Good News to the Poor: Comparing a Christian Worldview as expressed in Luke’s Gospel to Marx.
Tomorrow is Karl Marx's 200th birthday. While the Communism he promoted never did grip the industrialized world the way he hoped, his atheism did. He is certainly a controversial figure as people are still emotionally and/or intellectually attached to either one or both of these motivating forces in his life.
There are some aspects of his writings that I find quite interesting, particularly when it comes to how to help those on the margins of society, especially those marginalized economically. This is also a main thrust of the Gospel as presented by Luke, so I thought today would be a good day to compare the worldviews expressed by Marx and Luke.
Introduction:
Marx and Luke’s gospel both predicted an inevitable course of events in the world. They each had a significant view of what this life should and eventually would look like. Luke records:
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:25-28; cf. Deut 5, Lev 19:18).
The preceding quote sums up the Law and the Prophets (Cf. Matt 22:36-40). Luke’s gospel has been called the gospel for the poor; it is interested in the oppressed and a significant theme contained within is that “Salvation embraces the totality of embodied life, including its social, economic, and political concerns:”[1]
“Luke includes Jesus' woes as well as blessings (6:24-26), which speak strongly against the wealthy…Recent attention to the social and political teachings of Jesus has focused on their implications for possible political revolution. Cassidy, dealing particularly with the Gospel of Luke in Jesus, Politics and Society, concludes that Luke gives an accurate description of Jesus' social and political stance, and that, though he rejected the use of violence, Jesus challenged the social status quo under the Roman Empire. Cassidy holds that the teachings of Jesus as found in the Gospel of Luke would, if carried out widely, have seriously challenged the principles of the Roman government.” [2]
Luke’s gospel – socially, economically, and politically – like Marx’s Communist Manifesto, is a revolutionary text that represents its version of the future as inevitable.[3] Given the significance that Luke (and all of Christianity) places on loving God and our neighbour (Luke 10:25-28) in the present, impending, and proleptic society, I will compare briefly the importance of loving God and one’s neighbour for the Christian, to Karl Marx’s revolutionary ideas about one’s relationship to others and God in what he saw as a coming communist society.
Love the Lord your God: Theistic values in the impending societies declared by Luke and Marx
Luke, a first century physician, acknowledged the sovereignty of God and he opened his gospel by showing that God is an active being who not only sends angles but also his own son into the world (Luke 1-2). He is a God for whom nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37) and He has chosen to be our saviour (Luke 1:47) and redeem his people (Luke 1:68). Jesus teaches us through parables and extols the principle of egalitarianism in the impending Kingdom of God. God is a God of miracles and He is a God who cares about the poor.
Marx was born in Trier in 1818 to a Jewish-German family, which had converted to Christianity. He rejected this upbringing and lived his life as an atheist who denied God.[4] Marx says of religion, “Man… looked for a superman in the fantastic reality of heaven and found nothing but the reflection of himself”[5] He says religion is the ‘opium of the people’ and “the abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness.”[6]
Marx says of Christianity: “The social principles of Christianity preach cowardice, self-contempt, abasement, submission, dejection, in the words all the qualities of the canaille; and the proletariat, not wishing to be canaille, needs its courage, its self feeling, its pride and its sense of independence more than its bread…the social principals of Christianity are sneakish and the proletariat is revolutionary.”[7] He also says, “And for a society based upon the production of commodities, in which the producers enter into social relations with one another by treating their products as commodities and values…for such a society, Christianity…is the most fitting form of religion.”[8]
A.J.P. Taylor wrote about Marxism that it actually “has become the accepted creed or religion for millions of mankind, and The Communist Manifesto must be counted as a holy book, in the same class as the Bible or the Koran.”[9] Marx himself did not believe in God and he saw religion as a means of oppression rather than as part of Luke’s totality of Salvation. Marx did not love God but did he love his neighbour? In other words, with respect to social values how does Marx compare to Luke?
