“The personified Idea of the Good Principle” and Christ in Kant's Philosophy of Religion

Abstract

This paper analyzes Kant's understanding of Christ. Kant manifests his opinion about Jesus Christ in Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, using such expressions as “ the personified idea of the good principle” or “ Son of God” Son of God is given two roles by Kant. One is the image of perfection that a person will reach, through which a person can be inspired to attain his own moral perfection. But, the idea of Son of God is given another role by Kant. That is the role atoning for the human's sin as the Savior and enabling the grace of God. But, Kant's argument about this Savior divides person's ego into two dimensions, that is a priori and a posteriori, and the relation of these two dimensions remains unclear. And this unclear relation between a priori and a posteriori is the most significant problem in Kant's philosophy of religion.