The reformer, in his inmost nature, is
related to the people; his soul is agitated by formulas and ceremonies,
to which the mystic is indifferent; they are to him obstacles to his
faith and he strains every nerve to destroy them. He has every
appearance of the truly free spirit, but he is secretly dependent on
that against which he is fighting. He suffers under its inefficiency;
his deed is the final reaction against his environment; salvation seems
to him to lie in the improvement of existing conditions, and not until
he has succeeded in accomplishing his purpose can he hope for religious
peace. The mystic is possible in all states of civilisation. He is not
dependent on external circumstances; his whole consciousness is filled
with one problem only, before which everything else pales: the
relationship of the soul to God. But the reformer is possible only under
certain circumstances. He, too, starts from an inner religious
consciousness, but his problem is soon solved, and he devotes all his
energy to the world.
Pages:
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192