Supernaturalism and humanism

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Supernaturalism and Humanism from Ancient Mesopotamia to the Middle Ages
Humanism is defined as the ability of human beings to live a meaningful and rational life based on their own free will independent of the guidance of supernatural beings. Supernaturalism, on the other hand, refers to the belief that unnatural beings that are divine can manifest in the natural affairs of human beings.
Supernaturalism was common in ancient Mesopotamia. People believed in the existence of several gods, who guided the affairs of men (Gill 1). In addition, people also believed in the existence of evil spirits that were parts of the gods and could do harm or good depending on their nature. People also believed that the failure to worship the gods appropriately results in punishment. Supernaturalism was, therefore, the dominant form of belief at the time that guided the affairs of men. No one conspicuously practiced humanism at the time.
In the early middle ages, the majority of people subscribed to Christianity and therefore believed in supernaturalism as opposed to humanism. In addition to Christianity, some other religions existed that promoted the theme of supernaturalism in the affairs of men as compared to humanism. According to Hutton, although the majority of people during the middle ages were Christians, a significant number of people did not subscribe to any religious beliefs (1). This means in a way they either did not believe in the existence of supernaturalism beings or chose to ignore them.

This shows that humanism was practiced as early as the middle ages, although not on the same scale as supernaturalism.
Both supernaturalism and humanism significantly impact how people view art and the meaning that they attach to different forms of art and what they depict. While supernaturalism promotes religious art, humanism promotes realistic art that depicts common occurrences in society.
Works Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY Gill, N.S. Early Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia. 2018. https://www.thoughtco.com/early-religion-in-ancient-mesopotamia-112341. Accessed 12 Dec. 2018.
Hutton, Ronald. How Pagan Were Medieval English Peasants? 2011. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41306600?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents. Accessed 12 Dec. 2018.