Problems with Religion and Politics 339ness. Thus, after becoming king, he was no longer satisfied with having both
a wife and a concubine, but had to get married again and commit bigamy.
Yet, at the same time, he was preaching to his subjects about the impor¬
tance of following the church. Frederick William II thought that religion
and morality went hand in hand, and therefore did everything to strengthen
religion. The hypocrisy he exhibited in his crusade for religious rectitude,
while living a most unedifying life, was of course not lost on his subjects.
He had neither the moral nor the political authority of his uncle.
This lack of leadership also showed itself in the religious policies of Fred¬
erick William II. Influenced by the obscurantist Rosicrucian Order, he
surrounded himself with zealots intent on bringing an end to the evils of
rationalism. One of the most important of these Rosicrucians was Johann
Christoph Wöllner (1732—1800), who had inducted the king into the secret
order himself.^31 Frederick Wilhelm II more or less succeeded in making
Rosicrucianism the semi-official ideology of Prussia, thus doing his best
to overturn the reforms of Frederick II and his rationalist ministers. Wöll¬
ner was his right-hand man in this attempt, and Wöllner's main ambition
was to replace von Zedlitz, one of Kant's greatest supporters in Berlin —
and the very model of an "enlightened" minister, and therefore almost evil
incarnate to Wöllner. On July 3,1788, Wöllner finally saw success. He ob¬
tained a number of posts, but most importantly, he became minister of
ecclesiastical affairs. On July 9, 1788, the Edict Concerning Religion was
issued, followed on December 19, 1788, by the Edict of Censorship. The
first required strict orthodoxy of all preachers. It stated, among other things,
We have noted with regret... that many Protestant pastors allow themselves unbridled
liberty in the treatment of the dogma of their confession. ... They are not ashamed to
warm up the miserable, long refuted errors of the Socinians, deists, naturalists, and
other sectarians, and to spread them among the people with impertinent impudence
under the much abused banner of Aufklärung [Enlightenment]. They denigrate the
respect in which the Bible has been held.... They throw suspicion upon - or even
make appear superfluous - the mysteries of revealed religion..?^2
The purpose of the second edict was to provide the tool for suppressing all
writings that were not strictly orthodox. Rationalist preachers were faced
with preaching either righteous doctrine or resigning. It was no surprise,
therefore, that the Edict Concerning Religion was extremely unpopular
among Prussian intellectuals. Hippel's sketch shows that this was also a
concern in Königsberg. Kant must have been worried about losing his po¬
sition. The conversation took place just three days before the Edict was
announced. Biester, with whom he had the closest connection, had been