T.S. Eliot Predicted the Rise of Paganism in the West

---

The famed poet and philosopher stated that a society that abandons a shared moral Christian foundation would leave a void that could only be filled by shallow and materialistic beliefs.

---

Many people know T.S. Eliot for his award-winning poetry, but he was far more than a poet. Eliot was also a literary critic and a Christian philosopher who thought deeply and wrote clearly about the importance of Christian moral principles for society.

Two of his most important works on this topic are his essay collections The Idea of a Christian Society and Notes Towards the Definition of Culture. Eliot believed that modern Western society was in crisis due to its detachment from religious and moral values. He saw a decline in traditional Christian principles, leading to moral relativism and social disintegration. Published during a time of social and political turmoil in Europe, Eliot argued for the importance of a Christian foundation in society as a means to address the moral and cultural decay of the time.

These essays provide valuable insights into his views on the role of religion, culture, and society — and almost 100 years later, they provide prescient warnings that Christians in America should heed.

The Importance of Christian Society

In the aforementioned collections, Eliot argues for the importance of a Christian society, critiques liberalism and democracy, and warns against the emergence of a new paganism. His ideas remain relevant, and we can use his insights to analyze the secularization of America today. For example, in Notes Towards the Definition of Culture, Eliot unapologetically argued that Christianity was the foundation for Western civilization:

“It is against a background of Christianity that all our thought has significance. An individual European may not believe that the Christian Faith is true, and yet what he says, and makes, and does, will all spring out of his heritage of Christian culture and depend upon that culture for its meaning…I do not believe that the culture of Europe could survive the complete disappearance of the Christian Faith.”

In The Idea of a Christian Society, Eliot underscores the significance of a society rooted in Christian values. He asserts that a Christian society is essential for the moral and cultural well-being of a nation, arguing that Christianity provides a cohesive framework for society that fosters a sense of communal responsibility and moral guidance. In this essay, he argues:

“MY THESIS has been, simply, that a liberalized or negative condition of society must either proceed into a gradual decline of which we can see no end, or (whether as a result of catastrophe or not) reform itself into a positive shape which is likely to be effectively secular. We need not assume that this secularism will approximate closely to any system in the past or to any that can now be observed in order to be apprehensive about it…

But unless we are content with the prospect of one or the other of these issues, the only possibility left is that of a positive Christian society.

The third will only commend itself to those who agree in their view of the present situation, and who can see that a thoroughgoing secularism would be objectionable, in its consequences, even to those who attach no positive importance to the survival of Christianity for its own sake.”

In other words, we have three choices: The slippery slope of endless liberalism; a new secularism that will, in fact, be paganism; or a Christian society.

The Problems with Liberalism and Democracy

Eliot was critical of liberalism and democracy, seeing them as inadequate without a strong moral and religious foundation. He believed that liberalism, which emphasizes individual rights and freedoms, can lead to an excessive focus on self-interest and the erosion of social cohesion. Eliot wrote,

“Liberalism in the political order is the abuse of a particular doctrine; illiberalism is a distortion of the principle of authority.”

In contemporary America, Eliot’s concerns are reflected in the polarization and divisiveness of politics. The pursuit of individual rights and freedoms, while important, has sometimes led to a disregard for the common good and the neglect of moral responsibility. Issues like the erosion of social trust, political polarization, and the increasing emphasis on individualism can be traced back to the challenges Eliot highlighted.

Eliot was also skeptical of a purely democratic system, suggesting that democracy can become problematic when it lacks a strong moral foundation. He observed that democracy alone might result in the tyranny of the majority or a superficial form of governance that fails to address deeper cultural and spiritual needs.

As Philip Yancey explained in a review at Religion Online,

“Eliot’s social writings called into question two of the most sacred of sacred cows of Western thought: liberalism and democracy. He believed that liberalism was a corrosive force, for it provided people with no positive values. A liberal society is a negative society, he said; it does not work toward any end, it merely creates a vacuum.”

The Threat of a New Paganism

Eliot warned of the emergence of a new paganism that would replace the declining Christian influence in society, predicting that the loss of religious and moral values would leave a void filled by shallow and materialistic beliefs. He wrote,

“A society has not ceased to be Christian until it has become positively something else.”

In today’s America, the concept of a new paganism can be seen in various forms. It includes the rise of abortion, which is modern-day human sacrifice, and the rise of the transgender cult, which is biological and spiritual Gnosticism. We also see it in the rise of secular humanism, the worship of materialism and consumerism, and the proliferation of relativistic and individualistic worldviews.

The decline in religious adherence, combined with the rise of new belief systems and value relativism, has created a vacuum that poses a significant cultural challenge. Eliot’s warning about the dangers of losing a shared moral and spiritual foundation is particularly relevant in this context.

Conclusion

In summary, Eliot’s central message in these essays was a call for a return to Christian moral and ethical foundations as a means of addressing the social and moral challenges of his time. He believed that only a society grounded in Christian principles could foster a just and lasting civic polity.

For Eliot, Christianity was the only sure foundation for the culture we once knew as Western civilization, the culture that gave rise to America and upon which we were founded. He warned:

“If Christianity goes, the whole of our culture goes. Then you must start painfully again, and you cannot put on a new culture ready-made.”

Later in life, in another essay titled “Thoughts after Lambeth,” Eliot wrote,

“The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide.”

As Christians in America today, we must ask ourselves: Can we save the world from suicide? And the answer is, of course, we cannot. Not on our own, anyway.

But we know the One who can — Jesus Christ, the God-Man, who rose from the dead and is reigning even now at the right hand of the Father.

Therefore, we should, like Eliot, unapologetically defend the necessity of Christianity as the basis for our nation, even as our Founding Fathers did the same.

We preach the Gospel and pray for revival. We roll up our sleeves and work for reform. We reject pietistic calls to retreat into the churches and step boldly in the public square. For we know that God is a God of order and that even the public square belongs to Christ.

---

If you like this article and other content that helps you apply a biblical worldview to today’s politics and culture, consider making a donation here.