 When Feuerbach’s Luther book was first published in 1844, its subtitle suggested that it was conceived of as an addendum to The Essence of Christianity. Because, in the first edition of that book, Feuerbach had relied heavily on quotations from patristic and medieval works to substantiate his claims, some theological critics had retorted that, while Feuerbach’s account of Christianity might apply to Catholicism, it did not apply to Protestantism. It was in responding to these critics that Feuerbach turned his attention to Luther, and, in doing so, introduced a number of concepts and themes that had not figured prominently in The Essence of Christianity, but which he continued to develop in his later writings, including both those devoted to religion, as well as those devoted to other topics. Foremost among these concepts and themes are Seligkeit or blessedness and the Glückseligkeitstrieb or drive-to-happiness; “human egoism” or human self-love; the feeling of dependence on nature; and the powerful, theogonic (i.e., god-originating) wish to be free from the limitations of nature by which the human drive-to-happiness is restricted. 