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K. Marx and F. Engels on Religion
This is the most representative collection of writings on religion by the two founding fathers of communism. It presents the full arsenal of ideas with which Marx and Engels hoped to explode the religious foundations of all previous societies. Yet also in these writings, as Reinhold Neibuhr's Introduction reveals, are clues to that remarkable development whereby an irreligion was transmuted into a new political religion, canonized precisely in the writings of Marx as sacred scripture. Included are excerpts from Das Kapital, occasional journalistic pieces, private letters, and more formal philosophical writings.
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1957
About the author
Karl Marx
3,424 books6,953 followersWith the help of Friedrich Engels, German philosopher and revolutionary Karl Marx wrote
The Communist Manifesto
(1848) and
Das Kapital
(1867-1894), works, which explain historical development in terms of the interaction of contradictory economic forces, form many regimes, and profoundly influenced the social sciences.
German social theorist Friedrich Engels collaborated with Karl Marx on The Communist Manifesto in 1848 and on numerous other works.
Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakunin in London opposed Communism of Karl Marx with his antithetical anarchy.
Works of Jacques Martin Barzun include Darwin, Marx, Wagner (1941).
The Prussian kingdom introduced a prohibition on Jews, practicing law; in response, a man converted to Protestantism and shortly afterward fathered Karl Marx.
Marx began co-operating with Bruno Bauer on editing Philosophy of Religion of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (see Democritus and Epicurus), doctoral thesis, also engaged Marx, who completed it in 1841. People described the controversial essay as "a daring and original piece... in which Marx set out to show that theology must yield to the superior wisdom." Marx decided to submit his thesis not to the particularly conservative professors at the University of Berlin but instead to the more liberal faculty of University of Jena, which for his contributed key theory awarded his Philosophiae Doctor in April 1841. Marx and Bauer, both atheists, in March 1841 began plans for a journal, entitled Archiv des Atheismus (Atheistic Archives), which never came to fruition.
Marx edited the newspaper Vorwärts! in 1844 in Paris. The urging of the Prussian government from France banished and expelled Marx in absentia; he then studied in Brussels. He joined the league in 1847 and published.
Marx participated the failure of 1848 and afterward eventually wound in London. Marx, a foreigner, corresponded for several publications of United States.
He came in three volumes. Marx organized the International and the social democratic party.
Marx in a letter to C. Schmidt once quipped, "All I know is that I am not a Marxist," as Warren Allen Smith related in Who's Who in Hell .
People describe Marx, who most figured among humans. They typically cite Marx with Émile Durkheim and Max Weber, the principal modern architects.
Bertrand Russell later remarked of non-religious Marx, "His belief that there is a cosmic ... called dialectical materialism, which governs ... independently of human volitions, is mere mythology" ( Portraits from Memory , 1956).
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bi...
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/...
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic...
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/...
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...
German social theorist Friedrich Engels collaborated with Karl Marx on The Communist Manifesto in 1848 and on numerous other works.
Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakunin in London opposed Communism of Karl Marx with his antithetical anarchy.
Works of Jacques Martin Barzun include Darwin, Marx, Wagner (1941).
The Prussian kingdom introduced a prohibition on Jews, practicing law; in response, a man converted to Protestantism and shortly afterward fathered Karl Marx.
Marx began co-operating with Bruno Bauer on editing Philosophy of Religion of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (see Democritus and Epicurus), doctoral thesis, also engaged Marx, who completed it in 1841. People described the controversial essay as "a daring and original piece... in which Marx set out to show that theology must yield to the superior wisdom." Marx decided to submit his thesis not to the particularly conservative professors at the University of Berlin but instead to the more liberal faculty of University of Jena, which for his contributed key theory awarded his Philosophiae Doctor in April 1841. Marx and Bauer, both atheists, in March 1841 began plans for a journal, entitled Archiv des Atheismus (Atheistic Archives), which never came to fruition.
Marx edited the newspaper Vorwärts! in 1844 in Paris. The urging of the Prussian government from France banished and expelled Marx in absentia; he then studied in Brussels. He joined the league in 1847 and published.
Marx participated the failure of 1848 and afterward eventually wound in London. Marx, a foreigner, corresponded for several publications of United States.
He came in three volumes. Marx organized the International and the social democratic party.
Marx in a letter to C. Schmidt once quipped, "All I know is that I am not a Marxist," as Warren Allen Smith related in Who's Who in Hell .
People describe Marx, who most figured among humans. They typically cite Marx with Émile Durkheim and Max Weber, the principal modern architects.
Bertrand Russell later remarked of non-religious Marx, "His belief that there is a cosmic ... called dialectical materialism, which governs ... independently of human volitions, is mere mythology" ( Portraits from Memory , 1956).
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bi...
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/...
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic...
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/...
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 6, 2026
I looked and looked but I didn’t see God.
February 24, 2023
“K. Marx and F. Engels On Religion” was published by Progress Publishers, Moscow, when the Soviet Union still existed. I bought it at an American Communist Party book store, where I was known and welcome.
The Forward to “K. Marx and F. Engels On Religion” 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 ascendency 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 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 Christians Dialectical Materialism resembled God the Father. It was a mysterious force that caused things to work out for the best 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,” published in 1848, Marx described several schools of socialist thought that existed at the time, 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 other writings he explains his theories with a patience exceeding that of the reader.
In “K. Marx and F. Engels On Religion” 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 wrote:
‘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 neither 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 created the first totalitarian dictatorship, inspired others, 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 government 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 ware 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 Saint Paul wrote at least seven of the epistles attributed to him. Scholars are evenly divided about three other epistles.
Contrary to what Engels claims, Saint Paul’s epistles, rather than the book of Revelation, are the oldest part of the New Testament. Saint Paul talked to men who had seen Jesus after the Resurrection.
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 Saint Peter. Luke was written by Saint Luke, a physician and traveling companion to Saint Paul.
The Gospels of Matthew and John probably began with accounts written by those apostles. They 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.
The earlier the books of the New Testament were written, the more eye witnesses to the ministry of Jesus still lived, the more written accounts of that ministry still existed, and the more likely the miracles happened.
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. It is the result of unregulated capitalism, and consequently the result of Republican efforts to repeal the Democratic 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 One Scene Four in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
The Forward to “K. Marx and F. Engels On Religion” 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 ascendency 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 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 Christians Dialectical Materialism resembled God the Father. It was a mysterious force that caused things to work out for the best 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,” published in 1848, Marx described several schools of socialist thought that existed at the time, 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 other writings he explains his theories with a patience exceeding that of the reader.
In “K. Marx and F. Engels On Religion” 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 wrote:
‘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 neither 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 created the first totalitarian dictatorship, inspired others, 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 government 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 ware 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 Saint Paul wrote at least seven of the epistles attributed to him. Scholars are evenly divided about three other epistles.
Contrary to what Engels claims, Saint Paul’s epistles, rather than the book of Revelation, are the oldest part of the New Testament. Saint Paul talked to men who had seen Jesus after the Resurrection.
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 Saint Peter. Luke was written by Saint Luke, a physician and traveling companion to Saint Paul.
The Gospels of Matthew and John probably began with accounts written by those apostles. They 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.
The earlier the books of the New Testament were written, the more eye witnesses to the ministry of Jesus still lived, the more written accounts of that ministry still existed, and the more likely the miracles happened.
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. It is the result of unregulated capitalism, and consequently the result of Republican efforts to repeal the Democratic 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 One Scene Four in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews