The French Revolution: A Rupture Fueled by the Enlightenment’s Religious Revolution

The essence and causality of the French Revolution have been points of contention amongst historians. Jonathan Israel’s perspective stands in stark contrast to those who argue for a myriad of minor causes. He underscores the Revolution as a profound rupture from the past, so significant that attributing it to a collage of trivial causes is implausible. Central to understanding this seismic shift, according to Israel, is the profound influence of the French Enlightenment’s religious revolution.

The Enlightenment: Challenging Medieval Christianity

The European Enlightenment, especially its French iteration, marked a radical departure from traditional religious constructs. It was, at its core, a religious revolution that audaciously challenged the edifices of medieval Christianity. The Enlightenment thinkers critically dissected and subsequently repudiated the Trinitarian, supernatural, and hierarchical aspects of medieval Christianity.

In place of a belief system grounded in supernatural dogma, ritualism, and irrationalism, the Enlightenment heralded a wave of rational, anthropocentric, moral, and republican ideologies. The thrust was towards Deism and Unitarianism, positioning it in direct opposition to medieval Christianity’s Trinitarian tenets. Far from being an entirely new construct, this new wave of thought aligned more closely with the early teachings of Jesus and his disciples, suggesting a return to the origins of Christianity.

Deciphering the Impact: Deciphering the Christian Revolution

A salient manifestation of the Enlightenment’s religious revolution was the widespread dechristianization during the Revolutionary era. This potent sentiment wasn’t merely a backdrop but a principal force driving the Revolutionary momentum. Philosophes, or intellectual leaders, harbored a fundamental impulse towards nonviolent revolutionary de-Christianization, a sentiment prevalent not just during 1789 but even in the lead-up to the Revolution.

Charles A. Gliozzo elucidates the concrete manifestations of this dechristianization: a pronounced anti-clericalism, prohibitions on Christian practices, church closures, the inception of a revolutionary calendar to supplant the Christian one, and the establishment of alternative religious cults. Distinctively, the dechristianizers weren’t confined to a particular social class. Their ranks included aristocrats like Anacharsis Cloots and bourgeois figures such as Jacques Rene Hebert and Pierre Chaumette. These figures were profoundly influenced by the deistic and atheistic writings of the philosophes.

Diversity of Enlightenment Religious Thought

The Enlightenment, while united in its critique of medieval Christianity, was far from monolithic. It was a tapestry of diverse religious thought. Figures like Voltaire and Rousseau differed significantly from materialists like Jean Meslier and Jules La Mettrie. Yet, each school of thought found its adherents during the Revolution, adding layers of complexity to the dechristianization movement.

Voltaire and Rousseau are epitomized as the spiritual forerunners of the moderate dechristianizers. Voltaire, known for championing the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, viewed God and rational religion as essential to society’s moral fabric. In contrast, Rousseau’s ideas left a lasting imprint on Robespierre. On the other end of the spectrum, the more radical tenets of dechristianization drew inspiration from materialists and atheists like Claude Helvetius and Paul d’Holbach.

This myriad of voices was united in their critique of medieval Christianity. However, their visions diverged when it came to constructing a new ideological framework. While some, like Voltaire, could envision a role for a reformed monarchy, others sought its complete dissolution. Similarly, while some emphasized the pivotal role of God and rational religion in society, others dismissed such notions entirely.

The French Revolution, according to J. Israel, was a profound rupture, its scale and significance far surpassing the collective impact of any array of minor causes. Central to this transformative period was the religious revolution catalyzed by the Enlightenment. By critically engaging with and subsequently repudiating key tenets of medieval Christianity, the Enlightenment paved the way for a profound reimagining of French society, culture, and politics. This seismic shift, both destructive in its critique and diverse in its constructive ideologies, underscores the French Revolution’s foundational importance in shaping subsequent Western developments.

De-Christianization, Republicanism, and the Global Influence of the French Revolution

The French Revolution was fueled by two primary ideological tenets: De-Christianization and a staunch advocacy for republicanism, aimed at bolstering commoners’ participation in national affairs. At the heart of these changes lay the European Enlightenment’s scrutiny of existing religious and monarchic doctrines. This section delves into the relationship between these ideologies, contrasting them with the movements in England and America, and examines the transformative influence of the French Revolution.

Medieval Christianity: A Stumbling Block to Progress

The foundational doctrines of the divine right of kings and the privileges and mysteries vested in the Church were deeply intertwined with Trinitarian theological mysteries. Such powers stood in stark contrast to the rising ethos of popular sovereignty. The prevalent medieval Catholic Christianity, with its Trinitarian doctrine and divine right monarchy, became the embodiment of socio-economic and religio-political inequities. This form of Christianity provided the structural backbone of the Ancien Régime.

The Revolution sought not just a critique of this authoritarian Christianity, but its complete annihilation, paving the way for a Deistic, Unitarian, moral, and republican Christianity. However, certain radicals, propelled by the momentum of the Revolution, and the global royalist and ecclesiastical pushbacks, ventured even further by rejecting organized religion in its entirety.

The Philosophes and Republicanism

By 1789, the left revolutionary leadership predominantly rejected Christianity. This rejection could be viewed either from a deistic perspective or an atheistic-materialist standpoint. This leadership, as a collective, also renounced monarchy, with some like Carra, Brissot, and Desmoulins opposing it entirely, while others like Mirabeau and Sieyès showed partial resistance. The philosophical revolutionaries, distinct from authoritarian populists such as Robespierre and Saint-Just, were predominantly republicans from the get-go.

The French vs. English Enlightenment

The French Enlightenment, typified by figures like Voltaire, manifested as a more radical offshoot than its English counterpart. While Voltaire’s enlightenment was staunchly anti-Christian and anti-clerical, it was relatively accommodative of social hierarchies and monarchies.

The English enlighteners, epitomized by John Locke and Isaac Newton, were discrete Unitarians. They shared similar reservations against Trinitarian doctrines but refrained from completely dismantling traditional religious and political establishments, prioritizing peace and continuity.

American Enlightenment: A Middle Ground

Key figures from the American Enlightenment, including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams, embraced Deism, Unitarianism, and anti-Trinitarianism. However, they adopted a more subdued approach, avoiding direct confrontation with clerical establishments. The American leaders prioritized separating church from state and diluting the religious dominance of the Anglican Church and British Crown. This approach was viable because, unlike in France, the Anglican Church and British Crown lacked the capacity for continuous counter-revolutionary efforts.

The persistent counter-revolutionary efforts of the French Church and monarchy forced the French revolutionaries to adopt drastic measures, taking the American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to more universal and humanitarian conclusions. Thus, while the American Enlightenment was a radicalized version of the English Enlightenment, the French Enlightenment took it a step further, becoming an even more radical version of its American counterpart.