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Essays on Religion (Monograph Series (Society for the Scientific Study of Religion), No. 10)

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The revival in Simmel scholarship that started in the early 1990s continues with this very fine collection of Simmel's lesser known essays on religion. Here, one will find Simmel at his very best where the impressionist style does not abstract from the complexity of the issues which he deals with. Such issues include the relationship between the 'religious' and 'scientific' paradigms, various aspects of religious art (an excellent piece on Rembrandt among others), and the relationship and relevance of religion to modern life. Simmel's argument is difficult to organize into a system with clear contours; nevertheless, the argument proceeds with admirable dialectical subtlety capturing as many sides as possible of the concept of God and its relevance for the social. One of the most impressive essays is "The Personality of God" where Simmel develops within the context of modern individualism the notion of pantheism and how it may, or may not contain all aspects of reality. Simmel's concern on this issue betrays his 'flirt' with a notion of pantheistic monism which does not exclude pluralism or 'difference', as he inherits it from Spinoza and Hegel. The translation is excellent doing justice to the German original and the volume includes a short but enlightening introduction by the editors. Very enjoyable and mind-blowing stuff!