How might we redeem civil society today? Let us lead a return to the Humanities- and I mean true Humanitas- to learn the arts of rhetoric and discourse, grammar and poetry, and an active moral philosophy. These are arts which are not only ill-taught, but their existence is often denied outright and denigrated by educators, parents, and cultures to the detriment of our local and global communities.

I will not fool myself into believing my own “call to humane arms” will accomplish anything substantial. For as much negativity we see in our world, there is a corresponding amount of well-intentioned but misdirected calls for social improvement in the public square which have remained unanswered for decades. We do not need another voice imploring this generation to simply “be nicer,” “do better,” or, more poignantly, to “ shut up!”

It will be more valuable and more effective to spend our energies looking to our past and studying how our forerunners dealt with similar society-wide trials so that we might gather insights, learn from their successes, identify their mistakes, and apply those lessons to today’s challenges. These “unprecedented times” of strife, upheaval, quarrel, uncertainty, and reaction to all of the above have well-documented precedent throughout the pages of history. Those same pages teach us of the leaders and movements which rose to redeem their cultures, reconcile them with their past, and move them into a brighter future. Epochal shifts bear the names “Renaissance” (rebirth) and “Reformation” for a reason– there was a sense of reclaiming and returning to goodness and virtue from the past for the benefit of all.

I propose an exploration of those past leaders and movements so that we might uncover insights and lessons to apply today. As alluded to in the introduction, I believe the umbrella term “Humanist” applies well in this situation for those leaders and movements. This term originally applied to those scholars and Medieval Church leaders who sought the qualities of Classical (Greek and Roman) civilization which could and should be carried into the Christian age. It was the study of these “Humanities” which helped thinkers understand the mysteries of the still-nascent Christian faith which so radically preached the inherent value of every individual made in the image of God, yet paradoxically demanded the full surrender of our fallen nature to an ultimate Judge and Authority. We will set aside the later reductionist and revisionist version of humanism, which focuses on a godless view of the world in which there is no personification of the Goodness, Truth, and Beauty we seek. That philosophy openly and eagerly looks forward to oblivion and obscurity, and we shall partner with it to help it on its way.

For our exploration of Humanism, we will look to the philosophies of the great thinkers throughout history who devoted their lives to the educational and socio-political improvement of mankind. Through a brief study of these individuals and schools of philosophy, we will extend our study across time and around the world to extract insights and examples to guide us today.

How might we redeem civil society today? By humbly seeking counsel from those in our past who devoted their lives to reforming their society around principles of objective morality, civic virtue, and respectful engagement.

How might we redeem civil society today? Let us lead a return to the Humanities- and I mean true Humanitas- to learn the arts of rhetoric and discourse, grammar and poetry, and an active moral philosophy. These are arts which are not only ill-taught, but their existence is often denied outright and denigrated by educators, parents, and cultures to the detriment of our local and global communities.

I will not fool myself into believing my own “call to humane arms” will accomplish anything substantial. For as much negativity we see in our world, there is a corresponding amount of well-intentioned but misdirected calls for social improvement in the public square which have remained unanswered for decades. We do not need another voice imploring this generation to simply “be nicer,” “do better,” or, more poignantly, to “ shut up!”

It will be more valuable and more effective to spend our energies looking to our past and studying how our forerunners dealt with similar society-wide trials so that we might gather insights, learn from their successes, identify their mistakes, and apply those lessons to today’s challenges. These “unprecedented times” of strife, upheaval, quarrel, uncertainty, and reaction to all of the above have well-documented precedent throughout the pages of history. Those same pages teach us of the leaders and movements which rose to redeem their cultures, reconcile them with their past, and move them into a brighter future. Epochal shifts bear the names “Renaissance” (rebirth) and “Reformation” for a reason– there was a sense of reclaiming and returning to goodness and virtue from the past for the benefit of all.

I propose an exploration of those past leaders and movements so that we might uncover insights and lessons to apply today. As alluded to in the introduction, I believe the umbrella term “Humanist” applies well in this situation for those leaders and movements. This term originally applied to those scholars and Medieval Church leaders who sought the qualities of Classical (Greek and Roman) civilization which could and should be carried into the Christian age. It was the study of these “Humanities” which helped thinkers understand the mysteries of the still-nascent Christian faith which so radically preached the inherent value of every individual made in the image of God, yet paradoxically demanded the full surrender of our fallen nature to an ultimate Judge and Authority. We will set aside the later reductionist and revisionist version of humanism, which focuses on a godless view of the world in which there is no personification of the Goodness, Truth, and Beauty we seek. That philosophy openly and eagerly looks forward to oblivion and obscurity, and we shall partner with it to help it on its way.

For our exploration of Humanism, we will look to the philosophies of the great thinkers throughout history who devoted their lives to the educational and socio-political improvement of mankind. Through a brief study of these individuals and schools of philosophy, we will extend our study across time and around the world to extract insights and examples to guide us today.

How might we redeem civil society today? By humbly seeking counsel from those in our past who devoted their lives to reforming their society around principles of objective morality, civic virtue, and respectful engagement.