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Theism and Humanism
In 1962, Christian Century asked the well-known Christian writer, C. S. Lewis, to name the books that had most influenced his thought. Among those that Lewis listed was Arthur J. Balfour's Theism and Humanism (1915). This was no passing whim. Almost twenty years earlier, in 1944, Lewis had lamented in "Is Theology Poetry" that Theism was "a book too little read."
Many others shared Lewis' enthusiasm. When Balfour gave the original lectures on which the book was based, some 2,000 people crowded into Bute Hall at the University of Glasgow on a weekday winter afternoons to cheer and laugh. Even more telling, they kept coming back, week after week for all ten speeches. Even the staid Times of London commented on the "wildly enthusiastic" audiences and noted the diversity of those attending, from citizens and students to professors.
Unfortunately, until now the book hasn't been that easy to find. Copies have only been available on the used market and were thus rare and relatively expensive. This newly typeset edition and enhanced makes the book inexpensive and widely available.
Balfour was a talented writer and perhaps the most intelligent British Prime Minister of the twentieth century. During World War One he replaced Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty and went on to become Foreign Secretary. In the latter office he was responsible for the 1917 Balfour Declaration committing Great Britain to the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. It is no exaggeration to say that Israel owes its existence to Balfour.
Theism and Humanism is based on a 1914 Gifford Lecture that Balfour gave at the University of Glasgow. All the original text is included along with over 50 pages of additional material. There are 11 sketches of Balfour adapted from political cartoons in Punch magazine. There are four appendices taken from his other writings, including the marvelous "A Catechism for Naturalism" (which sent the arch-agnostic Thomas Huxley, better known as "Darwin's Bulldog," into a fit of rage). There's also a glossary of people and terms mentioned in the book and a detailed index. Finally, this new edition includes brief quotes from Balfour's other writings to highlight what he is saying. The second edition improves on the first by adding to each chapter in the original, the extensive coverage that The Times of London gave to Balfour's original speech. It also includes three letters by C. S. Lewis on themes closely related to Balfour's book.
Balfour's topic is naturalism, the belief that all that exists are natural processes. He challenges those who believe in it to come up with a rationale for what they hold dearest--human reason, human rights, and the importance of art--based solely on naturalism. He believes that cannot be done and summarizes his book in these words:
"My desire has been to show that all we think best in human culture, whether associated with beauty, goodness, or knowledge, requires God for its support, that Humanism without Theism loses more than half its value."
If you like philosophy and provocative ideas, this book is perfect for you. The Cambridge-educated Balfour was very knowledgeable about science. (He was the President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1904 and his brother was a talented scientist.) That makes this book a useful complement to the Oxford-educated Lewis whose speciality was literature.
Many others shared Lewis' enthusiasm. When Balfour gave the original lectures on which the book was based, some 2,000 people crowded into Bute Hall at the University of Glasgow on a weekday winter afternoons to cheer and laugh. Even more telling, they kept coming back, week after week for all ten speeches. Even the staid Times of London commented on the "wildly enthusiastic" audiences and noted the diversity of those attending, from citizens and students to professors.
Unfortunately, until now the book hasn't been that easy to find. Copies have only been available on the used market and were thus rare and relatively expensive. This newly typeset edition and enhanced makes the book inexpensive and widely available.
Balfour was a talented writer and perhaps the most intelligent British Prime Minister of the twentieth century. During World War One he replaced Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty and went on to become Foreign Secretary. In the latter office he was responsible for the 1917 Balfour Declaration committing Great Britain to the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. It is no exaggeration to say that Israel owes its existence to Balfour.
