A roundtable discussion of the problems, questions, and possibilities of religious humanisms as a frame of reference for addressing contemporary moral and political questions. Panelists are: Luke Bretherton (Chair); Slavica Jakelic; Randi Rashkover; Eric Gregory; Joshua Hordern; Aaron Stalnaker and Chammah Kaunda. The discussion includes Q&A from a live audience.

This lecture argues for a Pentecostal pneumatological humanism grounded in a personhood shaped by the Spirit. It maintains that human flourishing cannot be understood as merely autonomous expansion of human capacities or the pursuit of ever-increasing possibilities, but as participation in Christ through the Spirit. The Spirit in creation draws humanity and creation beyond the limits of self-grounded and self-sufficiency toward shared life and communion with God. Thus, against accounts of human fulfilment centered on autonomy, mastery, or self-realization, the article contends that Spirit-filled humanity is disclosed in the divine movement of love into the depths of existential fragility, historical woundedness, and the disorder of creation. Authentic human becoming occurs through Spirit-mediated participation in the life of Christ, who is the source of vitality, meaning, truth, beauty, and freedom. On this basis, human life is fundamentally received rather than autonomously produced, and ethical flourishing consists in participating, by power of the Spirit, in the life already realized in Christ and progressively actualized within history.

This lecture presents two snapshots of contemporary Confucian humanism, one presented as religious, and one eschewing that label. “Humanism,” or its modern Chinese equivalents (usually réndào zhǔyì—the “doctrine of the human way”—but sometimes renwen zhuyi —the “doctrine of human culture”), is very much a living and productive category of thought for contemporary Chinese intellectuals, with deep and resonant cultural roots in Chinese traditions. But what exactly it amounts to is far from agreed, and lively debates about recognizably humanistic concerns are ongoing throughout the Chinese world. “Humanism” is thus an excellent choice as a “bridge concept” between Western and Chinese thought, for academic study, or for use by activists or policy-makers who aim to engage productively with those in the Chinese cultural sphere.

This lecture examines the significance of medical humanities for a renewed interest in humanism. As an aspect of public culture, in universities and in healthcare, this complex of cross-disciplinary work aims to offer humane learning and educational formation in health-related settings wherein common humanity may be encountered and illuminated or, conversely, marginalised and occluded. The argument proceeds in the following sections: (I) an evaluation of some critiques of medical humanities and of the idea of ‘ethics-as-struggle’; (II) an assessment of these critiques in light of some vital signs in medical humanities; (III) a case study on conscience which advances an appreciation of humanism by evaluating a recent critique of ‘conscientious objection’; (IV) an offer of sources of healing for humanism and medical humanities arising from Augustine’s interpretation of Christ as Christus medicus.

This episode is the first lecture from the McDonald Centre "Reimagining Humanism: Religious Humanisms as Frameworks for Building Common Life in a Fractured World" conference held at the University of Oxford, 11-13th June 2026.