The Germans are still on the whole a very religious nation, and true religious formation and Enlightenment have attained a higher level among them than among any other nation. Just as it was among the Germans that the Reformation had its beginnings, so too among them in the eighteenth century there began a new revolution in religious knowledge and in the theological sciences, only this time without disturbance, violence, and war.

Religion should serve as a support for the state. It should enlighten the citizen about his duties. It should foster in him love of his calling, domestic order, industry, exactitude and fidelity toward his trade. It must provide a doctrine of felicity for society and for each of its members.