Abstract

The main focus of this chapter is on section 1 of The Phenomenology of Religious Life (G 60). Section 1 is titled Introduction to the Phenomenology of Religion (winter semester, 1920-21). The first part of the chapter looks at Heidegger's development of the method of formal indication. By making a formal indication of factical life, Heidegger can maintain the temporal vitality of the historical. It also looks at the facticity of the Pauline situation, emphasizing the way in which Heidegger captures the temporal nature of Paul's relationship with his people. It then takes up the structures of early Christian facticity that Heidegger discerns in Paul's letters: knowledge, parousia (the second coming of Christ), and faith. These structures indicate the way in which the early Christians lived temporality. Lastly, it addresses the notion of hardship (molestia) in the lecture course on Augustine and Neo-Platonism. As with the structures of early Christian facticity, Augustinian hardship is an indication of the temporal experience of history.

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