author
Rudolf Otto
1869–1937
Best known for introducing the idea of the “numinous,” he explored the strange mix of awe, mystery, and fascination at the heart of religious experience. His work helped shape modern theology, philosophy of religion, and the comparative study of faiths.
1 Audiobook
Naturalism and Religion
by Rudolf Otto
About the author
Born in Peine, Germany, on September 25, 1869, Rudolf Otto became a Lutheran theologian, philosopher, and scholar of religion whose ideas reached far beyond academic theology. He studied at Erlangen and Göttingen and later taught at Göttingen, Breslau, and Marburg.
Otto is most closely associated with The Idea of the Holy (1917; English translation 1923), the book that made his name internationally. In it, he argued that religion cannot be explained only by ethics or rational thought; it also involves a distinctive experience of the holy, which he described as the “numinous” — something at once terrifying, fascinating, and overwhelming.
He also took a serious interest in religions beyond Christianity, and his writing helped encourage a more comparative approach to religious study. Though rooted in Protestant theology, his work spoke to readers across traditions and remains influential for anyone interested in mysticism, religious feeling, and the meaning of the sacred.