Déchristianisation ou nouveau modèle de christianisme ? /Dechristianization or a New Model of Christianity ? - article ; n°1 ; vol.40, pg 3-20

Archives des sciences sociales des religions - Année 1975 - Volume 40 - Numéro 1 - Pages 3-20
After the work accomplished by G. Le Bras and his disciples it is now possible to envisage a « history of religious mentalities in the modem Western world». The numerous investigations of retrospective sociology undertaken these last years call for a summing up to give them their full significance at the level of the collective mentality. But this collective mentality was — and still is — the product of the conflict and interpenetration of two cultures, the one predominating and the other more or less repressed. The researcher must always keep in mind this dialectical exchange between two worlds, and the religious facts of the past will be best apprehended by focusing on the gap between what was prescribed and what was actually experienced.
This key makes it possible to tackle the dechristianization question A correct evaluation can only be proposed on the basis of a study of Christianization which has not yet been undertaken. Thus few people have seen that the great moment for Western Christianization was not the Middle Ages but the « modern» period (16th to 18th centuries), beginning with the two Reforms which, in spite of their apparent rivalry, were in fact interdependent. The Christianization of this period had to depend on the State and practise a pedagogy of fear. Hence its gradual enfeeblement and the current decline of the model of Christian religion prevalent in the classical age.
Must it be concluded from this that Christianity, in its essence, always relates to this model ?
18 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.