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The Relationship Of Canon And Messiah: The Convergence Of Jan Assmann And Walter Benjamin On A Theory Of Monotheistic Canon, Colby Dickinson

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper focuses upon the relationship between the German Egyptologist Jan Assmann and the German-Jewish late modern literary critic Walter Benjamin as regards the movement from canons to messianic forces. It therefore traces the evolution in Assmann’s thought from issues surrounding the processes of canonization to his development of a form of ‘weak thought’ in relation to religious violence before then turning to Benjamin’s portrayal of a ‘weak messianic force’ moving through history which is only conceivable in close proximity to a scriptural legacy and a divine (or ‘pure’) violence, as he saw it. Additionally, this essay draws a line …