Artificial Religion and Structural Cycles: From Judaism to the Vatican

This paper provides a structural analysis of religion as a cycle of artifi- cialization, antithesis, and stabilization (Aufhebung). Tracing the develop- ment from Judaism through Christianity, Catholic institutionalization, the Franciscan poverty debate, the Protestant Reformation, and the Vatican’s role in modern history, we argue that religious institutions oscillate between charismatic origins and artificial hierarchies. The Vatican’s cooperation with fascism and its later stabilization highlight both the dangers and resilience of artificial religion.