Love your neighbour as yourself: Inevitable social values in the coming societies declared by Luke and Marx
Irenaeus wrote, in Against Heresies, that Luke was inseparable from the Apostle Paul.[10] Miranda wrote, in Marx and the Bible, that “Marx and Paul coincide in their intuition of the totality of evil: Sin and injustice form an all-comprehensive and all-pervasive organic structure. Paul calls this totality ‘kosmos’ Marx calls it ‘capitalism.’”[11]
Just as Luke speaks about the impending Kingdom of God and the defeat of sin and death, Marx speaks about the impending communist society, which will defeat capitalism. What will the impending society look like? Marx believes that “the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself” and as a result he sees a society where different classes of people will become only one class.[12] “Other classes decay and finally disappear in the face of Modern Industry; the proletariat is its special and essential product.”[13] Evil will inevitably be replaced by good.[14]
There are similarities between Luke’s good news and Marx and according to Miranda, “the reason behind the western anti-Marxist rejections is in reality all that in which Marx coincides with the Bible, not his systematic inconsistencies.”[15] An example of this would be the greater equality of opportunity due to a greater equality of circumstance and negligible unemployment in communist countries.[16] In China men and women credited Marx as well as Mau for the egalitarianism and enjoyment in their work: in 1960 future Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau observed that before the revolution unemployment was a “universal and enduring menace [but] today the revolutionary state has been able to give work to all the Chinese.”[17] Now China has one of the strongest economies in the world.
Luke records Jesus as teaching us that one’s neighbour is one who risks one’s life and spends her time and resources on another (Luke 10:25-27). He tells one man that if he wants to obtain his treasure in heaven he must sell his possessions and give to the poor (Luke 18:22; cf. Matt 19:21, Mark 10:21). He also teaches that it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camel in enter the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25; cf. Matt 19:24, Mark 10:25).
Marx, related to this, says that “the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”[18] This and the other nine presumed characteristics of Communist societies that he predicts are as follows:
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of wastelands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.[19]
There are many of these ten principles that do fit comfortably with the concept of loving one’s neighbour in the Christian ideal as espoused in Luke’s gospel. It makes one wonder why Marx – assuming he read the gospels given his upbringing in a Christian home - opposed Christianity as he did. Marx’s economic values as reflected in principles 1-3 and 5-9 display a strong belief that in the world to come people will no longer gain wealth at the expense of others. This relates very well to the Christian idea about the impending kingdom espoused by Luke where we should store up our treasures in heaven and help out others rather than looking out for our own interests (Luke 18:22; cf. Matt 19:21, Mark 10:21).[20] I am particularly struck by the parallels to Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the man who built storehouses in preparation for his own retirement. Luke records that Jesus says of the man, “‘…you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ‘This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 10:20-21; cf. Matt 6:25-33). He then continues by explaining that no one should worry about possessions or even food (Luke 10:22-23; cf. Mark 10). Instead we should sell all our possessions and give to the poor (Luke 10:33-34). Marxian redistribution of wealth seems to fit well with Luke’s (and the entire Christian canon’s) egalitarian principles as a reflection of loving one’s neighbour.
Marx’s 4th principle – the confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels - at first glance does not seem to hold to the Christian ideal of loving one’s enemies (Luke 6:27-26; cf. Matt 5:35-42). It is not entirely different however than God’s relationship with the apostate. Neither God nor Marx reserves a place for those who reject the impending society (Luke 9:61-61; cf. Luke 9:5, 12:10, Acts 13:50-52; Matt 10:14, 12:31-32, 18:9-22, Mark 3:29-30, 6:11, John15: 1-17, 1 John 2, 5:13-20, 2 John 1:7-11, 2 Pet 2:17-22).
Marx’s 10th principle is that of education. This also seems very important to Luke’s Christ. It is not only a way to level the economic playing field it is also a way to encourage people to continue the good fight. Jesus says of educating the young, “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.” (Mark 9:42; cf. also Luke 18:15-17; Matt 19:13-14; 10:13-16; Mark 9:42-50; John 8:31; Dt. 4:9-10; Dt. 11; Ps 34:11; 78:5; Eph 6:4; Tit 1:6; 2 John 1:4, 3 John 1:4). The children represent the future of the society. On this Marx seems to agree with Jesus and Luke.
In Conclusion.
