Novalis's religious perspective remains a subject of debate. Novalis's early rearing in a Pietist household affected him through this life. The impact of his religious background on his writings are particularly clear in his two major poetic works. "Hymns to the Night" contains many Christian symbols and themes. And, Novalis's "Spiritual Songs", which were posthumously published in 1802 were incorporated into Lutheran hymnals; Novalis called the poems "Christian Songs", and they were intended to be published in the "Athenaeum" under the title "Specimens From a New Devotional Hymn Book". One of his final works, which was posthumously named "Die Christenheit oder Europa" ("Christianity or Europe") when it was first published in full in 1826, has generated a great deal of controversy regarding Novalis's religious views. This essay, which Novalis himself had simply entitled "Europa", called for European unity in Novalis's time by poetically referencing a mythical Medieval golden age when Europe was unified under the Catholic Church.