The Legitimization of the Philosophy of Religion in Hegel's Philosophical Propaedeutic

This article examines the legitimization of the philosophy of religion in Hegel's Propaedeutic. It describes the foundations of Hegel's thought and the place of the philosophy of religion within his system, and it compares Hegel's reflections to the legacy of the Reformation. The paper will conclude that Hegel's system represented a landmark not only in continental philosophy but also in Protestant theology, as it altered the position of Scripture and detached nineteenth-century Protestantism from the original principles of the Reformation.