The present chapter is a bridge in two important senses. First, it connects the two preceding chapters on humanism and theology and gathers together The “Third Man”
the metaphors we have been exploring mindful of the legacy of criticism. The chapter does so with respect to the historical roots of theological humanism in Christian thought and life, which is admittedly the tradition we know best and which we inhabit. Drawing together a set of thinkers, not all of
whom would call themselves humanists, we want to show that “Christian humanism” articulates a form of human existence which bridges different ways of thought and life. That bridge was forged throughout the ages among Christian thinkers who linked biblical faith and philosophy, theology
and humanism, religion and critique, into a living synthesis. The Christian humanist is a kind of “third man,” at once a “cultivated Christian” and a “believing Greek.” The “third man,” we submit, is “ourselves.”Second, this chapter points forward toward the fuller elaboration of theo- 1
logical humanism and its focus on the integrity of life. “Third-way thinking,” as we call it, carries us beyond Christian humanism, without abandoning it, into a new option, namely, theological humanism. Christian humanism limits itself to Christian resources in combination with the Greco-Roman
traditions; theological humanism is another step of humanistic and religious transformation in and through religious resources, but with respect to the integrity of life.Most Christian humanists agree with the ideals and images of humanism
we have explored so far in this book, but they also transform them in accord with Christian faith and learning. Christ is the incarnate heavenly deity andThe Logic of Christian^4
Humanism
9781405155267_4_004.indd 579781405155267_4_004.indd 57© Religion and the Human Future: An Essay on Theological Humanism 2008 David E. Klemm and William Schweiker^. ISBN: 978-1-405-15526-7David E. Klemm and William Schweiker 5/2/2008 3:19:45 PM5/2/2008 3:19:45 PM