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Rise of French Laïcité
French Secularism from the Reformation to the Twenty-first Century
Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph Series
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
Americans are often baffled by France's general indifference to religion and laws forbidding religious symbols in public schools, full-face veils in public places, and even the interdiction of burkinis on French beaches. An understanding of laicite provides insight in beginning to understand France and its people. Laicite has been described as the complete secularization of institutions as a necessity to prevent a return to the Ancien Regime characterized by the union of church and state. To understand the concept of laicite, one must begin in the sixteenth century with the Protestant Reformation and freedom of conscience recognized by the Edict of Nantes in 1598. This has been called the period of incipient laicite in the toleration of Protestantism. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 reestablished the union of the throne and altar, which resulted in persecution of the Huguenots who fought for the principle of the freedom of conscience. French laicite presents a specificity in origin, definition, and evolution which led to the official separation of church and state in 1905. The question in the early twentieth century concerned the Roman Catholic Church's compatibility with democracy. That same question is being asked of Islam in the twenty-first century.
Stephen M. Davis is an elder at Grace Church (gracechurchphilly.org). He and his wife Kathy have been engaged in church planting in the US, France, and Romania since 1982. He earned a DMin in Missiology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a PhD in Intercultural Studies from Columbia International University. He is the author of Crossing Cultures: Preparing Strangers for Ministry in Strange Places (Wipf & Stock, 2019) and Urban Church Planting: Journey into a World of Depravity, Density, and Diversity (Resource Publications, 2019).
“Davis’s masterful treatment of the historical rise of French laïque culture provides a foundational understanding for the revolutionary changes in contemporary, French self-understanding as a post-Catholic nation. It also builds a framework for understanding the new secularized consciousness with its contingent practical challenges currently emerging among youth and immigrant populations in France.”
—Daniel Sheard, Assistant Professor, John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, Liberty University
“In his book, Rise of French Laïcité, Stephen Davis has done what few Anglophones have dared to attempt, address and translate a unique French concept—laïcité—for the non-French. In so doing, Davis provides painstaking details as to how and why an understanding of history must inform contemporary social, cultural, and missional engagement.”
—Richard Kronk, Assistant Professor of Global Ministries, Toccoa Falls College; former church planter in France (1995–2013)
“Who can understand La Laïcité à la Française? Often mistranslated, almost always misunderstood, Davis’s historical, sociological, and missiological work meticulously clarifies this complex and fundamental trait of French society. A must-read for all gospel workers who venture onto French soil!”
—Raphael Anzenberger, Director, RZIM France
“This is an excellent and insightful summary of the history of laïcité in France since the Reformation. I strongly recommend it for missionaries in their second to fourth year in France. . . . This book will help them understand the French values and how to better share the gospel in light of these values.”
—David R. Dunaetz, Book Review Editor, Evangelical Missions Quarterly
“Stephen Davis has written an important historical study on the rise of secularism (laïcité) in France. From the domination of the Roman Catholic Church at the Reformation to its separation from the state in 1905, the road was long and rocky. Constitutionally strengthened in 1946 and 1958, laïcité is being challenged today by the rapid growth of Islam, France’s second largest religion, and its pursuit of recognition in the public space. A truly engaging story.”
—Jeff Straub, author of The Making of a Battle Royal: The Rise of Religious Liberalism in Northern Baptist Life, 1870–1920
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