to his English
publications
belong: ?
Hegels Philosophy of the Historical Religions
thus, history shows differences of level in the elabo- ration of freedom.
60 see J. ritter, Hegel und die Reformation (1968), in: J. ritter, Metaphysik und Politik, Frankfurt am main: suhrkamp 1969, pp. 310-317 (first edition in: Unbefangenes Christen- tum, mu? nchen, 1968, pp. 89-99).
61 Freedom is not restricted to Christianity, but, for the first time in history, it is Christi- anity that learns that everybody (and not only a citizen, nor a specific person) is free.
? 270 lu de vos
Protestantism is the destruction of the obedience (to the clergy) of all free Christian people. such servitude, within the form of free religion, con- tains its own contradiction. Crucial in Hegel's account are the events of the 16th century. the historical reaction to the 'Catholic' middle ages can be found in the position of the lutheran or evangelical doctrines. Karl V had been content, according to Hegel, with the pillage of rome, and not achieving liberation from the Pope. in augsburg, it was the Holy spirit, which 'seized the moment' and went further in initiating a spiritual free- dom, a step the emperor was not able to take. What is sacred ('heilig') is not strictly the purview of the priests (or the theologians), but is also given to laymen (16: 249). the so-called laymen have their own judgment and authority to speak about religion, which is confirmed by the testimony of spirit. everybody performs and perfects his or her own relation to god in spirit, which is consciousness of reason, or of god himself. the state can become, through the will of god, an implicitly (in itself ) independent, worldly, instantiated ethical form, which is the basis for the government of all justly governed states. the rights of the community as well as the ethical duties of all persons are in this way recognised by god.
if both government and church have the same inspiration, it is impos- sible for a government to have foreign, external (e. g. Catholic) influence. the principles of religion and state come together in the truth of all free- dom. man cannot have confidence in a law if he is not convinced that religion is not in contradiction with it, as is the case in Catholicism, where the rules of sanctity are proscribed by the roman church. Family, prop- erty and freedom in the state are necessary prerequisites for a free com- munity. in this sense, the Catholic religion does not give rise to the inner justice and ethicity of the state, which is present in the inwardness of the Protestant principle. only the reformation reveals the total divine and spiritual process in man; this free man exists as free insofar as he wills the true and lawfully ethical, and knows it as the universal.
after the treaty of Westphalia, the Protestant principle, sanctified free- dom, is taken up by Friedrich ii, on the worldly side. 62 such Protestantism is the basis and origin of the constitution of the state. in other words, without Christian reconciliation in the Protestant church (which sanctifies freedom), there is no authentic conviction of loyalty to the constitution of
62 see e. Weisser-lohmann, "reformation" und "Friedrich ii" in den geschichtsphilo- sophischen Vorlesungen Hegels, in: Hegels Vorlesungen u? ber die Philosophie der Weltge- schichte (Hegel-studien. Beiheft 38), Bonn, Bouvier Verlag 1998, pp. 95-121.
? hegel and protestantism 271
a state. While there is a good result in Prussia and other german nations (but not in austria), this is only a partial reconciliation, as long as other countries are not reconciled in this manner. the remaining differences between them, the failures to renew the civil law in France, and the influ- ence of Protestantism itself are at the foreground of Hegel's last course on history (Vie, 59 ff ). thus, there remain difficulties of content, within his- tory! in north america, there was an atomistic, individualised liberal Prot- estantism, that--for Hegel--remained merely at the level of the market (i. e. civil society), and did not arrive at a real constitutional state. in south america, the negative influence of Catholicism was still dominant, so that in the known world of Hegel's time, the reconciliation of Protestantism is only fully realized in (constitutionally interpreted) Prussia (Vie, 240-1).
at this point, the state is reconciled with god and god with state. Civil freedom and justice are the fruits of this attained freedom in god, because religious and philosophical consciousness of the will of god are no longer distinct from consciousness of that which is true and lawful: an ethic- ity, which promotes and fulfils even the sensuous character of the body within its sublated form as free member of the community, in as far a he may marry and fulfil his economic necessities. For the human spirit, the knowledge of god is the origin or most certain principle of all ethical action. What cannot be deduced from god and is not sanctified by him, is not able to move in joyful obedience to the law. 63
4. Philosophy of religion or of History?
is Hegel's philosophy, which combines rational interpretations of religion with views on history in order to conceive what is actual, criticisable as insufficiently religious or insufficiently Protestant, or is it criticisable as insufficiently philosophical?
in all texts cited here, Hegel claims to demonstrate the rationality of the definitive, consummate religion or to indicate that the historical Christian religion corresponds to the concept of what is rational (and not, importantly, the other way around). With Hegel's emphasis on spirit, his presentation of religion and Christian religion in particular, is made ratio- nally, in the same sense in which he presents a rational view of history.
63 this sanctification is not a second world of holiness (like 'in Catholicism'), but it is the final, not immediately arising, justification of what is done spiritually in ethicity (i. e. the consciousness of the truth), not a justification on a case-by-case basis.
? 272 lu de vos
His philosophy of religion (and also of history) is, first and foremost, phi- losophy. it is not dependent on the truth-claims of religion in general or any denomination in particular. His philosophy of religion exposes the form of conceptual knowledge about religion, in which religion (or abso- lute spirit) (and also history) is the topic (i. e. the content) of the discus- sion, not its premise. such a Hegelian project is not dependent upon the theology of Christianity, nor does it wish to be. on the contrary, insofar as religion and Christianity have rationality, it is philosophy that can dem- onstrate the intelligibility in the historical evolution from religious com- munity to its political, historical shape. For Hegel, the realisation of truth in spirit is performed, in its ultimate instance, by the concept. For the task of philosophy is to conceive the present, even a divided actuality, as an actuality, which only conceals its own reconciliation if people remain at the level of their own subjective (nai? ve) impression, but which may be understood as reconciled, if they try to conceive it as rational (and within the search of rationality).
