Krikščionybės atnaujinimo problema prancūzų personalizmo filosofijoje
The Problem of the Renewal of Christianity in the Philosophy of French Personalism

Summary/Abstract: The problem of the renewal of Christianity should be considered as an issue of the utmost importance in the philosophy of French personalism. The special emphasis of this problem in the writings of personalist authors flows directly from the vision of ”personalist and communitarian revolution” which was set forth by the leaders of the personalist movement in the middle of the Thirties of the last century. The Christian religion was viewed by French personalists as the main spiritual source of future revolution and the driving force behind it. This conviction led E. Mounier and his collaborators to undertake a critical investigation of the actual condition of the Christian religion in modern Western society. The principal conclusion drawn by French personalists was that Christianity itself had been caught in a serious crisis due to its spiritual decline and its narrowing social basis. Thus the revival of Christianity comes to be seen as a necessary precondition for the future personalist revolution. The ambiguous situation of the Christian religion in the modern world was examined thoroughly by Mounier and his followers, all of them being unanimous about its inherent potentialities to recover from the crisis and to become once again the spiritual core of Western civilization. This optimistic view of the prospects of the Christian religion was grounded on the theoretical distinction made by personalist authors between Christianity and various Christian societies. Christianity is understood as the eternal spiritual essence implying the everlasting possibility of renewal. A Christian society is conceived as a historical transient form of Christianity subject to all the deficiencies of human life and possible degradation and breakdown. The distinction implies that Christian societies as historical manifestations of Christianity itself are able to suffer downfalls, but the eternal essence of it always remains intact and can give rise to new forms of Christian societies. It’s noteworthy on the other hand that this conclusion didn’t rest so much on historical and sociological evidence as on the deep Christian faith of the French personalists themselves.

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