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A Contemporary in Dissent: Johann Georg Hamann as Radical Enlightener
In this biography -- translated for the first time into English -- German theologian Oswald Bayer describes the life and work of journalist-theologian Johann Georg Hamann (1730–1788). At a time when it seemed that the forces of secularization were attempting to claim the future, Hamann churned out small publications aimed at undermining the Enlightenment zeitgeist, turning its assumptions upside down and skewering its pretensions. Although largely forgotten until recent times, Hamann as radical dissenter -- whom Goethe called the "brightest man of his age" -- remains relevant today, as Bayer shows in this book.
254 pages, Paperback
First published January 31, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 19, 2022
Originally a lecture (in German) that celebrated Lutheran theologian Oswald Bayer delivered to faculty and students at Tübingen, "A Contemporary in Dissent" has become (since this English translation from 2012) a first port of entry into Hamann's thought for anglophone students of philosophy or theology.
J. G. Hamann seems to me to have constructed a counter-Enlightenment philosophy based on the Old Testament and Luther. It's really quite stunning, and, I might add, exciting to see how he overturned all the tables of the French 'philosophes' and the German proponents of Aufklärung, especially Kant and Mendelssohn. At every step Hamann critiques their methods, pre-suppositions, and idols. He shows how one always must stand upon something, and in universalizing reason apart from historical circumstances and embodied existence, the philosophers of his time were simply raising up new religions, new gods, new superstitions. Hamann's 'metacritique' is in using their own writings to condemn their viewpoint, demonstrating how their own systematic elevation of reason leads to a destruction of the system. For Hamann, the only enlightenment came from "the true light, which lightens every man, and is coming into the world" (John 1:9).
For Hamann, fundamentally starting from God's Word, all of philosophy, all questing after knowledge and advancement, had to come from a mind not conformed but transformed; only those in communion with Christ can have a right philosophy, knowing what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2) to the world, to human existence.
What's intriguing to me about Hamann is his erotic (not "dirty," that is, crassly sexual) view of knowledge. To "know" in the Hebrew sense, is to join sexually, to become one; knower and known become one flesh. Hamann's great realization earlier in his life was that the Word of God was actually reading him, interpreting him. To know God, therefore, was to be known by Him, and the depth of this intimate connection could only be hinted at with the erotic language often used in the Old Testament. Before his religious awakening Hamann had been a simple-minded enthusiast of the Aufklärung, thinking that human reason could understand God's Word and stand over it as judge and critic. But when God actually encountered Hamann through the Old Testament, then Hamann knew God, joining Him in an intimate relationship. To me Hamann's work seems to be a sophisticated and brilliant application of Luther to the Enlightenment, with further philosophical development of Luther's embryonic views of language. This raises the question about Luther's views of language; did he entirely inherit such a singular focus and obsession in life? Was his humanist philological background and research responsible? Did he inherit much from Tauler and the Theologia Deutsch? Perhaps the thrust of the Reformation was a hermeneutical one, given that so many abuses (real and perceived) in German speaking churches stemmed from a mis-reading of Holy Writ. Since the problem was hermeneutical, the thrust, the counterstroke, the Reformation itself was hermeneutical. Hamann's philological interests aligned with Luther's, and in the 18th century situation in Prussia with Kant's Critiques exerting such influence, Hamann had an opponent to level his philological, philosophical, and theological critiques at.
J. G. Hamann seems to me to have constructed a counter-Enlightenment philosophy based on the Old Testament and Luther. It's really quite stunning, and, I might add, exciting to see how he overturned all the tables of the French 'philosophes' and the German proponents of Aufklärung, especially Kant and Mendelssohn. At every step Hamann critiques their methods, pre-suppositions, and idols. He shows how one always must stand upon something, and in universalizing reason apart from historical circumstances and embodied existence, the philosophers of his time were simply raising up new religions, new gods, new superstitions. Hamann's 'metacritique' is in using their own writings to condemn their viewpoint, demonstrating how their own systematic elevation of reason leads to a destruction of the system. For Hamann, the only enlightenment came from "the true light, which lightens every man, and is coming into the world" (John 1:9).
For Hamann, fundamentally starting from God's Word, all of philosophy, all questing after knowledge and advancement, had to come from a mind not conformed but transformed; only those in communion with Christ can have a right philosophy, knowing what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2) to the world, to human existence.