How far can religion be transformed and yet still recognised by religious people? if the salvation of all is the goal, then every discussion about reli- gion has to be conducted in a manner that is understandable for all. Hegel, at the very least, tries to formulate his claims in such a way. He presents the topics of Christian religion as such: god, creation, incarnation, death and resurrection in or as spirit. as with other topics presented in other philosophical disciplines, these topics are treated without (presupposed) metaphysical notions. in other words, these 'metaphysical concepts' are presented in their (negatively reformulated) speculative form. in this way, religion is not taken up as the final word, certainly not as theology or as the clergy would have it, but rather only as a (particular) religious claim. even in criticizing and opposing such a philosophy of religion, the people and theologians can contribute to a more complex elaboration of what reli- gion is for thinking, and for the thinking of thinking itself.
in the philosophically rational sense in which the philosophy of reli- gion is presented, the philosophical topics are therefore actually the con- cept and the idea. therein a number of specific problems has risen for a speculative philosophy of religion. in what sense is 'god' indeed the best example of the concept of the idea? in what sense does the logical- speculative concept indeed structure the Christian religion? neither with logic as such, nor with specific parts, is a 'specific' relation or parallelism immediately given. such questions are difficult exegetical and systematic problems, which could not be taken up in this treatment of Hegel's view
hegel and protestantism 273
on Protestantism. However, answers to these questions are needed for a minimal understanding of the consistency of Hegel's actual philosophy of religion, and certainly for any rational critique of it.
Conclusion
is it really necessary to ask, as most interpreters do, as a philosophical question, whether Hegel is a (good) Christian,64 or, more specifically, an orthodox, or a heterodox one? 65 Philosophically speaking, the question would rather seem to be whether Hegel has sufficiently demonstrated the rationality and intelligibility of Protestant Christian religion, and its impact in history, insofar as this impact is not limited to aspects of (a given, subjective) faith.
neither the atheistic claim that god is not elevated above of all the rest (god is indeed, for Hegel, the truth of nature and history), nor the irreli- gious claim that there is no spiritualisation of the world, are Hegel's fun- damental positions. it is rather, the claim that god cannot be thought of as independent of every (religious) thought (in this formulation, it is clear that such a claim of independency is contradictory). this claim means there could not be a valuable ontology of religion anymore, since ontol- ogy is based on having contents, rather than being elaborated in concepts. accordingly, for Hegel, god must be presented as spirit in religion as well as in philosophy.
the philosophical point, however, is the following: has Hegel suffi- ciently grounded the rational insight that Christianity, in its Protestant expression and in its historical evolution, is valid as a good, consummated religion of reconciled freedom? moreover, has he shown for everybody (whether or not he or she is a philosopher) that such a religion has basi- cally contributed, to the real, lived, historical freedom of us all?
64 J. Burbidge, 'is Hegel a Christian? ', in: J. Burbidge, Hegel on Logic and Religion, albany: state University of new York Press 1992, pp. 141-153.
65 see Hodgson, o. c. , 100, who gives a catalogue of theological questions, as if either a theologian or anyone else could decide what orthodoxy is; nobody has 'Unfehlbarkeit', with exception of the self-given claim of the Pope. For a Catholic discussion see H. Ku? ng, Unfehlbar? Eine Anfrage, Zu? rich: Benziger Verlag 1998. asking such questions (which takes over the role of the (Catholic) Holy see, or even of every inquisition) seems to be the affair of god, who is--in the event that he would be interested in such questions? not Hegel's rational living spirit of community.
? Contributors
Paul Cobben is Professor of Philosophy at tilburg university (the nether- lands) and chairman of Dutch-Flemish Centre for German idealism (www . cvdi. eu). His publications focus on practical philosophy, combining a sys- tematic and historical approach. Among his books: Das endliche Selbst. Identita? t und Differenz zwischen Hegels >>Pha? nomenologie des Geistes<< und Heideggers >>Sein und Zeit<<, Wu? rzburg: Ko? nigshausen und neumann 1999; Das Gesetz der multikulturellen Gesellschaft. Eine Aktualisierung von Hegels >>Grundlinien der Philosphie des Rechts<<, Wu? rzburg: Ko? nigshausen und neumann 2002; Hegel-Lexikon (ed. ), Darmstadt: Wissenschaftlichen buchgesellschaft 2006; The Nature of the Self. Recognition in the Form of Right and Morality, berlin/new York: De Gruyter 2009; Institutions of Edu- cation: then and today (ed. ), Leiden/boston: brill 2010.
Paul Cruysberghs (1944) is an emeritus Professor at the institute of Phi- losophy of the Catholic university of Leuven (belgium), where he taught philosophical anthropology and aesthetics. He published on anthropol- ogy, aesthetics, and ethics, especially in German idealism (Hegel) and in Kierkegaard. He is a co-editor of the Hegel-Lexikon (Darmstadt, Wissen- schaftliche buchgesellschaft, 2006) and translated recently Kierkegaard's Sygdommen til Doden into Dutch, budel: Damon 2010.
Dr Herman van Erp was, until his retirement in 2009, associate professor for social Philosophy and Ethics at tilburg university (netherlands). He is still adjunct professor for Philosophy at the university of Fort Hare in south-Africa. the main subject of his research concerns fundamental eth- ics and political philosophy. important authors for him are Kant, Hegel, Marx, Popper, rawls and Levinas. one of his books is translated in Eng- lish: Political Reason and Interest. A philosophical legitimation of the politi- cal order in a pluralistic society, London: Ashgate 2000. His last articles in English are concerning democratic legitimacy within a European con- stitution, Hegel's concept of freedom and history, and Kant's concept of sublimity.
sander Griffioen (1941) graduated in Political Economy and Philosophy. He wrote a dissertation on Hegel's philosophy of finitude (De Roos en het
276 contributors
Kruis, Assen: van Gorcum 1976). He was a senior Member at the toronto institute for Christian studies, and taught Philosophy at the Vrije univer- siteit (Amsterdam) from 1979-2002. From 2002-2006 he was special pro- fessor for intercultural Philosophy, his area of specialization being China. in 2005 and 2007 he gave courses on Chinese thought at tilburg uni- versity. His publications include: Pluralisms and Horizons, (with richard Mouw), Grand rapids: Eerdmans 1993 (2nd print); 'towards a Philosophy of God. A study in William Desmond's thought', in Philosophia Reformata 75 (2010), 117-140; 'Proximity and Distance. China and the Christian West', in: J. D. Gort, H. Jansen, W. stoker (eds. ), Crossroad Discourses between Christianity and Culture, Festschrift in Honor of Hendrik M. Vroom, Amsterdam/new York: rodopi 2010, pp. 471-486.