There are certainly commonalities between the teaching of Marxian communism and Christianity in general and Luke’s Gospel in particular. Marx had a lot of faith in the inevitability of an impending communist society just as Luke had faith that Jesus’ Kingdom will be fully realised here on earth at Christ’s return, if not before. They both argued against a love of money and in favour of an egalitarian society. Marx seemingly had the same hope that Luke did that there can be a future where there is no more suffering. Marx however, seemed to believe that people will naturally do this eventually, without the help of God whom he denounced publicly. Luke, on the other hand, argued that Jesus has already defeated sin and death and those who come to realise this we will inevitably respond appropriately.
From this cursory overview, I find it somewhat saddening that Marx really does appear to be almost half-right. It appears that, as was shown, he did want to ‘love his neighbour’ in many ways similar to Luke but he was quite vocal in that he did not love God. Given the similarities, I wonder if indeed Marx, though rejecting God, didn’t still hold onto many of the teachings he would have received as a child. From the perspective of a Christian worldview then I am left to reflect upon the old adage that ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’ and hope for his sake that indeed some unknown deathbed repentance occurred so that indeed he can see the actualization of the impending perfect society when Christ returns.
Originally presented to William and Catherine Booth College March 2009 by Captain Michael Ramsay
[3] Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles. The Communist Manifesto. Trans., Samuel Moore (Markham, Ont.: Penguin Books, 1978) Part 1.
[4] A.J.P. Taylor, Preface to The Communist Manifesto. (Markham, Ont.: Penguin Books,1978) 1.
[5] Karl Marx. 'Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of the Right'. Marx and Engels on Religion. Ed. Reinhold Neibuhr. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964) 41.
[6] Karl Marx . 'Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of the Right'. Marx and Engels on Religion. Ed. Reinhold Neibuhr. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964) 42.
[7]Karl Marx. 'The Communism of the Paper Rheischer'. Marx and Engels on Religion. Ed. Reinhold Neibuhr. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964) 84.
[8] Karl Marx. ‘Capital, Book I.’ Marx and Engels on Religion. Ed. Reinhold Neibuhr. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964) 135.
[9] A.J.P. Taylor, Introduction to The Communist Manifesto. (Markham, Ont.: Penguin Books, 1978) 7.
[10] Iraneus, Against Heresies 3.1.1 (ANF, 1:424). Cited by R. Alan Culpepper ‘The Gospel of Luke’. New Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 9. Ed. Leander E. Keck (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995) 5.
[11] Jose Miranda. Marx and the Bible: a Critique of the Philosophy of Oppression. Trans., John Eagleson. (New York: Orbis Books, 1979) 250.
[12] Marx, The Communist Manifesto, Part I.
[13] Marx, The Communist Manifesto, Part I.
[14] Cf. Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Introduction to Luke/Themes and Theology of Luke/Themes and Theology of Luke: Eschatology, Book Version: 4.0.2
[15] Miranda. Marx and the Bible: a Critique of the Philosophy of Oppression , 252.
[16] Cf. Mervyn Matthews. Poverty in the Soviet Union: the life-styles of the underprivileged in recent years. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1986) 178 and Gerhard E. Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification (Charlotte, N. Carolina: University of N. Carolina Press, 1984) 442.
[17] Hebert, Jacques and Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Two Innocents in Red China. Trans., IM Owen (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1986) 61.
[18] B.P. Yesipov and N.K. Goncharov. I want to be like Stalin. Ed. and Trans., George S. Counts and Nucia P. Lodge. (New York: The John Day Company, 1947) 35.
[19] Marx, The Communist Manifesto, Part 2.
[20] God has always had a concern for the vulnerable even as is recorded in the OT: Deut 15:4 says, “However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,” Cf. also: Exod. 23:6,11, Lev. 19:10,15, 23:22, 27:8, Deut. 15:7, 15:11, 24:12-15, 1 Sam 2:8, Pss. 22:26, 34:6, 35:10, 82:3, Isa. 61:1, Eze. 16:49, 18:12, 22:29, Amos 2:7, 4:1, 5:11-12, 8:4-6, Zec. 7:10.
