JohnEngelman
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- Jan 8, 2022
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“K. Marx and F. Engels On Religion,” was printed in Moscow by Progress Publishers when the Soviet Union still existed. I bought it at a Communist Party book store where I was known and welcome.
The Forward says, “The world outlook founded by Marx and Engels is based on the objective laws of the development of nature and is radically opposed to religion.”
Actually, Marxist Leninism is radically opposed to other religions. It is no longer a creed millions of people are willing to kill and die for. Russia, China, and North Korea are motivated by nationalism.
During the brief ascendancy of Marxist Leninism it could be seen as the third great religion to emerge from Judaism. As such it could appeal to Jews and Christians who had lost their former religious faith. For secular Jews the Classless Society after the Revolution resembled life after the coming of the Messiah: there will be no wars, crime, or poverty; everyone will enjoy their jobs.
For lapsed Christians Dialectical Materialism resembled God the Father. It was a mysterious force that causes things to work out well in the end. Karl Marx took the place of Jesus Christ. Frederick Engels was the analogue to the Holy Ghost. Vladimir Lenin resembled St. Paul. The Revolution was the Final Judgment when the proletariat would be entered into the Workers’ Paradise, and the bourgeoisie would get their just punishment.
The official atheism of the Communist movement is not required by other writings by Marx and Engels. It has never been an asset. It has often been a liability, especially in a country as religious as the United States.
In “The Communist Manifesto” Marx described several schools of socialist thought, including Christian Socialism. Then he criticized each of them.
Because Marx over estimated the appeal of what he was advocating, he viewed other socialist movements as rivals for power. He should have seen then as allies. Nevertheless, I recommend “The Communist Manifesto.” It is a short book that can be read in one or two sittings. In it Marx expresses his ideas better than he does anywhere else. In his other writings Marx explains his theories with a patience exceeding that of the reader.
In this anthology we find Marx’s famous claim that religion “is the opium of the people.” Marxist Leninism can be seen as the opium of failed college graduates who were unable to achieve their goals in life.
In their essay “The Holy Family, or critique of Critical Criticism,” Marx and Engels write:
‘There is no need of any great penetration to see from the teaching of materialism in the original goodness and equal intellectual endowment of men.”
Human nature is not intrinsically good, nor are humans inherently of equal intelligence. Political policies based on assumptions about humans that are not true fail, and often have unfortunate results. This is certainly true of Marxist Leninism. Rather than creating heaven on earth, it inspired the first totalitarian dictatorship, and filled countries under its sway with corpses.
Karl Marx and Frederick Engles did not advocate the totalitarian methods that were used in their name during the twentieth century. They did inspire them, so they are not completely innocent. During the twentieth century millions of people were not killed in the name of John Stuart Mill.
In “Emigrant Literature” Engels wrote, “The only service that can be rendered to God today is to declare atheism a compulsory of faith and to [pass laws] for prohibiting religion generally.”
That is of course what the Soviet dictatorship did, and the reason the Russian Orthodox Church has outlived its shabby religious rival.
The knowledge Engels and Marx had of the New Testament was superficial. In “On the History of Early Christianity” Engels wrote:
“the four Gospels were not eye witness accounts but only later adaptations of wittings that have been lost…no more than four of the Epistles attributed to the apostle Paul are authentic.”
According to the contemporary scholarly consensus Paul wrote at least seven of the epistles attributed to him. Scholars are evenly divided about three other epistles.
Contrary to what Engels claims, Paul’s epistles, rather than the book of Revelation, are the oldest part of the New Testament. St. Paul talked to men who had seen Jesus after the resurrection.
At least the Gospels of Mark and Luke were written when the authors had access to eye witnesses to the ministry of Jesus. Mark was written by John Mark, a traveling companion to St. Peter. Luke was written by St. Luke, a physician and companion to St. Paul.
The Gospels of Matthew and John probably began with accounts written by those apostles, accounts that were later embellished by other writers.
In “Redating the New Testament,” John A. Robinson, the Dean of Trinity College, University of Cambridge and Bishop of Woolswich, England presents a plausible argument that all of the New Testament was written prior to the 70 AD. He also argues that St. John was the only author of the Gospel of St. John.
In “Dialectics of Nature,” Engels wrote:
“In the most advanced industrial countries we have subdued the forces of nature and pressed them into the service of mankind; we have thereby infinitely multiplied production…And what is the result? Increased overwork and increased misery of the masses, and every ten years a great collapse.”
I agree with that. That is the result of unregulated capitalism, and consequently the result of Republican efforts to repeal the Democrat reforms of the New Deal. Political thinkers should be read for insight, rather than doctrine. This is certainly true of Marx and Engels.
I cannot prove the existence of God any more than Marx and Engels disproved His existence. Nevertheless, occult phenomenon indicates that the mind can survive the death of the brain. The complexity of the universe implies a divine Intelligence behind it. The finite nature of the big bang suggests an infinite Beginner.
