Edmund Spenser was very much a Christian humanist. This meant that, despite his Christianity, he still found much that was valuable in the writings of pagans from Greek and Roman antiquity. Christian humanists believed that the wisdom of the ancients pointed the way toward many of the teachings of Christianity. For instance, the moral philosophy of Roman thinkers such as Cicero and Seneca were regarded as sharing remarkable similarities to the teachings of Christ.

However, when push came to shove, Christian humanists were more Christian than humanist. We can see this in Spenser's The Faerie Queene, where the allegorical figure of the Red Cross Knight leaves behind the pagan House of Pride for the House of Holiness, which represents the superiority of Christian values. Here, the heroic knight can overcome his pagan pride and refresh his soul with the balm of Christian virtue.

Spenser evidently believes that pagan wisdom, for all its undoubted value, does not provide us with an adequate moral code by which we can live. In giving us a sense that man is at the center of the universe, it engenders pride, which for the Christian is a sin. Each one of us, then, must follow the example of the Red Knight and leave behind the House of Pride to enter the House of Holiness.