Enlightenment and Religion: Rupture or Continuity?

Abstract

This article, through a review of a portion of the relevant literature, problematizes the way in which the connection between the Enlightenment and religion has traditionally been explained, principally by a historiography excessively focused on the 18th century French experience. Alternatively, this article argues that “continuity,” rather than “rupture,” more adequately describes this relationship. However, continuity, as understood here, excludes neither tension nor transformation. If, on the one hand, the Enlightenment is much more akin to religion than has been previously recognized, on the other hand, it has to a great extent shaped modern understanding of religion. This revision of the relationship between the Enlightenment and religion suggests the need to rethink the very identity of the Enlightenment and the issue of secularization. The article uses as a guide the German debate surrounding the question, “What is the Enlightenment?” It concludes with an analysis of Kant’s famous contribution to this debate.