ABSTRACT
Joachim Wach (1898-1955), considered one of the founding fathers of the contemporary history of religions, has a multilayered personality: In order, he is a historian of religions who tries to demarcate the field’s boundaries and determine its methods, a phenomenologist of religion as he attempts to systematize the relationship between religion and society via typologies, and a faithful Christian who believes in the superior revealing of God in the person of Jesus Christ as well as a theologian who reflects upon how to approach non- Christian traditions. Within the scope of this paper, I will argue that Wach’s attempt to establish the history of religions as an autonomous, objective, and scientific discipline failed even in his own eyes as he is involved in the phenomenology of religion under the name of the “sociology of religion.” In addition, he acts as a quasitheologian when he is involved in the phenomenology of religion and when he provides us with comparisons and typologies. Moreover, although Wach seems to be a historian of religions who prioritizes methodology, he does not fit into either the field of the history of religions or theology.