Très tôt les pasteurs et auteurs chrétiens se sont compris comme étant appelés à transmettre une tradition en principe fermement établie. Les théologiens contemporains entreprennent par contre de faire un tri dans les traditions, de choisir dans quelle lignée ils s’insèrent. L’article montre comment le travail des historiens a fait évoluer la conception de la transmission des traditions. Un regard sur la phénoménologie de la lecture montre comment tout texte est réinterprété, ce qui ouvre comme une béance, ou un noeud, (...) dans le droit fil de «la tradition». (shrink)

RÉSUMÉ Billy Budd, la dernière oeuvre de Melville, contient le récit de quatre morts violentes. Deux marins meurent victimes de leur devoir en temps de guerre. L’amiral Nelson succombe lors de la bataille de Trafalgar après s’être théâtralement exposé au feu de l’ennemi ; le héros éponyme, condamné par effet de la loi martiale, meurt innocent mais parfait dans sa soumission. Toutes ces morts, mais surtout les deux dernières, sont présentées par l’auteur comme pouvant être éclaircies, peut-être, en ayant recours (...) à une notion de sacrifice. L’article assure qu’il n’en est rien, car aucune de ces victimes n’est la « victime parfaite » qu’exige la conception biblique de sacrifice expiatoire. ABSTRACT Billy Budd, Melville’s last work, contains the narration of four violent deaths. Two sailors die in war time doing their duty. Admiral Nelson falls during the battle of Trafalgar after exposing himself dramatically to enemy fire. And the hero, condemned under martial law, dies innocent but perfect in his obedience. All these deaths, but especially the last two, are presented by the author as being possibly understandable thanks to a notion of sacrifice. The article shows that this is not the case since neither of them is the “perfect victim” required by biblical notions of expiation. (shrink)

" L'étude historique de Michel Despland sur la religion en Occident revêt une importance tout à fait unique. Je ne lui connais pas d'équivalent en langue française. Il a fait pour l'histoire de l'idée de religion en Occident ce que Denis de Rougemont a fait pour celle d'amour. C'est pourquoi je crois pouvoir dire que son immense travail deviendra un classique qu'aucun historien, aucun théologien ne pourra ignorer. Suivre patiemment le destin du mot et du concept de religion, c'est une (...) manière d'écrire l'histoire de l'Occident. ". (shrink)

The author analyzes the transformation of norms and values in France and England during the preindustrial period (1500-1760). The relationship between religion and reason, the nature of popular fears, witchcraft, marriage, attitudes toward death, and persecution of confessional minorities are singled out for closer examination. The interplay between the two national traditions and the Catholic and Protestant ways remains under constant focus. The new norms and models for behavior that arose in each country in this period, besides being different, were (...) also articulated, communicated, and enforced differently, even though there is a broad family resemblance between the changes in France and in England that led to modernization. It is argued that the general concepts used in comparative religious ethics should always be suspect and may be of questionable applicability outside the historical wholes which gave them birth. To enhance the applicability of these concepts, it is proposed that the work adopt the more limited ambition of comparing cultural wholes that are geographically close and culturally permeable. (shrink)

The history of the concept of “religion” in Western tradition has intrigued scholars for years. This important collection of eighteen essays brings further light to the ongoing debate. Three of the invited participants, W.C. Smith, M. Despland and E. Feil, has each previously written impressive books treating this subject; the last two acknowledged the impact and continuing influence of Smith’s work, The Meaning and End of Religion. An introduction and a recapitulation of Smith’s contribution as a scholar set the stage (...) for a retrospective look at the published literature. Contributors then examine the transformation of words (the classical religio to the modern religion), particularities of religion in nineteenth-century France, Troeltsch’s concept of religion, the study of religion from an Asian point of view and the categorization of “World Religions.” The concluding essays elaborate contemporary anthropological, cross-disciplinary, semiological, deconstructive and psychoanalytical methodological approaches to the concept and study of “religion.” Exploring critically different aspects of the concept and study of religion, these provocative essays typically reflect the methodological pluralism currently existing in the field of Religious Studies. Of interest to scholars and students alike, this collection also contains a complete bibliography of W.C. Smith’s publications. (shrink)