Formes de crise religieuse

Abstract

One finds in history many varieties of religious crises, especially in the so-called superior or cultural religions. The purpose of this article is to study the various forms of religious crisis which follow from an eman cipation from the grip of religion, as these forms occur in a pattern of social and religious living. The author first asks the question: where and under what condi tions does the conscious confrontation of unbelief and faith occur, where and how does it become a force in history ? It would seem that the phenomenon is pecu liar to the West. In order to understand it, the author begins with an analysis of the components of « Israel- Christianity » which are the antipodes of emancipa tion. He then studies the forms taken by religious crisis in the century of the Illumination and, more particularly in contemporary culture. In the latter he distinguishes the works and persons that have left their marks on it, and the factors which compose it: the breakdown of an ancient culture, perception of the fact in our time, the resistance of religion, the atrophy of the religious conscience. As a result of this analysis, the author concludes that the fact that religion has been attacked constantly and in its very foundations, has in fact placed it in a position that is much more definite and much healthier. Besides, the modern criticisms of religion bring to the kernel of the question under discussion no new element. The novelty is in the manner used for the attack, and the means employed, which are far more massive than any hitherto availed of.