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THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF THE EDUCATED CLASSES IN PROTESTANT GERMANY... to an extreme the traditional reduction of the function of religion to morality and ethics. He did this by rejecting the concept of purpose as incompatible with purely formal moral law that makes absolute demands, thus exposing the limits of morality. Furthermore, Kant declared that morality inevitably leads towards religion, by which it expands into the idea of a potent, external moral lawgiver, in whose will the ultimate purpose (creation) is what at the same time can and should be “the ultimate purpose of mankind.” !”* Indeed, “at the level of religion, as the highest cause fulfilling these laws”, morality “represents an object of veneration”, and appears “in its majesty.”'” This, however, must not obscure the fact that religion owes its existence to the human weakness for making actions depend on ultimate purposes, culminating in the idea of the highest good. “Religion (seen subjectively) is recognizing that all our duties are divine commandments. The religion which demands that I must know beforehand that something is divine commandment in order to acknowledge it as my duty is revealed religion (or one which requires revelation); by contrast, one which demands that I must know that something is a duty before I can acknowledge it as a divine commandment is a natural religion." Kant, it is true, no longer recognized the validity of certain religious duties vis-a-vis God. This included the comprehensiveness, rational demythologizing of all its supernatural dogmas and the theses of the "moral improvement of human kind", which "is the real purpose of all rational religion.” !” Kant repeatedly and in many different ways defended true morality against a false traditional concept of religion. Although morality leads towards religion, that is, to the recognition of duties as divine commandments, for Kant “divine” did not mean “literally given by God”, but signified something as compelling and dignified as if it had originated from a perfect being. Thus for Kant the concepts of God, divine laws, holiness and so on referred to ideals created by man out of the need for moral improvement; ultimately, they were ideals which arose out of the nature of man. The following note by Kant, dating from the mid 1790s, is also characteristic: “Religion is the highest recognition by man of his duties as (tamquam) divine commandments. This does not require one to believe that there is a God; it is enough for one to make for oneself an idea of such a being ...”’”” In this sense he interpreted the essence of Christianity 173 Ibid. 6. 14 Ibid., 8. 175 Ibid., 170f. 16 Ibid., 122f. 77 KANT, Schriften, AA, vol. 19, 646f. * 121 +
