BORN in Stuttgart, Germany, the young Hegel dreamed of becoming a Protestant minister. Thus, he studied theology in Tubingen.
But his life-plan took a dramatic turn after he and fellow seminarians witnessed the military victory of a rising political star and military genius from France, Napoleon Bonaparte, who crushed the combined forces of Austria and Germany in the Battle at Jena.
The phenomenal rise of Napoleon led Hegel to speak of the Spirit (Geist), which favors some nations -- like Greece, Rome and Germany over others -- and individuals, the likes of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
For Hegel, the clear manifestations of the Spirit, Word or Geist, can be seen in the dying then living again seen in the grain of wheat falling to the ground, dying, rising and bearing fruit. (John 12:24) Most especially the Spirit is revealed in the quest for freedom or power. At times, both.
Ordinary men and women, not favored by the Spirit, are just “sparks” or “moments” significant in their insignificance. Being less favored, they can be easily dispensed with either as “cogs” in the production line or “cannon fodder” in the field of battle. Common folk are doomed throughout their lifetime to be inferior beings or even slaves.
Reacting to this German Idealism gone wild, a disciple of Hegel, and a former Jew by the name of Karl Marx inverted the Hegelian system by placing matter as supreme. All the rest are mere superstructures; matter shows its best in the economic forces of production. Hence, individuals are subjects to the “almighty State” for which they must work, contribute whatever they can, then get from the State what they need.”
Hegel, the Protestant, and Marx, a former Jew, abandoned God’s infinite love for each person He lived and died for.