Introduction and Summary to Feuerbach's Thought

In the course of the next week I hope to post extracts from two papers that I am currently writing. The first will be a discussion of Ludwig Feuerbach and his "religious atheism" and what that means for orthodox Christianity. The second will be a short thesis which will examine Feuerbach's understanding of Augustine's conception of God and the self in relation to God in light of Augustine's actual work. So, as a precursor I decided to do a quick sketch on Feuerbach outlining his thought which will hopefully provide enough background to understand these further explorations into Feuerbach.

In his Lectures on the Essence of Religion Ludwig Feuerbach makes the statement, “Theology is anthropology.” This declaration essentially sums up the whole of Feuerbach’s postulations on religion, which says that ‘theos’ or ‘God’ is “…nothing other than the essence of man.” He illustrates this point by saying that the different nature of different gods in different religions and social settings is nothing more than a varied reflection of peoples differing imaginations and dispositions on both an individual and collective level. Our gods are our ideals for humanity which we have mistakenly separated from ourselves and given divine status to. In this way Feuerbach becomes an extension of Hegel’s theology that creation remains a part of the creator, while the creator remains greater than the creation as he claims that religion is an outward projection of mans inner nature

For Feuerbach, religion is nothing more than a social construct that has been introduced into society as a means of coercing one’s fellow man. It has been used from age to age by those in positions of power to dominate men of ignorance and unformed intelligence and keep them living in fear of something greater, which in reality was nothing more than what their own imaginations would allow them to conjure up at the power of subtle suggestion. It is this idea of religion and this brand of atheism that would later influence the philosophies of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (though they ultimately rejected his materialistic inconsistency).

Feuerbach states that his primary concern “…has been to illumine the obscure essence of religion with the torch of reason, in order that man may at least cease to be the victim… of all those hostile powers which… are still employing the darkness of religion for the oppression of mankind.” He attempts to argue for this by showing the depravity of human religion – namely in mentioning human sacrifice. In making this argument he hopes to free society of the constraints that have been placed upon it for the future. Feuerbach believes that this “misunderstood” religion has been the driving force behind politics and ethics and says that if a future generation can come to a proper understanding of the nature of religion then it will “... determine the destinies of mankind.”

By taking such an anthropological view of religion Feuerbach helps to build the bridge from liberal deistic theological speculation to an atheism that is expressed in religious language. In presenting organized religion in such a skeptical manner dealt a significant blow to the church. While initially being viewed as radical, eventually it popularized forms of atheism and gave people a “reasonable” explanation for the existence of religion (as well as a rationale for dismissing it.) Unfortunately over the course of history there are many examples of religion that used as tool for monopolizing power over people. One must only remember the way in which Constantine used Christianity to bind his newly gained empire to recognize that there is enough truth in Feuerbach’s conception of humanity to lend credence to his ideas of religion as a human construction emanating from within himself.

A Look at Drama as Cosmic Redemption

I propose that the relationship of drama to the church should be one that is understood in terms of the role that the church has to play in the present age of God’s restoration of humankind; that is, what the church is and what its purpose is in light of the Trinitarian mission of cosmic redemption. It provides a context for allowing drama to function as a legitimate means of worship, evangelism and recreation all as a result of understanding it in terms of redemption.

In order to explore the use of drama in this redemptive capacity we must first survey the broad nature of God’s work in history. Then, once this is established, the specific nature of drama as redemptive work can be explored.

The whole of the Scriptures can be understood as an account of the Creator God revealing Himself to created man with the intention of His own glorification by means of cosmic redemption. It reveals that the God who created all and is in control of all wishes to establish with us, the dependant created creature, a lasting covenant – establishing with us a precedent for an understanding of ourselves in relation to God.

It is from this relationship that the human draws his entire existence (indeed, according to Colossians 1:17 it is from this relationship that all of the cosmos draws its initial existence and subsequent subsistence). In order to have a correct understanding of oneself and the world in which we live one must understand himself in light of humanity and his relationship to the Creator God. Then, understanding the broken nature of our relationship to that Creator God, we realize the importance of His covenant redemption. Which, upon entrance into the promise, by means of Christ’s sacrificial death, as established in His Holy Writ, provides for the human being a communal context in which to live, create, love, work and worship according to man’s reflection of the divine nature, and will one day result in the redemption of the whole cosmos as it is submitted to the supremacy of Christ, at which time God will deal justly with the forces of evil.

The Church then is an outworking of this cosmic intervention of the Trinitarian God, as is the mission of the church. In fact, theologian Jürgen Moltmann posits that mission does not come from the church but that the church is a result of Christ’s mission, and as a result functions as an extension of that mission. As the Son obeys the Father he glorifies the Father while the Father exalts and glorifies the Son. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ in the world as well as unites the world with Christ – even as he does so he unites the Son and the Father (Moltmann 59).[1]

Thus the goal or mission of Christ/Holy Spirit is the redemption and reconciliation of the entire cosmos, of which the church is an integral part in the present age. Further, as we function in the body of believers as an extension of Christ so also our role in the world can be seen as an extension of this divine mission. This would cast the work of the believer in a way that should be seen as the redemption of human civilization, which is understood as a collective term generally embodying the sum of human relationships but more specifically refers to culture; that is, the traditions, institutions, and communal structures that form the context in which our consciousness is aware of existence, interacts with reality, and interprets all experiences.

The basis for drama in the church is in this way seen to be the Christians charge of cultural redemption. To many this might be the mere Christianizing of drama and the performing arts or “reclaiming the arts for Jesus.” However, while this may be a part of redeeming the dramatic arts there is a much deeper sense in which this can take place, one that can be understood biblically, theologically, relationally, and personally and finds it’s roots in the liturgical action of the Old Testament Israel.

In his article “Liturgy as Drama” Gordon Graham establishes that the idea of sacrifice was closely linked to the idea of “making holy.” This “making holy” via the sacrifice in the O.T. and the sacraments in the N.T. are ways that people can become reconciled to God. This becomes both more powerful and pertinent when the sacrifice is understood as a “religious action” or liturgy – primarily because this sacrifice becomes more than a symbolic manifestation of worship as a conscious act of self purification, an act of “making holy” (Graham 71).[2] Graham goes on to argue that participation in this liturgy (he uses communion as his example) is really a participation in a reflection of the cosmic salvation drama, and that we, as actors in this drama participate in this act of becoming holy (79).[3] Not only are we ourselves reconciled through this kind of participation in the divine nature, but so too is the world around us by our demonstration or as Michael Moynahan put in his article “Drama and the Word”, “This type of imaginative engagement is ultimately transforming” (Moynahan 72).[4]

This is not an in depth or exhaustive treatment of the subject, but if it causes us to think about ourselves and our work in terms of God and His work then it is a success.

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[1] Moltmann, Jürgen. The Church in the Power of the Spirit. New York: Harper & Row, 1977.
[2] Graham, Gordon. "Liturgy as Drama." Theology Today. 64.1 (Ap 2007): 71-79.
[3] Ibid., 79.
[4] Moynahan, Michael E. "Drama and the Word." Liturgical Ministry. 5 (Spr 1996): 70-78.