The Task of Theological Humanism
150
scientists, strident forms of religion thunder above the earthly landscape. Some people take the thunder as the promise of victory. Religious militants engage in holy wars – real or virtual – with the heathens of the world, think-ing that God will smite the enemy. Other people hear the thunder as a sign
of torrential floods that will encompass the whole world. Secular humanists close ranks to pray for a world with no religion.theism and overhumanization, respectively, present real dangers to the human future. Will religion bring us life or death? (^2) The extremes of hyper-
that afflict and limit religion today. We want to put theological humanism on trial, again. Our hope is to set forth a vision of “true religion” in relation to the spiritual discipline required by theological humanism. The task is to The aim of this chapter is to make clear the excesses in both directions
protect the integrity of religion in a world that is both obsessed with religion and weary of it. The strategy is to show how to inhabit religious forms critically so as to transform them and place them in service to the integrity of life. The step needed to approach the future entails nothing less than a
revolution in thinking. Theological humanism seeks to educate conscience in the realm of religion and thus to advance freedom aims at the right relation among the other goods which together constitute More specifically, this chapter is about the good of spiritual integritywithin religion., which
human life – basic, social, reflective, and natural goods. The irony is that one cannot aim directly at spiritual integrity; it is a good of human existence that is only realized through dedication to responsible existence with and for others. In this way, spiritual integrity is never the product of direct striving
for self-fulfillment; it is received, if at all, indirectly, mysteriously, while seek-ing to live a life dedicated to all that respects and enhances the integrity of life. happiness and holiness.Spiritual integrity thus unites flourishing and virtue, or, as we put it before,
as the enabler of spiritual integrity. For theological humanism, spiritual integrity entails a life dedicated to respecting and enhancing the integrity of life in all actions and relations – before God. It is a life responsive to the call Traditionally, people have turned to religion (or its functional equivalent)
of conscience. In this chapter, we explore how this form of integrity enables one to inhabit religion and critique to make them mutually constructive powers in the human future. As part of globalization, religious diversity and multiculturalism will continue to grow, which means that we live among a
plurality of languages, literatures, customs, traditions, ways of organizing time and space, social groups, professions, and faiths.must include a coherent response to the religious and secular otherness in our midst. (^3) Theological humanism