Theism and Humanism is based on a 1914 Gifford Lecture that Balfour gave at the University of Glasgow. All the original text is included along with over 50 pages of additional material. There are 11 sketches of Balfour adapted from political cartoons in Punch magazine. There are four appendices taken from his other writings, including the marvelous "A Catechism for Naturalism" (which sent the arch-agnostic Thomas Huxley, better known as "Darwin's Bulldog," into a fit of rage). There's also a glossary of people and terms mentioned in the book and a detailed index. Finally, this new edition includes brief quotes from Balfour's other writings to highlight what he is saying. The second edition improves on the first by adding to each chapter in the original, the extensive coverage that The Times of London gave to Balfour's original speech. It also includes three letters by C. S. Lewis on themes closely related to Balfour's book.
Balfour's topic is naturalism, the belief that all that exists are natural processes. He challenges those who believe in it to come up with a rationale for what they hold dearest--human reason, human rights, and the importance of art--based solely on naturalism. He believes that cannot be done and summarizes his book in these words:
"My desire has been to show that all we think best in human culture, whether associated with beauty, goodness, or knowledge, requires God for its support, that Humanism without Theism loses more than half its value."
If you like philosophy and provocative ideas, this book is perfect for you. The Cambridge-educated Balfour was very knowledgeable about science. (He was the President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1904 and his brother was a talented scientist.) That makes this book a useful complement to the Oxford-educated Lewis whose speciality was literature.
174 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1914
About the author
Arthur Balfour
91 books6 followersArthur James Balfour, first earl of Balfour, served from 1902 as British prime minister to 1905 and later from 1916 as foreign secretary under David Lloyd George to 1919 and in 1917 promised support for a national homeland for Jews in Palestine but provided to safeguard the rights of existing communities.
This knight of the Garter, member of order of merit, privy councilor, fellow of royal society and academy, deputy lieutenant, statesman, and politician led Conservative party of the United Kingdom. He issued the declaration on behalf of the cabinet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_...
This knight of the Garter, member of order of merit, privy councilor, fellow of royal society and academy, deputy lieutenant, statesman, and politician led Conservative party of the United Kingdom. He issued the declaration on behalf of the cabinet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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July 18, 2021A quote from the book: "Life, they would admit, is but a poor thing if it does no more than fill with vain desires the brief interval between two material “accidents”—the “accident” which brought it into being, and the “accident” which will extinguish it for ever. But this (they will say) is no argument. A wise man faces facts, a good man prefers the hardest truth to the most alluring illusion. If there be no ground for assuming a living purpose behind the indifferent mask of nature, let us not fill the vacancy with a phantasm of our own creation. Let us at least sink back into the nothingness from which we rose with our intellectual integrity undamaged. Let all other values perish, so long as rational values remain undimmed. Here, according to my view, lies the great illusion. Those who in all sincerity, and often with deep emotion, plead after a fashion like this, profoundly misunderstand the situation."
February 21, 2018
The Gifford Lectures are an annual lecture series that focuses on the topic of natural theology. In this particular installment Balfour discusses the mechanism of natural selection in relation to such topics as art, beauty, science, and ethics. Natural selection, Balfour argues, can explain concepts such as those listed above up to a certain point. But we have principles in these areas beyond anything that natural selection would ever require, let alone naturally be able to produce. these higher principles are where theism/natural theology come into play.
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January 17, 2013Book recommended by C.S. Lewis. I also picked up a copy, much harder to find, of "Theism and Thought" a continuation of the Gifford Lectures that were interrupted in the first instance by war.
August 24, 2023
I read this because it was one of the books that influenced C.S. Lewis (and it's quite impressive to see a prime minister deliver the Gifford Lectures - I doubt Boris ever will). It don't think I disagreed a lot with the contents of the book but it was quite dry.
October 5, 2023
VERY heavy read. Balfour is complex speaker with sentences that would go like half a page long, but once you grasp the concepts he's getting at it a pretty big lightbulb moment. I remember saying out loud "Oh, that's good!" multiple times lol.
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October 17, 2024CS Lewis top 10
September 26, 2021
“Humanism without Theism loses more than half its value.”
“Beauty must be more than an accident. The source of morality must be moral. The source of knowledge must be rational.”
“Beauty must be more than an accident. The source of morality must be moral. The source of knowledge must be rational.”
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews