On The Catholic Faith And Humanism In Thomas More's Utopia

Utopia is the masterpiece of Saint Thomas More,the outstanding humanist and devout Catholic of the 16^th century Britain.Jerome Busleiden,one of the humanists of More's time stated that the most striking feature of Utopia was its communism.Then what is the relationship between the noble ideal of communism in Utopia and More's Catholic faith? In order to enrich the domestic research on Utopia as well as to find the answer to the question,this study analyzes the text of Utopia with references to the Western scholars' research in this respect, together with the Bible as the standard,aiming at objectively revealing the very root of the Utopian ideal.As the study goes further,it is found that not only the Utopian communistic ideal but also its promoted ideas are of significance beyond time and space.They are in opposition to dictatorship and war,promoting instead the ideas of pleasure,citizen-oriented life-long education,and religious tolerance.In this thesis,the roots of these ideas have been traced back respectively.In Chapter One,emphasis is laid on the analysis of the ideas of Utopian opposition of dictatorship and war from the perspective of the doctrine of original sin.In Chapter Two,stress is put on the research of the ideas of Utopian hedonism and life-long education from the humanistic notion of"searching after the religious truth and cultivating virtues as the end of learning".Chapter Three deals with the Utopian religious tolerance and its lofty ideal of communism from the angle of More's Catholic beliefs and his humanistic ideas. In summary,the Utopian noble ideas originate from More's Catholic faith and his humanistic ideas.Furthermore,not only Catholic faith,but also the humanistic ideas of Utopia can find their prototypes and evidence in the Bible.Therefore,conclusions can be made that the humanistic ideas reflected in Utopia are essentially identical with Christian faith in Utopia.The end of Utopian humanistic ideas is to seek after religious truth.They are to serve religious faith.The study reveals that More's humanistic ideas are rooted in his religious faith.This is reflected clearly in the promoted ideas in Utopia. Among the ideas,some originate from More's former religious beliefs, some others stem from the re-recognition of his religion,still others the cooperation of his former faith and the exploration of religious truth. There is no abrupt disconnection between More's humanistic ideas and his religious faith.As a matter of fact,More's humanistic ideas are based on his religion.More is an outstanding humanist,but first and foremost, he is a devout Catholic.