Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 136:542 (Apr 1979)
Article: Periodical Reviews
Author: Anonymous

BSac 136:542 (Apr 79) p. 176

Periodical Reviews

“Humanist Manifesto II: Five Years Later, A Theistic Critique,” Darrell Smith, The Humanist, November/December 1978, pp. 55-57.

Humanism as such is a neutral concept without necessary metaphysical orientation. There can be a theistic humanism, even a Christian humanism, as well as a naturalistic humanism. And yet a casual perusal of any issue of The Humanist, “a publication of the American Humanist Association,” (as stated in its masthead), produces this dominant impression: the magazine not only actively promotes a naturalistic world view but also vehemently opposes supernaturalism, especially biblical supernaturalism. In this very issue, for example, the Bible is called “the granddaddy of all Western pornography” (p. 46). In all honesty either the word atheistic or naturalistic should be added to the title of the association and the magazine or other forms of humanism should be recognized and accepted.

The prejudice of The Humanist against any theistic position is demonstrated in this article by Professor Darrell Smith of Texas A & M University, which was finally published after legal action was threatened. When the Humanist Manifesto ll (hereafter referred to as HMII) was published in 1973, a footnote invited response from the readers. This Smith did in his article, originally nineteen documented pages; but it

soon became obvious that theistic critiques were not welcome. Smith accuses HMII of rejecting the theistic model of reality without proper basis and of prescribing “naturalistic hum.anism as the model philosophy and survival strategy for the masses of humanity” (p. 55) without adequate support. These judgments in HMII, he says, are made presuppositionally, not on the basis of evidence.

BSac 136:542 (Apr 79) p. 177

One of the arguments the editor used to refuse publication of Smith’s article was that it was too long. He finally agreed to publish a substantially shortened statement. Smith prepared a seven-page critique, which has finally been published after more than a year. And yet lack of space obviously was not the determining factor, because Smith’s article, when it does appear, is followed by a defense of HMII by Edwin Wilson that is two-thirds as long as the critique. Such is the so-called objectivity and broadmindedness of the proponents of “scientific humanism.”

“Evolution,” Ernst Mayr, Scientific American, September 1978, pp. 39-47.

This is the lead article of an entire issue of this prestigious magazine devoted to the promulgation of what Mayr calls “the currently accepted general theory of life: the theory of evolution through natural selection” (p. 39)....