ABSTRACT
The humanistic Anglicans declared virtue to be the purpose of learning. In other words, the function of education was to mould character, a sentiment more frequently heard in the past than at present. Another humanistic attitude which figures prominently in Anglican apologies is the belief in the civilizing power of the liberal arts. Human learning was wordly and carnal and, as animosity to it increased, it was given a definite immoral character. The puritans for the most part condemn those disciplines which humanism emphasized; ‘philosophy, poetry, rhetoric, history, and the classical languages, all summed up under the term humane learning, or frequently, humane wisdom. The humanistic Anglicans always fell short of placing salvation in the power of humane learning. Henry Thurman denounces ‘the haters of humane learning’ as irrational, brutish, irreligious persons, inspired by ignorance or malice. The defenders of learning are orthodox in their religious views and conservative in their social and political ideas.
