From Negation to Acceptance. Christian Hermeneutics of Enlightenment

Abstract

Representatives of contemporary Christian apologia evaluate enlighten-ment in different ways. Three basic trends developed among them. One of them, the trend of negation, rejects the age of reason as such, emphasizing, above all, the disastrous consequences of the ideologies that derive from it. Another trend of acceptance emphasizes the Enlightenment sources of the idea of human rights and the democratic system. Finally, the trend of balance combines both approaches, developing a reflection on the errors of the age of reason, yet not avoiding the need for dialogue. The aim of the work is to present these three concepts, indicating the last one as adopted by the new apologia whose renaissance we are currently observing.

Keywords

• enlightenment
• apologia
• catholicism
• church
• hermeneutics
• rosa alberoni
• walter kasper
• joseph ratzinger
• benedict xvi