Abstract
Humanism is one of the subjects most frequently discussed by leading thinkers of today It means criticism of babarism and symbolizes European unity with its cultural tradition and freedom from ecclesiastical and political dogma or materialism If hominism and anthropology can be included, because they are also homo-centric, humanism widens its realm indefinitely In view of this variety of meaning, it is worth reconsidering how the word humanism came into use in the 19th century, when the importance of Greek and Roman classics was stressed by educators These teachers were following the example of the anti-scholastic leaders of the 14th century But the classics themselves are also very rich in variety, they cover all fields of science including theology and they span the long age from Homer to St Augustine The humanists of the Renaissance period understood only one aspect of the classics their aesthetic and homo-centric side This kind of misunderstanding is found even today among students of the classics and admirers of humanism Archaeological discoveries bear witness that Homer and other Greek writers were strongly influenced by Oriental culture and that in antiquity East and West were closely connected The above mentioned misunderstanding of the classics can be obviated by this new conception of a composite antiquity This historical and philological attitude helps also to clarify the Bible which was written in "eastern" Hebrew and 'western" Greek and to defend it against dogmatic prejudice Only such an analysis of the scriptural text and such an understanding of it against the background of the world in which it was written can explain how the Bible came into being and why it was called the "Book"
