Feuerbach's theory of religion - Essay Example

Type of Assignment (e.g. Test Assignment) Due Ludwig Feuerbach: Monotheistic Religion. According to Feuerbach, man is an entity that needs an objective to live for. In order to know that, it is essential for a man to know himself. Once he gets to know himself, he can understand his objective in life. The qualities of human beings that they are proud of the most are the power of thought, the power of will, and the power of heart i.e. love. The power of thought enables a man to differentiate between right and wrong. The power of will is the freedom to do anything and the power of love is what keeps the human beings from killing each other. If a man has these three powers to an absolute degree, he is thought to be perfect. The human mind is very limited and his ability to think and perceive is also limited. Therefore, every man has some ability that he perceives to be perfect and is contempt with it. His limited mind makes him unable to realize his limitations. The three qualities are, of course, intangible and they need to be objectified. These are the qualities that are present in human beings but in different quantities and magnitudes. Feuerbach argues that these qualities are attributed to a separate being and then it is placed at a distance. This perfect being is then called God and worshipped. Man wants to be like God and spends his life trying to attain His abilities. The objects of a man govern and direct his thought process and, ultimately, his nature. Religion objectifies the good attributes and makes it possible for human beings to follow a defined objective for their lives. The concept of God lies in a man’s heart. The mind perceives things and tries to make them meaningful by thinking rationally. The eye sees things as they are and sends the image to the mind. It is, therefore, only the heart that can bear the concept of God. Monotheism requires a man to put faith in God. If a man tries to think that what exactly is God, he would always find himself perplexed and confused. It is because God is superior and without limitations while a man has a limited mind. Monotheism links a man’s heart to God and governs his life. According to Feuerbach, a man’s God is his thoughts and his morals. What the concept of God does to a man is it governs and directs his life. Therefore, what a man does and what he prioritizes define his religion and his God. God is a man’s expressed nature that is visible to everyone. What a man loves secretly and which is hidden from others is his religion. Feuerbach believes that if a man is conscious of God, he is conscious of himself. Therefore, the concept of God is generated just for the sake of understanding oneself and religion is a source of self-knowledge. God stands in supreme power and perfection in monotheism. A man needs to be presented with an imagery of a God. Monotheism requires a man to believe in God that is invisible. Religions mostly provide a man with an imagery of God which helps a man to mould his life and follow a virtuous path. Monotheism provides this in the shape of teachings of God. The curious nature of man drove him to create idols in early times because he was desperate to see what God might look like. According to Feuerbach, man followed and prayed to his own nature in those times. Idolatry is still seen in Hinduism. The divine attributes that are given to God in religion are, in fact, the attributes of humans themselves. According to Feuerbach, “You believe in love as a divine attribute because you yourself love; you believe that God is a wise, benevolent being because you know nothing better in yourself than benevolence and wisdom; and you believe that God exists and that he is therefore a subject…” The attributes that are perfect in the eyes of human are attributed to God. The limited human mind cannot think of other attributes that might be better than those that are in a man himself. God is no more than a synthesized entity of all the perfect qualities that are perceived by a man to be perfect. It is important to bring the God in existence so that there is a subject. Man is able to see and differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. What he perceives to be good or bad for him is used in defining whether it is attributable to God or not. Good things are attributed to Him and bad things are not. It means that as perception of a thing varies from one person to another, the concept and qualities of God also vary from person to person. God is, therefore, like an ideal human. Feuerbach says, “To enrich God, man must become poor; that God may be all, man must become nothing.” Religions say that man is not capable of doing anything good. He is wicked and the only goal that he must strive to achieve in his life is to do good deeds and become like God. Feuerbach argues that this statement is a dilemma in itself that on one hand, it regards man as being devoid of goodness and on the other hand, it directs him to goodness which indicates that man is capable of goodness. According to Feuerbach, it is all about setting goodness as one’s destination. When a man is drawn to sin, he can see that he is getting derailed. Therefore, he can stay on the right path when his objective is to attain goodness. A superior being, God, wants him to be good and to stay away from sin. The concept of God instills a fear in man’s mind that keeps him on the right path. This fear is the God getting displeased with him. All of this proves that religion benefits no one else but the man himself. Understanding God means understanding oneself and while struggling to be like God, a man is trying to get himself better. I don’t think that Feuerbach is correct in his judgment about the origin and purpose of monotheistic religion. It is because the base of monotheism lies in the heart of a man. God is not is creation of man’s imagination. God is the creator and the concept of His being a creation of man kills the underlying principle of monotheism. Monotheism instills a belief in a man’s heart that there is a supreme entity that is watching him all the time. That entity is there before the time began and would stay there after the time ends. This belief of God is not man-made. The message was sent to humans by God Himself through his prophets. His existence and His history is such that cannot be fathomed by a human mind. What makes a man believe that God is there? It is able to be done by imagination and perception but it is different from Feuerbach’s explanation. The imagination and perception of the system of the universe, day and night taking turns, the consistency of human breath and the working of uncountable aspects of nature, leads the human mind to conclude that there is someone behind all this. A system so perfect cannot run itself. There has to be someone who is supreme and powerful and who runs this system and that is God. Another deviation from Feuerbach’s point of view is about the man’s need to have an object to follow for which he created God. Islam, the latest form of monotheism, regards Prophet Muhammad as the ideal for all humankind. All the people must follow his way of life, do his kind of deeds and follow his teachings to achieve God’s approval. It is a human being, not God that is needed to be followed. God has once again separated Himself from man. The attributes of God are the ones that are found in human beings but not all of them. The qualities of God that are found in men are given to them by God. Feuerbach is wrong in suggesting that these qualities are attributed to God by man to create a picture of a superior and a perfect being. A lot of qualities of God that are explained in monotheism are not found in man. For instance, no man can send another man to hell, no man can bless another man, and man cannot bring earthquakes, rain or be responsible for other natural phenomena. Finally, the objective of monotheism is not just to direct a man towards goodness. Its objective is wider. It requires a man to believe that there is only one God who is responsible for everything that happens. It requires a man to spend his life in the servitude of the Almighty and lead his life according to God’s wish. Heart plays a major role in monotheism as a belief can be called a belief only if it is accepted by heart. Otherwise, it is nothing more than a statement. The base of monotheism is an unconditional belief that God is one and everything goes on according to His will. Works Cited Feuerbach, Ludwig. The Essence of Christianity. New York. Frederick Ungar Publishing Co, 1975. Print. Read More