APPENDIX ONE

The Background of Modern Humanism

The Histomap of Religion, the Story of Manís Search for Spiritual Unity, edition of 1955, by John B. Sparks and published by Rand McNally & Company, Chicago, traces the origin and relative contemporary significance of the principal cults, faiths, and ethical philosophies. We can use the Histomap as a basis for our general timeline, and pick up the trail around 3000 BC with the emergence of religions of the Aryan Culture.

From 2000-1000 BC, early Greek religion was ritual mythology with little moral or ethical content. Around 1500 BC, warlike Achaean and Dorian Greeks of the Aryan culture, called Mycenaeans, absorbed the artistic culture of the Aegean Minoans, including their fertility-based religion. From this combination was evolved the pantheon of Olympic Gods headed by the original Sky-Father Zeus and the Sun-God Apollo. This time period included the rise of Athens and the fall of Troy.

Following the Greek Dark Age from 1200-800BC, the Greek nature gods were humanized in the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer. Hesiod's Theogony expounded the traditional beliefs concerning the origins of the cosmos and the gods. Orphic and Eleusinian mysteries began to grow in popularity.

Philosophy began among the Greeks in the sixth century BC. Pre-Socratic philosophers (such as the scientifically-minded Thales of Miletus, Xenophanes of Colophon with his idea of "One God," and Heraclitus) initiated a period of doubt. Aeschylusí conception of the "righteous Zeus" survived in his plays. A number of related philosophies evolved from these early ideas, including Pythagorasí philosophical mysticism and Socratesí plea for an "examined life." Plato and Aristotle found rational theology an idea of good in the world order.

The Hellenistic period (beginning in the fourth century BC) brought a great deal of syncretism in the old religions. In philosophy, Stoics asserted world brotherhood. Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics sought natural morality and freedom from superstition. Chinese and Indian philosophers rationalized native religions. Philo Judaeus, living at the time of Christ, developed Hellenistic Jewish philosophy.

The Roman Imperial period saw such scholars and philosphers as Plutarch (1st-2nd century AD) and Plotinus with his doctrine of emancipation (3rd Century AD), and Porphyry (3rd-4th century AD). Neoplatonism flourished until the Emperor Justinian closed the schools of philosophy at Athens in 529 AD and disappeared after Alexandria fell to the Arabs in 642 AD. Hebrew, Arab, and Christian philosophers were active in this period.

In Medieval times, Alcuin and Scotus Erigena founded Scholasticism, aiming to reconcile "revealed" theology with philosophy. Around 1100 AD Scholasticism flourished, along with Abelardís method of doubt. Between 1200 and 1300 Aristotle was rediscovered by the Arab philosopher Averroes, the Hebrew Maimonides, and the Christian St. Thomas Aquinas. Between 1300 and 1400 Chaucer idealized human fellowship in "Canterbury Tales." Petrarch was a very early humanist, writing poetry and scholarly works from 1304-1374.

The Renaissance, beginning in the middle of the 14th century, was marked by a revival of learning and a rediscovery of the classics, with further efforts toward spiritual freedom.

Humanism appeared around 1500. Desiderius Erasmus and Thomas More urged a return to the simplicity of early Christianity. Michael Servetus, Philippus A. Paracelsus, Francis Bacon, Michel E. de Montaigne, Giordano Bruno, and Galileo Galilei were influential figures.

Around 1600 William Shakespeare portrayed the essential nobility of Man. Blaise Pascal combined mysticism with the spirit of enquiry. Baruch Spinoza taught "intellectual love of God" through "union of the mind with Nature."

In the years between 1700 and 1800 Baron Gottfried von Leibnitz held faith consistent with reason. John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau fought for freedom of thought. Indian and Persian philosophies were first studied thoroughly by Europeans in Duperronís translations of the Upanishads and the Avesta. Lindsey and Joseph Priestley founded the Unitarian Church. Gotthold E. Lessing and Johann G. von Herder traced human development in all religions. Immanuel Kant introduced his moral basis for faith and ideal of world harmony. Johann G. Fichte saw a moral order in the idea of God. Georg W. F. Hegel expounded his theory of absolute idealism. Friedrich W. J. von Schelling wrote his philosophy of nature and mythology.

Related Philosophies emerged around 1820. William Wordsworth sensed the spirituality of the common life. Johann E. van Goethe saw all creation as God. William Ellery Channing was an active Unitarian. David F. Strauss wrote the Life of Jesus.

Around 1840, Ludwig A. Feuerbach's "Essence of Christianity, Pierre Joseph Proudhonís "anarchy," and Ralph Waldo Emersonís "Oversoul" emerged. Robert Browning taught God as Love omnipresent in manís everyday world of will and thought. Søren Kierkegaard became a major figure.

Charles Darwin and Thomas Henry Huxley wrote in the 1860s. Ernst H. Haeckel introduced monism. Walt Whitman sensed unity and harmony of life. Joseph Ernest Renan emphasized humanity of Jesus. Auguste Comte discussed Positivism. John Stuart Mill wrote about a finite God. Felix Adler founded the New York Ethical Society.

In the 1880s Rabindranath Tagore taught man consciousness of his unity with God. Chinese and Japanese studied Western thought. Stanton Coit founded the English Ethical Society. Leo Tolstoy and Pyotr A. Kropotkin demanded social justice and human brotherhood.

Around 1900 William James' Varieties of Religious Experience supported the claim of religious mystics to contact with ultra-human consciousness. A.J. Balfour offered his Foundations of Belief.

Around 1910 Henri Bergson urged people to apply intuition to world of life and personality. James G. Frazer, Lucien Levy-Bruhl, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung investigated psychological and social origins of religious practices and beliefs.

The 1920s introduced Havelock Ellisís Art of Living, J. Middleton Murryís "Science of Metabiology," and the Chicago Ethical Society. Thomas Mann, Horace Bridges, and Jane Addams were influential figures. Charles William Eliot was an active Unitarian. Rauschenbush expounded his social gospel.

Spiritual Humanism emerged around 1930. James Jeansí Mysterious Universe, John Deweyís A Common Faith, Albert North Whiteheadís truth of intuition and feeling, and Albert Einsteinís faith in a natural order of conscious life and intelligence were characteristic of the period.

During the 1940s, the Religious Socialism of John Macmurry emerged. Benedetto Croce demanded a religion of the liberal spirit. Albert Schweitzer championed The Reverence for Life and Ethics. Existentialism flourished in France. Philosophical concern for the Individual was a prominent idea.

The last entry on the Histomap covers from 1950 to 1955: First International Congress on Humanism and Ethical Culture was sponsored by Dutch, Austrian, British, and American Humanist and Ethical Societies.