The Secret Nostalgia of Mircea Euade for Paradise: Observations on the Method of the “History of Religions”

Mircea Eliade’s analyses ofthe history of religions uses a complex methodology that he calls “creative hermeneutics.” This methodology has benefited from the suggestions of numerous authors (including Rudolf Otto, Carl Gustav Jung, Surendranath Dasgupta) and from theoretical elements in various disciplines. The fundamental principles of interpretation behind Eliade’s history of religions methodology, however, has remained hidden. The following article by Ansgar Paus suggests that this methodology is linked with a special theological interpretation of the Byzantine theory of icons. Ansgar Paus , from Religion 19 (1989): 137–50. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1989 by Elsevier Ltd. Reprinted by permission of Elsevier Ltd.