What's intriguing to me about Hamann is his erotic (not "dirty," that is, crassly sexual) view of knowledge. To "know" in the Hebrew sense, is to join sexually, to become one; knower and known become one flesh. Hamann's great realization earlier in his life was that the Word of God was actually reading him, interpreting him. To know God, therefore, was to be known by Him, and the depth of this intimate connection could only be hinted at with the erotic language often used in the Old Testament. Before his religious awakening Hamann had been a simple-minded enthusiast of the Aufklärung, thinking that human reason could understand God's Word and stand over it as judge and critic. But when God actually encountered Hamann through the Old Testament, then Hamann knew God, joining Him in an intimate relationship. To me Hamann's work seems to be a sophisticated and brilliant application of Luther to the Enlightenment, with further philosophical development of Luther's embryonic views of language. This raises the question about Luther's views of language; did he entirely inherit such a singular focus and obsession in life? Was his humanist philological background and research responsible? Did he inherit much from Tauler and the Theologia Deutsch? Perhaps the thrust of the Reformation was a hermeneutical one, given that so many abuses (real and perceived) in German speaking churches stemmed from a mis-reading of Holy Writ. Since the problem was hermeneutical, the thrust, the counterstroke, the Reformation itself was hermeneutical. Hamann's philological interests aligned with Luther's, and in the 18th century situation in Prussia with Kant's Critiques exerting such influence, Hamann had an opponent to level his philological, philosophical, and theological critiques at.
February 15, 2015
As an informal student of Lutheran theology this book was a real treat. The setting up of the Bible as our story with the motif of Cain and Able and carried through is very clarifying to many notions/impressions that have been picked up over time.
That the Bible is the "dictionary" which explains nature, life, our- selves; that which understands us and sets us in the context of all things, times, places, people and God himself in the Person of Christ resolves so many tensions of human existence that it could be wished that all men could know these things.
On the same line the chapter on created time is stunning. What a blessing to know that in the recitation of the Word of God, say as in the liturgy and sacraments, we are outside(?)of time, ie time is collapsed or suspended and I am taken up into the whole blood washed multitude singing "holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who is and who was and is to come" eternity is and therefore exists at all points in what by reason is perceived as a linear reality. As the Word is present then eternity is present and time is escaped. This makes he book of Revelation really beautiful and precious. Also makes Luther's teaching on the Lord's Supper plausible: we are at the Great Supper of the Lamb,there with Christ and he here with us, for in the collapsing of time on the post of the spoken Word "here" and "there" cannot exist, all that remains is real presence. Does not this speak also to Calvin's "we ascend" to heaven at the Supper? This entry of eternity into the present by the promise of God in the Written Word is another thing altogether.
This also projects itself I to the postulates of quantum theory. Oh how man would remove impediment of time! Matter is of no consequence, the universe is collapsed when God's Word is spoken, but alas his ears are stopped, he hears naught but what seeps out of his linear, time chained, introverted reasoning which springs only upward out of the Earth upon which he stands.
Loved the whole book, would reread it in a heartbeat!
As to ease of reading, it is not. I recommend reading the epilogue first to catch a glimpse of the work before getting into it.
That the Bible is the "dictionary" which explains nature, life, our- selves; that which understands us and sets us in the context of all things, times, places, people and God himself in the Person of Christ resolves so many tensions of human existence that it could be wished that all men could know these things.
On the same line the chapter on created time is stunning. What a blessing to know that in the recitation of the Word of God, say as in the liturgy and sacraments, we are outside(?)of time, ie time is collapsed or suspended and I am taken up into the whole blood washed multitude singing "holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who is and who was and is to come" eternity is and therefore exists at all points in what by reason is perceived as a linear reality. As the Word is present then eternity is present and time is escaped. This makes he book of Revelation really beautiful and precious. Also makes Luther's teaching on the Lord's Supper plausible: we are at the Great Supper of the Lamb,there with Christ and he here with us, for in the collapsing of time on the post of the spoken Word "here" and "there" cannot exist, all that remains is real presence. Does not this speak also to Calvin's "we ascend" to heaven at the Supper? This entry of eternity into the present by the promise of God in the Written Word is another thing altogether.
This also projects itself I to the postulates of quantum theory. Oh how man would remove impediment of time! Matter is of no consequence, the universe is collapsed when God's Word is spoken, but alas his ears are stopped, he hears naught but what seeps out of his linear, time chained, introverted reasoning which springs only upward out of the Earth upon which he stands.
Loved the whole book, would reread it in a heartbeat!
As to ease of reading, it is not. I recommend reading the epilogue first to catch a glimpse of the work before getting into it.
October 28, 2015
I really don’t feel qualified to rate this book, simply because I probably only understood half of it, at best. Nonetheless, I slogged through it and I found some really great insights that I will continue to chew on and ponder.
September 8, 2016
Very good information, but whether its the translation or the lecture-style format, it is not a clear read at times.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews