Essays and Addresses on the Philosophy of Religion by Baron Friedrich von Hügel

First published: 1921

Edition(s) used:Essays and Addresses on the Philosophy of Religion. Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2001

Genre(s): Nonfiction

Subgenre(s): Church history; spiritual treatise; theology

Core issue(s): Catholics and Catholicism; holiness; Jesus Christ; religion; soul

Overview

The study of history shows that religion is a characteristic of humanity and consists of universality and “superhumanity,” or a higher reality. However, asks Baron Friedrich von Hügel, could religion be merely an illusion? Hegelians claim that the human mind can know nothing but itself, whereas von Hügel asserts that the human mind also possesses imagination, will, feeling, and sense; it has the capacity to know other minds and concrete realities distinct from itself. If humans can apprehend realities such as morality and aesthetics, and if these apprehensions point to realities outside the mind, then humans can apprehend a higher reality outside of themselves. Just as objects in the external world reveal themselves to humans, so God makes himself known to humans as revelation in its purest and most perfect form.

In response to a woman who doubts that an all-good God could allow her young daughter to die of a lingering illness, von Hügel explains that God’s reality is obscure, but things of this world are no less real because our perception of them is obscure. Our perceptions are confirmed by actual experience, by others’ similar experiences, and by the vividness of experiences. However, to achieve faith in God, the mind must be prepared to grow; it cannot be self-centered or self-occupied. The firmest faith, however, comes out of the deepest suffering, physical and spiritual. The history of religion teaches such insights. Indeed, Christianity has grown stronger because of centuries of suffering, surviving all temptations, attacks, and persecutions. The suffering and crucifixion of Christ symbolized this truth. Without suffering himself, Christ could not have asked as much of humankind.

In the works of German theologian Ernst Troeltsch, an ardent Protestant, von Hügel finds reinforcement of his own Catholicism. Von Hügel states that critiquing Troeltsch’s works on ethics and the essence of Christianity fortified his sense of the value of religious controversy. This value is heightened when each side shares a deep love and understanding of the fundamentals of Christian faith and each has a mind capable of entertaining opposing insights.

Considering the question of the existence of Heaven and Hell, von Hügel rejects the idea that the afterlife is a mere continuation of this life, only more attractive. Rather, a true Christian finds immortality by seeking, experiencing, and loving God in a supernatural reality. The morality of ordinary life constitutes natural goodness; supernatural goodness is the soul’s final assuagement. The concepts of Heaven and Hell make Purgatory necessary as a stage in the soul’s transition to Heaven. Creatures in the natural world and unbaptized infants reach a degree of felicity in the afterlife, but ultimate beatitude can be experienced only by those who have struggled through changes and have made hard choices, which qualify them first for Purgatory.

Those who choose both spirit and body will gain immortality, retaining their essential nature, von Hügel says. The happiness and joy that the saved experienced on earth will be intensified in Heaven, and they will be free of pain and suffering as well. Even relationships, such as husband and wife, will continue in Heaven. On the other hand, the lost spirits will experience an everlasting diminishment of happiness in proportion to their willful disobedience on earth.

Von Hügel sees the Catholic Church as a necessary mediator between the individual soul and God. Catholicism combines the finite with the infinite as well as the historical and the timeless. It engages the human spirit in its quest to transcend itself. It provides the historical basis of the spirit’s acceptance of God and combines historical evidence with spiritual truth. It combines the factual and the doctrinal and is based in the belief that visible reality is connected with the invisible reality of God.

All religions, von Hügel asserts, share a faith in the spirit, but Protestants and Catholics differ in their views regarding merit and reward in the individual’s salvation, faith, and works. The Protestant emphasis on the individual’s seeing the light prevents spiritual growth, which needs contact with the outside world and with other spirits and minds. Criticism of one’s faith is a necessary test of that faith and its growth. Seeking truth is essential to the religious life, especially to the Catholic faith. Although every soul in every religion experiences some truth, one needs tradition, institution, and training, along with the “special graces of God” to reach the truth. Hence, one needs the Catholic Church.

This view naturally leads von Hügel to an explicit defense of the Catholic Church. Opposition to Catholicism stems in part from the fact that the Church is governed by average men, who have employed oppression and other means to maintain their authority, but Catholics will use good judgment to discriminate between what has been divinely intended and the imperfections wrought by humans. The individual needs institutional guidance, for a lifelong adherence to the Church produces a heightened good. A religious humility requires obedience to institutions, a give and take with others, as well as paternal authority and superintendence. The Catholic Church provides all these needs. Just as there is one God, who unifies all things, so there should be one Church, as Jesus taught, and that one Church is the Catholic Church.

Christian Themes

According to von Hügel, the true Christian feels a deep, strong responsibility to obey God. Without religion, humans would not have the means to apprehend moral and spiritual perfection. Because people are finite, have a limited ability to perceive, and are impelled by animal needs and desires, they need a reality higher than their own to guide and sustain them. To grow spiritually, people need a thirst for wisdom. They need to be humble, to open their souls, and to strengthen their will. Instinctively, with the help of others—for no one can grow spiritually and mentally without help—and with the soul’s judgment, people can surmount their old selves and move toward the reality of God.

Although suffering cannot be explained, it is unavoidable, even sometimes necessary, if people are to grow spiritually, von Hügel says. Paradoxically, humans suffer because they are not cut off from outward realities; their closeness to nature brings to them the awareness of suffering. However, behind nature is God, who is love, which the religious soul must trust. People must emulate Christ, who exemplified the essence of the Christian spirit: courage, purity, endless compassion, humility, truthfulness, self-denial, and, most important, heroism.

If people view Jesus as both human and the incarnation of God, their sense of ideal reality will be deepened and enriched. Essentially, Christians who strive for redemption must have open souls, ever prepared to receive divine intimations; they must also strive, with a deep thirst, for union with God, who represents goodness, beauty, and truth. With this disposition and by studying reality and the natural world of the senses, people can find God. Von Hügel states that the Catholic Church offers history, institutional guidance, and moral support to help people’s spiritual growth.

Sources for Further Study

Barmann, Lawrence F. Baron Friedrich von Hügel and the Modernist Crisis in England. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1972. Examines the role of von Hügel’s ideas in the modernist movement in Western Europe and the movement’s controversial elements.

Kelly, James J. Baron Friedrich von Hügel’s Philosophy of Religion. Leuven, Belgium: Leuven University Press, 1983. Discusses von Hügel’s life in terms of his growth as a religious philosopher, then summarizes the philosophy that emerged.

Leonard, Ellen M. Creative Tension: The Spiritual Legacy of Friedrich von Hügel. Scranton, Pa.: University of Scranton Press, 1997. Von Hügel’s life gives context to historical, intellectual, and mystical elements that informed his spiritual journey, the fruits of which he shared with important contemporaries.

Lester-Garland, L. V. The Religious Philosophy of Baron F. von Hügel. London: J. M. Dent and Sons, 1933. Identifies the principal issues of the essays and addresses in von Hügel’s work, the difficult questions they raise, and the sometimes uncertain answers the philosopher provides.

Whelan, Joseph P. The Spirituality of Friedrich von Hügel. London: William Collins Sons, 1971. Analyzes the central concepts of von Hügel’s thought, particularly on Christ, God, the Church, and spirituality.