Facs
Transcript
demanding subordination to the powers in power, especially the old traditional conservative ones, much less those who are now in power – or were then in power – the republican, democratic ones – but anyhow, even there they subjected themselves. This is the negative-transcendental point of view which was almost inborn in every German at that time – except one group, namely the socialist group, which had the opposite point of view: the utopian-immanent point of view, the point of view that history is the place to change the given reality, to change it under the criteria of the natural law, the justice, equality, and realizing this in history and not beyond history. In this, ... an either revolutionary or more progressivistic socialism was in political power, while the churches and all those directly or indirectly influenced by them were looking above, towards the transcendent fulfillment.
Now how could this situation be bridged? This was a question we had to face when we came out of the First World War. This was the radical conflict which tore the whole nation to pieces – at least two parts in radical conflict with each other. It was the idea of religious socialism to overcome this situation. In doing so, we introduced a large amount of fundamental concepts which expressed the valuation of our situation. First of all we criticized the Lutheran solution that the world remains unchanged in the power of the Devil. We accepted this as a universal truth, but we refused to accept it with respect to any special demonic power. We said: of course there will be no utopian actualization of the kingdom of God in time and space. In this we were in the line of universally Christian thinking. But we believed that it is possible,