Tomorrow is Karl Marx's 200th birthday. While the Communism he promoted never did grip the industrialized world the way he hoped, his atheism did. He is certainly a controversial figure as people are still emotionally and/or intellectually attached to either one or both of these motivating forces in his life.
There are some aspects of his writings that I find quite interesting, particularly when it comes to how to help those on the margins of society, especially those marginalized economically. This is also a main thrust of the Gospel as presented by Luke, so I thought today would be a good day to compare the worldviews expressed by Marx and Luke.
Introduction:
Marx and Luke’s gospel both predicted an inevitable course of events in the world. They each had a significant view of what this life should and eventually would look like. Luke records:
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:25-28; cf. Deut 5, Lev 19:18).
The preceding quote sums up the Law and the Prophets (Cf. Matt 22:36-40). Luke’s gospel has been called the gospel for the poor; it is interested in the oppressed and a significant theme contained within is that “Salvation embraces the totality of embodied life, including its social, economic, and political concerns:”[1]
“Luke includes Jesus' woes as well as blessings (6:24-26), which speak strongly against the wealthy…Recent attention to the social and political teachings of Jesus has focused on their implications for possible political revolution. Cassidy, dealing particularly with the Gospel of Luke in Jesus, Politics and Society, concludes that Luke gives an accurate description of Jesus' social and political stance, and that, though he rejected the use of violence, Jesus challenged the social status quo under the Roman Empire. Cassidy holds that the teachings of Jesus as found in the Gospel of Luke would, if carried out widely, have seriously challenged the principles of the Roman government.” [2]
Luke’s gospel – socially, economically, and politically – like Marx’s Communist Manifesto, is a revolutionary text that represents its version of the future as inevitable.[3] Given the significance that Luke (and all of Christianity) places on loving God and our neighbour (Luke 10:25-28) in the present, impending, and proleptic society, I will compare briefly the importance of loving God and one’s neighbour for the Christian, to Karl Marx’s revolutionary ideas about one’s relationship to others and God in what he saw as a coming communist society.
Love the Lord your God: Theistic values in the impending societies declared by Luke and Marx
Luke, a first century physician, acknowledged the sovereignty of God and he opened his gospel by showing that God is an active being who not only sends angles but also his own son into the world (Luke 1-2). He is a God for whom nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37) and He has chosen to be our saviour (Luke 1:47) and redeem his people (Luke 1:68). Jesus teaches us through parables and extols the principle of egalitarianism in the impending Kingdom of God. God is a God of miracles and He is a God who cares about the poor.
Marx was born in Trier in 1818 to a Jewish-German family, which had converted to Christianity. He rejected this upbringing and lived his life as an atheist who denied God.[4] Marx says of religion, “Man… looked for a superman in the fantastic reality of heaven and found nothing but the reflection of himself”[5] He says religion is the ‘opium of the people’ and “the abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness.”[6]
Marx says of Christianity: “The social principles of Christianity preach cowardice, self-contempt, abasement, submission, dejection, in the words all the qualities of the canaille; and the proletariat, not wishing to be canaille, needs its courage, its self feeling, its pride and its sense of independence more than its bread…the social principals of Christianity are sneakish and the proletariat is revolutionary.”[7] He also says, “And for a society based upon the production of commodities, in which the producers enter into social relations with one another by treating their products as commodities and values…for such a society, Christianity…is the most fitting form of religion.”[8]
A.J.P. Taylor wrote about Marxism that it actually “has become the accepted creed or religion for millions of mankind, and The Communist Manifesto must be counted as a holy book, in the same class as the Bible or the Koran.”[9] Marx himself did not believe in God and he saw religion as a means of oppression rather than as part of Luke’s totality of Salvation. Marx did not love God but did he love his neighbour? In other words, with respect to social values how does Marx compare to Luke?
