Antigiudaismo teologico ed emancipazione filosofica dalla religione

In the short space of two years (1841-43), two powerful attacks on Christianity led by Ludwig Feuerbach ("Das Wesen des Christenthums") and Bruno Bauer ("Kritik der evangelischen Geschichte der Synoptiker") came from the camp of the so-called Hegelian Left. Judaism was also an apparently secondary target of this controversy, as it was the recognized historical matrix of the prevalent Christian religion and at the same time as the second most widespread religion among the traditional ones in Germany and Europe. In the case of Bauer ("Die Judenfrage") the anti-theological controversy and the related campaign to promote atheism also became intertwined with the never-ending question of the political and social emancipation of the Jews. The latter, in turn, found themselves forced to note, especially among the ranks of their reforming intellectuality, that the cause of the radical struggle against the state religion and the persistent monarchical and feudal oppression did not necessarily have to be resolved in favor of freedom of worship and of equality between religious faiths, but rather required them to take sides in the presence of a new antagonist who was highly critical of their demands, of their community life and not always capable of allowing himself to be fully distinguished from the centuries-old anti-Judaism of Christian origin.