De-Christianization

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Under de-Christianization (or de-Christianization ) is defined as a loss of normative effectiveness of Christianity in areas where the values previously one - often unquestioned - formed foundation. It can be about secularization and secularization , but also about replacement by non-Christian world views and religions . In contrast to the concept of de-Christianization , de-Christianization is not only related to a specific historical period such as the French Revolution , but describes a general phenomenon.

Concept history

The first use of the term de-Christianization probably goes back to the historiographer Jules Michelet (1798–1874), who spoke of the “de-Christianization of Latin roots”. Friedrich Wilhelm Graf and Hartmut Lehmann , among others, reject the equation de-churchization = de-Christianization = secularization, which was previously often used by historians, as superficial and one-sided. They are neither congruent terms, nor are they neutral in themselves.

In literary terms, the term has only been found in increasing numbers since the late 1970s as a specifying sociological-historical description of the process of secularization in Europe, which was usually indicated between 1750 and 1900. As the Christian traditions lose their meaning and general validity for existential self-understanding as well as for overall cultural design, the process of secularization leads, according to Erwin Fahlbusch, to “de-Christianization” or “de-churchization”; the accompanying rationalization of all areas of life brings with it the " disenchantment of the world ".

literature

  • Claus Bernet : The tolerance of dechristianization and desacralization. About the connection between state and religion in early modern and modern architecture. In: Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte , 63/1 (2011), pp. 1–22.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Graf : The return of the gods. Religion in Modern Culture . Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 978-3-406-54808-6 .
  • Anselm Günthör : Is Europe becoming godless? De-Christianization and re-Christianization . Fe-Medien, Kisslegg 2003, ISBN 978-3-928929-52-3 .
  • Rolf Kramer: Postmodern Society and Religious Pluralism. A social ethical analysis and assessment . 2004.
  • Rainer Marbach: Secularization and Social Change in the 19th Century. The position of clergy to dechurchification and de-Christianization in a district of the Hanover regional church . Göttingen 1978.
  • Demosthenes Savramis : De- Christianization and Sexualization - Two Prejudices . Nymphenburger Verlagshandlung, Munich 1969.
  • Hans Georg Schenk: The de-Christianization of Europe "1750-1900" . 1977.
  • Gerhard Schmidtchen , Wilhelm F. Kasch (ed.): De-Christianization and religious desocialization (conference on October 6th and 7th, 1977 in Bayreuth) . Paderborn 1978.

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