Peter Jonkers (1954) studied Philosophy at the Catholic university of Leuven, belgium. in 1982, he defended his dissertation at this university on Hegel's Faith and Knowledge. Currently, he is full professor of philoso- phy at the school of Catholic theology of tilburg university, the nether- lands. His main areas of research include German idealism, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of culture. some of his recent pub- lications are: God in France. Eight contemporary French Thinkers on God (2005); Hegel-Lexikon (2006); "Jacobi, ein ? Galimathias' der spekulativen Vernunft? " (2007); Religions Challenged by Contingency (2008); 'Justifying sacrifice' (2008); 'religious truth in a Globalising World' (2009); 'Can Free- dom of religion replace the Virtue of tolerance? ' (2010); 'the Dialectics of Pluralism and social Cohesion' (2011); 'orthopraxis and being Faithful to one's tradition' (2011).
Heinz Kimmerle (1930) is a retired professor of Philosophy at Eras- mus university rotterdam (Eur). He did his PhD in 1957 with Hans- Georg Gadamer at the university of Heidelberg on the hermeneutics of schleiermacher. For six years he worked at the Hegel-archive in bonn and bochum. in 1970 he got his 'Habilitation' (teaching license) for philosophy at the ruhr university bochum. During the last five years of his position at Eur (1990-1995) he had as a special teaching subject 'intercultural phi- losophy', mainly African philosophy. in 1996 he started the 'Foundation for intercultural Philosophy and Art'. And in 2003 was conferred on him the honorary doctorate of Literature and Philosophy by the university of south Africa (unisA) in Pretoria.
contributors 277
Dr. bart C. Labuschagne (1962) teaches philosophy of Law at Leiden university. He wrote a dissertation on the philosophical aspects of the freedom of religion (1995). His interests are the Philosophy of Law, reli- gion, Ethics and Politics. He publishes mainly about the role of religion in democratic, post-secular societies. He is also a translator of Hegel in Dutch. He has written a number of articles and books, among others, lately: Religion, Politics and Law. Philosophical Reflections on the Sources of Normative Order in Society, edited with reinhard W. sonnenschmidt, Leiden: brill 2009, 'towards a new relationship between the Private, Public and sacred Domains', in: t. buksinski (ed. ), Religion in the Public Spheres, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang 2011.
Henk oosterling (1952) is associate professor Philosophy at the Eras- mus university rotterdam, teaching French philosophy of differences, aesthetics, and intercultural philosophy with a focus on Japanese culture and buddhism. He studied martial arts in Japan. His academic research program Intermediality thematizes the crossovers between philosophy, arts and politics. recently he co-edited Intermedialities. Philosophy, Arts, and Politics (2011). He is the series editor of Studies in Intercultural Phi- losophy (rodopi). in 2004 he initiated rotterdam skillcity, a strategic concept for urban renovation and intercultural and eco-social education that has been adopted by the rotterdam city council as the blueprint of the 10 year renovation of rotterdam south. As director of this Foundation he supervises long term educational and societal projects in the socio- economic deprived neighbourhoods in rotterdam. More information: www. henkoosterling. nl.
timo slootweg (1962) studied Philosophy and History. He taught Phi- losophy of History in rotterdam. since 2004 he has been teaching Philoso- phy of Law and Ethics at the university of Leiden (the netherlands). His dissertation dealt with the ethical meaning of time, history and historical consciousness in the philosophies of Hegel, Heidegger and Derrida (2000). His publications are concerned with the relation between Law and Love; Knowledge and Faith; Christian Existentialism and Personalism; Dialecti- cal and Dialogical theology. recent publication on Hegel's Philosophy of religion: 'Love and Violence: Dialectical reflections on the Phenomenol- ogy of the Crusade' (2009); 'Das Go? ttliche Gebot und der Geist der Liebe. Eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit Hegels fru? hen theologischen Voraussetzungen', Hegel-Jahrbuch 2010).
278 contributors
Gerrit steunebrink (1948) is a lecturer on Metaphysics and Philosophy of Culture and religion at the radboud university in nijmegen, the neth- erlands. He published on religion, esthetics and metaphysics. His favorite authors are Kant, Hegel, Jaspers and Adorno. He published too on reli- gion and modernity in political and intercultural perspective. the islamic world, especially of modernizing turkey, has his attention in these pub- lications.
to his English publications belong: ? Civil society, religion and the nation, Modernization in intercultural context: russia, Japan, turkey? , rodopi 2004 (edited with E. van der Zweerde) and ? sovereignty, the nation state, and islam? in: Ethical Perspectives 2008, 1.
Lu De Vos (1953) teaches Philosophy at HiW of KuLeuven (belgium). He has published on classical German philosophy (Kant, Jacobi, Fichte, Hegel and schelling). Co-editor of Hegel-Lexikon. His areas of interest are funda- mental problems in metaphysics, philosophy of religion and aesthetics.
