The Essence of Christianity
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~180,000 words · 857 passages
Cite this work
- APALudwig Feuerbach. (n.d.). The Essence of Christianity. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/ludwig-feuerbach/the-essence-of-christianity
- MLALudwig Feuerbach. "The Essence of Christianity." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/ludwig-feuerbach/the-essence-of-christianity.
- ChicagoLudwig Feuerbach. The Essence of Christianity. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/ludwig-feuerbach/the-essence-of-christianity.
What it is about
The thesis that theology is anthropology: that what men say of God is what they would like to say of themselves, projected and set outside.
Context and history
Published in 1841. The consequence is not that religion is an error to be corrected but that it is a document: read what an age worships and you learn what it lacks and what it wants. The book fell like a bomb among the Young Hegelians, and Marx reacted at once — the Theses on Feuerbach are a direct reply. The English translation was made by Marian Evans, who years later would sign her novels George Eliot.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
The first edition of this work was published in 1854, and, although a large one, has been long out of print. Many inquiries having been made for it since the recent lamented death of the translator, the publishers have determined to offer a second edition to the public, and have been advised to give it a place in their "English and Foreign Philosophical Library." It is an exact reprint of the first edition, and they trust it will be received with equal favour. London, June 1881. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. [1] The clamour excited by the present work has not surprised me, and hence it has not in the least moved me from my position. On the contrary, I have once more, in all calmness, subjected my work to the severest scrutiny, both historical and philosophical; I have, as far as possible, freed it from its defects of form, and enriched it with new developments, illustrations, and historical testimonies,--testimonies in the highest degree striking and irrefragable. Now that I have thus verified my analysis by historical proofs, it is to be hoped that readers whose eyes are not sealed will be convinced and will admit, even though reluctantly, that my work contains a faithful, correct translation of the Christian religion out of the Oriental language of imagery into plain speech. And it has no pretension to be anything more than a close transla
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