A Hegelian Theory of Divine Revelation

“Jason Barton’s A Hegelian Theory of Divine Revelation is itself a revelation. It provides the best investigation of Hegel’s religious phenomenology available, an account that makes clear the incredible stakes present in Hegel’s discussion of religion. After reading Barton’s incisive work, one sees Hegel completely anew. Hegel’s engagement with theology becomes the linchpin to a novel understanding of his entire philosophy.” (Todd McGowan, Professor of English at the University of Vermont)

“In A Hegelian Theory of Divine Revelation, Jason Barton convincingly demonstrates that Hegel’s philosophy of religion is anything but a secondary branch of the Hegelian system whose true stakes reside in other of this system’s branches. Barton’s lucid, rigorous, and compelling study reveals the philosophy of religion to be absolutely central to Hegel’s entire philosophical apparatus. This admirable book and its author will be significantly influencing scholarship on Hegel and German idealism for many years to come.” (Adrian Johnston, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Mexico)

“Jason Barton’s A Hegelian Theory of Divine Revelation is itself a revelation. It provides the best investigation of Hegel’s religious phenomenology available, an account that makes clear the incredible stakes present in Hegel’s discussion of religion. After reading Barton’s incisive work, one sees Hegel completely anew. Hegel’s engagement with theology becomes the linchpin to a novel understanding of his entire philosophy.”

-Todd McGowan, Professor of English at the University of Vermont

This book explores what G.W.F. Hegel meant by ‘God’. Was he referring to the Lutheran conception of the Christian God? Or, was he referring to a heterodox conception of God more in line with his philosophical speculations?

Through a close reading of Hegel’s Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, this book offers a detailed answer to this question. Itcontends that Hegel assigns two meanings to the concept of God: an inward-facing perspective and an outward-facing perspective.

From the inward-facing perspective, Hegel ventured to authentically capture how world-historical religions respectively portray the divine from their own conceptual, representational, and practical positions. From the outward-facing perspective, Hegel identifies divinity with absolute spirit in its odyssey-like movement toward self-recognition. The concept of God for Hegel encompasses both of these meanings. It is argued that one cannot approximate an accurate comprehension of Hegel’s ‘God’ without analyzing divine revelation.

In contrast to previous books, this book firmly grounds Hegel’s religious phenomenology in historical and logical factors. Through such a grounding, A Hegelian Theory of Divine Revelation attempts to achieve a clarified understanding of the character of Hegelian divine revelation and ultimately a clarified understanding of Hegel’s concept of God.

This book is essential reading for all scholars and researchers of German idealism and of the philosophy of religion, especially those focusing on the thought of G.W.F. Hegel.

Jason Barton obtained his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of New Mexico and is an Adjunct Professor in Philosophy at the University of New Mexico.