Abe, M. 70, 74, 75
Abraham 128, 129, 143, 145, 151, 153, 154,
218, 219
Adams, R. 151
Adamson, P. 232
Adonis 93
Adorno, Th. W. 53, 73 Ahriman 91
Al-Afghani 227
Al-Djabiri, M. A. 234 Al-Ghazali 229, 231, 232, 233, 234 Anaxagoras 66
Angerona 166
Antigone 120
Appiah, K. A. 18,
Aquinas, Thomas 226, 231, 232, 233 Aristophanes 122
Aristotle 83
Averroes 228, 229, 232, 233, 234 Avicenna 228, 229, 231, 232, 234
Bacchus 115, 117
Bataille, G. 70
Baum, M. 10
Bayle, P. 55 Behrens-Abousef, D. 235 Bloch, E. 29
Bonsiepen, W. 9
Bopp, F. 57
Bossouet, J. B. 29
Brahma(n) 40, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 53, 59,
60, 61, 68
Buber, M. 147, 151 Bubner, R. 123 Buchanan, F. 57 Buchner, H. 9 Buck-Morss, S. 15 Bu? rgel, J. Ch. 240 Burke, E. 211 Burnett, Ch. 232
Caesar 173
Carra de Vaux, B. 233
Cavacci, J. A. 14
Ceres 115, 117
Chapelle, A. 2
Christ, J. 55, 69, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 136,
137, 149, 150, 173, 177, 180, 188, 189, 190,
191, 193, 195, 197, 203, 219, 247, 256, 258,
260, 261, 266, 267, 268 Cicero 28
Cobben, P. 8, 253 Colebrooke, H. Th. 44, 56, 60 Confucius 23, 24, 28, 59 Cramer, W. 249
Creon 119 Creutzer, G. F. 53 Critchley, S. 141
Dadi, I. 15
DeFrancis, J. 26
Deleuze, G. 54, 76, 77
Derrida, J. 4, 19, 54, 76, 126, 139, 141, 143,
144, 154, 155
Descartes, R. 5, 254 Desmond, W. 259
Dierken, J. 182, 197, 202, 268 Dilthey, W. 126, 241 Dilworth, D. 70, 71
Du? sing, K. 10, 12
Eckhart, M. 204, 237 Elberfeld, R. 70, 71 Evans, C. S. 151, 152
Fames 166
Faure, B. 68, 69
Faure, M. 69
Fichte, J. G. 11, 12, 54, 71, 77, 139, 246 Febris 166
Fornax 166
Forster, J. G. A. 31
Fortuna 166, 168, 171
Foucault, M. 76
Fourche, T. 16
Fukuyama, F. 70
Fulda, H. F. 246, 249, 259
Gadamer, H. G. 2
Gardet, L. 232
Gascoigne, R. 268
Gaziaux, E. 246
Gelugpa 58
Goethe, J. W. 6, 22, 28, 213, 223, 225, 227,
237, 239, 240 Guattari, F. 54, 77
INDEX OF PERSONS
280
Guiley, R. E. 4 Guizot, F. 227 Gutschmidt, H. 247 Guz, T. 267 Gyekye, K. 18
Hammer-Purggstall, J. F. von 238 Hassan, S. 15
Heede, R. 9
Heidegger, M. 76
Heine, H. 240
Heinrichs, J. 122
Heraclites 58
Herder, J. G. von 31, 212, 213, 222, 225, 241 Herodotus 57
Hinrichs, H. F. W. 55
Hodgson, P. C. 22, 26, 32, 100, 125, 134,
157-164, 173, 178, 193, 203, 208, 237, 243,
251, 256, 273
Ho? lderlin, F. 53, 64
Homer 118
Humboldt, W. von 31, 32, 44, 45, 49, 59 Hume, D. 33, 217, 232
Hyppolite, J. 70
Ibn Arabi 239
Ibn Khaldum 233
Iqbal, M. 219, 227, 228, 239
Jacobi, F. H. 47, 53, 56, 66, 139, 253 Jaeschke, W. 3, 6, 13, 14, 22, 27, 31, 35, 99,
123, 178, 180, 181, 184, 188, 190, 192, 199,
249, 251, 253, 256, 268 James, W. 71, 76
Jesuit Fathers 21, 22 Jesus: see Christ
Jones, W. 31
Jonkers, P. 188, 243, 253, 260, 263 Juno 171
Jupiter 166, 171, 172, 174, 252
Kalidasa 31
Kanade 59, 60
Kant, I. 54, 76, 126, 127, 131-134, 139, 143,
209, 210, 211, 212, 214, 217, 221, 222, 246,
248, 249, 251, 273
Kierkegaard, S. 148-154
Kim Young Kun 26, 28 Kimmerle, H. 8, 10, 12, 16, 72, 76 Knox, T. M. 127, 128, 184, 199, 234 Koje`ve, A. 70
Krishna 43, 44, 45, 49, 50, 60, 236, Ku? gelgen, A. von 234
Ku? ng, H. 273
index of persons
Lacan, J. 70
Lao-zi 23, 25, 26, 64, 65
Latte, K. 157, 175
Leeuw, K. L. van der 26, 29, 30 Leibniz, G. W. 21, 22, 26, 28, 29, 30 Lessing, G. E. 178, 247, 265
Leuze, R. 6, 56, 157
Levinas, E. 154
Lewis, B. 235
Lewis, F. D. 231
Lilla, M. 261
Locke, J. 212
Lo? with, K. 2, 29, 70 Lucretius 211
Lustiger, J. M. 219
Luther, M. 141, 180, 182, 227, 265,
267
Lyotard, J. F. 76
Macbeth 129
Magliola, R. 76
Mahayana 70, 73, 74 Maimonides 228, 229, 230, 232 Markell, P. 152, 153
Marmura, M. 230, 231
Marx, K. 19, 144
Massignon, L. 226, 239
Mbiti, J. S. 19
Meist, K. R. 10
Mensching, G. 157, 175
Metzler, J. B. 268
Michel, K. M. 11, 181
Mill, J. 44
Mithra 93
Moldenhauer, E. 11, 181
Mo? ller, D. 240
Monteil, V. 18
Montgomery Watt, W. 230, 231, 232 Moreau, R. L. 18
Moritz, K. P. 163, 175
Morlichem, H. 16
Morton, T. 51, 58, 69
Mu? ller, M. 21
Nagarjuna 69, 75
Nicolin, F. 2
Nicolin, G. 179
Nietzsche, F. W. 53, 54, 55, 57, 69, 72, 73,
76, 77, 228
Nishida, K. 70, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77 Nishitani, K. 70, 71, 73, 74 Noah 128
Nohl, H. 186, 187
Nyaya 60
Odera Oruka, H. 18 Oluwole, S. B. 18 Oosterling, H. 52, 72, 76 Ops Consiva 166 O'Regan, C. 254 Ormazd 91
Osiris 93, 94 Otto, R. 211
Parkinson, G. H. R. 66 Parmenides 58
Parrinder, G. 16
Pa? tzold, D. 259
Paul 52, 148, 149
Paulus, H. E. G. 12
Perkins, R. 260
Pinkard, T.
