Theological Underpinnings of Modernity Explored in Heidegger and Agamben

Two recent publications argue that modernity is deeply indebted to Christian theology, challenging the notion of a secular break. Martin Heidegger's "Phénoménologie de la vie religieuse" (Gallimard) collects his 1920-1921 lectures on Saint Paul and Augustine, revealing how his concept of time derives from Christian apocalypticism and his analysis of everydayness from Augustine's Confessions. Giorgio Agamben's "Opus Dei: archéologie de l'office" (Seuil) extends his Homo Sacer project, positing that the modern paradigm of efficiency—evident in technology, ethics, and totalitarianism—originates in Catholic sacramental theology, where the efficacy of rites operates ex opere operato, independent of the minister's disposition. Agamben cites Eichmann's Kantian defense as proof of this primacy of law over being. However, critic Fabrice Hadjadj argues that Agamben's genealogy is forced, omitting nominalism, and that his view of sacraments is truncated, ignoring that sanctification requires receptivity and grace, which resists technocratic efficiency.