Messianic Thought Outside TheologyWhy did a secularized concept of messianicity seem so crucial in the twentieth century? Are messianic structures intelligible outside the theological systems in which they were invented? This book seeks to situate the ethical, ontological, and literary adoptions of messianism within the broader contours of messianic thought. The gesture by Benjamin, Rosenzweig, and others of detaching messianism from the person of the messiah, understanding it instead