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Feuerbach’s “Essence of Christianity” is a mid-19th century study on religious doctrine and belief, and represents an important contribution to the critical understanding of Christianity. It was written in 1841 (and this is the 1853 English translation). The author adopts a logical approach influenced by Hegel, and through a dialectic method advances the theory of humanism – seeking to understand the material world by rational means. Feuerbach contends that the divine is, in reality, an expression of the human – the contemplative outcome of what ‘being human’ means when freed from the limits of the individual person, and becomes something revered. From this, Feuerbach’s critique postulates the conclusion: ‘Man made God in his own image, and then became dependent upon his own creation.’

Feuerbach advances from materialist premises – holding only that which objectively exists (independent of thought) as real. And he endeavours to liberate human understanding by freeing it of the perversions of religion. Feuerbach considers Christian notions – of ‘God’ – as crippling humankind, inasmuch as they invoke that which is ‘beyond’ human – which, for Feuerbach, is anti-human (as they debase and degrade what it means to be human). He takes the Christian texts – i.e. the Bible – and views them as a body of work which ought to be subjected to critique. And by way of this critique, he concludes that religion is the dream of the human mind. The ‘essence’ of Christianity is that it conceives what is human as divine; it exchanges man and his nature for God. Only through dialectic critique are we able to revert this inversion; and ultimately arrive at the negation of religion.

This is a well-written, thoughtful and imaginative book. It was popular in certain radical circles during the 1840’s – indeed, it significantly influenced the development of Karl Marx’s ideas. Marx drew on the dialectical method offered by Feuerbach, as well as his materialist premises, and developed them in new directions – aimed at an understanding of political economy (rather than religion). Unfortunately, since the 19th century this book has been largely forgotten. Perhaps, in part, this is because of the style of argument (shaped by Hegel), which can be rather complex to decipher. However, Feuerbach seeks to make his work more easily understandable and accessible – as compared to Hegel.

Feuerbach succeeds in showing that, if we let the Bible speak for itself, it reveals itself to be an absurdity. He demonstrates this by way of logical reasoning and (embryonic) social science. I suspect that the sophistication of some of his arguments led many to place this book aside … and, with the arrival of Darwin’s “Origin of Species”, the evolutionary theory of the natural sciences tended to dominate the ‘atheist’ agenda.

Yet I suspect that this book will reward careful reading. If you are someone who enjoys reading about materialism, humanism, realism, and atheism, then I thoroughly recommend this excellent book.