Abstract:
This article aims at an understanding of the relations between the German modern historical science with elements of Christian theology and religion. By thinking historicism in Wolfgang Hardtwig’s terms - as a form of religion of history (Geschichtsreligion) -, we aim at a two case studies about the works and biographies of Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835) and Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886). Both are considered the founding fathers of German modern thought and, in their writings, it is possible to grasp how contemporary historical consciousness arose in synchrony with the religious world nexus as produced by protestant theology. By analyzing that transposition process, we have the objective of contributing to some historiographical tendencies which in the last decades aimed rethinking the links between science and religion in modern western thought.
Keywords:
Religion of history; historical science; historicism; Wilhelm von Humboldt; Leopold von Ranke