Hegel’s dialectical God paradoxically becomes more immanently present than the Eucharistic host.

Evidence

Because it is based on the reduction of the divine presence to a present entity, a ‘thing’ (res), the Hegelian critique of a reified divine presence runs into an unavoidable paradox. For as ‘thing’, accessible in the here and now (hic et nunc), this presence would be more immediately assimilable than the Eucharistic host, understood as a symbol and promise of the body of Christ. In essence, the dialectical notion of God permits the very thing which Hegel in other respects shows to be impossible: a presentation of the divine presence as sense certainty. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 729

Categorization

• QUESTION: Whether Malabou endorses or only reports this reading of the Hegelian paradox — and how her plasticity concept would respond to it — is worth pursuing ahead.
• XREF: connects to: Hegel contrasts Catholic external divine things with Lutheran inward consecration — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 724; Hegel’s critique of reified divine presence paradoxically enables a more intimate possession of God — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 729

Broader Connections

• Hegel’s critique of reified divine presence paradoxically enables a more intimate possession of God #expands (0.90) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 729