How Hegel Influenced Modernism, Postmodernism and Government

One of the major shapers of the modern mind was the immensely influential German philosopher George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831). Hegel was one of the great educational transmitters of Enlightenment philosophy to the generations that followed. Hegel’s philosophy had enormous political impact and contributed to the rise of totalitarianism as a form of government.

The Enlightenment was the philosophical upheaval that occurred in the middle decades of the 1700s in which rationalist and empiricist philosophers gave birth to modernism in intellectual circles. Rationalism claims that truth is discovered by human reason alone rather than by divine revelation (the Bible). Empiricism claims that truth is discovered by the senses or sensory experience and not by faith. These two modernist philosophies melded during the Enlightenment. The French Revolution and the Reign of Terror was the immediate fruit.

Hegel was born at the end of the Enlightenment and was in Protestant seminary during the French Revolution. He watched the unfolding of the French Revolution at a distance with great horror and yet with admiration. His philosophical system is complex and nuanced. Hegel is one of the founders of German Idealism and he influenced the 19th century philosophical era called Romanticism.

Centuries earlier, medieval philosophy was largely Christian but with strong influence from Plato and Aristotle. Medieval philosophy, nevertheless, had God as the starting point. Christian philosophers looked to the Bible as God’s revelation of law, justice and redemption. They regarded the Bible as the revelation of absolute truth. Absolute truth is the set of fixed moral principles that apply to all people at all times.

Modernism exalts man’s reason and claims that absolute truth can be discovered by rational analysis rather than by God’s revelation. The postmodern philosophy of our own day rejects both revelation and reason and claims that absolute truth does not exist and if there is any truth, it is simply created by the thoughts and desires of each person.

Hegel in essence was a kind of bridge between the modern (Enlightenment) and the postmodern philosophies. Once western intellectuals rejected the Bible as the starting point of philosophy they slid down a slippery slope through exaltation of reason (1700s), then to the Romanticist exaltation of emotion (1800s) and sliding all the way down to the postmodern embrace of moral relativism (1900s) and genocide (1930s & 40s) and pessimism (post World War II) and Phenomenalism and Deconstructionism (present day). Moral relativism is the defining dogma of postmodernism and claims that there is no objective standard of morality, so each culture and each person invents their own morals.

Without God as lawgiver how does society organize itself? Though Hegel was not overtly atheist, the thrust of his message devolved into the claim that human government becomes the new god. I went to a website showing many quotes from Hegel’s writings exalting government and despising the masses and rejecting the value of public opinion and free speech.

The most telling quote attributed to Hegel is the famous and oft quoted: “Government is god upon the earth.” When philosophers reject God, the next logical step is to embrace human power. Human power is most overtly expressed in government. Hegel’s dialectic method of argumentation and the claim that the rational alone is real, greatly influenced Marx and Engels who were of the next generation after him. There were also the “Right Hegelians” who were influenced by Hegel and took a nationalist and racist approach. A century later would see the rise of Lenin’s multiracial international socialism and Hitler’s racist national socialism.

Several generations after Hegel, traditionalist, Bible believing Christians in Nazi Germany formed the “Confessing Church” and signed The Barmen Declaration in May 1934. The Barmen Declaration repudiated Nazi governmental absolutism in religious affairs. Over 2,000 pastors were sent to concentration camps in the 1935–37 period alone. Many died there and some, like Martin Niemoller, were held right through to 1945 and liberated.

The idea of an all supreme government is nothing new. Idolatry of government is simply the pagan idea of government. The ancient Greeks and Romans had authoritarian governments. The Greek experiment in democracy lasted only about 30 years and Roman republicanism crumbled and allowed the rise of the emperors who were eventually worshipped as gods. The ancient Egyptians worshipped their Pharaohs. The Babylonians and other pagan cultures worshipped their monarchs. The pagan monarchs gladly received worship and claimed to be god-men or messiah figures.

Hegel was just one of many modernist philosophers who interpreted the Enlightenment and transmitted it to the next generation of intellectuals. The 19th century saw a terrible falling away from the Christian faith among the intellectuals. The 20th century saw not only the intellectuals but also the masses of the people embrace godlessness and the idolatry of government that flows from it.

The thirteenth chapter of the New Testament book of Revelation predictively prophesies the coming of a powerful antichrist dictator who will be worshipped by the masses of the ungodly. This is a return to paganism in the end times just before the second coming of Christ. The coming antichrist is mentioned in John’s first epistle: “Ye have heard that antichrist shall come” (First John 2:18).

Traditional western governments in the past have claimed to be Christian and have acknowledged God as transcendent lawgiver. Presidents and prime ministers were rightly regarded as mere men who had power delegated to them by the people under God. The Declaration of Independence of the US says that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” It is not the government that endows the unalienable rights. God gives the rights and they are “unalienable” which means government can’t remove them. This traditional view of government is a governing philosophy that is dependent on the Bible’s divine revelation of how humans should treat each other.

Hegel and his followers ignored or denied the Christian doctrine of original sin and denied the presence of the sin nature in each person. They believed that people are born “basically good” and therefore one person, as dictatorial head of government, can be entrusted with unlimited power. By contrast, the writers of the US Constitution, being heavily influenced by biblical thinking, believed in the sinfulness of man. For this reason they divided power among the three branches of government which are the legislative, executive and judiciary. They didn’t trust sinful men, not even George Washington, with too much power.

The lesson here is that the Bible, not worldly philosophy, gives the basis of freedom and limited government. The fact that the Bible gives the foundation for social justice is further proof that the Bible is inspired by God. Hegel and the modernists and postmodernists meant well but their man-pleasing rationalist ideas ultimately led to tyranny.

The divine inspiration of the Bible is proven not only by the Bible’s practical political wisdom but also by the fact that it contains hundreds of predictive prophecies and their fulfillments. The Bible prophecies and their fulfillments are like God’s signature on His holy book. No other holy book of any other faith can match the Bible’s record of prophetic fulfillment. Jesus Christ came in fulfillment of over 300 Old Testament Bible prophecies.

The prophets foretold that Christ, the promised Messiah of Israel, would suffer and die, taking the penalty of the sins of the people upon Himself. Christ died for us and then He rose from the dead to offer forgiveness of sins to all who call upon Him in repentance. Which will you choose: life or death? I invite you to call upon Jesus Christ today. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

Steps to salvation:

Jesus said “Ye must be born again.” (John 3:7)

1) Believe that God loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
2) Believe that Jesus Christ came to die for you, to take upon Himself the penalty of your sins (Isaiah 53:5–6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18).
3) Repent of your sins and call on the name of Jesus to ask for forgiveness of sins (Romans 10:13).
4) Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth (John 1:12, Acts 2:38).
5) Follow Jesus Christ as Lord (John 14:15).

Prayer to receive salvation:

To receive the salvation which Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:

“Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I’m a sinner. I repent of my sins and I ask you to forgive me on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart, then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!

Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA

© 2020 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish for Christian outreach.

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