Rudolf Otto
The theologian Rudolf Otto (1869–1937) focused on religious experience, more specifically moments that he called numinous which means "Wholly Other". He described it as mysterium tremendum (terrifying mystery) and mysterium fascinans (awe inspiring, fascinating mystery). He saw religion as emerging from these experiences.
He asserted that these experiences arise from a special, non-rational faculty of the human mind, largely unrelated to other faculties, so religion cannot be reduced to culture or society Some of his views, among others that the experience of the numinous was caused by a transcendental reality, are untestable and hence unscientific.
His ideas strongly influenced phenomenologists and Mircea Eliade.
Read more about this topic: Theories Of Religion
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