FORMSTECHER, SOLOMON

born July 28, 1808, Offenbach, Hesse died April 24, 1889, Offenbach Jewish idealist philosopher who was rabbi at Offenbach from 1842. Die Religion des Geistes (1841; The Religion of the Spirit) is considered the most complete exposition of his philosophy and a thorough systematization of Judaism. He believed there were only two basic religions: the religion of nature (paganism) and the religion of spirit (Judaism). He thought the essence of Judaism was ethical. Its ethics, adulterated by myth and art, were also disseminated by Christianity and Islam but existed in purest form in Judaism. In addition to other theological and philosophical books, Formstecher wrote a novel about ghetto life, Buchenstein und Cohnberg (1863).