We can hope that the new President of the Republic will include in his reform agenda the teaching of “religious fact” in schools. This is a more than necessary decision given the daily interferences, both in France and abroad, between the spiritual and the temporal, without getting into the dispute over whether or not an extensively enlarged Europe of tomorrow will still possess Christian roots.
Two recent books provide an undeniable testimony in this matter and propose, ironically or paradoxically, a reversed approach. “When Our World Became Christian” by Paul Veyne evokes through its deliberate title the almost unexpected encounter, “pragmatic,” the author tells us, of an emperor and a faith that was largely in the minority at that time. To the point of inducing this fundamental question: aside from divine design, did Europe at the time naturally aspire to become Christian? The second book takes a reverse course: in “What is Zionism?”, Denis Charbit traces the multiple historical and religious paths of a concept that was born just over a hundred years ago. That’s almost nothing on the scale of Judaism. All the more reason to attempt to define the destinies that seem inextricably linked to each other.
In an inimitable style, which mixes deep erudition and a humorous distance from his subject of study, similar to the unforgettable introduction (170 pages!) of the Complete Works of Seneca (Bouquins Collection at Robert Laffont), Paul Veyne recounts one of the decisive events of Western history: the conversion to Christianity of Emperor Constantine on October 29, 312. This conversion was accompanied by a dream and a military victory. The night before the battle, the Roman Emperor received in a dream the promise from the God of the Christians to defeat his enemy if he “publicly displayed his new religion.” His rival was indeed crushed the next day in the outskirts of Rome. Paul Veyne’s work consists of pondering this very personal decision, “sincere” according to the author, in an environment that was largely unfavorable to him: Rome was “the Vatican of paganism” and Christianity was at most considered a sect with as strange and original accents. So, what then? Paul Veyne appears to seize the opportunity of this brilliant study to dismiss all the false truths and clichés about the origins of Christianity. Is the religion of Christ monotheistic? With “God, Christ, and later the Virgin, the Christian religion is literally polytheistic,” observes the author. The separation of God and political power? Paul Veyne shows, on the contrary, the full extent of “Caesaropapism” in early times. Morality, love of neighbor, forgiveness, all concepts unknown to the pagans as well as the “gigantism” of this God compared to the multiple deities, undoubtedly contributed to its success. Not content with his compelling demonstrations, Paul Veyne does not resist in his last chapter to question the “Christian roots of Europe.” Rather a favorable ground, responds the author who cites the sociologist Schumpeter: “If the holy war had been preached to humble fishermen of a lake in Galilee and the Sermon on the Mount to proud Bedouin horsemen, the preacher would have had little success.”
Roots are also extensively discussed in Denis Charbit’s work: between “Zion,” which appears in prayers of supplication to designate Jerusalem to those who are in exile and “Zionism,” a term that first appeared in May 1890, what common destiny? The concept seems to elude its creator. Associated with an exclusive territorial orientation by some, combining three criteria (program, organization, and action) according to others, “Zionismus” immediately poses a question to its supporters as well as its detractors: is it a resurgence of the past or an expression of modernity? The interest of the work lies in the attempt of its author to multiply, in a commendable effort of exhaustiveness, the approaches likely to grasp the nature and stakes of this “product,” an authentic epistemological tightrope walker between the word and the idea, between the old and the new, resembling Theodor Herzl’s “Altneuland” (the new ancient land) dreams. It is therefore not really a coincidence if the political scientist sprinkles his chapters in the repetitive form of “projects,” all revealing of their incompletion as much as their intrinsic dualism. To the territorial dimension (Eretz Israel or coexistence with a Palestinian state) are added political (creation of a state that is both democratic and religious), cultural and linguistic (quarrel between Biblical Hebrew, Yiddish, and a contemporary secular language), humanitarian (welcoming and protecting refugees after the Holocaust or strengthening the diaspora) stakes. Far from making historical unanimity even within the camp of Judaism, the journey of the “project” was quite tumultuous and chaotic. Uncertainty still reigns, moreover, always on its definitive accomplishment due to demographic perspectives largely unfavorable to the Jewish population, particularly in the highly symbolic city of Jerusalem. Zionism is not only contested by the relentless enemies of the State of Israel. But also by those who want to see it as a form of colonialism. The acts of antisemitism it was supposed to abolish still exist, even increase to the point of signifying, according to the author, a form of failure. In his conclusion, Denis Charbit prefers to emphasize “the remarkable intensity of the energy” that it has been able to mobilize as well as on the path already traveled. However, a question remains: nourished by biblical Judaism but driven by a claim of political modernity, Zionism, and with it the State of Israel, may one day soon be forced to make a drastic choice between one and the other of these two pillars?
Paul Veyne, “When Our World Became Christian” (312-394), Coll. “Bibliothèque idées”, Editions Albin Michel, 2007, 320 p., 18 Euros.
Denis Charbit, “What is Zionism?”, Coll. “Presences of Judaism”, Editions Albin Michel, 2007, 310 p., 11 Euros.
