The secular was originally a theological, not an anti-religious, concept

Evidence

In fact the historical process of secularization effects a remarkable ideological inversion, though not quite in the way that Hegel claimed in the sentence just cited. For at one time “the secular” was part of a theological discourse (saeculum). “Secularization” (saecularisatio) at first denoted a legal transition from monastic life (regularis) to the life of canons (saecularis)—and then, after the Reformation, it signified the transfer of ecclesiastical real property to laypersons, that is, to the “freeing” of property from church hands into the hands of private owners, and thence into market circulation. … In the discourse of modernity “the secular” presents itself as the ground from which theological discourse was generated (as a form of false consciousness) and from which it gradually emancipated itself in its march to freedom. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 937 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Secularism as neutral ground cannot host a public sphere because it is itself theological — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 375; Secularism is not a neutral doctrine but a modern construct redefining religion and politics — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 295; Secularism can only arise from within theological discourse, not against it — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 375 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• The secular originally named church property transfer, not religion’s opposite #exemplifies (0.92) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 937