Given that the god-concept does no work within the system it would have been strange if Hegel nonetheless thought that his philosophy was about god.

If we want to see what a robust modern god-centered philosophy might look like we have the example of Schelling who unlike Hegel does not prevaricate when speaking about god.

Hegel’s philosophy has all these trap doors that enable Hegel to escape from being tied to what a naïve reading of what he says might indicate he believes.

The most common trap door is the one that gets him out from under what a representation of god might indicate to the naïve reader.

He can rely on the fact that his more accomplished readers will understand that a represented truth is not truth proper.

But here in this paragraph the trap door lets him escape while his acolyte speaks.

In any case, Hegel does quite a bit of this suggesting that Hegel believed that prevaricating about god was necessary for his survival.

We have long been aware of the simple survival technique of going to church and outwardly conforming to religious doctrine while inwardly being indifferent to all this.

Hegel did not even do enough of this not to raise doubts about his piety. But with his philosophy he was much more careful.

And given that as a phase of spirit there is a place for religion in his philosophy – just not the place the religious would like it to occupy – Hegel was able to lecture on religion and in this way say much in praise of religion without distorting the nontheological thrust of his thought.

• Alan