In the fragment titled Capitalism as Religion, Walter Benjamin represents
the idea of capitalism as a true religion that oppresses society through
a cult based on guilt, which offers no possibility of atonement. The category of
the messianic, which Benjamin explicitly discusses in the Theses on the Concept
of History, can be interpreted through the lens of Jewish philosophical hermeneutics, particularly concerning the works of Gershom Scholem. This special
perspective seems employed as a philosophical approach to influence historical
materialism, contrasting with the ‘religious form’ that characterizes capitalism,
ultimately aiming for the Umkehr that could create a possible way out. This figurative use of the messianic concept also appears in the Theological-Political Fragment, where it is applied to the pursuit of happiness in the earthly dimension.