Page:Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion volume 2.djvu/176

 have the Notion no longer in the form merely of lifeforce, but as it determines itself in consciousness. We now have religion as consciousness of Spirit, which is a universal Power working in accordance with ends. In the object of religion it is the idea of Spirit in general which is present, but the point to determine is, which moment of Thought or Spirit is actively present. The content is not yet Spirit in and for itself; the object of the idea does not yet express the content of Spirit, this content being here a Power which works in accordance with ends. Since religion is defined as consciousness, here it is to be defined as self-consciousness. Here we have divine self-consciousness in general, both in its objective form as determination of the object, and also in its subjective form as determination of the finite spirit. Consciousness, Spirit, determines itself here as self-consciousness. That is implied in what has gone before; how it is so implied has now to be briefly indicated. In power, which is wisdom, the determinateness is posited as ideal in such a way that it pertains to the notion. The determinateness appears as determinate Being, Being for an Other. Along with consciousness difference is posited first as difference in reference to the self. Here it is posited as the individual difference of the self; it is relation to self, and consciousness is thus self-consciousness. God is posited as self-consciousness in so far as consciousness and its connection with the object are thought of essentially as self-consciousness. Definite existence, the objectivity of God, the Other, is something ideal or spiritual. God is thus essentially for Spirit, for Thought in general, and this fact that He as Spirit is for Spirit is at all events one aspect of the relation. It may constitute the Totality of the relation when it means that God is worshipped in spirit and in truth, but it is essentially, at all events, one characteristic. We have further seen that the Notion must be characterised as end. The end must not, however, merely preserve this