[431]

against introducing into nation^a or church^b, but also something which transcends both humanism^c AND the symbols^d of nation and church; then we have a point out of which it is possible to say No, out of which the prophetic protest against every form^e of fulfillment, even the religious form, AS ULTIMATE^f, can come.

Now it is of course my belief^g as a Protestant^h that in the cross of Christⁱ, this protest against the church^j is expressed, that this is its main symbolic power^k: THE PROTEST AGAINST THE CHURCH. This is the paradox^l, that in the cross of Christ the protest against the church, which gives the MESSAGE of the cross, is implied, is involved. But this is the point I want to make now. From this follows that Protestantism, if it RECOGNIZES this, CAN move beyond the different forms of education^m which I have mentioned. And negatively, I want to stateⁿ that I don't believe that ANY education which is not ultimately INITIATION into--into the mystery of human existence--falls short of what it should do. And nothing is more revealing for this fact than the latest European history^o! [Applause]