Religion in Essence and Manifestation
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Gerardus van der Leeuw's Religion in Essence and Manifestation is a significant work in the phenomenological study of religion. Van der Leeuw proposed that a nonrational, mystical tradition underlies religious expressions, asserting that religion is irreducible to purely psychological or anthropological interpretations.1
The book offers a broad typology of religious phenomena, categorizing them by themes such as the object and subject of religion, their interaction, the world, and various forms of religious expression. Van der Leeuw classified religions into twelve types, including the religion of love (Christianity) and the religion of will and obedience (Israel), though these are characterizations of their perceived essential spirit rather than strict classifications of organized systems. The work emphasizes understanding religious phenomena by grouping them based on essential and typical elements, rather than focusing on historical development or specific religious communities.2
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study of religionModern origin and development of the history and phenomenology of religionHis major work, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, is an ambitious and wide-ranging typology of religious phenomena, including the kinds of sacrifice, types of holy men, categories of religious experience, and other types of religious phenomena. The work has been criticized, however, as being unhistorical. Partly because of…
Read MoreHis major work, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, is an ambitious and wide-ranging typology of religious phenomena, including the kinds of sacrifice, types of holy men, categories of religious experience, and other types of religious phenomena. The work has been criticized, however, as being unhistorical. Partly because of…
Read More- classification of religionsPhenomenological
In his Religion in Essence and Manifestation, van der Leeuw categorized the material of religious life under the following headings: (1) the object of religion, or that which evokes the religious response, (2) the subject of religion, in which there are three divisions: the sacred person, the…
Read MoreIn his Religion in Essence and Manifestation, van der Leeuw categorized the material of religious life under the following headings: (1) the object of religion, or that which evokes the religious response, (2) the subject of religion, in which there are three divisions: the sacred person, the…
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