The Spatial History of Revelation in Carl Ritter’s Erdkunde (1817–59)

Abstract

Traditional theological concepts, including revelation, shaped academic disciplines as they emerged in nineteenth-century Germany. The first university professor of geography, Carl Ritter, crafted an intriguing spatial history of revelation in his masterful Earth Science in Relation to Nature and the History of Man (1817–1859). The teleological bent of Ritter’s geography and his commitment to intelligent design have encouraged most commentators to regard Ritter as a late manifestation of physicotheology. However, this long-standing explanation of a crucial geographer’s religious platform misconstrues the field’s theological commitments. Physicotheology suffered irreversible losses in the German states in the late eighteenth century. Ritter’s adherence to primordial revelation and biblical literalism typify the religious awakening of the Napoleonic period more than enlightened rationalism. He is best understood as a geographer of religion, dedicated to evangelical missions and intrigued by how the Earth’s features shaped the spread and transformation of religious ideas and practices, including Buddhism.