Nowadays an intensive debate is under way over the issue of religion. The discussion is carried on without making precise what is 'religious' and without giving a definition of religion. The weakening of religious traditions during the process of the progressive individualization and privatization of religion, the great popularity of different kinds of spirituality, and the resulting indefiniteness of what is considered to be religious all show the difficulty of defining and understanding religion in various scientific disciplines. In this situation one is eager to reach for Rudolf Otto's notion of what is essentially religious, still considered by many disciplines as a 'classic' definition of religion. The aim of this article is not only to present the possibilities, difficulties and failures of Otto's concept of religion presented in Das Heilige, but also to undertake a discussion concerning the content, boundaries, and specificity of what is religious. The main areas of analysis include: emotional aspects (specifically religious feelings), cognitive aspects (notions, creeds, beliefs), harmony of contrasts of mysterium tremendum et fascinans as a model of religious experience, and the role of social factors in practicing faith.
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