Thus  then,  says  Fichte,  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is
established,  not  as  a  metaphysical  ideal,  but  at  once  as  an
historical  fact  and  as  a  divine  authoritative  idea,  that  must
ever  expand  itself  more  and  more  in  the  earth,  until  "  the
kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdom  of  God  and
of  his  Christ."  This  is  in  substance  the  teaching  of  Fichte,
in  the  fourth  volume  of  his  "  Staatslehre."  He  there  goes
on  to  add  some  remarks — not  unlike  Herder's  already  quoted
— to  the  effect  that,  though  the  very  name  of  Christ  be
forgotten,  his  will  must  be  fulfilled  in  the  world.  The
writer  next  goes  on  to  ascribe  a  narrow  meaning  to  St.  Paul's
doctrine  of  the  atonement.
Still — after  these  and  other  subjective  qualifications  of
his  own  confession  have  been  considered — it  is  clear  that
Fichte  here  comes  near  to  the  central  truth  of  Christianity ;
nearer  than  any  point  attained  by  Lessing,  by  Jacobi,  by
Kant,  or  by  Herder  in  the  later  years  of  his  life.  Making
allowance  for  occasional  aberrations — it  may  be  safely
affirmed  as  true,  that  in  the  years  1 781-1831 — beginning  with
Lessing's  decease,  and  ending  with  the  close  of  Hegel's
career — the  course  of  philosophical  thought  described  a
curve  more  or  less  swiftly  approximative  and  generally
moving  on  toward  that  centre.  At  last,  the  truth — that  in
Christ  God  manifested  Himself  in  indissoluble  union  with


CHAPTER  viii.— FICHTE'S  RELIGIOUS  PHILOSOPHY.      193

human  nature — was  pronounced  by  Hegel.  The  passage  in
which  this  assertion  is  given  has  been  omitted  in  certain
analyses  of  his  religious  philosophy.
