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| | But many historians are hostile to Christianity, and they do not want to credit Christianity for the stunning achievements of the Renaissance. Accordingly, they claim that the Renaissance embraced “humanism”, which favored the capacity of man to reason and think for himself without reliance on Christianity. There is no single definition for “humanism”, and the philosophical term was not used during the Renaissance. But any view that looks to “humans” as the sole source of value can be called “humanist”. | | But many historians are hostile to Christianity, and they do not want to credit Christianity for the stunning achievements of the Renaissance. Accordingly, they claim that the Renaissance embraced “humanism”, which favored the capacity of man to reason and think for himself without reliance on Christianity. There is no single definition for “humanism”, and the philosophical term was not used during the Renaissance. But any view that looks to “humans” as the sole source of value can be called “humanist”. |
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| − | Under an anti-Christian view of history, emphasis in the Renaissance moved away from the focus on spiritual things that was characteristic of the Middle Ages, to a focus on material, earthly things. It is true that the Renaissance men wrote about and painted everyday things, such as the woman depicted in the Mona Lisa. It is also true that the study of nature and science began to become fields of endeavor of their own, and art and literature focused more on the present life than the afterlife. But the great artists and thinkers of the Renaissance were inspired by Christianity in performing their works, and the objects of their work were creations of God. There was nothing at all anti-religious or humanist about the Renaissance. Perhaps 90% of more of its achievements were inspired by Christian beliefs and faith. | + | Under an anti-Christian view of history, emphasis in the Renaissance moved away from the focus on spiritual things that was characteristic of the Middle Ages, to a focus on material, earthly things. It is true that the Renaissance men wrote about and painted everyday things, such as the woman depicted in the Mona Lisa. It is also true that the study of nature and science began to become fields of endeavor of their own, and art and literature focused more on the present life than the afterlife. But the great artists and thinkers of the Renaissance were inspired by Christianity in performing their works, and the objects of their work were men and women created in the image of God (in contrast with paintings of nature, which were rare at this time). There was nothing at all anti-religious or humanist about the Renaissance. Perhaps 90% of more of its achievements were inspired by Christian beliefs and faith. |
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| − | Centuries after the Renaissance, secularism did creep in. Secularism is defined as preoccupation with the material world at the expense of disregarding the heavenly one. This caused people to become increasingly materialistic, a trend in which the church often participated, rather than trying to resist. The teachings of the Bible lost importance to some. Some people rejected religion altogether, becoming secular humanists. But even later, the greatest works were by devout Christians like Isaac Newton and Louis Pasteur. | + | Centuries after the Renaissance, secularism did creep in. Secularism is defined as preoccupation with the material world at the expense of disregarding the heavenly one. This caused people to become increasingly materialistic. The teachings of the Bible lost importance to some. Some people rejected religion altogether, becoming “secular humanists.” But even later, the greatest scientific works were by devout Christians like Isaac Newton and Louis Pasteur. |
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| − | It is true that materialism crept into the church when the extravagant Medici Pope Leo X spent more money than several previous popes combined. The selling of indulgences to fund church building projects, explained further below, spawned the Protestant Reformation. But materialism in building magnificent churches or funding artists like Michelangelo is not the same as the philosophy of humanism, and the claim that humanism was part of the Renaissance is anti-Christian historical revisionism (an alteration of history for improper purposes).
| + | Some suggest that materialism crept into the Church when the extravagant Medici Pope Leo X spent more money than several previous popes combined. The selling of indulgences to fund church building projects, explained further below, spawned the Protestant Reformation. But even materialism in building magnificent churches or funding artists like Michelangelo is not the same as the atheistic philosophy of humanism. The claim that humanism was part of the Renaissance is anti-Christian “historical revisionism” (an alteration of history for improper purposes). |
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| | ===The Northern Renaissance=== | | ===The Northern Renaissance=== |