The Essence Of Christianity

Did God create man? Or did man create God? Famed German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach explores the answer in this, his most influential work, published in German in 1841 and translated by celebrated English novelist George Eliot. Using Biblical references, dialectics, and ideas from some of the world's greatest thinkers, he confronts believers with his cogent explanation. Approaching religion from a humanistic perspective, Feuerbach explores the idea that divinity is an outward projection of our idealistic human nature. Asserting that nothing is higher than the perfection found in mankind, he proposes that a Supreme Being was created by man seeking comfort and relief from a hostile world, challenging tenets of Christianity from creation and the resurrection to faith and miracles. Feuerbach's critique of Hegelian idealism excited immediate international attention — influencing Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Friedrich Engels in particular. Thought-provoking and utterly compelling, this historically significant polemic is must reading for lifelong students of religion and philosophy.

A New 2023 translation into English from the original manuscript, with an introduction, glossary of Feuerbachian terminology and a timeline of his life and works. "The Essence of Religion" is a philosophical work published in 1841 that critiques the nature and origins of religious belief, arguing for a Darwinian-historical origin for religion, and a materialistic worldview. In this work, Feuerbach argues that religion is a product of human imagination and projection, and that its true essence can only be understood by examining the human mind and its relationship to the natural world. Schopenhauer and Nietzsche both take their satirical criticism about religion from Feuerbach, and every aspect of Marxism can be found here in Marx's favorite Philosopher. Feuerbach is a critical figure in the development of not merely Marxism, but Materialistic Humanism in general. Feuerbach is critical to understanding Marx. This is Volume VI in the 2023 The Complete Works of Ludwig Feuerbach by Newcomb Livraria Press

The Essential Nature of Man The Essence of Religion Considered Generally THE TRUE OR ANTHROPOLOGICAL ESSENCE OF RELIGION. God as a Being of the Understanding God as a Moral Being or Law The Mystery of the Incarnation; or, God as Love, as a Being of the Heart The Mystery of the Suffering God The Mystery of the Trinity and the Mother of God The Mystery of the Logos and Divine Image The Mystery of the Cosmogonical Principle in God The Mystery of Mysticism, or of Nature in God The Mystery of Providence and Creation out of Nothing The Significance of the Creation in Judaism The Omnipotence of Feeling, or the Mystery of Prayer The Mystery of Faith—The Mystery of Miracle The Mystery of the Resurrection and of the Miraculous Conception The Mystery of the Christian Christ, or the Personal God The Distinction between Christianity and Heathenism The Significance of Voluntary Celibacy and Monachism The Christian Heaven, or Personal Immortality THE FALSE OR THEOLOGICAL ESSENCE OF RELIGION.

This book, translated for the first time into English, presents the major statement of the philosophy of Ludwig Feuerbach. Here, in his most systematic work, Feuerbach’s thought on religion and on the philosophy of nature achieves its full maturity. Central to the thought of Feuerbach is the concept that man not God is the creator, that divinities are representations of man’s innermost feelings and ideas. Philosophy should turn from theology and speculative rationalism to sound factual anthropology. “My aim in these Lectures,” writes Feuerbach, “is to transform friends of God into friends of man, believers into thinkers, worshippers into workers, candidates for the other world into students of this world, Christians, who on their own confession are half-animal and half-angel, into men––whole men.”

Foreword by Geoffrey Wainwright Postmodern thought has attempted to strip many traditional values and beliefs of their power, and the Christian faith is no exception. In this spiritually and intellectually wise book Bruno Forte upholds the "essence" -- the heart and meaning -- of Christianity despite the claims of the contemporary world. In the tradition of thinkers like Feuerbach, Harnack, and Guardini, Forte restates what is unique, reliable, and universal about Christianity for our current age. After outlining in broad terms the nature of postmodernity and its challenges to traditional faith, Forte proceeds, with the voice of one intimately in love with God, to present anew what lies at the heart of genuine Christianity and why it is still good news for women and men today. Among the many books on postmodernism, this one is distinct for its conscientious dialogue with postmodern culture and its clear proclamation of meaningful faith. It will interest everyone pondering the role of Christianity in contemporary life.

Demonstrates the intimate connection between Troeltsch's philosophical writings on the essence of Christianity and his historical investigations of Christianitys past.

The Essence of Christianity is a book by Ludwig Feuerbach first published in 1841. It explains Feuerbach's philosophy and critique of religion.