I think my accuser thought I would take umbrage at being called a humanist. But my reaction was quite the opposite. According to the dictionary a humanist is “a person having a strong interest in or concern for human welfare, values, and dignity.” According to my accuser I am not religious enough. I don’t use the usual religious argot. I don’t use a lot of “amens,” “hallelujahs” or “thank you Jesuses.” He’s right. I don’t.
God is a humanist. He made us in His image. He definitely has human welfare as a major concern, so much so that He gave us His only begotten Son to die for us. He wants us to live by His values and by calling us His sons and daughters (see Romans 8 and Galatians 4) He gives us tremendous dignity. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Often we speak about our believing in Him and fail to emphasize that He believes in us. He is willing to live in us. Paul speaks of our being His temple. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” I Corinthians 6:19.
God is so much a humanist that He was born as one of us in Bethlehem. In Hebrews Paul speaks of Jesus suffering all the temptations that we suffer. That is amazing. So I want to thank my accuser for recognizing that I am indeed a humanist. I’m proud of it. I want to be as much like Jesus as possible and being a humanist is a great step toward the fulfillment of that goal. Join me.
Written by Roger Bothwell on April 15, 2015
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org