Rudolf Otto, a Phenomenologist of Religion or an Exclusivist Theologian

Phenomenology of Religion is a particular approach in studying religions in the modern age that its most distinctive features are: tendency toward description of a certain religion instead of an analysis of it, to avoid devaluing, derogating and suspending personal beliefs of other religions, empathic understanding and to abstain from value judgment. On the other hand, religious exclusivism as the doctrine or belief that only one particular religion is a legitimate and saving religion, is most prevalent in theology and religion that its main duty is advocating a particular religion and value judgment. An important question here is whether a phenomenologist of religion can be basically an exclusivist. In the modern age, Rudolf Otto has been accounted an eminent phenomenologist of religion and pluralist. In his most famous work titled "The Idea of the Holy", Otto is considered as an exclusivist theologian who has violated the principles of phenomenology. The aim of this article is to examine it.