Hegel: The End And Fulfillment Of Religion and Theology with Genuine Philosophy

This text is a search to find the precise relationship between Philosophy and religion/theology in Hegel's philosophy. There has been a resurgence of interest in Hegel scholarship by both the secular and spiritual community and many high ranking and serious academic Hegel scholars are conflicted on whether Hegel’s system ends with religion and theology or if Philosophy is a domain of its own as the final and highest stage of Hegel’s philosophical system. This analysis has found that Hegel himself declares the result to be definitively the latter. Unlike atheistic claims however, this move from religion and theology to genuine philosophy is not an abstract negation but rather a sublation and fulfillment: a salute to the critical and necessary role in history that they played. The analysis begins from Hegel's Lectures On The History Of Philosophy with an exploration of the oddity that Hegel as a self declared Christian praises the Neo-Platonists but not the 1000 years of Scholasticism. This is odd as Christian orthodox holds the reverse in that the Scholastics were seen as essential and the Neo-Platonists heretical. This paper uncovers through a direct reading of Hegel himself why he deviates from Christian orthodoxy and explores the conclusion of what this means for the relation between genuine philosophy and religion/theology in being separate but essentially connected. This reading may uncover a path to healing the fracturing around the world exposed by the pandemic. Hegel may indeed provide the wisdom to overcome the tension between religions, science and philosophy in all their diverse modes around the globe and sublate them into a much needed higher spirit of community.