Temple_de_la_raison,_St_Martin,_Ivry-la-Bataille

A Temple of Reason (French: ''Temple de la Raison'') was, during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, a temple for a new belief system created to replace

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

: the

Cult of Reason The Cult of Reason (french: Culte de la Raison) was France's first established state-sponsored atheistic religion, intended as a replacement for Roman Catholicism during the French Revolution. After holding sway for barely a year, in 1794 it ...

, which was based on the ideals of reason, virtue, and liberty. This "religion" was supposed to be universal and to spread the ideas of the revolution, summarized in its "

Liberté, égalité, fraternité ''Liberté, égalité, fraternité'' (), French for "liberty, equality, fraternity", is the national motto of France and the Republic of Haiti, and is an example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, i ...

" motto, which was also inscribed on the Temples.

Services

The symbols of Christianity were covered up and they were replaced by the symbols of the Cult of Reason. In the Churches of Reason, there were specially created services that were meant to replace the Christian liturgy. Fête de la Raison 1793

For instance, at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, on 10 November 1793, a special ritual was held for the "Feast of Reason": the nave had an improvised mountain on which stood a Greek temple dedicated to Philosophy and decorated with busts of philosophers. At the base of the mountain was located an altar dedicated to Reason, in front of which was located a torch of Truth. The ceremony included the crowd paying homage to an opera singer dressed in blue, white, red (the colours of the Republic), personifying the Goddess of Liberty.James A. Herrick, ''The Making of the New Spirituality'', InterVarsity Press, 2004 , pp. 75–76

Churches transformed into Temples of Reason

After Catholicism was banned in 1792, many of its churches were turned into Temples of Reason, including: * the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral (10 November 1793) * the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres * the Church of Saint-Sulpice * the Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis * the

Basilica of Saint-Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

* the church of Les Invalides * the church of Thomas d'Aquino * the Panthéon de Paris * the Church Saint Pierre from Montmartre * the Cathedral of Our Lady of Reims * the Troyes Cathedral * the Notre Dame de Versailles Church * the Église Saint-Pierre de Caen * the Église Saint-Martin d'Ivry-la-Bataille * the Église Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur-et-Saint-Christophe d'Houdan * the Church of St. James on Coudenberg * and many others

Criticism

According to the conservative critics of the French Revolution, within the Temple of Reason, "atheism was enthroned". English theologian

Thomas Hartwell Horne Thomas Hartwell Horne (20 October 1780 – 27 January 1862) was an English theologian and librarian. Life He was born in London and educated at Christ's Hospital until he was 15 when his father died and he had to work. He then became a clerk ...

and biblical scholar Samuel Davidson write that "churches were converted into 'temples of reason,' in which atheistical and licentious homilies were substituted for the proscribed service".

References

{{French Revolution Religion and the French Revolution French Revolution Atheism in France