Eric Voegelin on Christ and Christianity

The Thomist 68 (2004): 259-86 ERIC VOEGELIN ON CHRIST AND CHRISTIANITY MABEN WALTER POIRIER Concordia University Montreal, Quebec WELL BEFORE the publication of The Ecumenic Age, volume 4 of Order and History, in 1974, Eric Voegelin was correctly understood by academics interested in his work to be developing a philosophy of politics that was driven by a deeply spiritual force. Although it was generally recognized that this force was not necessarily a religious one in the narrow or denominational sense of the term,- it was a force that, it was felt, was ultimately capable of focusing a powerful light on the uniqueness of Christ and the Christian religion. A great many scholars, both in Europe and in North America, awaited the appearance of volume 4 of Order and History, confident that, in this volume, Voegelin would finally bring to bear on Christianity his considerable knowledge and powerful intellect, and produce a vision of the Christian religion that would parallel, if not rival, his arresting interpretations of the Hebrew and Greek civilizations, and, in particular, his nothing less than spectacular insight into Plato, in the earlier volumes. However, such was not to be, at least not in the sense expected , and disappointment set in almost immediately once scholars had an opportunity to study The Ecumenic Age. In this volume, Voegelin not only altered radically the design and methodology of his multivolume enterprise, but he altered it in such a manner as to give rise to serious doubts about whether he would now be able to make sense of Christ and Christianity. As a consequence, many argued that he failed to deal with Christianity in a fashion consistent with the expectations he set in motion at 259 260 MABEN WALTER POIRIER the start of his project. In fact, he so misrepresented Christ and Christianity that one otherwise sympathetic commentator found it possible to say that, uncharacteristically, on this one and only occasion, Voegelin betrayed his scholarship inasmuch as he "approached a great spiritual reality, viz., Christianity, from a standpoint extraneous to it."1 Truly, this was a devastating criticism of Voegelin, and, in particular, of his methodology, if it could be demonstrated to be correct, for it signified that Voegelin had abandoned his existential and phenomenological approachan approach that served him well when studying the Greek experience -in favor of drawing on standards extraneous to Christianity and the Christian experience when studying Christianity. The questions we will attempt to answer in the course of studying Voegelin's understanding of Christ and Christianity are: Is this critical assessment of Voegelin's thought warranted? Does his enterprise, in some sense, founder on the shoal that is Christianity? Do the various critical appraisals of his writings on this point themselves stand the test of time? All of these questions can be answered in the affirmative. However, some of Voegelin's critics, in their evaluation of his work, could have given us a more perspicuous insight into the thinking ofthis great master, and thus allowed for an undoubtedly critical but at the same time fundamentally more accurate reading of the implications of Voegelin's writings as these relate to Christ and to Christianity. In fact, this sort of reading would seem to be almost indispensable if one means to explore the ultimate incompatibility of Voegelin's thought with Christianity. I One of the first scholars to criticize Voegelin's understanding of Christ and Christianity was Thomas J. J. Altizer.2 In a trans1 Gerhart Niemeyer, "Eric Voegelin's Philosophy and the Drama of Mankind," Modem Age 20, no. 1 {Winter 1976): 35. 2 Thomas}. J. Altizer, "A New History and a New but Ancient God? A Review-Essay," Journal of the American Academy of Religion 43, no. 4 (1975): 757-72; reprinted in Ellis Sandoz, ed., Eric Voegelin's Thought: A Critical Appraisal (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1982), 179-88. Frederick D. Wilhelmsen was the first to launch an attack against ERIC VOEGELIN ON CHRIST AND CHRISTIANITY 261 parently appreciative, but nonetheless critical, assessment of Voegelin's writing, Altizer finds Voegelin wanting on a number of counts. In a very cautious manner and with a highly nuanced style, Altizer makes it clear that...