bMS 649/46 (15): Religion and Culture, Lecture 1: Fundamental Concepts and their Relations (first draft), handwritten, n.d.

Religion and Culture.

First Lecture. Problems and concepts. [Religion, scien- tific and technical culture]

[p. 3]

I. The Problem and the particular problems realms.

1). Religion and culture are so interwoven that it may be questionable wether there is a problem at all. Is not reli- gion simply a part of the general culture and de- pendent on the history of a particular culture? Many scho- lars, especially those who deal with primitive cultures would give an affirmative answer. But would somebody do so who deals with Roman or Indian or German or Japanese history? Are the conflicts between religion and culture not a ma-

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[p. 4]

jor part of the history of these countries? Certainly, they are. and this means that there must be something special about religion that it can ... religion has a foundation above a given culture and is able to attack or to trans- form a culture it or to destroy it. As in culture a religion may be almost eradicated. Although both, religion and culture appear in man's spirit are functions of the human spirit, they can fall into dead- ly enmity, trying to subject and enslave each other. - But the fact that they can fight each other shows also that you they cannot be separated them from each other completely. If you one They belong to each other|Neither is possible without the other| and, therefore, you cannot end their wars by putting each of them on a different island. This situation leads to some of the most difficult pro- blems of the philosophy of religion and of the philosophy of culture. But And it leads not only to theoretical ..., but even more im- portant, also to most serious and dangerous profound difficult practical problems.