Introduction.

I. Kant's Religious Development.

The following sketch, which undertakes for the first time to present Kant's religious development in a continuous context, had to rely on widely scattered material. The most reliable sources for the period starting from the beginning of his literary activity are, of course, his works, including his posthumous papers (Nachlass) original: "Nachlass." These are the unpublished notes, sketches, and fragments found after a writer's death., his lectures, and his correspondence. Besides the oldest biographical sketches published by friends and admirers shortly after Kant's death—namely those by Borowski, Jachmann, Wasianski, Hasse, Rink, etc. (cf. K. Vorländer, The Oldest Kant Biographies, Berlin 1918)—see also my own work, 'Kant's Life' (Leipzig 1917), which will soon be followed by a more extensive biography of Kant. Furthermore, valuable individual contributions have been provided by: E. Arnoldt, Kant's Youth and the First Five Years of his Private Lectureship. Königsberg 1882. The same author, Critical Excursions in the Field of Kant Research, now in E. Arnoldt's Collected Works, edited by O. Schöndörffer. — G. Hollmann, Prolegomena to the Genesis of Kant's Philosophy of Religion. Old Prussian Monthly XXXVI, Vol. 1 & 2. — A. Schweitzer This refers to the famous theologian and physician Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965)., Kant's Philosophy of Religion from the Critique of Pure Reason to Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason. Freiburg 1899. — E. Sänger, Kant's Doctrine of Faith. Leipzig 1903.

1. Childhood and School Days. In his parental home, Kant enjoyed a strictly religious upbringing. His father and mother belonged to the Pietist (pietistischen) original: "Pietismus." A movement within Lutheranism that emphasized individual piety, deep emotional religious experience, and rigorous moral living over formal dogma. movement, which had moved into Königsberg since the end of the 17th century and, particularly under the influence of the preacher and professor Franz Albert Schultz (1692–1763), dominated wide circles of the population. For both parents, religion was a matter of the heart; the entire atmosphere of the simple artisan—