I'm not sure that Ludwig was quite the God-botherer you assume him to have been, Michael. He was no atheist by all accounts but he appeared to have a very personal and individualistic view of the power and glory. He often referred to the divine or the Godhead rather than God directly, and once he was quite rude to a fellow who suggested to him that a particular manuscript would soon be finished "with God's help". One of his last works, composed when he was totally deaf, has a movement headed Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart ("A convalescent's hymn of thanksgiving to the Divinity, in the Lydian mode") - "the divinity" or "Godhead" if you like, but a bit arm's-length from "God". The movement itself, in the third manifestation of the "hymn", amasses incredible power that obliterates any hint of reverence or mysticism. I also think that, of all the greatest composers' efforts, Beethoven's music most represents triumph emerging from very earthbound, human struggle, and there isn't much intrinsic in it that is especially religious. Not to me anyway, but I'm biased!