On Wed, 17 Apr 1996, Laurence Paul Hemming wrote:
> Dear Martin,
>
> This pigeon squares up to the cat. Heidegger consistently makes a clear =
> distinction between "Church doctrine" (die Kirchenlehre) and Christian =
> faith (der Glaube).
Doesn't nearly *every* Christian?
The references here are too many to be cited, but =
> they appear in key places in the Einfuehrung in die Metaphysik, in the =
> Nietzsche lectures (Der Europaeischer Nihilismus in particular) and most =
> interestingly in Gelassenheit, all of which appear strongly hostile to =
> Christianity, but actually support this reading.
>
> I have yet to read a convincing case that Heidegger supported or =
> envisaged some kind of neo-paganism or quietism as the expression of the =
> relation to God.
>
> Perhaps much turns on just what you regard the word "Christian" to be =
> doing in your statement "whatever form genuine spirituality may take, it =
> would definitely *not* be Christian".
>
> I might tentatively advance the thesis that God is the one of whom it is =
> only possible not to speak (God is the one of whom nothing can be said, =
> because he is the one who utters ho logos, the Word). Such a view has =
> an illustrious provenance in Christian *thinking* (as perhaps an =
> alternative to Christian *metaphysics* - though I would happily concede =
> I am taking a short-cut here that requires much greater elucidation) =
> exemplified by (amongst others) Eckhart, Jakob Boehme, Angelus Silesius, =
> Nicholas of Cusa - a (German) tradition with which Heidegger was =
> thoroughly familiar.
>
> Just in terms of Heidegger's biography, he was certainly buried as a =
> Catholic (and was accorded the rights of the Church) and appears to have =
> retained a lifelong loyalty of a kind to the Church.
>
> Laurence
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