Ghislain Waterlot

The religious and spiritual dimension has an undeniable importance in the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, but his relationship with this dimension is more complex than it may seem. Of course, this relationship is not reducible to a mere defence of the natural religion in opposition to historic Christianity: Rousseau maintains in fact a very special relationship with the Christian religion, but he leaves out a substantial part of its theological and dogmatic heritage, merely stating the existence of a just and good God, creator of the world, and of Jesus, who was the one who has really done the will of God on earth. In this sense, Rousseau’s christianity is identical to the Christianity which is shared – explicitly or implicitly – by a large number of our contemporaries.