60 see J. ritter, Hegel und die Reformation (1968), in: J. ritter, Metaphysik und Politik, Frankfurt am main: suhrkamp 1969, pp. 310-317 (first edition in: Unbefangenes Christen- tum, mu? nchen, 1968, pp. 89-99).
61 Freedom is not restricted to Christianity, but, for the first time in history, it is Christi- anity that learns that everybody (and not only a citizen, nor a specific person) is free.
? 270 lu de vos
Protestantism is the destruction of the obedience (to the clergy) of all free Christian people. such servitude, within the form of free religion, con- tains its own contradiction. Crucial in Hegel's account are the events of the 16th century. the historical reaction to the 'Catholic' middle ages can be found in the position of the lutheran or evangelical doctrines. Karl V had been content, according to Hegel, with the pillage of rome, and not achieving liberation from the Pope. in augsburg, it was the Holy spirit, which 'seized the moment' and went further in initiating a spiritual free- dom, a step the emperor was not able to take. What is sacred ('heilig') is not strictly the purview of the priests (or the theologians), but is also given to laymen (16: 249). the so-called laymen have their own judgment and authority to speak about religion, which is confirmed by the testimony of spirit. everybody performs and perfects his or her own relation to god in spirit, which is consciousness of reason, or of god himself. the state can become, through the will of god, an implicitly (in itself ) independent, worldly, instantiated ethical form, which is the basis for the government of all justly governed states. the rights of the community as well as the ethical duties of all persons are in this way recognised by god.
if both government and church have the same inspiration, it is impos- sible for a government to have foreign, external (e. g. Catholic) influence. the principles of religion and state come together in the truth of all free- dom. man cannot have confidence in a law if he is not convinced that religion is not in contradiction with it, as is the case in Catholicism, where the rules of sanctity are proscribed by the roman church. Family, prop- erty and freedom in the state are necessary prerequisites for a free com- munity. in this sense, the Catholic religion does not give rise to the inner justice and ethicity of the state, which is present in the inwardness of the Protestant principle. only the reformation reveals the total divine and spiritual process in man; this free man exists as free insofar as he wills the true and lawfully ethical, and knows it as the universal.
after the treaty of Westphalia, the Protestant principle, sanctified free- dom, is taken up by Friedrich ii, on the worldly side. 62 such Protestantism is the basis and origin of the constitution of the state. in other words, without Christian reconciliation in the Protestant church (which sanctifies freedom), there is no authentic conviction of loyalty to the constitution of
62 see e. Weisser-lohmann, "reformation" und "Friedrich ii" in den geschichtsphilo- sophischen Vorlesungen Hegels, in: Hegels Vorlesungen u? ber die Philosophie der Weltge- schichte (Hegel-studien. Beiheft 38), Bonn, Bouvier Verlag 1998, pp. 95-121.
? hegel and protestantism 271
a state. While there is a good result in Prussia and other german nations (but not in austria), this is only a partial reconciliation, as long as other countries are not reconciled in this manner. the remaining differences between them, the failures to renew the civil law in France, and the influ- ence of Protestantism itself are at the foreground of Hegel's last course on history (Vie, 59 ff ). thus, there remain difficulties of content, within his- tory! in north america, there was an atomistic, individualised liberal Prot- estantism, that--for Hegel--remained merely at the level of the market (i. e. civil society), and did not arrive at a real constitutional state. in south america, the negative influence of Catholicism was still dominant, so that in the known world of Hegel's time, the reconciliation of Protestantism is only fully realized in (constitutionally interpreted) Prussia (Vie, 240-1).
at this point, the state is reconciled with god and god with state. Civil freedom and justice are the fruits of this attained freedom in god, because religious and philosophical consciousness of the will of god are no longer distinct from consciousness of that which is true and lawful: an ethic- ity, which promotes and fulfils even the sensuous character of the body within its sublated form as free member of the community, in as far a he may marry and fulfil his economic necessities. For the human spirit, the knowledge of god is the origin or most certain principle of all ethical action. What cannot be deduced from god and is not sanctified by him, is not able to move in joyful obedience to the law. 63
4. Philosophy of religion or of History?
is Hegel's philosophy, which combines rational interpretations of religion with views on history in order to conceive what is actual, criticisable as insufficiently religious or insufficiently Protestant, or is it criticisable as insufficiently philosophical?
in all texts cited here, Hegel claims to demonstrate the rationality of the definitive, consummate religion or to indicate that the historical Christian religion corresponds to the concept of what is rational (and not, importantly, the other way around). With Hegel's emphasis on spirit, his presentation of religion and Christian religion in particular, is made ratio- nally, in the same sense in which he presents a rational view of history.
63 this sanctification is not a second world of holiness (like 'in Catholicism'), but it is the final, not immediately arising, justification of what is done spiritually in ethicity (i. e. the consciousness of the truth), not a justification on a case-by-case basis.
? 272 lu de vos
His philosophy of religion (and also of history) is, first and foremost, phi- losophy. it is not dependent on the truth-claims of religion in general or any denomination in particular. His philosophy of religion exposes the form of conceptual knowledge about religion, in which religion (or abso- lute spirit) (and also history) is the topic (i. e. the content) of the discus- sion, not its premise. such a Hegelian project is not dependent upon the theology of Christianity, nor does it wish to be. on the contrary, insofar as religion and Christianity have rationality, it is philosophy that can dem- onstrate the intelligibility in the historical evolution from religious com- munity to its political, historical shape. For Hegel, the realisation of truth in spirit is performed, in its ultimate instance, by the concept. For the task of philosophy is to conceive the present, even a divided actuality, as an actuality, which only conceals its own reconciliation if people remain at the level of their own subjective (nai? ve) impression, but which may be understood as reconciled, if they try to conceive it as rational (and within the search of rationality).
