CFP: “Christianity and Democracy”. 18–19 November 2021, Łódź, Poland

CFP: “Christianity and Democracy”
University of Lodz
The Department of Philosophy
18–19 November 2021, Łódź, Poland

 A general question of the relationship between Christianity as a religion and politics brings up more specific issues: Christianity’s attitude towards democracy, the harmonization of this world religion with democracy, and their conflict with each other. The problem of the relationship between religion and state has a long history, which dates back, expectedly, to the beginnings of Christianity. A few attempts at conceptualization of this problem emerged during the history of Christianity. In his “De Civitate Dei”, Augustine of Hippo developed an approach, which has exerted enormous influence on Christian thought and concepts and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine, especially the conception of natural law and the relationship between natural law and secular law, remains hugely important as well. The conceptualization of the relationship between religion and politics, and of religion and state have differentiated alongside the changes within Christianity itself: The Eastern (Orthodox) church, the Reformation, even Christian denominations within Protestant religions, each of them has conceptualized this relation in its own terms. As the result of these differences, there is a wide range of possible positions on the issue of “Christianity and Democracy”. Only those of them which play an important role in shaping the relationship between Christianity and contemporary democracy will be discussed during the conference. We will discuss such contentious claims as that it is difficult to reconcile Christianity with contemporary democracy on the one hand, and that contemporary democracies exist in societies shaped by Western versions of Christianity.

The aim of the conference is (1) to highlight some important historical aspects of the development of a concept of the relationship between religion (including its institution, i.e. the Church) and the state, and (2) to show different approaches to this relationship in different Christian denominations, as well as (3) to discuss two opposing theses: a) that modern democracy has been shaped by Christianity and could develop and can function mainly in the countries of Western Christianity, and b) that there is a significant, inevitable conflict between Christianity and democracy.

The abstracts should be no longer than 500 words (including 4 to 5 keywords) and should be sent to the following address: bartosz.pokorski@filhist.uni.lodz.pl.

Important dates:
Abstract submission: September 19, 2021.
Notifications: September 30, 2021.
Conference: November 18 and 19, 2021.

Conferences languages are English and German.

Conference website:
http://normativityandpraxis.uni.lodz.pl