¶11 This epoch is that of the beginning and expansion of Christianity, coinciding, on the one hand, with the dispersion of the Jewish people, and, on the other hand, with the final phase of Greco-Latin civilisation; and we can pass more quickly over these events, despite their importance, because they are more generally known than those of which we have spoken thus far, and because their synchronism has been more noticed, even by historians whose views are the most superficial.1 Certain common features between ancient decadence and the present epoch have also been pointed out fairly often; and, without wishing to push the parallelism too far, one must recognise that there are in fact some rather striking resemblances.2 Purely ‘profane’ philosophy had gained ground: the appearance of scepticism on one side, the success of Stoic and Epicurean ‘moralism’ on the other, show sufficiently how much intellectuality had been lowered.3 At the same time, the ancient sacred doctrines, which almost no one understood any longer, had degenerated, as a result of this incomprehension, into ‘paganism’ in the true sense of the word, that is to say, they were no more than ‘superstitions’, things which, having lost their profound meaning, survive themselves through purely external manifestations.4 There were attempts at reaction against this decline: Hellenism itself tried to revive itself with the help of elements borrowed from Oriental doctrines with which it could come into contact;5 but this was no longer sufficient, Greco-Latin civilisation had to come to an end, and rectification had to come from elsewhere and be brought about in a completely different form. It was Christianity that accomplished this transformation;6 and, let us note in passing, the comparison that can be established in certain respects between that time and our own is perhaps one of the determining elements of the disordered ‘messianism’ that is currently emerging.7 After the troubled period of the barbarian invasions, necessary to complete the destruction of the old state of affairs, a normal order was restored for a duration of a few centuries; this was the Middle Ages, so misunderstood by moderns who are incapable of understanding its intellectuality, and for whom this epoch certainly appears much more foreign and distant than ‘classical’ antiquity.8
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intellectapauruṣeya

Summary

This epoch is that of the beginning and expansion of Christianity, coinciding with the dispersion of the Jewish people and the final phase of Greco-Latin civilisation. Guénon notes striking resemblances between ancient decadence and the present epoch. Profane philosophy had gained ground, with the appearance of scepticism and the success of Stoic and Epicurean moralism. Ancient sacred doctrines had degenerated into paganism (superstitions without profound meaning). There were attempts at reaction, but Greco-Latin civilisation had to end. Christianity accomplished the necessary transformation. After the barbarian invasions, a normal order was restored for a few centuries: the Middle Ages, misunderstood by moderns who cannot understand its intellectuality and find it more foreign and distant than classical antiquity.

