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1. The problem 1.1. TerminologyThe verb “secularize” is first attested in English in the early 17th century in the sense of “put [church property] to profane use,” the derivative noun  secularization in 1706. This sense, which derives from canon law ( saecularisatio, from saecularis, “of this age”, “worldly,” “pagan”), predates a broader sense of “dissociation from religious concerns,” the shades of which are captured in a larger lexical field in German.The first distinction in German is between  Säkularisation, which in the canon-law and constitutional tradition denote…

1. Middle Ages and early modern period In the Middle Ages and the early modern period, we already find harsh criticism of the clergy among both the educated classes and the various social groups of the “common people.” On religious grounds, for the sake of the true faith, the “monks” and “priests” were accused of a double moral standard, high-handedness, greed, and concupiscence. The wealth of many monasteries, the relatively comfortable and often luxurious lifestyles of many occupants of benefices , w…

One consequence of the general secularization underway in the late 18th and 19th centuries was a process that in German came to be known around 1800 as  Entkirchlichung (approx. “dechurching”), and that may be characterized as a secularization of and within the churches themselves.Around the year 1800, European scholars were engaged in intensive debate, as part of a broad discourse on the practical religious consequences of the Enlightenment, the radical anti-Catholicism and anti-clericalism of the French Revolution (1789), and the for…

The term déchristianisation (German  Dechristianisierung) emerged in the late 18th century in the context of religious and political debates on the French Revolution (1789). It came into use there as a slogan denoting the initially spontaneous violence of groups of petite bourgeoisie against the Roman Catholic Church and its clergy, the sacking of church property, and the pillaging of churches, other ecclesiastical buildings, and art treasures (Iconoclasm). Supporters of the Revolution also used th…

The term disenchantment, documented from the 18th century, came into the languages of the modern science of culture through Max Weber in particular. In the famous essay, “Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus” (“The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”) the Heidelberg scholar spoke in 1904/05 of the “great religio-historical process of disenchantment of the world,” which had begun in ancient Jewish prophecy and had culminated in the hard, this-worldly asceticism of P…

1. Terminology The word atheism (from Greek átheos, “without  God”, “godless”) denotes both a complex variety of interpretations of the world and life-designs shaped by conscious rejection of the existence of one or more gods, transcendent beings, or powers (positive atheism) and a conscious denial of the earthly influence of such gods or powers, while simultaneously recognizing the theoretical possibility of their existence (negative atheism). Terms such as “God,” “creator,” “absolute,” “supreme being…

1. The term and its historical contextThe collective singular noun Protestantism and its French equivalent  protestantisme were already in use in the 16th century; the German  Protestantismus did not come into use until the 18th century. The term refers to the protest and reform movements of the 16th-century Reformation and denotes all the Christian churches, free churches, and groups that emerged from it, most of which appealed to the Reformers Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, Martin Bucer, Huldrych Zwingli, and Jo…

1. The term The term  fundamentalism is a product of the religious conflicts in North American during the early 20th century. It is relevant to the early modern period because the exploration of late modern religious conflicts can contribute to a better understanding of the religious conflicts, confessional antagonists, and theological controversies over the construction of religious identity typical of Eurpean societies in the early modern period.The term was coined around 1920 in the context of the religio-political conflicts between competing groups with…

The term autonomy (from Greek autonomía, “self-determination, independence”) appeared for the first time in German (as Autonomie) in the context of the confessional and constitutional disputes following the Peace of Augsburg (1555) [3]. Its earliest use in English (with reference to states) dates from the 1620s. It arrived at its various semantic levels in the history of philosophy, law, and religion during the early modern period. As a legal term, it initially meant freedom from interference by the authority of the state, esp…