Reform of Humanism

Reform of Humanism July 7, 2017

When the Reformation and humanism are discussed together, the question is typically how the latter helped produce the former. Erika Rummel (The Confessionalization of Humanism in Reformation Germany) turns the question around: How did the Reformation change humanism?

One effect was in education: 

Protestant school orders, drawn up  in the late 1520s and early 1530s, adopted humanistic ideals in placing emphasis on
language training and in portraying education as a civic duty rather than a luxury.
Yet in no other area was the confessionalization of humanism more pronounced
than in the area of education. The focus of the Protestant school curriculum was, as
Bugenhagen put it, on ‘dogma and languages,’ a sharp reduction of the humanistic
goal of encyclopedic learning. Its central aim was to produce citizens who would
serve God and the state; the aim of humanists, by contrast, had been the fulfillment
of the individual’s potential. While both movements emphasized moral education,
humanists promoted a nondenominational, personal piety that could be inspired
even by pagan writers; moral education in Protestant school ordinances, however,
focused on the biblical example and its creed-specific interpretation. The humanistic ideal of self-realization, moreover, was not suited to the Protestant anthropology
of the sinner redeemed by grace alone; and the humanistic emphasis on intellectual
curiosity and the intense pleasure afforded by learning was replaced by work ethics. (5-6)

Humanists emphasized rhetoric and the power of persuasion. “The humanists’
aim was to persuade rather than refute the opponent, and thus to arrive at a consensus,” but this ideal did not fare well in the heated debates of the Reformation: “The suggestion that rhetorical ideals be applied to the religious debate was rejected by theologians on both sides because of their inherent relativity. . . . Making concessions obviously did not aid in the process of confessionalization and in fact was counterproductive” (7). 

Expelled from theology, humanist rhetoric found a home in political discourse: “The same
ideals were, however, welcomed in political circles bent on establishing peace and
order. This is evident from the reactions to the proposals contained in Erasmus’ On
the amiable concord of the church,
which suggested mutual concessions.” Humanist rhetoric helped shape the development of religious toleration in European politics instead of being deployed to heal doctrinal rifts in the body of Christ.


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