The Renaissance and Humanism Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Pape

The Renaissance and HumanismYou may wonder about, The Renaissance and its birth to another term, humanitarianism which fits into the same time period. If you check the dictionary, you will square off that both terms can be used in a broad sense or more specifically. Humanism lifts generally to a devotion to the humanities literary culture. (My definitions come from Websters Ninth New collegiate Dictionary). According to that definition we should all be humanists. The other general signification is the one that disturbs the fundamentalists who attack secular humanism a doctrine, attitude, or route of life centered on human interests or values oddly a philosophy that usually rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individuals dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason. This definition places human beings at the center of the universe, subject of finding their way by human reason without the help of a supernatural God. It comes under attack from two sid es--on one hand by those who defend religious values, on the other by some members of the scientific community who see humans as a kind of incident in a world without purpose. Humanism can also refer to a specific happening in history the revival of real letters, individualistic and critical spirit, and emphasis on secular concerns characteristic of the Renaissance. The idiom characteristic of the Renaissance shows how ambivalent is the relationship betwixt the two terms, humanism and Renaissance. In other words, which term is the broader, encompassing the other? We associate both with the revival or rebirth of Greco-Roman civilization. Both have been broadened to accept more than that. The more specific meaning of the Renaissa... ...oser to Erasmus position. Perhaps Mennonites have tended to inculcate grace and live by works. Grierson suggests that Spensers Fairie Queene comes closest to the spirit of Luther because of its emphasis on grace whereas Miltons Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained reminds us of Erasmas--of the responsibility of humans to make a new earth (26). In conclusion, I retrieve that each generation must examine the conflict (real or imagined) between the desire for amusement and religion, for the answers are neither simple nor abstract. Each rebirth period requires a reworking of our responses. Works CitedAbrams, M. H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol I. 5th Ed. New York W.W. Norton, 1986. Grierson, Herbert. Cross-Currents in 17th Century English Literature The World, he Flesh, and the Spirit. New York harpist & Brothers, 1958.