Love your neighbour as yourself: Inevitable social values in the coming societies declared by Luke and Marx
Irenaeus wrote, in Against Heresies, that Luke was inseparable from the Apostle Paul.[10] Miranda wrote, in Marx and the Bible, that “Marx and Paul coincide in their intuition of the totality of evil: Sin and injustice form an all-comprehensive and all-pervasive organic structure. Paul calls this totality ‘kosmos’ Marx calls it ‘capitalism.’”[11]
Just as Luke speaks about the impending Kingdom of God and the defeat of sin and death, Marx speaks about the impending communist society, which will defeat capitalism. What will the impending society look like? Marx believes that “the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself” and as a result he sees a society where different classes of people will become only one class.[12] “Other classes decay and finally disappear in the face of Modern Industry; the proletariat is its special and essential product.”[13] Evil will inevitably be replaced by good.[14]
There are similarities between Luke’s good news and Marx and according to Miranda, “the reason behind the western anti-Marxist rejections is in reality all that in which Marx coincides with the Bible, not his systematic inconsistencies.”[15] An example of this would be the greater equality of opportunity due to a greater equality of circumstance and negligible unemployment in communist countries.[16] In China men and women credited Marx as well as Mau for the egalitarianism and enjoyment in their work: in 1960 future Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau observed that before the revolution unemployment was a “universal and enduring menace [but] today the revolutionary state has been able to give work to all the Chinese.”[17] Now China has one of the strongest economies in the world.
Luke records Jesus as teaching us that one’s neighbour is one who risks one’s life and spends her time and resources on another (Luke 10:25-27). He tells one man that if he wants to obtain his treasure in heaven he must sell his possessions and give to the poor (Luke 18:22; cf. Matt 19:21, Mark 10:21). He also teaches that it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camel in enter the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25; cf. Matt 19:24, Mark 10:25).
Marx, related to this, says that “the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”[18] This and the other nine presumed characteristics of Communist societies that he predicts are as follows:
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of wastelands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.[19]
There are many of these ten principles that do fit comfortably with the concept of loving one’s neighbour in the Christian ideal as espoused in Luke’s gospel. It makes one wonder why Marx – assuming he read the gospels given his upbringing in a Christian home - opposed Christianity as he did. Marx’s economic values as reflected in principles 1-3 and 5-9 display a strong belief that in the world to come people will no longer gain wealth at the expense of others. This relates very well to the Christian idea about the impending kingdom espoused by Luke where we should store up our treasures in heaven and help out others rather than looking out for our own interests (Luke 18:22; cf. Matt 19:21, Mark 10:21).[20] I am particularly struck by the parallels to Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the man who built storehouses in preparation for his own retirement. Luke records that Jesus says of the man, “‘…you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ‘This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 10:20-21; cf. Matt 6:25-33). He then continues by explaining that no one should worry about possessions or even food (Luke 10:22-23; cf. Mark 10). Instead we should sell all our possessions and give to the poor (Luke 10:33-34). Marxian redistribution of wealth seems to fit well with Luke’s (and the entire Christian canon’s) egalitarian principles as a reflection of loving one’s neighbour.
Marx’s 4th principle – the confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels - at first glance does not seem to hold to the Christian ideal of loving one’s enemies (Luke 6:27-26; cf. Matt 5:35-42). It is not entirely different however than God’s relationship with the apostate. Neither God nor Marx reserves a place for those who reject the impending society (Luke 9:61-61; cf. Luke 9:5, 12:10, Acts 13:50-52; Matt 10:14, 12:31-32, 18:9-22, Mark 3:29-30, 6:11, John15: 1-17, 1 John 2, 5:13-20, 2 John 1:7-11, 2 Pet 2:17-22).
Marx’s 10th principle is that of education. This also seems very important to Luke’s Christ. It is not only a way to level the economic playing field it is also a way to encourage people to continue the good fight. Jesus says of educating the young, “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.” (Mark 9:42; cf. also Luke 18:15-17; Matt 19:13-14; 10:13-16; Mark 9:42-50; John 8:31; Dt. 4:9-10; Dt. 11; Ps 34:11; 78:5; Eph 6:4; Tit 1:6; 2 John 1:4, 3 John 1:4). The children represent the future of the society. On this Marx seems to agree with Jesus and Luke.
In Conclusion.
