"Down to the
period of the Reformation," he said, "a spirit of indescribable
sweetness, solace, and hope seems to live and breathe in all these
paintings--everything in them seems to announce the kingdom of heaven.
_But since the Reformation, something painful, desolate, almost evil
characterizes works of art; and, instead of faith, skepticism, is often
transparent._"
Our plan precludes an estimate of Goethe's literary achievements. But
the influence of his productions on theology was, in the main, as
destructive as if he had written nothing but uncompromising Rationalism.
He was the head of the Weimar family. He had a cool, careful judgment.
Schiller was excitable and impulsive; but Goethe was always stoical,
regarding holy things as convenient for the more rapid advance of
civilization, but not absolutely necessary for the salvation of the
soul. He directed the literature of Europe. In popularity Schiller was
his peer, yet in real power over the minds and lives of others no one
was a match for Goethe. Other men at Weimar, such as Wieland, Knebel,
and Jean Paul, were admired, but Goethe was the cynosure of all eyes.
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