S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 6 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 2 0 1 9 Janneke van der Leest the interest in the individual related to both experience and moral or truth value. I will observe the self-transcendence in Schleiermacher and in the poems. The individual experience, however, is in all those cases connected to or focused on the universe (or at least on humankind). The third characteristic sets experience to the foreground. I attempt to demonstrate that in romantic theology as well as in its esthetic equivalent ‘experience’ is a crucial element to speak of the spiritual path. I also count to experience, the pillars of Schleiermach - er’s definition of religion: ‘feeling and intuition’. The poems themselves, as a reconstruction of an original experience, witness a conscious involvement in the project, and so does Schleiermacher’s theological account. 2.2 The Place of Religion After the Enlightenment Turn Back to answering the questions regarding the Speeches . It is important to notice that Schleiermacher takes the view that his age is no more unfavorable for religion than any other age [4]. People however became numb for religion because of their business with daily life and their engagement in transcendental philosophy. This philosophy, which is popular among the ones Schleiermacher addresses himself to, makes the human subject the center of everything, and that subject leads everything back to itself, and so presuming the human subject to be the foundation and key to the whole, as Schleiermacher explains mainly in the Second Speech . He sees in this view the tendency to get lost in an infinity of reasons and deductions. As in every age, also in the aftermath of the Enlightenment, the deity sends now and then “ mediators ” (“ Mittlers ”), Schleiermacher writes (2015, 6) [5]. Mediators are persons who are gifted with a mystical and creative sensitivity wherewith they can express to others what happened to them “ after every flight of their spirit to the infinite ” (2015, 7). Mediators – poets or seers, as Schleiermacher identifies them –“ bring deity closer to those who normally grasp only the finite and trivial ” (2015, 7). Their higher priesthood “ is the source of all visions and prophecies, of all holy works of art and inspired speeches …” (2015, 7). Amediator tries to “ awaken the slumbering seed of a better humanity, to ignite love to the Most High, to transform the common life into something higher …” (2015, 7). Schleiermacher claims that art and religion are as close to each other as “ two friendly souls whose inner affinity … is nevertheless still unknown to them ” (2015, 69). More than anything else, the sight of great and sublime art works will cause the most unexpected religious conversions. He further emphasizes the need to disconnect the church from the state. Morality and political references now dominate the church. Therefore, Schleiermacher pleas for a true church , consisting of a community of people sharing their inner feeling with relation to the divine beyond reason. In a vision of the true believers he calls them “ an academy of priests ”, “ a choir of friends ” and “ a band of brothers ”; everyone with a personal connection to the divine as well as to the community of believers (2015, 94). 2.3 Redefinition of Religion Schleiermacher shifts the definition of religion to the domain of spirituality. For him it is no longer cognitive knowledge and morality, nor prescribed rituals and practices that determine religion, but it is something more personal, more connected to emotion and to experience. In his Speeches Schleiermacher explains that religion is often confused with metaphysics and morals. Both domains deal – like religion does – with the universe and the relation of the human be - ing to it. What then is so specific for religion? Its essence is not thinking – as is the basis of metaphysics – nor acting – as is morality’s domain – but: “ intuition and feeling ” (“ Anschauung und Gefühl ”) (2015, 22). What is the object of religion? Schleiermacher states that religion concerns something, which is beyond nature and humanity, although it can reveal itself in both. He is not able to describe religion exactly, but eventually puts that: “ religion is the sensibility and taste for the infinite ” (“ Religion ist Sinn und Gesmack furs Unendliche ”) (2015, 23). Both metaphysics and morals “ see in the whole universe only humanity as the center of all relatedness, as the condition of all being and the cause of all becoming ” (2015, 23). Religion, according to Schleiermacher, focuses instead on a man’s re - lation to the universe, the openness to it: religion “ wishes to intuit the universe ” and “ longs to be grasped by and filled by the universe’s immediate influences ” (2015, 22). So, Schleiermacher does not want to put God back as the central point of reference of our relation to the universe. For Schleiermacher divinity is “ nothing other than a particular type of religious intuition ” (2015, 51). Whether you make room for a god in your view of the universe depends, Schleiermacher states, on your own imagination. The other crucial concept of Schleiermacher’s formula of re - ligion’s essence, next to “ intuition of the universe ” (“ Anschauen des Universums ”; 2015, 24) is “ feeling ” (“ Gefühl ”). Every intu-
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