Es ist heutzutage offensichtlich, dass es bei Hans Blumenberg eine phänomenologische Anthropologie als den Kernpunkt seiner gesamten Arbeit gab. Zu sehen ist aber zugleich die Bedeutung seiner enormen Geschichtsschreibungen, die sich nicht auf seine anthropologische Betrachtung reduzieren lassen. Dieser Aufsatz thematisiert aus dieser Problemlage der Blumenberg-Forschung einen in seinem späteren Werk Matthäuspassion (1988) herausgehobenen Begriff der „Rezeption“. Das Phänomen der Rezeption entsteht Blumenberg zufolge durch die Distanzierung des Ur-Erlebnisses. Das sich dabei manifestierende Unverständige bzw. Unbegreifliche treibt die Menschen an, diesen leeren Platz wieder zu besetzen. Da ergibt sich eine Art der religiösen Erfahrung, die Blumenberg ins Licht zu bringen versuchte. Darüber hinaus verdeutlicht der Aufsatz, dass Blumenbergs ganzes Projekt der „Metaphorologie“ und der „Theorie der Unbegrifflichkeit“ dieses Problem schon vorher behandelt hatte. Daraus formuliert sich als Blumenbergs Religionsphilosophie sein Versuch, jene traditionelle Rangordnung von Ursprung und Rezeption umzukehren und damit die religiöse Ursprünglichkeit auf der Ebene der historischen Verwandlungen zu verwesentlichen.

This paper explores how Franz Xaver Witt, a German priest and founder of the Catholic choir association Allgemeiner Deutscher Cäcilien-Verein, expressed the meaning of “kirchlich (appropriate for the church)” or “unkirchlich (inappropriate for the church)” in his church music theory, focusing particularly on his evaluation for the Masses of the three great masters of the Viennese Classic.

Witt viewed the vulgarity of the Masses of Haydn and Mozart as “unkirchlich;” meanwhile, he considered “Erhabenheit (the sublime)” inherent in the Masses with a simple form as an important factor of “kirchlich.” However, when it comes to the Masses of Beethoven, he expressed a different view. Pointing out the “unkirchlich” aspect of the Masses of the composer, he also found the religious sublime in them. He called Beethoven’s Missa solemnis “Zukunftsmesse (the Mass of future)” and considered it a “hymn of the human united into one universal church.” Witt might have thought that this Mass meant more than the “concept of the church” and the “range of the liturgy,” for the Mass was for the “Catholic (universal) church” which was beyond each individual church in reality.

Witt has often been seen as a traditionalist, but in fact, looking into “the future,” he groped for the way of the liturgy and the church music.

Historians have claimed that Protestant America was generally hostile toward Asian religions during the first half of the twentieth century, an era of anti-immigration sentiments and theological conservatism. However, by analyzing The Christian Century, arguably the most influential Protestant journal in this period, this paper will claim that inter-religious relations were continuously being redefined by transnational factors from the 1910s to the 1930s, such as the growth of secularism and the liberalization of foreign missions.

As of the 1910s, the articles in the Century were certainly hostile toward Asian religions. Taking an “inclusivist” position, many writers claimed that Christianity embodied all the truths, while other religions possessed only some truths. Besides, almost no articles in the magazine considered dialogue or cooperation between Christians and non-Christians seriously; rather, most authors were convinced that Asian religions would be soon eradicated or replaced by Christianity.

However, this triumphant approach was abandoned by the early 1930s. Even when Re-Thinking Missions (1932), an extremely tolerant report about other religions, caused a huge sensation among missionaries, the editors of The Christian Century chose to defend the report. This suggests that the magazine was no longer as enthusiastic about the superiority of Christianity as it had been in the 1910s. Furthermore, agreeing with Re-Thinking Missions, several writers of the Century began to support the idea of inter-religious dialogue and cooperation for social services.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the contemplative process through which Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933) commemorated his sister, Toshi (1898-1922). Kenji's response to her death was intensely influenced by his membership of the Nichiren Buddhist lay organization Kokuchūkai, or “Pillar of the Nation Society.”

Upon Toshi's death, Kenji experienced a deep sorrow, but nonetheless he did not attend her vigil and funeral ceremony. The Kokuchūkai forbade attendance at ceremonies of other sects and, since the Miyazawa family belonged to True Pure Land Buddhism, Kenji was barred from attending his sister's funeral rites.

After this incident, Kenji began writing poems and stories for the repose of Toshi's soul. In accordance with his Buddhist beliefs, Kenji believed that the souls of the dead transmigrate. Kenji prayed that Toshi might trans­migrate to Deva's realm, but he became anxious in fear of the possibility that Toshi might be reborn in the animal realm instead. Kenji wrote a story in which, after his sister's reincarnation as a frog, he inadvertently killed her. Kenji subsequently decided to pursue happiness for all animals and people, since any of them might be his transmigrated sister. Moreover, Kenji's distribution of his stories was motivated by his religious beliefs and faith in the Kokuchūkai.