Mitte – Anfang und Ende

Abstract

Summary Hamann does not develop a metaphysical concept of a beginning and an end. He does not think in terms of an origin and a goal. Instead, he thinks out of a given center in which he finds himself placed. He proceeds from a crucial event, which discloses the meaning of the preceding and following events, and at the same time proleptically delivers their fulfillment. He allows the present – God’s present – to be given to him in promise as the basis and reason for the past and the future. John 1,14 gets its full weight.