Perhaps the most underlying theme throughout the Renaissance was humanism - the focus on the beauty and majesty of mankind rather than divinity. Many may misunderstood this movement as a renouncement of God. In actuality, it was really just a change in the way people were glorifying deity. Instead of focusing on the depravity of humans and the nothingness of them when compared to God, humanists focused on how incredible mankind - God's greatest creation - was.
Little did you know, Renaissance humanism contains the key to solving all the worlds problems. This is it.
You and I need to learn more about the divine potential and worth of everyone else. C. S. Lewis aptly wrote, “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses…” Like the humanists he saw the value of people and the potential of men and women to become like their creator. Mirandola wrote, “Upon man… God bestowed seeds pregnant with all possibilities… Whichever of these a man shall cultivate, the same will mature and bear fruit in him. If… he should [desire]… he will there become one spirit with God… [and] transcend all creatures.” If we treated everyone we met with the respect deserving of being the greatest creation in the universe, capable of transcending all other things, the world wouldn’t need armies or lawyers.
Every day I go from class to class, and everyday someone will saw something that bugs me. Someone will make a comment I feel is ignorant or out of line. Every day I see plenty of reasons to get offended. I don’t always handle these people with respect and kindness. But I’m trying. The more I learn about Renaissance humanists, the more I realize they had the key. If we can only recognize the divine potential in everyone we meet, we would be less inclined to fight and argue, and more inclined to understand.
I’m not saying you need to agree with everyone. I am saying that when we value everyone else and their life and their opinions then contention, pride, and vain ambition will be replaced with something else.
Peace.
Thank you so much for this post Joe! I often struggle with this concept myself, seeing others and myself as having divine potential to succeed and the capability of becoming even more than we can become. What a refreshing thought to think that God inspired the humanists to see us as this way as well!
ReplyDeleteYeah it is interesting that I struggle with this everyday and it seems like the struggle is pretty universal. Renaissance humanists and myself don't have that much in common, but this we shared
DeleteI think that as Christians it's our duty to be optimists: to believe not just in the inherent worth but the also the inherent goodness of people. The legacy we should be inheriting from these philosophers is to respect the dignity and self-determination of everyone, including those unlike you, especially those you have systemic power over.
ReplyDeleteWe still have a ways to go, as a society. (There's a post that goes around the socialist parts of the web every so often: a picture of a newspaper headline that reads 'I Don't Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People'.) But I think in the end trying, as individuals, to live that fully in our own lives, as well as fighting the injustices of others, is what matters.