Holiness
Humanism
Bob Bedford
I Corinthians 10:31
I was preparing an original oratory to present at the speech tournament in my
senior year of high school. The subject of that speech was a condemnation of
the prior year’s Supreme Court ruling outlawing prayer in the public schools.
My research included a study of the “Humanist Manifesto”. This ruling was a
major step in the secularization of American culture. One of the prior steps in
that process was seizing control of the public school system a few decades
earlier by humanists.
Humanism is an attitude concerned chiefly with human beings: their values,
capacities and achievements. It is the elevation of mankind as its own god to
the exclusion of the Creator. Even though debunked by its founder in his later
years, evolution is now taught as a fact without scientific proof.
Humanism has invaded every department of government and religious arguments are
banned from the courtroom. Judges no longer make pretense that justice will
prevail in their courts. They are courts of secular law and leave no room for
morality. It is the epitome of absurdity for schools and local governments to celebrate
Christmas without any recognition of Christ. But because federal judges are
without a moral conscience, they have imposed secular humanism on the majority.
But humanism is not just the kingpin in government. It invades every
institution of society. While at first glance “holiness humanism” might seem
like an oxymoron, we need to look a little closer. In this context, I’m
referring to our institutions we include in our holiness banners.
It is man who has created denominations, distinctive local churches, colleges
and other schools, mission organizations, etc. Even though we may give lip
service to Christ as the head of the Church (Eph. 5:23), mostly we operate as
headless institutions. Other parts of the “body” have seized control. We feel
it necessary to protect our distinctives,
letting people know where westand. We
are far more concerned about our reputation than we are about
God’s honor. Jesus never created any institution – He was probably aware that
we would soon substitute institutions of our making for the vital presence of a
holy God. Holiness is not imparted by conformity to club rules but by the
cleansing power of the Holy Spirit.
Holiness remains a name by which we identify ourselves. But we no longer do “all
to the glory of God”. (I Cor. 10:31) We celebrate our
heritage but we lack the fervor. It was solely for the glory of God that early
Methodists invaded