Humanism at the heart of Christianity?

In a word, no, although many Christians like to talk about humanist values as if they were Christian values. Phil Mercer, Dean of Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand, talks about the aftermath of the earthquake (Sunday 02.10.11):

There’s been a strong sense of the presence of God for those of us who are Christians...

Nothing objective available to a non-believer? If I bump into a friend in the supermarket, the sense of my friend’s presence leads me to form the relevant belief. The point is, even strangers could form this belief about my friend’s presence.

This is not an act of God, this is the planet doing what the planet does. . .

But isn’t the planet, according to Christianity, a part of God’s creation? And aren’t creators usually responsible for the proper functioning of their creations?

We’re now talking about the really important things. . . we think we’re in control of everything that goes on around us. . .

It doesn’t take an earthquake for me to think I’m not in control of everything in my own life.

We’re not actually [in control of everything that goes on around us]

We don’t need to appeal to a supernatural reality to accept this conclusion. One reason we’re not in control is because we’re not omnipotent. But, again according to Christianity, isn’t God in control? Why does God, who is supposed to be all powerful and all good, allow natural disasters to occur?

We’re caught in this life that we’re part of and it’s uncertain, and there’s risks and there’s dangers as well as wonderful opportunity and delight. . . What’s really important in life?

Not believing in magic sky gods for starters.

The really important things are about relationships, about family, about caring for one another, and community . . .

A Christian making a very good case for humanism!

. . . and those are the sorts of things at the heart of the Christian faith.

Then he spoils it by mentioning religion. In fact, he’s wrong about what’s at the heart of the Christian faith. The things he lists are not exclusive to Christianity, and are nothing to do with having faith in the religious sense, so they can hardly be said to be defining elements of that faith. As Cunningham (2010, p. 174) points out:

I acknowledge that Christians have provided compassion for the less fortunate, comfort for people in time of loss, and  ministry to the sick, but all these good works are possible without adding the religious element.

What is at the heart of the Christian faith is a set of irrational beliefs about a supernatural realm that doesn’t exist. Phil Mercer is perhaps taking inspiration from Humpty Dumpty when he offers this rose-tinted view of Christianity, but the moral of Lewis Carroll’s (himself Dean of Christ Church College) great story is that playing with words doesn’t change objective reality.

Paint Christianity inch deep in PR gloss, its dirty little secret remains: you have to believe what is (according to any reasonable account) untrue to be true.