From Sensate Decline to Spiritual Renewal:

Abstract: This article explores Pitirim A. Sorokin’s cyclical theory of cultural change in light of the contemporary crisis of meaning and the possibilities for spiritual renewal. Sorokin diagnosed modern Western civilization as trapped in the exhaustion of its Sensate stage, dominated by materialism, empiricism, and the pursuit of power, and he foresaw its inevitable decline under the weight of its own contradictions. He predicted that the future would require a cultural transformation toward an Ideational or Idealistic stage, in which spiritual and material dimensions of reality are reintegrated within a life-giving synthesis. Crucially, Sorokin insisted that no civilization can endure without some form of transcendental orientation, and he anticipated that the collapse of the Sensate West would impel societies to recover a deeper religious or spiritual worldview — such as Christianity in a universalized and ecumenical form. This article argues that the Bahá’í Faith offers a compelling expression of the integrative spirituality Sorokin envisioned: affirming the unity of religions, harmonizing science and faith, and cultivating a new spiritual sentiment capable of transforming human conscience while honoring the foundational beliefs of religious traditions. In this light, the Bahá’í Faith may be seen as a force capable of revitalizing the enduring spiritual message of Christianity, not by superseding it, but by enabling its universal values to find fuller expression within the life of an emerging civilization.