Dinler Tarihçisinin Anlamayı Hedefleyen Bir İmanlı Olarak Portresi: Joachim Wach

Günümüz dinler tarihi disiplininin kurucularından sayılan Joachim Wach (1898-1955) aslında çok katmanlı bir yaklaşıma sahiptir. Bunlardan ilki, dinler tarihi disiplininin sınırlarını çizmeye ve metodunu belirlemeye çalışan bir dinler tarihçisi; ikincisi, din ve toplumun birbiriyle ilişkisini tipolojiler yoluyla sistemleştirmeye çalışan bir din sosyoloğu ve fenomenoloğu; üçüncüsü ise Tanrının kendini İsa Mesihte en üstün şekilde açımladığına inanan Hıristiyan bir imanlı ve Hıristiyanlık dışı dinlere nasıl yaklaşılması gerektiği üzerinde düşünen bir teolog. Elinizdeki bu yazıda Wachın din sosyolojisi adı altında nasıl bir din fenomenolojisi yaptığı, yarattığı tipolojiler ve mukayeseler vasıtasıyla nasıl bir teoloji ortaya koyduğunu ele alacağım. Üstelik bilimsel, otonom ve objektif metodolojiyi önceleyen bir dinler tarihçisi olma iddiasında olan Wach, ne tam bir dinler tarihçisi ne de tam bir teolog gibi davranabilmiştir.

A Portrait of the Historian of Religions: Joachim Wach and His Faith Seeking Understanding

Joachim Wach (1898-1955), considered one of the founding fathers of the contemporary history of religions, has a multilayered personality: In order, he is a historian of religions who tries to demarcate the field s boundaries and determine its methods, a phenomenologist of religion as he attempts to systematize the relationship between religion and society via typologies, and a faithful Christian who believes in the superior revealing of God in the person of Jesus Christ as well as a theologian who reflects upon how to approach nonChristian traditions. Within the scope of this paper, I will argue that Wach s attempt to establish the history of religions as an autonomous, objective, and scientific discipline failed even in his own eyes as he is involved in the phenomenology of religion under the name of the sociology of religion. In addition, he acts as a quasitheologian when he is involved in the phenomenology of religion and when he provides us with comparisons and typologies. Moreover, although Wach seems to be a historian of religions who prioritizes methodology, he does not fit into either the field of the history of religions or theology.

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