How far can religion be transformed and yet still recognised by religious people? if the salvation of all is the goal, then every discussion about reli- gion has to be conducted in a manner that is understandable for all. Hegel, at the very least, tries to formulate his claims in such a way. He presents the topics of Christian religion as such: god, creation, incarnation, death and resurrection in or as spirit. as with other topics presented in other philosophical disciplines, these topics are treated without (presupposed) metaphysical notions. in other words, these 'metaphysical concepts' are presented in their (negatively reformulated) speculative form. in this way, religion is not taken up as the final word, certainly not as theology or as the clergy would have it, but rather only as a (particular) religious claim. even in criticizing and opposing such a philosophy of religion, the people and theologians can contribute to a more complex elaboration of what reli- gion is for thinking, and for the thinking of thinking itself.
in the philosophically rational sense in which the philosophy of reli- gion is presented, the philosophical topics are therefore actually the con- cept and the idea. therein a number of specific problems has risen for a speculative philosophy of religion. in what sense is 'god' indeed the best example of the concept of the idea? in what sense does the logical- speculative concept indeed structure the Christian religion? neither with logic as such, nor with specific parts, is a 'specific' relation or parallelism immediately given. such questions are difficult exegetical and systematic problems, which could not be taken up in this treatment of Hegel's view
hegel and protestantism 273
on Protestantism. However, answers to these questions are needed for a minimal understanding of the consistency of Hegel's actual philosophy of religion, and certainly for any rational critique of it.
Conclusion
is it really necessary to ask, as most interpreters do, as a philosophical question, whether Hegel is a (good) Christian,64 or, more specifically, an orthodox, or a heterodox one? 65 Philosophically speaking, the question would rather seem to be whether Hegel has sufficiently demonstrated the rationality and intelligibility of Protestant Christian religion, and its impact in history, insofar as this impact is not limited to aspects of (a given, subjective) faith.
neither the atheistic claim that god is not elevated above of all the rest (god is indeed, for Hegel, the truth of nature and history), nor the irreli- gious claim that there is no spiritualisation of the world, are Hegel's fun- damental positions. it is rather, the claim that god cannot be thought of as independent of every (religious) thought (in this formulation, it is clear that such a claim of independency is contradictory). this claim means there could not be a valuable ontology of religion anymore, since ontol- ogy is based on having contents, rather than being elaborated in concepts. accordingly, for Hegel, god must be presented as spirit in religion as well as in philosophy.
the philosophical point, however, is the following: has Hegel suffi- ciently grounded the rational insight that Christianity, in its Protestant expression and in its historical evolution, is valid as a good, consummated religion of reconciled freedom? moreover, has he shown for everybody (whether or not he or she is a philosopher) that such a religion has basi- cally contributed, to the real, lived, historical freedom of us all?
64 J. Burbidge, 'is Hegel a Christian? ', in: J. Burbidge, Hegel on Logic and Religion, albany: state University of new York Press 1992, pp. 141-153.
65 see Hodgson, o. c. , 100, who gives a catalogue of theological questions, as if either a theologian or anyone else could decide what orthodoxy is; nobody has 'Unfehlbarkeit', with exception of the self-given claim of the Pope. For a Catholic discussion see H. Ku? ng, Unfehlbar? Eine Anfrage, Zu? rich: Benziger Verlag 1998. asking such questions (which takes over the role of the (Catholic) Holy see, or even of every inquisition) seems to be the affair of god, who is--in the event that he would be interested in such questions? not Hegel's rational living spirit of community.
? Contributors
Paul Cobben is Professor of Philosophy at tilburg university (the nether- lands) and chairman of Dutch-Flemish Centre for German idealism (www . cvdi. eu). His publications focus on practical philosophy, combining a sys- tematic and historical approach. Among his books: Das endliche Selbst. Identita? t und Differenz zwischen Hegels >>Pha? nomenologie des Geistes<< und Heideggers >>Sein und Zeit<<, Wu? rzburg: Ko? nigshausen und neumann 1999; Das Gesetz der multikulturellen Gesellschaft. Eine Aktualisierung von Hegels >>Grundlinien der Philosphie des Rechts<<, Wu? rzburg: Ko? nigshausen und neumann 2002; Hegel-Lexikon (ed. ), Darmstadt: Wissenschaftlichen buchgesellschaft 2006; The Nature of the Self. Recognition in the Form of Right and Morality, berlin/new York: De Gruyter 2009; Institutions of Edu- cation: then and today (ed. ), Leiden/boston: brill 2010.
Paul Cruysberghs (1944) is an emeritus Professor at the institute of Phi- losophy of the Catholic university of Leuven (belgium), where he taught philosophical anthropology and aesthetics. He published on anthropol- ogy, aesthetics, and ethics, especially in German idealism (Hegel) and in Kierkegaard. He is a co-editor of the Hegel-Lexikon (Darmstadt, Wissen- schaftliche buchgesellschaft, 2006) and translated recently Kierkegaard's Sygdommen til Doden into Dutch, budel: Damon 2010.
Dr Herman van Erp was, until his retirement in 2009, associate professor for social Philosophy and Ethics at tilburg university (netherlands). He is still adjunct professor for Philosophy at the university of Fort Hare in south-Africa. the main subject of his research concerns fundamental eth- ics and political philosophy. important authors for him are Kant, Hegel, Marx, Popper, rawls and Levinas. one of his books is translated in Eng- lish: Political Reason and Interest. A philosophical legitimation of the politi- cal order in a pluralistic society, London: Ashgate 2000. His last articles in English are concerning democratic legitimacy within a European con- stitution, Hegel's concept of freedom and history, and Kant's concept of sublimity.
sander Griffioen (1941) graduated in Political Economy and Philosophy. He wrote a dissertation on Hegel's philosophy of finitude (De Roos en het
276 contributors
Kruis, Assen: van Gorcum 1976). He was a senior Member at the toronto institute for Christian studies, and taught Philosophy at the Vrije univer- siteit (Amsterdam) from 1979-2002. From 2002-2006 he was special pro- fessor for intercultural Philosophy, his area of specialization being China. in 2005 and 2007 he gave courses on Chinese thought at tilburg uni- versity. His publications include: Pluralisms and Horizons, (with richard Mouw), Grand rapids: Eerdmans 1993 (2nd print); 'towards a Philosophy of God. A study in William Desmond's thought', in Philosophia Reformata 75 (2010), 117-140; 'Proximity and Distance. China and the Christian West', in: J. D. Gort, H. Jansen, W. stoker (eds. ), Crossroad Discourses between Christianity and Culture, Festschrift in Honor of Hendrik M. Vroom, Amsterdam/new York: rodopi 2010, pp. 471-486.
