Scanned, proofed and corrected from the original hardcover edition for enjoyable reading. (Worth every penny spent!)
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Ludwig Feuerbach's magnum opus, translated by none other than Marian Evans, more popularly known as George Eliot.
This book is considered the classic of "humanism" and the Feuerbach's magnum opus. During his time he was considered to be at the forefront of the Young Hegelian school of philosophy. However, the book's most direct influence is arguably in that Max Stirner who directed his "The Ego And Its Own" against it. Rather than simply a polemic, Stirner's work uses Feuerbach's idea of God as a human abstraction as the basis of his critique of Feuerbach. Although Stirner's book is often not understood within its context, it is structured as a response to Feuerbach. Significantly, Stirner's work signalled Marx's shift towards materialism, giving Feuerbach's work a considerable indirect influence.
Feuerbach's theme was a derivation of Hegel's speculative theology in which the Creation remains a part of the Creator, while the Creator remains greater than the Creation.
In Part I of his book, Feuerbach developed what he calls the "true or anthropological essence of religion." Treating of God in his various aspects "as a being of the understanding," "as a moral being or law," "as love" and so on. Feuerbach talks of how man is equally a conscious being, more so than God because man has placed upon God the ability of understanding.
Thus God is nothing else than man: he is, so to speak, the outward projection of man's inward nature.
In part II he discusses the "false or theological essence of religion," i.e. the view which regards God as having a separate existence over against man. Hence arise various mistaken beliefs, such as the belief in revelation which he believes not only injures the moral sense, but also "poisons, nay destroys, the divinest feeling in man, the sense of truth," and the belief in sacraments such as the Lord's Supper, which is to him a piece of religious materialism...
Also, Part II comes to a crux though by seemingly retracting previous statements. Feuerbach claims that God's only action is, “the moral and eternal salvation of man: thus man has in fact no other aim than himself,” because man's actions are placed upon God.
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Contents:
Chapter I. Introduction
§ 1. The Essential Nature of Man
§ 2. The Essence of Religion considered generally
Part I. The True Or Anthropological Essence Of Religion
Chapter II. God As A Being Of The Understanding
Chapter III. God As A Moral Being, Or Law
Chapter IV. The Mystery Of The Incarnation; Or, God As Love, As A Being Of The Heart
Chapter V. The Mystery Of The Suffering God
Chapter VI. The Mystery Of The Trinity And The Mother Of God
Chapter VII. The Mystery Of The Logos And Divine Image
Chapter VIII. The Mystery Of The Cosmogonical Principle In God
Chapter IX. The Mystery Of Mysticism Or Of Nature In God
Chapter X. The Mystery Of Providence, And Creation Out Of Nothing
Chapter XI. The Significance Of The Creation In Judaism
Chapter XII. The Omnipotence Of Feeling, Or The Mystery Of Prayer
Chapter XIII. The Mystery Of Faith — The Mystery Of Miracle
Chapter XIV. The Mystery Of The Resurrection And Of The Miraculous Conception
Chapter XV. The Mystery Of The Christian Christ, Or The Personal God
Chapter XVI. The Distinction Between Christianity And Heathenism
Chapter XVII. The Christian Significance Of Voluntary Celibacy And Monachism
Chapter XVIII. The Christian Heaven Or Personal Immortality
Part II. The False Or Theological Essence Of Religion
Chapter XIX. The Essential Stand-Point Of Religion
Chapter XX. The Contradiction In The Existence Of God
Chapter XXI. The Contradiction In The Revelation Of God
Chapter XXII. The Contradiction In The Nature Of God In General
Chapter XXIII. The Contradiction In The Speculative Doctrine Of God
Chapter XXIV. The Contradiction In The Trinity
Chapter XXV. The Contradiction In The Sacraments
Chapter XXVI. The Contradiction Of Faith And Love
Chapter XXVII. Concluding Application.
