Uploaded February 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
My presentation is a semantic attempt to clarify the totality of Rudolf Otto by describing the characteristics of his religious theory, characterized by such key-terms as “the holy” and “the numinous.” In his academic life, Otto had three “faces,” i.e., a Christian theologian, a philosopher of religion, and a scholar of comparative religion. In the History of Religions, his religious theory is often regarded as the beginning of the phenomenology of religion. The phenomenologist Edmund Husserl called Otto’s book Das Heilige “a first beginning for a phenomenology of the religious.” Max Scheler, one of Husserl’s disciples, also praised Das Heilige as a book of the phenomenology of religion. In his life, Otto worked on the study of Indian religious thought while conducting Christian theological studies as a Lutheran theologian. His concept of the “wholly other” (das ganz Andere) certainly has the meaning of “God” in his Christian theology. From his perspectives of comparative religion, however, this same term semantically implies the “ultimate reality” of other religious traditions: “Brahman” and “God” (Īśvara) in Hindu tradition. This example shows us how the same religious concepts used by Otto may contain different implications in different religious traditions. In my presentation, on the basis of my analysis of his religious theory, I will semantically elucidate the nature of his religious perspectives.
Professor Yoshitsugu Sawai is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Tenri University. He has published books and articles on the Vedānta philosophy of Śaṅkaran religious tradition and the “Oriental Philosophy” of the Japanese philosopher Toshihiko Izutsu in Japanese and English. His research interests are in the theories of comparative religion, Indian philosophy, and Tenrikyo theology. He will soon publish a book on Rudolf Otto, Rudolf Otto and the Foundation of the History of Religions.
My presentation is a semantic attempt to clarify the totality of Rudolf Otto by describing the characteristics of his religious theory, characterized by such key-terms as “the holy” and “the numinous.” In his academic life, Otto had three “faces,” i.e., a Christian theologian, a philosopher of religion, and a scholar of comparative religion. In the History of Religions, his religious theory is often regarded as the beginning of the phenomenology of religion. The phenomenologist Edmund Husserl called Otto’s book Das Heilige “a first beginning for a phenomenology of the religious.” Max Scheler, one of Husserl’s disciples, also praised Das Heilige as a book of the phenomenology of religion. In his life, Otto worked on the study of Indian religious thought while conducting Christian theological studies as a Lutheran theologian. His concept of the “wholly other” (das ganz Andere) certainly has the meaning of “God” in his Christian theology. From his perspectives of comparative religion, however, this same term semantically implies the “ultimate reality” of other religious traditions: “Brahman” and “God” (Īśvara) in Hindu tradition. This example shows us how the same religious concepts used by Otto may contain different implications in different religious traditions. In my presentation, on the basis of my analysis of his religious theory, I will semantically elucidate the nature of his religious perspectives.
Professor Yoshitsugu Sawai is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Tenri University. He has published books and articles on the Vedānta philosophy of Śaṅkaran religious tradition and the “Oriental Philosophy” of the Japanese philosopher Toshihiko Izutsu in Japanese and English. His research interests are in the theories of comparative religion, Indian philosophy, and Tenrikyo theology. He will soon publish a book on Rudolf Otto, Rudolf Otto and the Foundation of the History of Religions.
