The Twilight of Traditional Faith

The period between 1789 and 1848 witnessed one of history’s most profound ideological transformations – the retreat of religion from its position as humanity’s universal framework for understanding existence. For centuries, religious terminology had provided the fundamental vocabulary through which most people interpreted their world. As one contemporary observer noted, in many societies the word “Christian” simply meant “peasant” or “person.” This began changing dramatically during the era of dual revolution, when religion transformed from an all-encompassing sky into mere clouds in the human firmament – finite, mutable, and no longer inescapable.

Among Europe’s aristocracy, religious indifference had long been common, though carefully masked by outward observance. The educated elites of the Enlightenment increasingly embraced deism or outright atheism, with figures like Laplace famously declaring he had “no need for that hypothesis” regarding God’s role in celestial mechanics. However, this secularization initially affected only small privileged circles. For most people – peasants, urban workers, and even much of the middle class – the world remained profoundly religious, interpreted through the lens of saints, scripture, and supernatural forces.

The Revolutionary Rupture

The American and French revolutions marked a decisive break in this pattern. Unlike earlier upheavals like the Dutch or English revolutions which had employed traditional religious language, these late 18th century movements expressed themselves in purely secular terms. The revolutionary ideology consciously adopted Roman rather than Christian symbolism, representing what one historian called “the most obvious evidence of secular ideology’s triumph over religious ideology.”

This secularism reflected the political hegemony of the liberal bourgeoisie who imposed their characteristic ideological forms on broader popular movements. As radical democratic ideas spread among artisans and workers through figures like Thomas Paine – whose “Age of Reason” bluntly challenged biblical authority – the emerging socialist and labor movements inherited this secular orientation. Robert Owen’s socialism came packaged with outright atheism, while the Owenite “Halls of Science” continued spreading rationalist ideas long after the movement’s decline.

The Paradox of Popular Piety

Yet despite these trends, the majority of people remained religious. Industrial workers and urban masses, while more secular than traditional peasant societies, still exhibited significant religious engagement by modern standards. However, established churches often failed to adapt to new industrial communities. In 1851 Britain, only about 30% of major industrial city residents had church accommodations, leaving a vacuum increasingly filled by secular labor movements.

This created a striking paradox: while working-class movements adopted secular ideologies, the working classes themselves often remained deeply religious. The Bible continued serving as a potent text for social rebellion, with scripture providing language for protest that ranged from millenarian fantasies to organized dissent. As one Catholic commentator observed, a people molded by Christian ideals of poverty and suffering would find socialist ideas not just resistible but unthinkable.

Islamic Revival and Protestant Expansion

While Christianity struggled with secularizing forces, two religious traditions demonstrated remarkable vitality during this period: Islam and Protestant sectarianism. Islamic expansion continued its quiet but relentless advance across Africa and Asia, often facilitated by Muslim merchants and the religion’s appeal as a social adhesive in communities disrupted by slave trade and colonialism. In Southeast Asia, Islam became associated with resistance to Dutch rule, while reform movements like Wahhabism injected new rigor across the Muslim world.

Protestant sectarianism flourished primarily in capitalist societies, particularly Britain and America. Methodist membership grew tenfold between 1790-1850, while Baptists and Methodists came to dominate the American religious landscape. These movements thrived among emerging middle classes and marginalized groups, offering democratic equality, emotional release, and in some cases, channels for social protest through millenarian expectations.

Religion as Social Stabilizer

For established authorities, religion served as a crucial bulwark against revolution. Post-1815 conservative governments increasingly viewed churches – along with police and censors – as essential pillars of social order. As Metternich’s secretary Gentz argued, Protestantism represented the root of all modern evils, with the French Revolution merely its logical consequence. This reactionary outlook fueled Catholic revivals among romantic intellectuals, most notably the Oxford Movement in England.

Yet even within organized religions, liberal currents persisted. In France, Lamennais attempted to reconcile Catholicism with popular revolution, while Italian thinkers like Gioberti imagined a liberal Italy under papal leadership. Protestant dissenters naturally leaned toward liberalism, while emancipated Jews often embraced secularism or reform Judaism as paths to integration.

The Lasting Legacy

The period 1789-1848 established patterns that would dominate modern religious history: the uneasy coexistence of secular ideologies with persistent faith, religion’s dual role as both opiate and inspiration for the oppressed, and the complex relationship between religious institutions and political power. As scientific advances like Darwinism loomed on the horizon, the stage was set for even more dramatic confrontations between traditional worldviews and modern thought. Yet as subsequent history would show, reports of religion’s death proved greatly exaggerated – though its role in society and politics would never again go unchallenged.