Joachim Wach and the Phenomenological Tradition in the Religious Studies

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to determine the place of Joachim Wach (1898–1955) in the tradition of phenomenology of religion. For this purpose, the reconstruction of the conceptual foundations of his religious system and the philosophical analysis of his theory of religious experience are carried out, the sociological and religious elements are analyzed, the legacy of Wach is compared with the works of the classics of the German phenomenology of religion, R. Otto and F. Heiler. The article shows the proximity of this theory to the concentric model, proposed by F. Heiler, but Heiler’s system was dissected and used by Wach in favor of the fashionable trend of sociological research. In his description of the center of religion J. Wach completely relied on the concept of numinous by R. Otto. Wach is convinced that there is a numinous feeling inherent in the very essence of man, which is activated when man faced with Ultimate reality, Holy or Numinous. The dialogical relations of man and Ultimate reality are the foundation of the Wach’s method of religious studies. At the same time, the process of religious experience itself more closely resembles with religious experience in the terms of W. James.