The anti-Trinitarian movement of the Renaissance could also be considered a precursor to Modern Humanism, since it eventually led to Unitarianism, marking a movement towards more naturalistic thinking. Michael Servetus (1511-1553), a Spanish doctor and theologian, is considered the father of Unitarianism. Due to his outspoken criticism of the Trinitarian idea of three gods in one, he was convicted of heresy and blasphemy and sentenced to slowly burn to death. Unlike other religions at the time, Unitarianism was compatible with science and capable of evolving along with scientific knowledge.
Later, the religious Reformation that gave birth to Protestantism paved the way for modern freethinkers who would not only question the authority of the Catholic Pope, but of all religious authorities and scripture. In addition, early Protestant denominations emphasized good deeds over supernatural salvation and reason over revelation. Later denominations such as the Friends (Quakers), Deists, and Unitarian Universalists would reject revelation altogether.
The next article for this series will focus on precursors of Humanism that thrived during the Enlightenment, also called the Age of Reason.
A special thank you to Ed Buckner and associates of the Council for Secular Humanism for assisting me with this article.
References:
Berger, Doug. "The Roots of Humanism" Central Ohio Humanists (Jan/Feb. 1997/1998) http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/7... (Oct. 12, 2001)
"Francis Bacon", "Giordano Bruno", "Thomas Hobbes", "Christopher Marlowe", "Montaigne", "Francesco Petrarch", "Renaissance", "Michael Servetus", "William Shakespeare", Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation.
"Humanist History" British Humanist Association. http://www.humanism.org.uk/humhist.asp (Oct. 2001)
Hutcheon, Pat Duffy. "Renaissance Humanism and its Renaissance Offshoot" Humanist in Canada (Summer 1998), p.22-27. http://humanists.net/pdhutcheon/humanist... (Oct. 12, 2001)
Lamont, Corliss. Philosophy of Humanism. Humanist Press, Apr. 1997. p.37 http://www.corliss-lamont.org/philos8.htm (Oct. 2001)
Larue, Gerald A. Freethought Across the Centuries: Toward a New Age of Enlightenment, Humanist Press: Amherst & New York, 1996.
Scott, Michon. "Hominids" Strange Science (1996-2002). http://turnpike.net/~mscott/sthom1.htm (Feb. 1, 2002)
Van Helden, Albert. "Vanini, Giuilio Cesare" Catalog of the Scientific Community: Galileo Project (1995) http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Cat... (Feb. 1, 2002)
