About the Christian Humanist Website
This website is an electronic magazine with two distinct but related objectives.
The first objective arises from the writer’s belief that the traditional forms of Christianity as understood and practiced today are seen by increasing numbers of our fellow citizens as irrelevant to contemporary life. This loosening grip of traditional Christian faith on our hearts and minds over the past 40 years has resulted in a dramatic decline in the membership of “mainline” Christian churches as increasing numbers of our contemporaries abandon traditional churches in favor of more secular activities.
Simultaneously there has been explosive growth in the evangelical and fundamentalist religious movement partly to attempt to fill the void left by the declining role of the traditional largely Protestant churches and partly as an irrational escape from the implications of the secularism of modern society with its emphasis on rational scientific approaches to what we can reasonably know. Simply stated, I am arguing here and elsewhere in my writings and books that a reinterpretation of Christianity is both necessary and desirable
The initial content of The Christian Humanist was developed initially some years ago as a series of private communications to friends and family to argue that it is possible to be both a Christian and a Humanist at the same time and that it is essential to the continued relevance of Christianity that we not back away from the obvious facts and implications of the scientific world view that is the foundation of modern life.
The Christian Humanist emerged as it became evident that a wider audience had some interest in the views expressed in this extended private conversation.
A second and related objective is to counteract the corrosive effect of Christian religious fundamentalism on our social and political values and structures. An important consideration in my decision to launch this website was the observation that the right wing conservatives who have increasingly dominated American political life in the last decade profess a belief in Christian values while systematically dismantling the "great society" programs developed by a previous government as the pragmatic and political implications of a Christian society while mindful of the social compact that exists between the members of a society and its political leaders.
The social compact that underlies American society implies at the least the duty of public officials and policy-makers to use the power and resources of government to work toward a caring and compassionate society in which the least among us shares in common with all of us the dignity of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Since the founding of our nation these often repeated phrases capture our vision of fundamental human rights that include the right to shelter, a job, economic viability, food on the table and basic health care.
The writer/editor of The Christian Humanist is Arthur G Broadhurst, Vero Beach, Florida. He is a graduate of the University of Richmond and Colgate Rochester Divinity School. Mr. Broadhurst has taught religion and ancient history at independent college preparatory schools and at both public and private colleges. Now retired, writing is one of his pastimes. Mr. Broadhurst welcomes hearing from readers and can be reached by email by clicking <here>.
For publications by the author click <here>.
The first objective arises from the writer’s belief that the traditional forms of Christianity as understood and practiced today are seen by increasing numbers of our fellow citizens as irrelevant to contemporary life. This loosening grip of traditional Christian faith on our hearts and minds over the past 40 years has resulted in a dramatic decline in the membership of “mainline” Christian churches as increasing numbers of our contemporaries abandon traditional churches in favor of more secular activities.
Simultaneously there has been explosive growth in the evangelical and fundamentalist religious movement partly to attempt to fill the void left by the declining role of the traditional largely Protestant churches and partly as an irrational escape from the implications of the secularism of modern society with its emphasis on rational scientific approaches to what we can reasonably know. Simply stated, I am arguing here and elsewhere in my writings and books that a reinterpretation of Christianity is both necessary and desirable
The initial content of The Christian Humanist was developed initially some years ago as a series of private communications to friends and family to argue that it is possible to be both a Christian and a Humanist at the same time and that it is essential to the continued relevance of Christianity that we not back away from the obvious facts and implications of the scientific world view that is the foundation of modern life.
The Christian Humanist emerged as it became evident that a wider audience had some interest in the views expressed in this extended private conversation.
A second and related objective is to counteract the corrosive effect of Christian religious fundamentalism on our social and political values and structures. An important consideration in my decision to launch this website was the observation that the right wing conservatives who have increasingly dominated American political life in the last decade profess a belief in Christian values while systematically dismantling the "great society" programs developed by a previous government as the pragmatic and political implications of a Christian society while mindful of the social compact that exists between the members of a society and its political leaders.
The social compact that underlies American society implies at the least the duty of public officials and policy-makers to use the power and resources of government to work toward a caring and compassionate society in which the least among us shares in common with all of us the dignity of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Since the founding of our nation these often repeated phrases capture our vision of fundamental human rights that include the right to shelter, a job, economic viability, food on the table and basic health care.
The writer/editor of The Christian Humanist is Arthur G Broadhurst, Vero Beach, Florida. He is a graduate of the University of Richmond and Colgate Rochester Divinity School. Mr. Broadhurst has taught religion and ancient history at independent college preparatory schools and at both public and private colleges. Now retired, writing is one of his pastimes. Mr. Broadhurst welcomes hearing from readers and can be reached by email by clicking <here>.
For publications by the author click <here>.
