Messianism without Delay: On the “Post‐religious” Political Theology of Walter Benjamin

1. The interpretive key to Walter Benjamin’s “Theses On the Philosophy of History” which I intend to bring to light, can be deliberately and provocatively expressed in the title: “Messianism without Delay.” This is literally a para-doxical title which seemingly contrasts with commonsense or current opinion with regard to those characteristics traditionally attributed to the “messianic.” How is it possible, in a literal sense, to have a messianism without “horizon of delay?” And does not the lack of a ‘wait’ constitute sufficient reason for dissolving the very tension implied in the concept of a “messiah” itself? It is my firm conviction that one finds hidden here the secret cipher of a text – at once translucent and enigmatic – which can only be thoroughly grasped by reconstructing the multi-polar constellations of its conceptual and symbolic referents. That is, one cannot interpret its radical political-theological core simply as a “secularized” version of messianism (as occurs in the philosophies of history criticized by Karl Löwith1): Benjamin’s brand of messianism is in equal measure post-secular and post-religious. In short, the paradox of Benjamin’s message of redemption lies in its position on the other side of the ambiguous Janus profile of western Futurism. It is symbolized, on the one hand, by the promise of salvation in monotheistic religions and, on the other, by the modern philosophy of history’s faith in progress. Hence, I will try to illustrate how the singular figure of a “messianism without delay” is tied to the proposal of a “concept of history” not after the end of history, but rather, after the end of the faith in history.