Mysterium tremendum

The essence of religion has always been connected with moments resembling fear and anxiety. These feelings of holy dread and pious fear of God form an essential part of the history of religions' elemental motives. Drawing on Rudolf Otto's famous concept of the »mysterium tremendum«, Peter Schüz seeks to open up theological access to these original forms of religious experience. This in turn aligns with a theory of piety which infers the grounds of religious experience from a reflexion on the forms of religious expression and representation.