Marxism isn't a political ideology that I had thought much about. It seemed an outdated theory but one which had caused much suffering wherever it was practised in the past. Marxism is associated with is secret large state governments, biased justice, torture and killings of those who disagreed with the practice of a Marxist government, people being sent off to labour camps for long periods for minor offences and inflated food prices which resulted in hunger and suffering. Never for one moment would I associate Jesus with such events.
However, the unlikeliest of things happen in one's own backyard. My neighbour is a Marxist sympathiser and made that comment in my headline about Jesus. I have spent all day pondering on her statement. By remarkable coincidence, Robert who blogs at theradicalmethodist has written about how we bring our own experiences to bear on things we encounter or material we read. I call it the theory of 'Hermeneutics' which loosely means that we bring our own interpretation to what we read or the events we encounter. My neighbour's analysis, as it turns out, was based Matthew 21:12 to 13, when Jesus overturned the benches of those selling doves and the tables of money changers accusing them of turning a temple into a 'den of robbers'.
She read this as Jesus rejecting capitalism and, by process of elimination, advocating Marxism. This is as simple as saying that if someone in Britain hates fish and chips then they are being treasonorous. I dislike fish and chips but I love Britian.
My further research into Marxism has uncovered another practice of 'Christian Communism'. Apparently, the these group of people believe that the Apostles created a communist society after Jesus died to carry on preaching the Communism that Jesus did.
Karl Marx himself said: 'The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion'. As Christians we are told to seek God's will and follow the faith. So how can Marxism then be associated with Christianity? It can't, is the simple answer. Another of Marx's famous quote on religions is: 'It is the opium of the people'. Also, Marx was against private ownership. I am no theologian but I have never heard a sermon about the sins of owning property. The bible, instead, talks about being industrious and hard working.
There is a real danger of the power of individualism making people feel well qualified enough to start importing their own theories and experiences to bear on sacred scripture. The power of individualism is to be applauded for enabling each of us to seek and reach our potential but I don't think it gives us the right to pontificate and become armchair experts.
Marxism was a product of 19th Century industrialisation, but Communism, of which Marxism was one form, really comes from the church. You find it in Acts 4, in monasticism, and in the peasant churches of the Radical Reformation. It was suppressed and almost driven out of the church, and so you get an atheist version which would never have existed without religious ideals!
ReplyDeleteWho suppressed it and drove it out? When? Where's the evidence?
ReplyDeleteDear Nicholas,
ReplyDeleteI would be very interested to hear your point of view and analysis.
God bless
Jane
First off, I think your treatment of the subject was very well-done and stands on its own.
ReplyDeleteBut as for "primordeal Christian communism" that was supposedly wiped out by Big Pray conspirators in Greece or the Roman Empire or the League of Nefarious Bishops, I just don't think the evidence exists.
For one, we find St. John Chrysostom preaching the sharing of property in the late 4th -early 5th Century. We find the Eastern Roman Empire, for all its terrible sins, launching massive philanthropic efforts. The rise of the state-sponsored hospital, orphanage, monasteries which tended to the poor, etc.
We find true communes in Russia centuries before Communism destroyed their local collectives.
No, the answer to why we aren't sharing and caring probably lies more in the Enlightenment and Industrialization of Europe and America than it does with some nasty groups "driving it out of the church". And if you think that's what Europe and America did, you either have the wrong church in mind (exclusive perspective) or you have a very narrow view of it (inclusive perspective).
IMO.
Dear Nicholas,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your learned comment. Does any of what you say refer to Liberation Theology?
Jane
I know very little about that movement. But I would say that many of the practices they want to implement are good; but that it should be remembered that political practices are not the Christian's end goal. That just as it is wrong to ignore the bodily suffering, it is wrong to ignore the spirit and the whole of a person. Christ comes to redeem the whole man, not the body, spirit or some segment of him.
ReplyDeleteApologies for not commenting sooner - my troublesome internet connection is all to blame...
ReplyDeleteA really great post, btw, and thanks again to Nicholas for saying just about everything that needed to be said!
Dear Biscuitnapper,
ReplyDeleteHope your internet connection is better and thanks for your kind comment. Nicholas and Robert have taught me more than I knew before.
God bless
Jane