DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2022.1.36500

Abstract: The subject of this research is the interpretation of the phenomenon of post-secularism in modern scientific discourse (the late XX – early XXI centuries). The object of this research is post-secularism as a phenomenon of modernity. Research methodology leans on the comparative and descriptive analysis. J. Habermas, introducing the concept of post-secular, noted that the process of secularization in the West is not only dialectical, but also incomplete; and secularization itself has strayed from the "right path" of its development. This launched the discussion on the post-secular. The interpretation of the post-secular can still be polar or mutually exclusive, requiring certain systematization of views, which is presented in this article. The conclusion is made that modern scientific discourse contains different interpretations of the post-secular. The first implies rejection of the secular, accompanied by revival of the religious, infiltration of religion into the sphere of active social relations, realization of the erroneousness of secularization and correction of these errors; in this sense, the concept of desecularization is rather appropriate. The second interpretation of post-secularism is counter-secularization: the process of desecularization intensified by revanchist sentiments of the reviving religiosity. Such post-secularism, focuses non on the correction of errors, but full dismantling of everything secular, which entails natural tension on all levels. Counter-secularization is not focused on dialogue and is potentially dangerous for its fundamentalist continuation. The third interpretation views post-secularism as the natural, self-generated continuation and/or development of secularism; the so-called “New Enlightenment”, which due to its unreligious religiosity and extreme relativism devalues the reviving sacred, originating either its transformation from the traditional religiosity to somewhat ecumenical, or the emergence of something new, in essence, pseudo-transcendent, which would be the final victory of the secular. Actualization of the possibility of choice and the choice itself between transcendence and pseudo-transcendence is the essence of the phenomenon of post-secularism.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2021.9.36359

Abstract: The subject of this research is comprehension of the concept of secularism by theologians of the Abrahamic religious tradition (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) in the late XX – early XXI centuries. The object of this research is secularism as the phenomenon of modernity. Leaning on the methodology of contextualism, comparative and content analysis, in terms of civilizational approach, the author studies the interpretation of the concept of secularism within the framework of confessional theological discourse. The author has examined the corresponding representations of theologians of the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christian traditions, including the inter-Christian movement of radical Orthodoxy. Analysis is also conducted on the concept of secularism in modern classical Islam and moderate Orthodox Judaism. The main conclusions are as follows: the theologians of all indicated denominations trace the origins of secularism in the West; Islamic theologians agree upon the fact that radical Orthodoxy takes roots in Christianity itself; the representatives of Catholic tradition see secularism as the ideology similar to fundamentalism, however, they deny its universality, and thereby supporting the Orthodox interpretation of secularism. A number of Orthodox theologians view secularism not just as the ideology aimed at achieving the complete elimination religions from public life to purely private life, but also as quasi-religion, which is extraneous to the principles of secularism. Islamic theology believes that secularism, which is alien to the Muslim world, is a serious but not critical challenge brought from the West. Islamic theology tends to see secularism only as ideology, which at times is irrational. Jewish moderate Orthodoxy views secularism as the challenge to traditional meanings that are fundamental to human community. In this regard, they advocate for the so-called ideological consensus between religious belief and secular modernity.