The New Christianity of Claude Henri de…

The Comte de Saint-Simon, who has spent the past few decades writing prolifically and funding a Paris salon for intellectuals and scientists, has developed a theory of "evolutionary organicism," which postulates history as an orderly progression culminating in an industrial, harmonious society ruled by a scientific elite on the basis of a division of labor.

French social theorist Barthelemy Prosper Enfantin meets the Comte de Saint-Simon shortly before the latter’s death on May 19, 1825.

Saint-Simon’s New Christianity, published that year, synthesizes Catholic and Enlightenment ideas.

Enfantin, with St. Amand Bazard, establishes Saint-Simonism, a political and religious movement based on Saint-Simon’s thought, which advocates a highly centralized, planned society, ruled for the common good by a natural aristocracy of the most talented.