¶8 Indeed, religion being properly a form of tradition, the anti-traditional spirit can only be anti-religious; it begins by denaturing religion, and, when it can, it ends by suppressing it entirely. Protestantism is illogical in that, while striving to ‘humanise’ religion, it still allows to subsist nevertheless, at least in theory, a supra-human element, which is revelation;1 it dares not push negation to the end, but, by delivering this revelation to all the discussions which are the consequence of purely human interpretations, it reduces it in fact to soon being nothing; and, when one sees people who, while persisting in calling themselves ‘Christians’, no longer even admit the divinity of Christ,2 it is permissible to think that these people, perhaps without realising it, are much closer to complete negation than to true Christianity. Moreover, such contradictions should not surprise us unduly, for they are, in all domains, one of the symptoms of our epoch of disorder and confusion, just as the incessant division of Protestantism is only one of the many manifestations of that dispersion into multiplicity3 which, as we have said, is found everywhere in modern life and science. On the other hand, it is natural that Protestantism, with the spirit of negation which animates it, should have given birth to that dissolving ‘criticism’4 which, in the hands of the so-called ‘historians of religions’, has become a weapon of combat against all religion, and that thus, while claiming to recognise no other authority than that of the Sacred Books, it has contributed for a large part to the destruction of that same authority, that is to say, the minimum of tradition that it still preserved; the revolt against the traditional spirit, once begun, could not stop halfway.
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Summary

Guénon explains that since religion is a form of tradition, the anti‑traditional spirit is necessarily anti‑religious: it first denatures religion and, when possible, suppresses it entirely. Protestantism is illogical because it tries to ‘humanise’ religion while still retaining revelation as a supra‑human element in theory, yet by subjecting revelation to purely human interpretations it reduces it to nothing. Those who call themselves Christians while denying Christ’s divinity are closer to complete negation than to true Christianity. Such contradictions are symptoms of an epoch of disorder and confusion, and the incessant division of Protestantism exemplifies the dispersion into multiplicity found everywhere in modern life and science. Protestantism’s spirit of negation gave birth to dissolving ‘criticism’, which became a weapon against all religion, thus destroying even the minimum of tradition it still preserved, for the revolt against the traditional spirit could not stop halfway.

General notes

  1. révélation — Rendered as ‘revelation’. Guénon means by ‘revelation’ the direct manifestation of a truth of a divine or supra-human order, transmitted through prophetic or initiatic channels within the framework of an orthodox tradition. In Christianity, biblical revelation is considered a communication from God to humanity, transcending individual reason. Protestantism theoretically retains this supra-human element, but by submitting its interpretation to ‘free examination’ (‘private judgment’), it gradually empties it of its substance, since individual interpretation denies the authority of a qualified instance (the Church as an inspired teaching body) to deliver its authentic meaning. ↩︎
  2. divinité du Christ — Rendered as ‘divinity of Christ’. Guénon refers to modern Ebionitism, that is, to the current (typical of advanced liberal Protestantism, such as that of Adolf von Harnack or Paul Sabatier) which reduces Jesus to a mere prophet or a moral teacher, denying His divine nature consubstantial with the Father (homoousios). This rejection of the divinity of Christ is, in Guénon’s eyes, a flagrant contradiction: these people still call themselves ‘Christians’ while having abandoned one of the central dogmas of orthodox Christianity, which manifests the illogicality inherent in the Protestant approach which, having no doctrinal authority, sinks into progressive and uncontrolled negation. ↩︎
  3. dispersion dans la multiplicité — Rendered as ‘dispersion into multiplicity’. Guénon here opposes the principial unity of traditional truth to the fragmentation proper to the modern world. ‘Dispersion into multiplicity’ corresponds to a movement of dissolution where every doctrinal synthesis is replaced by a proliferation of particular points of view, each claiming autonomy. This is the contrary of the traditional spirit, which tends towards unity, universality, and the integration of knowledges subordinated to a transcendent principle. This dispersion characterises as much modern science (growing specialisation) as social life (individualism) and religion (the multiplication of Protestant sects). ↩︎
  4. critique dissolvante — Rendered as ‘dissolving criticism’. This refers to ‘biblical criticism’ or ‘historical criticism’ of the nineteenth century (represented by figures such as David Strauss, Ferdinand Christian Baur, Ernest Renan, Julius Wellhausen). This approach, arising from Protestant principles of free examination, applies profane philological and historical methods to the Bible, casting doubt on the authenticity, unity, and supernatural character of the sacred texts. Guénon sees in this ‘criticism’ a natural extension of the Protestant spirit, even though it initially claimed to recognise no other authority than that of Scripture: by submitting the Bible to human investigation, it prepares its destruction. ↩︎