General notes

  1. début et expansion du Christianisme … dispersion du peuple juif … dernière phase de la civilisation gréco-latine — Rendered as 'beginning and expansion of Christianity … dispersion of the Jewish people … final phase of Greco-Latin civilisation'. Guénon situates early Christianity in a context of general crisis: the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (70 CE) and the Jewish diaspora on the one hand, the decadence of the Greco-Roman world (late Empire, invasions, syncretism) on the other. This coincidence is not accidental; it manifests the end of one cycle and the opening of another. Christianity is not just one religion among others, but an agent of cyclical rectification, which allowed the preservation in a new form of elements of authentic tradition. Guénon does not develop this aspect here, as he assumes these facts are known to the reader. ↩︎
  2. ressemblances entre la décadence antique et l'époque actuelle — Rendered as 'resemblances between ancient decadence and the present epoch'. Guénon notes analogies between the end of the Greco-Roman world and the modern period: collapse of traditional beliefs, rise of scepticism, multiplication of sects and superstitions, search for new sensations, superficial syncretism, moralism without metaphysics. These resemblances are not identical repetitions, but manifestations, at different levels, of the same cyclical laws. The parallel helps to illuminate the modern crisis by analogy with the ancient crisis. It should not be pushed too far, for the contexts and the solutions are not identical (the outcome for antiquity was the medieval rectification; for us, the future is uncertain). ↩︎
  3. scepticisme … moralisme stoïcien et épicurien — Rendered as 'scepticism … Stoic and Epicurean moralism'. Guénon characterises late philosophy as degenerate in comparison with authentic metaphysics. Scepticism (Pyrrho, Carneades, Sextus Empiricus) renounces certain knowledge and takes refuge in the suspension of judgment; Stoicism and Epicureanism, while claiming to offer an ethics, are no more than morals without metaphysics, rules of life without transcendent principles. These two tendencies mark a lowering of intellectuality: one no longer seeks truth, but the absence of disturbance (ataraxia) or conformity to a natural law. The same phenomenon is found in the modern era: relativism, pragmatism, ethics without ontological foundation. ↩︎
  4. « paganisme » … « superstitions » — Rendered as 'paganism … superstitions'. Guénon here distinguishes two meanings of 'paganism'. The ordinary meaning (polytheistic religion of antiquity) is not a value judgment. But he uses the word in its etymological sense: religion of the 'pagus' (countryside, village), that is to say, a religion that is no longer understood, reduced to external practices and popular beliefs without deep spiritual meaning. The mysteries, initiations, metaphysics have disappeared; only rites emptied of their meaning, festivals, mechanical rituals remain. This is a state of spiritual degeneration. Guénon sometimes applies this same word to popular Christianity (and especially to late medieval Catholicism) when it loses its initiatory dimension. Superstition is therefore not the 'false' belief in multiple gods, but attachment to empty forms, regardless of the religion. ↩︎
  5. essais de réaction … emprunts aux doctrines orientales — Rendered as 'attempts at reaction … borrowings from Oriental doctrines'. Guénon alludes to the religious and philosophical syncretisms of the late Hellenistic and Roman period: the cult of Isis, Mithraism, Hermeticism, Neo-Pythagoreanism, Middle Platonism, Gnosticism, etc. These attempts show a desire to rediscover an authentic spirituality, but they are fragmentary, often superficial, and do not succeed in restoring a complete traditional order. They borrow from Egypt, Persia, India, Judaea, but without lasting roots. Christianity, on the other hand, was able to make a deeper synthesis and create a new traditional order. ↩︎
  6. Christianisme comme redressement — Rendered as 'Christianity as rectification'. Guénon recognises in Christianity a historical role of traditional restoration. It is not, for him, the exclusive 'true religion', but a providential form adapted to the conditions of the West at the end of the ancient cycle. Christianity reintroduced essential elements: the idea of a transcendent revelation, of a spiritual hierarchy, of an esotericism (even if this was progressively lost), of a moral rule founded on non-terrestrial principles. It was a 'rectification' in relation to pagan decadence. This does not mean that Christianity is perfect or immutable; Guénon criticises certain deviations harshly (schism, Reformation, secularisation), but recognises the initial value of the Christian tradition. ↩︎
  7. « messianisme » désordonné — Rendered as 'disordered messianism'. Guénon refers to millenarian movements, sects and political ideologies that announce an imminent end of the world or a radical transformation (communism, Nazism, certain forms of nationalism, or pseudo-religions like Theosophy). The analogy between the end of antiquity and the modern crisis can fuel a disordered messianic expectation: some think that a new Christianity (or a new revelation) is about to emerge, bringing salvation. Guénon warns against these illusions, while recognising that a rectification is possible, but under conditions that mere expectation cannot create. ↩︎
  8. moyen âge … plus étranger que l’antiquité classique — Rendered as 'Middle Ages … more foreign than classical antiquity'. Guénon emphasises a paradox: moderns claim to be heirs of Greece and Rome, which they study in their universities, but they poorly understand the Middle Ages, which are chronologically closer. For Guénon, this difficulty stems from the fact that the Middle Ages were still a traditional civilisation, founded on metaphysical principles and on spiritual authority, whereas modernity has broken with these principles. Classical antiquity, despite its decadence, is already more accessible to moderns because it contains the germs of profane philosophy and rationalism. The Middle Ages, on the contrary, appear 'foreign' to them because they show them a hierarchical, sacred, non-individualistic society with which they cannot identify. This observation is a critique of modern historiography, which projects its own categories onto the past. ↩︎