Peter Jonkers (1954) studied Philosophy at the Catholic university of Leuven, belgium. in 1982, he defended his dissertation at this university on Hegel's Faith and Knowledge. Currently, he is full professor of philoso- phy at the school of Catholic theology of tilburg university, the nether- lands. His main areas of research include German idealism, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of culture. some of his recent pub- lications are: God in France. Eight contemporary French Thinkers on God (2005); Hegel-Lexikon (2006); "Jacobi, ein ? Galimathias' der spekulativen Vernunft? " (2007); Religions Challenged by Contingency (2008); 'Justifying sacrifice' (2008); 'religious truth in a Globalising World' (2009); 'Can Free- dom of religion replace the Virtue of tolerance? ' (2010); 'the Dialectics of Pluralism and social Cohesion' (2011); 'orthopraxis and being Faithful to one's tradition' (2011).
Heinz Kimmerle (1930) is a retired professor of Philosophy at Eras- mus university rotterdam (Eur). He did his PhD in 1957 with Hans- Georg Gadamer at the university of Heidelberg on the hermeneutics of schleiermacher. For six years he worked at the Hegel-archive in bonn and bochum. in 1970 he got his 'Habilitation' (teaching license) for philosophy at the ruhr university bochum. During the last five years of his position at Eur (1990-1995) he had as a special teaching subject 'intercultural phi- losophy', mainly African philosophy. in 1996 he started the 'Foundation for intercultural Philosophy and Art'. And in 2003 was conferred on him the honorary doctorate of Literature and Philosophy by the university of south Africa (unisA) in Pretoria.
contributors 277
Dr. bart C. Labuschagne (1962) teaches philosophy of Law at Leiden university. He wrote a dissertation on the philosophical aspects of the freedom of religion (1995). His interests are the Philosophy of Law, reli- gion, Ethics and Politics. He publishes mainly about the role of religion in democratic, post-secular societies. He is also a translator of Hegel in Dutch. He has written a number of articles and books, among others, lately: Religion, Politics and Law. Philosophical Reflections on the Sources of Normative Order in Society, edited with reinhard W. sonnenschmidt, Leiden: brill 2009, 'towards a new relationship between the Private, Public and sacred Domains', in: t. buksinski (ed. ), Religion in the Public Spheres, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang 2011.
Henk oosterling (1952) is associate professor Philosophy at the Eras- mus university rotterdam, teaching French philosophy of differences, aesthetics, and intercultural philosophy with a focus on Japanese culture and buddhism. He studied martial arts in Japan. His academic research program Intermediality thematizes the crossovers between philosophy, arts and politics. recently he co-edited Intermedialities. Philosophy, Arts, and Politics (2011). He is the series editor of Studies in Intercultural Phi- losophy (rodopi). in 2004 he initiated rotterdam skillcity, a strategic concept for urban renovation and intercultural and eco-social education that has been adopted by the rotterdam city council as the blueprint of the 10 year renovation of rotterdam south. As director of this Foundation he supervises long term educational and societal projects in the socio- economic deprived neighbourhoods in rotterdam. More information: www. henkoosterling. nl.
timo slootweg (1962) studied Philosophy and History. He taught Phi- losophy of History in rotterdam. since 2004 he has been teaching Philoso- phy of Law and Ethics at the university of Leiden (the netherlands). His dissertation dealt with the ethical meaning of time, history and historical consciousness in the philosophies of Hegel, Heidegger and Derrida (2000). His publications are concerned with the relation between Law and Love; Knowledge and Faith; Christian Existentialism and Personalism; Dialecti- cal and Dialogical theology. recent publication on Hegel's Philosophy of religion: 'Love and Violence: Dialectical reflections on the Phenomenol- ogy of the Crusade' (2009); 'Das Go? ttliche Gebot und der Geist der Liebe. Eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit Hegels fru? hen theologischen Voraussetzungen', Hegel-Jahrbuch 2010).
278 contributors
Gerrit steunebrink (1948) is a lecturer on Metaphysics and Philosophy of Culture and religion at the radboud university in nijmegen, the neth- erlands. He published on religion, esthetics and metaphysics. His favorite authors are Kant, Hegel, Jaspers and Adorno. He published too on reli- gion and modernity in political and intercultural perspective. the islamic world, especially of modernizing turkey, has his attention in these pub- lications.
to his English publications belong: ? Civil society, religion and the nation, Modernization in intercultural context: russia, Japan, turkey? , rodopi 2004 (edited with E. van der Zweerde) and ? sovereignty, the nation state, and islam? in: Ethical Perspectives 2008, 1.
Lu De Vos (1953) teaches Philosophy at HiW of KuLeuven (belgium). He has published on classical German philosophy (Kant, Jacobi, Fichte, Hegel and schelling). Co-editor of Hegel-Lexikon. His areas of interest are funda- mental problems in metaphysics, philosophy of religion and aesthetics.
