Reshaping the “Religious Mind”

Historical and, moreover, sociological scholarship has highlighted how human sciences contributed to the secularization and naturalization of the mind. More recently, debates have arisen around the “desecularization of the world” (Berger, 1999). This panel aims at questioning the impact of human sciences on these processes of secularization / desecularization from an historical viewpoint, focusing on 20th century Christian conceptions of the mind. It will examine how Christian intellectuals and scientists have reacted to the emergence of a secular, scientifically based approach of the mind, and, more specifically, how they have incorporated human sciences knowledge in their answer. How did this use of human sciences affect their understanding of the mind? How did they cope with Christian doctrine of the soul?

The panel will concentrate on the pioneering debates of the first half of the twentieth century where psychology interacts with other human sciences, like paleontology, linguistics, ethnology or history, in order to shape a new conception of the mind. The panel will underline the connections between Protestant and Catholic debates. How did Protestants’ early interest in psychotherapy influence the Catholic reception of psychology? A comparison between Catholicism and Protestantism will also highlight the consequences of the modernist crisis on the Catholic Church’s problematical understanding of scientific autonomy. Finally, we will examine the challenges of secular spiritualisms and Oriental spiritualities for Christian churches. Is spirituality perceived as “an alternative to church Christianity” (van der Veer, 2009) or are there some attempts to include new spiritual propositions in the Christian approach of the mind?

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