Humanism: The Self-Destructing Religion Infecting Christians

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.  [Colossians 2:8]


I wanted to share a post written by Kelly Crawford of Generation Cedar (Guest blogged at Visionary Womanhood).  Humanism is a subject that has been on my mind quite a bit.  See, I often read and hear things from humanists that sound really good. I hear words like hope, truth, safety, happiness, justice, goodness, and helpfulness, but the truth is, Humanism ultimately believes in relativism. Therefore, what is justice to me may not be justice to you. What is true for me may not be true for you. What is goodness for me may not be goodness for you. Thus, there cannot really be real hope, true truth, actual safety and so on because it all depends on how one feels, interprets, etc those things. Secular humanism is a philosophy of life, a religion itself, which views man as the supreme being in the universe and rejects God and the supernatural. Moral values and truths vary from person to person since it's "all relative".  How can one combine humanism and Christianity?  It cannot be done without sacrificing the very foundation Christ laid.

Humanism: The Self-Destructing Religion Infecting Christians


The most serious enemy facing mankind today is the same one that has always been…the “Tempter’s Creed” known as secular humanism–a.k.a. the worship of MAN. We are now seeing the full-blown fruit of it in America as we bury the last shreds of our founding father’s faith and devotion to God’s laws, replacing it with our devotion to man’s law.

“Humanism is the second oldest religion known to man. It goes back to the Garden of Eden…Its first article of faith is the belief that all things, including every word from God, must be put to the test of man’s reason and experience: ‘Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ “ R.J. Rushdoony

Humanism is the belief that all things exist for man’s good and betterment, and therefore man determines right and wrong; Christianity is the belief that man exists for God, and as such, He knows what is best for us. (The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.)

The two are antagonistic in nature. But there is a MAJOR problem…many Christians have unknowingly begun to follow the doctrine of humanism, wounding the body of Christ, rendering themselves impotent–and even worse–accomplice to man’s destruction.


Read the rest of this post here at Visionary Womanhood.

But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:3

Explaining "Born Again" to children

We're reading in John 3:1-7 this morning.  I feel that many of us, especially children, can relate to Nicodemus' question, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

And Nicodemus still had a difficult time understanding Jesus' answer, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

Can you imagine Nicodemus' confusion?  "How can these things be?" (verse 9).

How can we explain such an important aspect of what is means to become a Christ follower to our children?  Of course, the Holy Spirit is the one who has to do the revealing (really, I did not grasp this teaching until I was captured by the Lord in my early 20's), but I feel it is good to help children begin to understand what it is to be born again.

I like the way the site, Sermons4Kids approaches the subject.

Think about the story of "The Hungry Caterpillar?" When he came out of his cocoon, he wasn't an improved caterpillar, was he? No,he was a totally new creation. A butterfly! That's the way it is when we let invite Jesus into our heart. He doesn't just make us a better person. He makes us a new creation!

I'm not a fan of the whole "invite Jesus into our heart", because that's not really a biblical principle, so I explained that when we confess our sins, repent, and surrender to Christ, the Holy Spirit enters us, and we become a new creation in Christ.  We look the same on the outside, but our hearts and minds are changed. We are no longer the same person!

The children enjoyed illustrating this lesson with a picture of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly!