SOURCE: Bischoff, Howard W. “Ludwig Feuerbach's Concept of the Alienation of Human Essence Through Religion.” Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 6, no. 1-2 (March 1985): 28-32.

In the following essay, Bischoff summarizes the aim of The Essence of Christianity, maintaining that the work is not so much a condemnation of Christianity as an effort to find a more human-oriented faith.

The German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach, lived from 1804 to 1872. From a modern historical perspective, Feuerbach may be seen as effecting the transition from the speculation of German Idealism, as exemplified by Hegel, to the revolutionary activism of Marx. Feuerbach's emphasis in writing centered upon a study of the concepts and meanings of religions, especially in the grounding of religious beliefs in the essence of human nature. Feuerbach concluded from his studies of religion, that Humanity is alienated from its own essence by the development of and belief in divine beings.

Religion for...