This essay analyzes the central role played by the concept of love in Feuerbach's early pantheistic idealism as articulated principally in his first book,

After situating Feuerbach’s early defence of pantheistic idealism in its historical context, this chapter points out significant theoretical differences between the interpretation of the Christian faith proposed by him in The Essence of Christianity (1841) and a different position he sought to articulate in subsequent works after having renounced ‘speculation’ in favour of ‘sensualism’. These include The Essence of Faith According to Luther (1844) and the Lectures on the Essence of Religion (1851). The chapter goes on to consider the theological reception of Feuerbach’s ideas in the twentieth century before suggesting some ways in which his ideas remain relevant for theology today.

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