There are certainly commonalities between the teaching of Marxian communism and Christianity in general and Luke’s Gospel in particular. Marx had a lot of faith in the inevitability of an impending communist society just as Luke had faith that Jesus’ Kingdom will be fully realised here on earth at Christ’s return, if not before. They both argued against a love of money and in favour of an egalitarian society. Marx seemingly had the same hope that Luke did that there can be a future where there is no more suffering. Marx however, seemed to believe that people will naturally do this eventually, without the help of God whom he denounced publicly. Luke, on the other hand, argued that Jesus has already defeated sin and death and those who come to realise this we will inevitably respond appropriately.
From this cursory overview, I find it somewhat saddening that Marx really does appear to be almost half-right. It appears that, as was shown, he did want to ‘love his neighbour’ in many ways similar to Luke but he was quite vocal in that he did not love God. Given the similarities, I wonder if indeed Marx, though rejecting God, didn’t still hold onto many of the teachings he would have received as a child. From the perspective of a Christian worldview then I am left to reflect upon the old adage that ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’ and hope for his sake that indeed some unknown deathbed repentance occurred so that indeed he can see the actualization of the impending perfect society when Christ returns.
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Originally presented to William and Catherine Booth College March 2009 by Captain Michael Ramsay
[1] Joel B Green. ‘The Gospel of Luke’. NICNT. Vol. 3. (Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997) 25.
[2] Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Ed. Frank E. Gaebelein. Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Introduction to Luke/Themes and Theology of Luke/Themes and Theology of Luke: Discipleship and the Christian in the world, Book Version: 4.0.2[3] Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles. The Communist Manifesto. Trans., Samuel Moore (Markham, Ont.: Penguin Books, 1978) Part 1.
[4] A.J.P. Taylor, Preface to The Communist Manifesto. (Markham, Ont.: Penguin Books,1978) 1.
[5] Karl Marx. 'Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of the Right'. Marx and Engels on Religion. Ed. Reinhold Neibuhr. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964) 41.
[6] Karl Marx . 'Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of the Right'. Marx and Engels on Religion. Ed. Reinhold Neibuhr. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964) 42.
[7]Karl Marx. 'The Communism of the Paper Rheischer'. Marx and Engels on Religion. Ed. Reinhold Neibuhr. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964) 84.
[8] Karl Marx. ‘Capital, Book I.’ Marx and Engels on Religion. Ed. Reinhold Neibuhr. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964) 135.
[9] A.J.P. Taylor, Introduction to The Communist Manifesto. (Markham, Ont.: Penguin Books, 1978) 7.
[10] Iraneus, Against Heresies 3.1.1 (ANF, 1:424). Cited by R. Alan Culpepper ‘The Gospel of Luke’. New Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 9. Ed. Leander E. Keck (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995) 5.
[11] Jose Miranda. Marx and the Bible: a Critique of the Philosophy of Oppression. Trans., John Eagleson. (New York: Orbis Books, 1979) 250.
[12] Marx, The Communist Manifesto, Part I.
[13] Marx, The Communist Manifesto, Part I.
[14] Cf. Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Introduction to Luke/Themes and Theology of Luke/Themes and Theology of Luke: Eschatology, Book Version: 4.0.2
[15] Miranda. Marx and the Bible: a Critique of the Philosophy of Oppression , 252.
[16] Cf. Mervyn Matthews. Poverty in the Soviet Union: the life-styles of the underprivileged in recent years. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1986) 178 and Gerhard E. Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification (Charlotte, N. Carolina: University of N. Carolina Press, 1984) 442.
[17] Hebert, Jacques and Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Two Innocents in Red China. Trans., IM Owen (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1986) 61.
[18] B.P. Yesipov and N.K. Goncharov. I want to be like Stalin. Ed. and Trans., George S. Counts and Nucia P. Lodge. (New York: The John Day Company, 1947) 35.
[19] Marx, The Communist Manifesto, Part 2.
[20] God has always had a concern for the vulnerable even as is recorded in the OT: Deut 15:4 says, “However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,” Cf. also: Exod. 23:6,11, Lev. 19:10,15, 23:22, 27:8, Deut. 15:7, 15:11, 24:12-15, 1 Sam 2:8, Pss. 22:26, 34:6, 35:10, 82:3, Isa. 61:1, Eze. 16:49, 18:12, 22:29, Amos 2:7, 4:1, 5:11-12, 8:4-6, Zec. 7:10.
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