Passion for God#
Summary#
Nietzsche identifies several distinct types of religious passion: the churlish and importunate kind exemplified by Luther and Protestantism, which lacks southern refinement; the Oriental exaltation seen in St. Augustine, marked by a slave-like gratitude without nobility; and the feminine tenderness seeking mystical and physical union with the divine, as in Madame de Guyon. He also notes that such passion sometimes serves as a disguise for puberty or the final ambition of aging women, with the Church often canonizing those who exhibit it.