The Secret Religion of the Educated Classes

The new religiosity of the sixties is identified as corresponding to Troeltsch's Spiritual and Mystic Religion. Its rise to prominence is thus associated with the gradual displacement of church religion, an interpretation of contemporary events that is consistent with the data on secularization and with the evidence in favor of a new religiosity. An explanation for this transition is sought in Troeltsch's observation that this form of religion possesses greater congruence with the values of students and the educated middle classes than either the church or sect type. As a consequence, the new religiosity is described, following Troeltsch, as the “secret religion of the educated classes”.