This does not – alas – prove the 39 Articles of Religion at the end of “The Book of Common Prayer.” It does not even prove the Nicene Creed. Nevertheless, it enables us to say to Marx and Engels what Hamlet said to his friend in Act 1 Scene 5 in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
The Forward says, “The world outlook founded by Marx and Engels is based on the objective laws of the development of nature and is radically opposed to religion.”
Actually, Marxist Leninism is radically opposed to other religions. It is no longer a creed millions of people are willing to kill and die for. Russia, China, and North Korea are motivated by nationalism.
During the brief ascendancy of Marxist Leninism it could be seen as the third great religion to emerge from Judaism. As such it could appeal to Jews and Christians who had lost their former religious faith. For secular Jews the Classless Society after the Revolution resembled life after the coming of the Messiah: there will be no wars, crime, or poverty; everyone will enjoy their jobs.
For lapsed Christians Dialectical Materialism resembled God the Father. It was a mysterious force that causes things to work out well in the end. Karl Marx took the place of Jesus Christ. Frederick Engels was the analogue to the Holy Ghost. Vladimir Lenin resembled St. Paul. The Revolution was the Final Judgment when the proletariat would be entered into the Workers’ Paradise, and the bourgeoisie would get their just punishment.
The official atheism of the Communist movement is not required by other writings by Marx and Engels. It has never been an asset. It has often been a liability, especially in a country as religious as the United States.
In “The Communist Manifesto” Marx described several schools of socialist thought, including Christian Socialism. Then he criticized each of them.
Because Marx over estimated the appeal of what he was advocating, he viewed other socialist movements as rivals for power. He should have seen then as allies. Nevertheless, I recommend “The Communist Manifesto.” It is a short book that can be read in one or two sittings. In it Marx expresses his ideas better than he does anywhere else. In his other writings Marx explains his theories with a patience exceeding that of the reader.
In this anthology we find Marx’s famous claim that religion “is the opium of the people.” Marxist Leninism can be seen as the opium of failed college graduates who were unable to achieve their goals in life.
In their essay “The Holy Family, or critique of Critical Criticism,” Marx and Engels write:
‘There is no need of any great penetration to see from the teaching of materialism in the original goodness and equal intellectual endowment of men.”
Human nature is not intrinsically good, nor are humans inherently of equal intelligence. Political policies based on assumptions about humans that are not true fail, and often have unfortunate results. This is certainly true of Marxist Leninism. Rather than creating heaven on earth, it inspired the first totalitarian dictatorship, and filled countries under its sway with corpses.
Karl Marx and Frederick Engles did not advocate the totalitarian methods that were used in their name during the twentieth century. They did inspire them, so they are not completely innocent. During the twentieth century millions of people were not killed in the name of John Stuart Mill.
In “Emigrant Literature” Engels wrote, “The only service that can be rendered to God today is to declare atheism a compulsory of faith and to [pass laws] for prohibiting religion generally.”
That is of course what the Soviet dictatorship did, and the reason the Russian Orthodox Church has outlived its shabby religious rival.
The knowledge Engels and Marx had of the New Testament was superficial. In “On the History of Early Christianity” Engels wrote:
“the four Gospels were not eye witness accounts but only later adaptations of wittings that have been lost…no more than four of the Epistles attributed to the apostle Paul are authentic.”
According to the contemporary scholarly consensus Paul wrote at least seven of the epistles attributed to him. Scholars are evenly divided about three other epistles.
Contrary to what Engels claims, Paul’s epistles, rather than the book of Revelation, are the oldest part of the New Testament. St. Paul talked to men who had seen Jesus after the resurrection.
At least the Gospels of Mark and Luke were written when the authors had access to eye witnesses to the ministry of Jesus. Mark was written by John Mark, a traveling companion to St. Peter. Luke was written by St. Luke, a physician and companion to St. Paul.
The Gospels of Matthew and John probably began with accounts written by those apostles, accounts that were later embellished by other writers.
In “Redating the New Testament,” John A. Robinson, the Dean of Trinity College, University of Cambridge and Bishop of Woolswich, England presents a plausible argument that all of the New Testament was written prior to the 70 AD. He also argues that St. John was the only author of the Gospel of St. John.
In “Dialectics of Nature,” Engels wrote:
“In the most advanced industrial countries we have subdued the forces of nature and pressed them into the service of mankind; we have thereby infinitely multiplied production…And what is the result? Increased overwork and increased misery of the masses, and every ten years a great collapse.”
I agree with that. That is the result of unregulated capitalism, and consequently the result of Republican efforts to repeal the Democrat reforms of the New Deal. Political thinkers should be read for insight, rather than doctrine. This is certainly true of Marx and Engels.
I cannot prove the existence of God any more than Marx and Engels disproved His existence. Nevertheless, occult phenomenon indicates that the mind can survive the death of the brain. The complexity of the universe implies a divine Intelligence behind it. The finite nature of the big bang suggests an infinite Beginner.
This does not – alas – prove the 39 Articles of Religion at the end of “The Book of Common Prayer.” It does not even prove the Nicene Creed. Nevertheless, it enables us to say to Marx and Engels what Hamlet said to his friend in Act 1 Scene 5 in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
