The first and highest law must be the love of man to man. Homo homini Deus est - this is the supreme practical maxim, this is the turning point of the world's History.

This line is associated with Ludwig Feuerbach’s mid-19th-century project of “anthropological” critique of religion, in which theology is reinterpreted as a projection of human essence and needs. Writing in the wake of German Idealism (especially Hegel) and amid growing secular and humanist currents, Feuerbach argues that what people call “God” is an idealized image of humanity. Against religious otherworldliness, he urges a turn toward concrete human relations and ethical life in this world. The maxim “Homo homini Deus est” (“man is a god to man”) encapsulates his call to ground morality and meaning in human solidarity rather than divine command.

Feuerbach proposes that the highest moral principle is not obedience to a transcendent deity but active love between human beings. By declaring “man is a god to man,” he elevates human dignity and mutual care to the status traditionally reserved for the divine: the sacred is relocated from heaven to interpersonal life. The “turning point of the world’s History” signals a hoped-for cultural shift from religious alienation—where human powers are attributed to God—toward human self-recognition and responsibility. The quote thus functions both as ethical imperative (love as supreme law) and as philosophical thesis (religion’s truths are human truths, reclaimed).