD


Dr. Sigmund Freud is the Founder of modern-day Psychiatrys' Psychoanalysis. Dr, Freud was a life long atheist. He combined the two opposing Systems of Rationalism and Emiricism into his own Humanistic System called Psychoanalysis. There were Rational "(Logical) solutions based upon Emperical obervation and data, Hiosmthe patient "felt" about thisns and their "evolution" with their "past experiences" and environment being two primary considerations, were all included together in Psychoanalysis.

A True Minister of the Gospel used to be called an an Expert Witness in criminal and civil court cases. With the advent of Humanisnism, Psychiatry came to the fore, and discredited the Ministers of G-ds' Word. The Psychiatrist then displaced the Minister of the Gospel completely. Psychiatrists are now considered the "expert witnesses" in criminal and civil court cases.

Some have given Psychiatrists the title "the high priests of Humanism". If so, their theories should be called "The New Torah".


CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY AND "THE NEW TORAH"


Dr. Freud has had remarkable impact on some Churches and Christian organizations. These Humanistic principles have found fertile ground in some of them. Some Churches followed suit in the quest for a Humanistic solution to mans'problems and adopted Psychological terms and therapies. Since their thinking was Humanistically based, they accepted these things for it gave promise as some solution to many problems Humanism created.


Humanism has not found the answer yet. And it never will.


MORE FOLLOWING SOON!


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FOOTNOTES


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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CREDITS


Darwin, Charles. Origin of Species.

Freud, Dr. Sigmund. Collected Papers. 1919.

Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. Saint Louis, Missouri. Prince Press. 1999.

Hegel, George Wilhelm Friedrich. Collected Works.

Hume, David. An Essay on Human Understanding. 1748.

Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason.

Schaeffer, Dr. Francis. How Should We Then Live?. Video Series.



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