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Culture et idées

The 'extraordinary semantic and ideological invention' of 'Judeo-Christian' civilisation

In a lively and to-the-point essay published this month in France, historian Sophie Bessis analyses the notion and roots of the phrase “Judeo-Christian civilisation”, a now commonly employed expression that is also an ideology. In her book, reviewed here by Joseph Confavreux, she argues that “this extraordinary semantic and ideological invention" is a concept that is fundamentally flawed, and a deception employed as a political weapon.

Joseph Confavreux

23 March 2025 à 19h47

The phrase has become a part of everyday language, but for French historian Sophie Bessis, the notion of “Judeo-Christian civilisation” is basically a deception, an argument she sets out in lively manner in a book published this month in France, La civilisation judéo-chrétienne*.

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