Humanism is the fruit of change One of the slogans of the European Renaissance and humanism was a rebirth. A man should have reached it in the process of returning to ancient ideals, which were supposed to change him. The idea of rebirth conquered many geniuses and Renaissance popes at that time. Fine art found the theme of the baptism of Jesus Christ in one of the iconographic types of rebirth. In the Gospel, we read how John the Baptist announced to his listeners the need for repentance and change. People then decided to change their lives and get baptized. Jesus Christ also joined the line of repentant people waiting for baptism.
The change did not occur
Renaissance painters approached the idea of humanism by placing beautiful Italian nature, fortified cities, and mighty castles in the background of the biblical scene. It was supposed to be an image of harmony with what the gospel brings to the society of the new age. Some artists supplemented the depicted subject with a theological goal. In the scene of Christ’s baptism, for example, they expressed it with the image of the Holy Spirit, which in the form of a dove descends on the baptized Jesus, or with the image of the open sky, from where the heavenly Father confirms his Son. They were deep thoughts that have not lost their motivational charge to this day.
However, at the time of the Renaissance, the desired change in human society did not occur. The morals of the popes of that time also fell. The sorry state of Christianity was transferred from Italy, the cradle of humanism and the Renaissance, to other countries. The growing tension between the religious ideal and reality provoked reformation currents and internal wars in Germany. The situation resulted in the division of Western Christendom.
Human society usually tends to understand renewal or social awakening only in external categories. It changes the architecture of buildings, the appearance of cities, the design of objects that we take in our hands every day, and their price ranges, but internally, a person does not change for the better. It remains the same. Nor did humanism and the Renaissance create a new type of humanity. Rather, they liked classical antiquity and its way of life. He was characterized by too much conceit, vanity, pride, strength, and a cult of personality leading titanium. Church and state laws and traditional orders were then considered limiting individual freedom. People thought they were heroes and supermen, but they were licentious and spendthrift, cheats, liars, and cruel. They did not stop glorifying each other and talking about immortal glory. No age before had so many immortal poets,
Authentic humanism
The problem proved intractable, where humanism became the only ideal for personal or social life. If humanism is to be authentic, it must be preceded and animated by religious thinking. Let’s look at John the Baptist as he refuses to baptize Jesus in the Sunday Gospel. He believes that Christ as the Lamb of God is first like him. A fixed hierarchy does not allow for change. Accepting Christ’s argument about the fulfillment of what is just brings change. We don’t know how long it took for John to understand that he had to renounce even the dearest idea that he had nurtured and cherished for the Messiah for many years.
We see it only in a religious and humane gesture of service. Humanism in the Gospel is born from the constant demand for change in human and religious thinking. Priorities mainly demand change, because they found themselves in a different position due to new circumstances. John, who at first repeated that he was not worthy to untie the strap of the Messiah’s shoe, suddenly baptizes him as a sign of repentance.
Service of a different kind changes John, and thus he becomes a man of New Testament times. It is an ideal to which we all aspire. It can be recognized in accompanying the humane behavior of today’s Christians. To become humane, let us learn from John. The passage about the baptism of Jesus suggests that the first steps towards the humanization of a person take place in his decision-making when we choose what the other wants. Let us decide consciously to live the Christian ideal in which we were baptized. Not only because of the wishes of parents and relatives but for a step towards humanizing ourselves.
