HERDER, JOHANN GOTTFRIED (1744–1803), was a German pastor and theologian, a literary critic, and a philosopher of history. The unity underlying Herder's many and varied academic endeavors, which resulted in a seemingly unending flow of publications, stems from his consistently historical approach to the topics he studied. Historical awareness sets him apart most noticeably from the prevalent thought patterns of the ahistorical Enlightenment authors of his time and makes him a pivotal figure in eighteenth-century German intellectual life.

While Herder's significance is easily established in such disciplines as literature and literary criticism, cultural history, and philosophy of history or anthropology, it is much more difficult to define the influence he has exerted through his many contributions to the development of contemporary religious thought. In part this is due to the fact that Herder's approach often is more that of a sweeping questioner than a systematic...