Abe, M. 70, 74, 75
Abraham 128, 129, 143, 145, 151, 153, 154,
218, 219
Adams, R. 151
Adamson, P. 232
Adonis 93
Adorno, Th. W. 53, 73 Ahriman 91
Al-Afghani 227
Al-Djabiri, M. A. 234 Al-Ghazali 229, 231, 232, 233, 234 Anaxagoras 66
Angerona 166
Antigone 120
Appiah, K. A. 18,
Aquinas, Thomas 226, 231, 232, 233 Aristophanes 122
Aristotle 83
Averroes 228, 229, 232, 233, 234 Avicenna 228, 229, 231, 232, 234
Bacchus 115, 117
Bataille, G. 70
Baum, M. 10
Bayle, P. 55 Behrens-Abousef, D. 235 Bloch, E. 29
Bonsiepen, W. 9
Bopp, F. 57
Bossouet, J. B. 29
Brahma(n) 40, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 53, 59,
60, 61, 68
Buber, M. 147, 151 Bubner, R. 123 Buchanan, F. 57 Buchner, H. 9 Buck-Morss, S. 15 Bu? rgel, J. Ch. 240 Burke, E. 211 Burnett, Ch. 232
Caesar 173
Carra de Vaux, B. 233
Cavacci, J. A. 14
Ceres 115, 117
Chapelle, A. 2
Christ, J. 55, 69, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 136,
137, 149, 150, 173, 177, 180, 188, 189, 190,
191, 193, 195, 197, 203, 219, 247, 256, 258,
260, 261, 266, 267, 268 Cicero 28
Cobben, P. 8, 253 Colebrooke, H. Th. 44, 56, 60 Confucius 23, 24, 28, 59 Cramer, W. 249
Creon 119 Creutzer, G. F. 53 Critchley, S. 141
Dadi, I. 15
DeFrancis, J. 26
Deleuze, G. 54, 76, 77
Derrida, J. 4, 19, 54, 76, 126, 139, 141, 143,
144, 154, 155
Descartes, R. 5, 254 Desmond, W. 259
Dierken, J. 182, 197, 202, 268 Dilthey, W. 126, 241 Dilworth, D. 70, 71
Du? sing, K. 10, 12
Eckhart, M. 204, 237 Elberfeld, R. 70, 71 Evans, C. S. 151, 152
Fames 166
Faure, B. 68, 69
Faure, M. 69
Fichte, J. G. 11, 12, 54, 71, 77, 139, 246 Febris 166
Fornax 166
Forster, J. G. A. 31
Fortuna 166, 168, 171
Foucault, M. 76
Fourche, T. 16
Fukuyama, F. 70
Fulda, H. F. 246, 249, 259
Gadamer, H. G. 2
Gardet, L. 232
Gascoigne, R. 268
Gaziaux, E. 246
Gelugpa 58
Goethe, J. W. 6, 22, 28, 213, 223, 225, 227,
237, 239, 240 Guattari, F. 54, 77
INDEX OF PERSONS
280
Guiley, R. E. 4 Guizot, F. 227 Gutschmidt, H. 247 Guz, T. 267 Gyekye, K. 18
Hammer-Purggstall, J. F. von 238 Hassan, S. 15
Heede, R. 9
Heidegger, M. 76
Heine, H. 240
Heinrichs, J. 122
Heraclites 58
Herder, J. G. von 31, 212, 213, 222, 225, 241 Herodotus 57
Hinrichs, H. F. W. 55
Hodgson, P. C. 22, 26, 32, 100, 125, 134,
157-164, 173, 178, 193, 203, 208, 237, 243,
251, 256, 273
Ho? lderlin, F. 53, 64
Homer 118
Humboldt, W. von 31, 32, 44, 45, 49, 59 Hume, D. 33, 217, 232
Hyppolite, J. 70
Ibn Arabi 239
Ibn Khaldum 233
Iqbal, M. 219, 227, 228, 239
Jacobi, F. H. 47, 53, 56, 66, 139, 253 Jaeschke, W. 3, 6, 13, 14, 22, 27, 31, 35, 99,
123, 178, 180, 181, 184, 188, 190, 192, 199,
249, 251, 253, 256, 268 James, W. 71, 76
Jesuit Fathers 21, 22 Jesus: see Christ
Jones, W. 31
Jonkers, P. 188, 243, 253, 260, 263 Juno 171
Jupiter 166, 171, 172, 174, 252
Kalidasa 31
Kanade 59, 60
Kant, I. 54, 76, 126, 127, 131-134, 139, 143,
209, 210, 211, 212, 214, 217, 221, 222, 246,
248, 249, 251, 273
Kierkegaard, S. 148-154
Kim Young Kun 26, 28 Kimmerle, H. 8, 10, 12, 16, 72, 76 Knox, T. M. 127, 128, 184, 199, 234 Koje`ve, A. 70
Krishna 43, 44, 45, 49, 50, 60, 236, Ku? gelgen, A. von 234
Ku? ng, H. 273
index of persons
Lacan, J. 70
Lao-zi 23, 25, 26, 64, 65
Latte, K. 157, 175
Leeuw, K. L. van der 26, 29, 30 Leibniz, G. W. 21, 22, 26, 28, 29, 30 Lessing, G. E. 178, 247, 265
Leuze, R. 6, 56, 157
Levinas, E. 154
Lewis, B. 235
Lewis, F. D. 231
Lilla, M. 261
Locke, J. 212
Lo? with, K. 2, 29, 70 Lucretius 211
Lustiger, J. M. 219
Luther, M. 141, 180, 182, 227, 265,
267
Lyotard, J. F. 76
Macbeth 129
Magliola, R. 76
Mahayana 70, 73, 74 Maimonides 228, 229, 230, 232 Markell, P. 152, 153
Marmura, M. 230, 231
Marx, K. 19, 144
Massignon, L. 226, 239
Mbiti, J. S. 19
Meist, K. R. 10
Mensching, G. 157, 175
Metzler, J. B. 268
Michel, K. M. 11, 181
Mill, J. 44
Mithra 93
Moldenhauer, E. 11, 181
Mo? ller, D. 240
Monteil, V. 18
Montgomery Watt, W. 230, 231, 232 Moreau, R. L. 18
Moritz, K. P. 163, 175
Morlichem, H. 16
Morton, T. 51, 58, 69
Mu? ller, M. 21
Nagarjuna 69, 75
Nicolin, F. 2
Nicolin, G. 179
Nietzsche, F. W. 53, 54, 55, 57, 69, 72, 73,
76, 77, 228
Nishida, K. 70, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77 Nishitani, K. 70, 71, 73, 74 Noah 128
Nohl, H. 186, 187
Nyaya 60
Odera Oruka, H. 18 Oluwole, S. B. 18 Oosterling, H. 52, 72, 76 Ops Consiva 166 O'Regan, C. 254 Ormazd 91
Osiris 93, 94 Otto, R. 211
Parkinson, G. H. R. 66 Parmenides 58
Parrinder, G. 16
Pa? tzold, D. 259
Paul 52, 148, 149
Paulus, H. E. G. 12
Perkins, R. 260
Pinkard, T.
