The Essence of Christianity

by Ludwig Feuerbach, George Eliot (Translator)

Overview

In The Essence of Christianity-this is the classic 1853 translation of the 1841 German original-Feuerbach discusses the "true or anthropological" root of religion, exploring how everything from the nature of God to the mysteries of mysticism and prayer can be viewed through such a prism. He goes on to examine the "false" essences of religion, including contradictions in ideas of the existence of a deity, and then how God and religion are merely expressions of human emotion. This is essential background reading for understanding everything from Marx's Communist Manifesto to modern apolitical philosophies of atheism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605204444
Publisher:	Cosimo Classics
Publication date:	12/01/2008
Series:	Cosimo Classics Philosophy
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) was a highly respected nineteenth-century philosopher who focused on the study of post-Hegelian philosophy, idealism, naturalism, materialism, and positivism. Feuerbach's book, The Essence of Christianity, is noted as an influential atheist text, and helped inspire the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Feuerbach was educated at the University of Berlin.

Table of Contents

Preface to the second edition; 1. Introduction; Part I. The True or Anthropological Essence of Religion: 2. God as a being of the understanding; 3. God as a moral being, or law; 4. The mystery of the incarnation; or, God as love, as a being of the heart; 5. The mystery of the suffering God; 6. The mystery of the Trinity and the Mother of God; 7. The mystery of the logos and divine image; 8. The mystery of the cosmogonical principle in God; 9. The mystery of mysticism, or nature in God; 10. The mystery of providence and creation out of nothing; 11. The significance of the creation in Judaism; 12. The omnipotence of feeling, or the mystery of prayer; 13. The mystery of faith - the mystery of miracle; 14. The mystery of the resurrection and of the miraculous conception; 15. The mystery of the Christian Christ, or the personal God; 16. The distinction between Christianity and heathenism; 17. The significance of voluntary celibacy and monachism; 18. The Christian heaven, or personal immortality; Part II. The False or Theological Essence of Religion: 19. The essential stand-point of religion; 20. The contradiction in the existence of God; 21. The contradiction in the revelation of God; 22. The contradiction in the nature of God in general; 23. The contradiction in the speculative doctrine of God; 24. The contradiction in the Trinity; 25. The contradiction in the sacraments; 26. The contradiction of faith and love; 27. Concluding application; Appendix: 1. The religious emotions purely human; 2. God is feeling released from limits; 3. God is the highest feeling of self; 4. Distinction between the pantheistic and personal God; 5. Nature without interest for Christians; 6. In God man is his own object; 7. Christianity the religion of suffering; 8. Mystery of the Trinity; 9. Creation out of nothing; 10. Egoism of the Israelitish religion; 11. The idea of providence; 12. Contradiction of faith and reason; 13. The resurrection of Christ; 14. The Christian a supermundane being; 15. The celibate and monachism; 16. The Christian heaven; 17. What faith denies on earth it affirms in heaven; 18. Contradictions in the sacraments; 19. Contradiction of faith and love; 20. Results of the principle of faith; 21. Contradiction of the God-Man; 22. Anthropology the mystery of theology.