ABSTRACT
Kunstreligion was an unstable synthesis of pantheist elements inspired by Romantic reading of the Greek tragedies coupled with the tradition of Christian sacral art adored by Wackenroder and Tieck. This religion of art was divided into two subcategories: pantheist and Christian. This chapter details albeit Schlegel's relationship to the first pantheist variant of Kunstreligion, and its connection with secularisation. Schlegel's new religion of art was tangential to pantheism, for he projected that in the future nature could take on the mediatory function of Christ in Christianity. The chapter shows how Schlegel understood his mission as the founder of a pantheist religion to be similar to the Apostle Paul's role in the rise of Christianity. The concept of natural revelation originates in the Bible, Schlegel clearly took it beyond the limits of conventional Christianity. Schlegel's pantheist gospel of nature was not a synonym for the Kingdom of God in its Christian sense.
