This week in Christian history: Missionary in China, French secularism and Sunday School movement
France passes violent secularization law — Sept. 17, 1793
This week marks the anniversary of when France’s revolutionary government enacted a violently anti-Christian law that sought to “de-Christianize” the new Republic.
Known as the Law of Suspects, it had been preceded by earlier legislation that greatly reduced the longstanding power and influence of the Roman Catholic Church.
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“It was used to carry out more actively the following measures: 1) all priests and all persons protecting them are liable to death on the spot, 2) the destruction of all crosses, bells and other external signs of worship, 3) the destruction of statues, plaques, and iconography from places of worship,” wrote Alberto M. Piedra of the Institute of World Politics.
“In 1793, the Christian calendar was replaced with one reckoning from the date of the Revolution and the festivals of Liberty, Reason, and the Supreme Being were officially established. During the two-year Reign of Terror, anti-clericalism became more violent than any other in history.”
The anti-Christian fervor of the French Revolution would culminate with a “Festival of Reason” that was held at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris that November.
