AMERICA'S CHRISTIAN HERITAGE HOMEPAGE
Week 4 - Understand the Problem Before Trying to Fix It !
� Matthew 12: 17-19
This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
"Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
� Matthew 12: 30-32
"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you,
every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be
forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who
speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
� Matthew 28: 18- 20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
� Romans 8: 1-3
Life Through the Spirit
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through
Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law
was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,
� 1 Corinthians 2: 13-15
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit,
expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things
that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them,
because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but
he himself is not subject to any man's judgment
� Ephesians 6: 11-13
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand
your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Excerpts from Humanist Manifesto, 1933:
�In every field of human activity, the vital movement is now in the direction of a candid and explicit
humanism. In order that religious humanism may be better understood we, the undersigned,
desire to make certain affirmations which we believe the facts of our contemporary life
demonstrate.�
We therefore affirm the following:
FIRST: Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created.
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SEVENTH: Religion consists of those actions, purposes, and experiences which are humanly
significant. Nothing human is alien to the religious. It includes labor, art, science, philosophy, love,
friendship, recreation -- all that is in its degree expressive of intelligently satisfying human living.
The distinction between the sacred and the secular can no longer be maintained.
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EIGHTH: Religious Humanism considers the complete realization of human personality to be
the end of man's life and seeks its development and fulfillment in the here and now. This is the
explanation of the humanist's social passion.
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THIRTEENTH: Religious humanism maintains that all associations and institutions exist for the
fulfillment of human life. The intelligent evaluation, transformation, control, and direction of such
associations and institutions with a view to the enhancement of human life is the purpose and program
of humanism. Certainly religious institutions, their ritualistic forms, ecclesiastical methods, and
communal activities must be reconstituted as rapidly as experience allows, in order to function
effectively in the modern world.