What question about Christianity did Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel explore in his early theological essays?

In his early theological essays, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel explored the historical development of Christianity to address a specific contradiction: if the teachings of Jesus were originally rationalistic and non-authoritarian, how did the religion evolve into the authoritarian institution it later became?1

Influenced by Immanuel Kant, who argued that Jesus taught a rational morality adapted to human reason, Hegel sought to test this perspective through historical analysis. He questioned the transition from these perceived original teachings to the dogmatic, institutionalized form of the church. This inquiry led him to examine the origins of the faith and the role of reason in religious life, eventually moving beyond Kant’s framework to develop his own philosophy centered on the concept of spirit (Geist).12