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Humanism
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Humanism, as a philosophy and movement, is based on respect for the dignity of man, concern for his welfare, his all-round development and the creation of favorable conditions for a just social life. The humanistic ideas originated spontaneously in popular struggles against social evils and individual vices. It grew into a distinct ideological movement right from the age of the Buddha, Socrates and Confucius. It got prominence in the time of Renaissance from the 14th to the 16th century, when it became a movement against feudalism and common man. Humanism as a philosophical system stands very individual, it opposes religious asceticism, fanaticism and fundamentalism, and it vindicates man’s right to life, property and pleasure. Humanism reached its heights when during the 18th century a host of writers and enlighteners put forward the slogan of liberty, equality and fraternity and stood for man’s right freely to develop his natural talent and potentiality.
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Humanism's divergence from orthodox Christianity can be identified with the condemnation of Pelagianism by Jerome and Augustine. Like the Humanists, Pelagius perceived humans as possessing inherent capacity for developing the qualities that the church perceived as necessitating the gift of grace from God. Pelagius rejected the doctrine of original sin. The Humanists likewise recognize humans as born not with a burden of inherited sin due to their ancestry but with potential for both good and evil which will develop in this life as their characters are formed. The Humanists therefore reject Calvinistic predestination, and understandably therefore arouse the hostility of Protestant fundamentalists.
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