Since this alignment rarely happens in this life (bad things happen to good people), there must be a "Moral Governor" (God) and a soul that survives death to ensure justice eventually prevails.
Which aspect of Kant’s thought do you find more compelling: his for God's existence, or his argument that morality requires a belief in God? Kant and Theology (Philosophy and Theology)
Kant’s primary contribution to the conversation was a boundary line. In his Critique of Pure Reason (1781), he argued that human understanding is limited to the world of "phenomena"—things we can experience through our senses and organize via space and time. Since this alignment rarely happens in this life
God, by definition, is "noumenal"—existing outside of space, time, and sensory experience. Therefore, Kant argued, the human brain is literally not wired to "know" God. He systematically took apart the classic proofs: In his Critique of Pure Reason (1781), he
He didn't view "salvation" as a supernatural event, but as a "change of heart" where a person commits to duty. For Kant, the true church wasn't about rituals or dogmas; it was an "ethical commonwealth"—a community of people working together to realize the moral law on earth.