To: jbe who wrote (43106 ) 7/2/1999 4:31:00 PM From: Father Terrence Read Replies (1) | Respond to
One does not have to bang a drum and sacrifice animals on a bloody altar to a god or gods to save the crops, make a daughter fertile, abate the storms, drive away the plague, turn back the locusts, or quiet the thunder to be defined as a mystic. Look at some of the elements of your own quote. I have made key passages bold:Kant, as is well known, reduces religion to a system of conduct. He defines religion as "the acknowledgement that our duties are God's commandments". He describes the essence of religion as consisting in morality. Christianity is a religion and is true only in so far as it conforms to this definition. The ideal Church should be an "ethical republic"; it should discard all dogmatic definitions, accept "rational faith" as its guide in all intellectual matters, and establish the kingdom of God on earth by bringing about the reign of duty .
