From: Martin Weatherston[SMTP:mweather@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 17 April 1996 10:23
[text deleted]
<< If I may throw another cat among the pigeons, while I cannot find
a definitive statement to this effect, my impression is that whatever
form genuine spirituality may take, it would definitely *not* be
Christian. Heidegger seems to hold that Christianity is *essentially*
metaphysical, and hence essentially nihilistic. Any views on this?>>
Hi,
Which Heidegger are we talking about here? H.'s declaration that he is a
theo-logian (in a 1921 letter to Karl Lowith) - you could point to much to
flesh this out viz. the critical importance in H's thought of Luther's
theologia crucis, Schliermacher, Kierkegaard, St. Paul, and St. Augustine.
In one way H's sense of the relation of philosphy and theology is
extraordinarily closely related to Luther's theology of the cross. That
faith, if it is to be faith must rely only on grace. So, philosophy simply
has nothing to say to it (in this sense philisophy is, of course, formally
'atheistic' - in that faith is, if it is faith, bracketed out from its
reach).
But it's more ambiguous than this - as late as 1927 in his 'Phenomenology
and Theology' lecture to Tubingen's protestant theology faculty - he tried
to show how formally indicative ontological concepts such as guilt, falling
and conscience could in a round about way enable the creation of a new
theological language. (cf H's profound influence on his colleague -
Bultmann).
A key question - H. brackets out all worldviews/ontological regions - to
think about what he early on calls - the pretheoretical and preworldly
primal something (life in and for itself) - which is the topic of
phenomenology - which, in some way, gives rise to sciences, ethics,
aesthetics, religion etc. In what way does H. think of faith as arising
>from this preworldly primal something (in the same way as other ontological
regions) and in what way does he think of it as being of a different order
altogether?
Any answers!
Cheers,
Jacob Knee
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