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Secularism As the Will of God: Horace Kallen's “Hebraic” Understanding of Pluralism As an Ultimate Concern

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Secularism As the Will of God: Horace Kallen's “Hebraic” Understanding of Pluralism As an Ultimate Concern Journal for the Study of Christian Culture Secularism as the Will of God: Horace Kallen’s “Hebraic” Understanding of Pluralism as an Ultimate Concern [USA] Mark LARRIMORE Introduction to the author Mark LARRIMORE, Associate Professor of Religion, The New School, USA. Email: [email protected] 2 44 2020 Abstract Tillich and Frye were at work at a time when religion was being reimagined in secular ways in the west. This essay looks at their contemporary Horace Meyer Kallen (1882-1974), forgotten but recently recovered, who argued for a religious secularism. Kallen’s ideas were couched in the language of American democracy but have deeper roots in his experience as a Jewish American and are anchored in his pioneering celebration of cultural pluralism. Kallen thought it important to recognize the “religious” character of our most important commitments, and ideas about ultimate concern, but perhaps more aware of the dangers of a dominant culture. This essay traces Kallen’s ideas to his formative category of “Hebraism,” an awareness of human existential struggle, finitude and plurality which he thought preeminently articulated in the biblical “Book of Job,” and ends with an assessment of its continued relevance. Keywords: ultimate concern, pluralism, Hebraism, pragmatism, Horace Kallen No. 44 Autumn 2020 3 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture 1965 Horace Meyer Kallen 1882–1974 Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society ultimate concern Paul Tillich, 1886–1965 God above gods religion of religions Hebraism Horace M. Kallen, “Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society,” 4, no.2 (Spring, 1965):145-151, 149-150. 1919 1974 4 44 2020 1882 1900 Alain Locke 1885–1954 T. S. T. S. Eliot 1888–1965 George Santayana 1863–1952 Josiah Royce 1855–1916 William James 1842– 1910 John Dewey 1859–1952 1927 Matthew Kaufman, (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2019), 7-8. https://pluralism. org/the-right-to-be-different (Accessed July 7, 2020) No. 44 Autumn 2020 5 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture religion of religions 1965 Robert N. Bellah 1927– 2013 Civil Religion in America priesthood of all believers David A. Hollinger, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998). Horace M. Kallen, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1951). Robert N. Bellah, “Civil Religion in America,” 96, no.1 (Winter, 1967): 1-21. Cf. Paul Tillich, “Religion and Secular Culture,” 26, no.2 (Apr., 1946): 79-86. Horace M. Kallen, (New York: Boni& Liveright, 1927). 6 44 2020 worldly otherworldly Kallen,“Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society,” 146. Ibid. Ibid., 147. No. 44 Autumn 2020 7 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture working hypotheses Kallen,“Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society,”147. Ibid.148. 8 44 2020 bet on the future infallible authority Kallen,“Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society,”148. No. 44 Autumn 2020 9 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture Kallen,“Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society,”148. https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ (Accessed July 7, 2020). Kallen,“Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society,” 149. Ibid. 10 44 2020 1948 common religion of mankind doctrine and discipline bets indispensability of betting the truest myths are those known to be broken myths Horace M. Kallen, “The Predicament of the Tolerant,” , no. 7(1950): 56-61, 57. Kallen, “Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society,” 149. No. 44 Autumn 2020 11 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture [ ] the will of God the symbol of the cross Deus Absconditus Kallen, “Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society,” 149. Ibid., 151. 12 44 2020 Paul Tillich, (NY: HarperOne, 2001 [1957]), 145. No. 44 Autumn 2020 13 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture idea “second-hand”pieties William James, (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1980 [1907]). Kallen, “Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society,”146. William James, ed. Martin E. Marty (London: Penguin Random House, 1982) William James, (NY: Longmans, Green and Co., 1896) 14 44 2020 not a foregone conclusion certain knowledge Henri Bergson 1859–1941 1909 Hebraism and Current Trends in Philosophy Hellenism 40 Mathew Arnold 1822–1888 Horace M. Kallen, “Hebraism and Current Trends in Philosophy,” in (New York: Bloch, 1932), 7-15. Matthew Arnold, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). No. 44 Autumn 2020 15 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture as they ought to be Kallen, “Hebraism and Current Trends in Philosophy,” 9. Ibid., 8. Ibid., 10-11. 16 44 2020 making the best of a bad job I know that he will slay me; nevertheless will I maintain my ways before him. 15 Kallen, “Hebraism and Current Trends in Philosophy,” 8. Ibid. Behold, he will slay me; I shall not survive; nevertheless will I maintain my ways before him Horace M. Kallen, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1948), 187 Kaufman , chs. 5-6 No. 44 Autumn 2020 17 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture though he slay me yet will I maintain my trust in him 1909 1965 Mark Larrimore, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013), 51-52 Kallen, “Hebraism and Current Trends in Philosophy,” 8. 18 44 2020 15 will to believe i nner h istory of the Jews the experience of divine neglect the experience of the indifference of God a faith despite faith 1918 Kallen, “Hebraism and Current Trends in Philosophy,” 13. Ibid., 13. Horace M. Kallen, (NY: Moffat, Yard, and Co., 1959 [1918]). No. 44 Autumn 2020 19 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture 1965 Kallen, , 68. Ibid., 70. Ibid., 71. Ibid., 75. Ibid., 77. 20 44 2020 precarious beauty No. 44 Autumn 2020 21 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture the experience of not being chosen pluralism is his ultimate concern 22 44 2020 faith that is courage, humility that is self- respect dynamics Introduction to the translator CHEN Long, Lecturer, School of Humanities, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Email: [email protected] No. 44 Autumn 2020 23 Journal for the Study of Christian Culture [Works in Western Languages] Arnold, Matthew. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Bellah, Robert N. “Civil Religion in America.” 96, no.1 (1967): 1-21. Hollinger, David A. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998. James, William. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1896. ________. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1980 [1907]. Kallen, Horace M. NY: Moffat, Yard, and Co., 1959[1918]. ________. New York: Boni& Liveright, 1927. ________. “Hebraism and Current Trends in Philosophy.” In . 7-15.New York: Bloch, 1932. ________. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1948. ________. “The Predicament of the Tolerant.” , no.7 (1950): 56-61. ________. Boston: Beacon Press, 1951. ________. “Secularism as the Common Religion of a Free Society.” 4, no.2 (1965): 145-151. Kaufman, Matthew. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2019. Larrimore, Mark. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013. Tillich, Paul. “Religion and Secular Culture.” 26, no.2 (1946): 79-86. ________. NY: HarperOne, 2001 [1957]. 24 44 2020.
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