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‪In contrast to the modern liberal narrative, early formulated by Guizot, for example, according to which individual and collective liberty implies the political marginalization of religion, Auguste Comte maintained that our society, like all societies, could not get along without a spiritually organized and instituted authority, that is, a Church. He criticized the ideal of individualism, and held that in fact it damaged the individual and impeded his or her development, while at the same time dissolving society and giving power to the wealthy. Instead he developed a theory of spiritual power adapted to the needs of industrial society, sensitive both to scientific rationality and individual liberty. This article seeks to lay out the theoretical aspects of the new elaboration of the religious institution.‪