DOGRU, SUMEYYE and Özay, Mehmet
(2026)
Christian weltanschauung in the era of secularism.
İMGELEM, 19 (19).
pp. 542-571.
Abstract
This study briefly examines the emergence of Christian values in post-war Germany, with particular emphasis on
Konrad Adenauer, the founding father of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who promoted these values in
party politics to address contemporary social and political challenges such as materialism and secularism. This
paradigm proposes an analytical approach for identifying the Weltanschauung of Christian democracy and
investigates its religious-traditional-based theories and ideologies. Christian democracy is not simply an alternative
political view or agenda, but a civilizational proposal intended to overcome the contemporary social and cultural
obstacles caused by materialist Weltanschauung by providing a source of identity merging both the “City of Man”
and the “City of God”. Konrad Adenauer and other Christian democratic thinkers proposed this identity in their
post-war political agenda, drawing significant inspiration from the Catholic Social Doctrine. In this regard,
Christian ethics fundamentally shapes Christian democratic Weltanschauung as opposed to the totalitarian
Weltanschauung of the materialistic image of man by proposing some crucial concepts such as justice, freedom,
dignity, etc. This research utilizes qualitative analytical methods. The fundamental finding indicates that Christian
values remain relevant and applicable in German politics amid the secularization process.
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
