Les brassages du croire : analyse de nouvelles catégories théologiques pour l’anthropologie du croire à partir de cas hindous-chrétiens

The aim of this dissertation is to problematize Christian way to believe when in contact with other conceptions of spiritual life. Because this religious and spiritual pluralism makes it necessary to renew critically theological appreciation of phenomena such as mixing, transfer or borrowing, three concepts are convened to examine the fundamental question that leads this work: how should the combination – at the outset, by participating in other traditions than those designated as “Christian” or, above all, developing a spiritual and religious dual anchoring – be considered, and be legitimized? On the theoretical level, the history and the validity of the three concepts (bricolage, syncretism, mestizaje), which suffer from a certain confusion in theology, are put under examination. Hybridity, more widespread in the English language, is a concept semantically too multifarious in French (compared to similar concepts), to justify a specific place alongside the other concepts as its meaning somehow encompasses the three of them. The deepening of the anthropology of belief, backed by a spiritual theology centered on discernment, proves particularly fruitful to think these issues. On a methodological level, throughout the work, historical epistemology provides the modality through which the analysis of the different concepts is being undertaken. On a concrete level, in order to illustrate these questions, this work takes its inspiration from experimentations and challenges Christianity in India faced. Concretely, taking as a point of departure the context of the Indian subcontinent, this work examines Indian Christian figures or enterprises engaged in different types of religious transfers (Part I). Then (Part II), specific issues of missiology from Vatican II until now are investigated through four themes (interreligious dialogue, culture, social justice and dialogue with the secular world), from which ten principles are laid out for the three concepts to rely on. This research comes back to the recent theologizing of the spiritual dimension (part 3) where anthropology of believing - which is fundamentally related to what is meant by spiritual life today - helps examining how it is transformed and strengthened not against, but in relation to a world qualified as “non-Christian.” Finally (part 4), the study traces the history and lexical properties of bricolage, syncretism, (hybridity) and mestizaje, in order to evaluate how they allow, each in their own way, to better reflect certain developments (or explorations) of the contemporary Christian spiritual life. The conclusions of this dissertation unveil at least three essential propositions. Primo, that the notion of identity, fundamental when it is shaken up by religious pluralism, can be thought of in a flexible, dynamic and porous way to external influences. These influences have the capacity to enrich more than to threaten an individual’s spiritual life, as opposed to what conservative or fundamentalist discourses suggest – all the more so if concepts related to mixing are well explained. Secondo, that nowadays mission cannot be thought of as an ad extra evangelization only - towards the world – but has to be understood as ad intra as well, emulated by catechesis or conversion, for instance. As Christians are on their way to God, their own evangelization must continue, and may take shape in (or be spiritually stimulated by) the encounter of the other - the non-Christian. Tertio, this work shows the importance of rethinking Christian truth in a dialogical rather than a dialectical way. In the same way, faith which characterizes Christian tradition should be envisaged under the larger idea of believing, more universal and common to any spiritual path, in order to grasp the quest for truth in its true complexity and plurality.

Keyphrases: mission chrétienne, bricolage, Religious pluralism, Christian mission, Spiritual life, History of Christianity in India, Mestizaje, Hybridity, Syncretism, Discernment, Historical epistemology