The Numinous and Modernity: An Interpretation of Rudolf Otto's Philosophy of Religion (Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Fur Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaf (Beihefte ... Fur Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft)

The author traces the development of Rudolf Otto’s attempt to construct a normative science of religion. This should respond to concerns facing Protestant theologians in Germany at the turn of the century. Moreover, he examines the reception of Otto’s ideas after World War One. The volume contains name and subject indexes. CONTENTS 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 10 INTRODUCTION 11 I. THE IMPACT OF DAS HEILIGE AND THE PECULIARITY OF ITS RECEPTION 11 II. A REVIEW OF SELECTED LITERATURE ON OTTO 18 III. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE PRESENT STUDY 29 IV. HERMENEUTICAL REMARKS 35 CHAPTER ONE. OTTO AS HEIR AND INTERPRETER OF SCHLEIERMACHER’S SPEECHES ON RELIGION 38 I. THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF OTTO’S RECEPTION OF SCHLEIERMACHER 38 II. “HOW SCHLEIERMACHER REDISCOVERED RELIGION” 45 III. THE ESSENCE (WESEN) OF RELIGION IN THE SPEECHES 50 IV. BLUEPRINT FOR A THEOLOGICAL SCIENCE OF RELIGION 55 CHAPTER TWO. THE KANTIAN-FRIESIAN PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 62 I. OTTO, TROELTSCH AND THE SEARCH FOR THE RELIGIOUS A PRIORI 62 II. RELIGIOUS FEELING AND THE CRITICAL PHILOSOPHY 67 III. AESTHETIC JUDGMENT, AHNDUNG AND THE COMMUNICABILITY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE 74 IV. THE THREAT OF HISTORICISM AND THE “TESTIMONIUM SPIRITUS SANCTI INTERNUM” 83 CHAPTER THREE. THE PSYCHOLOGY AND HISTORY OF RELIGION IN OTTO’S THOUGHT 88 I. OTTO’S CRITIQUE OF WUNDT’S THEORY OF ANIMISM 88 II. OTTO AS PRACTITIONER OF VERSTEHENDE PSYCHOLOGY 96 III. OTTO AND THE SEARCH FOR THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION 106 IV. THE HISTORY OF RELIGION FROM WITHIN 109 CHAPTER FOUR. OTTO’S INVESTIGATION OF THE HOLY 114 I. THE NUMINOUS AS AN INDEPENDENT CATEGORY OF RELIGIOUS VALUE 114 II. THE VARIOUS MOMENTS OF THE NUMINOUS 121 III. AESTHETIC ANALOGIES AND THE SUBLIMATION OF THE NUMINOUS 130 IV. THE RELIGIOUS A PRIORI AND THE HISTORY OF RELIGION 133 CHAPTER FIVE. DAS HEILIGE AND GERMAN “IRRATIONALISM” AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR 142 I. OTTO’S ENIGMATIC RELATION TO THE “MOOD OF THE TIMES” 142 II. THE NUMINOUS, ERLEBNIS AND LEBENSPHILOSOPHIE 148 III. “THE DIONYSIAN EFFECT OF THE NUMEN” 154 IV. OTTO’S RESPONSE TO NIETZSCHE AND KLAGES IN THE LECTURES ON ETHICS 166 CHAPTER SIX. THE CONCEPT OF VALUE IN OTTO’S LATER THOUGHT 170 I. THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ETHICS OF VALUE 170 II. OTTO’S ETHICS OF VALUE 176 III. ETHICS AND RELIGION IN OTTO’S LATER THOUGHT 184 IV. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF OTTO'S POSITION 188 CHAPTER SEVEN. DAS HEILIGE AND THE RELIGIOUS AMBIVALENCE OF MODERNITY 194 I. OTTO’S DIAGNOSIS OF THE MODERN RELIGIOUS SITUATION 194 II. THE MARGINALIZATION OF THE NUMINOUS IN THE RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEST 200 III. HOW OTTO REDISCOVERED “RELIGION” 212 IV. THEOLOGY IN THE IRON CAGE 221 BIBLIOGRAPHY 229 INDEX OF NAMES 242 In der Reihe Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fr die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) erscheinen Arbeiten zu smtlichen Gebieten der alttestamentlichen Wissenschaft. Im Zentrum steht die Hebrische Bibel, ihr Vor- und Nachleben im antiken Judentum sowie ihre vielfache Verzweigung in die benachbarten Kulturen der altorientalischen und hellenistisch-rmischen Welt. Die BZAW akzeptiert Manuskriptvorschlge, die einen innovativen und signifikanten Beitrag zu Erforschung des Alten Testaments und seiner Umwelt leisten, sich intensiv mit der bestehenden Forschungsliteratur auseinandersetzen, stringent aufgebaut und flssig geschrieben sind. The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world. BZAW welcomes submissions that make an original and significant contribution to the field; demonstrate sophisticated engagement with the relevant secondary literature; and are written in readable, logical, and engaging prose. Main description: Der Autor verfolgt den Versuch von Rudolf Otto, eine normative Religionswissenschaft zu entwickeln. Diese sollte auf Fragen antworten, die sich der protestantischen Theologie in Deutschland an der Wende zum 20. Jahrhundert stellten. Darüber hinaus untersucht der Autor die Wirkungsgeschichte der Ansätze von Rudolf Otto nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg. Mit Namen- und Sachregister The continuity between Das Hellige and Schleiermacher's Speeches on Religion has often been observed, and Das Heilige has sometimes been regarded as the Speeches rewritten for the twentieth century.