Secular Humanism is the view that says values and meaning are rooted in human ability and potential rather than anything religious or divine.
But can values and meaning actually be grounded on a purely human platform?
After all, the Bible states that all human beings have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3). And that no one is good except God alone (Mark 10).
But then how do we explain secular institutions that are doing good in the world, and secular friends and neighbors who appear to be productive, caring, happy citizens?
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The core claim of Humanists is this: We don’t need God to be good.
It’s what Greg Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard and MIT, says in his book, Good Without God: What A Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe.
Epstein’s thesis is that Humanism “is above all an affirmation of the greatest common value we human beings have: the desire to live with dignity, to be ‘good.’”
Much of the book is devoted to arguing and documenting the fact that Humanists are doing just that – living good lives without the assistance (or interference) of religion.
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How should committed Christians respond to the claim that we can be “good without God?” I’ll share some thoughts in my next post.
