09 February 2020
Word of the Day: Humanism
HUMANISM. Name originally given to the intellectual, literary, and scientific
movements of the fourteenth century through the early sixteenth. Their aim was
to base every branch of learning on the culture of classical Greek and Roman
antiquity. On its pagan side, it extolled the early non-Christian writers who
stressed the full development of human nature, only vaguely interested in life
after death. On its Christian side, believing humanists encouraged the free
use of the treasures of antiquity without compromising the truths of the Gospel.
Christian humanism began with Dante (1265-1321), while pagan humanism reached
its peak in Petrarch (1304-74). Popes Pius II, Sixtus IV, and Leo X favored
Christian humanism and did much to promote it. St. Thomas More (1478-1535) typified
its best spirit in England. After the French Revolution the extreme humanistic
spirit rebelled against Christian revelation and the Church.
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