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The Challenge of Marxism
Book by Bockmuehl, Klaus
Paperback
First published June 1, 1987
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September 7, 2024
A CANADIAN THEOLOGY PROFESSOR LOOKS CRITICALLY AT MARXISM
At the time this book was published in 1980, Klaus Bockmuehl was professor of theology and ethics at Regent College in Vancouver; he has also written Evangelicals and Social Ethics, Listening to the God Who Speaks: Reflections on God's Guidance from Scripture and the Lives of God's People, The Christian Way of Living, etc. He wrote in the first chapter, "Although we recognize the essential dissimilarity of Christianity and Marxism, it does not follow that Christians have nothing to learn from studying Marxism... we would remind ourselves that in business competitors gain by studying the other's strengths in order to remedy the weaknesses in themselves... Christians will not expect anything new from the encounter with Marxism. But ... our study of others, including Marxists, may help us to further understand our own weaknesses and ineffectiveness." (Pg. 21)
He observes, "Marx exclaims: War on conditions in Germany! They are beneath the level of humanity. He implies that he knows what that level of humanity should be. Marx presupposes truth, and he turns it critically against a reality that does not match it." (Pg. 25)
He asks, "What does Marxism offer those who just are not endowed with many natural talents, such as a high intellectual awareness and an ability for discernment? What about those who have been rendered inactive by life, who are old or ill---those who can no longer hope to 'give birth to humanity's inner wealth' and promise the rich and fully developed persons Marx promised for the future? And then, there is the problem of death and dying. Orthodox Marxist philosophers have had little to say on this subject. This may be an indication that Marxism does not yield an answer for individual death which after all is an essential characteristic of human existence with which everyone has to come to terms." (Pg. 43)
He asserts, "Christians must not be taken in by the myth that selfish individuals can form a universally unselfish collective. This may come about temporarily by force, but it will soon fall apart or it will be limited to superficial levels." (Pg. 45) Later, he argues, "When applied to ethics, atheism results in titanic, unlimited authority of man over his actions." (Pg. 120)
He concludes, "the deepest reason for the spiritual breakdown of Marxism is a fundamental self-contradiction which lies at its base. This exists in the fact that a materialist and Darwinist concept of the genesis and development of the world cannot be reconciled with the demand for brotherliness and solidarity... An evolutionary theory based on competition cannot produce a society where the highest value is love of neighbor... Where materialism is presupposed there is no motivation for unselfishness. Materialism remains the chains for the whole project... The lack of a deeper motivation for unselfish action also makes Marxist Communism appear as an elaborate, but unfounded idealism. Speaking in theological terms, it demands of man a life of sanctification without the preceding experience of regeneration." (Pg. 153-154)
There aren't a whole lot of critiques of Marxism by Christians (one is Gary North's 'Marx's Religion of Revolution'), and even fewer by evangelicals. This one is therefore all the more valuable for its rarity.
At the time this book was published in 1980, Klaus Bockmuehl was professor of theology and ethics at Regent College in Vancouver; he has also written Evangelicals and Social Ethics, Listening to the God Who Speaks: Reflections on God's Guidance from Scripture and the Lives of God's People, The Christian Way of Living, etc. He wrote in the first chapter, "Although we recognize the essential dissimilarity of Christianity and Marxism, it does not follow that Christians have nothing to learn from studying Marxism... we would remind ourselves that in business competitors gain by studying the other's strengths in order to remedy the weaknesses in themselves... Christians will not expect anything new from the encounter with Marxism. But ... our study of others, including Marxists, may help us to further understand our own weaknesses and ineffectiveness." (Pg. 21)
He observes, "Marx exclaims: War on conditions in Germany! They are beneath the level of humanity. He implies that he knows what that level of humanity should be. Marx presupposes truth, and he turns it critically against a reality that does not match it." (Pg. 25)
He asks, "What does Marxism offer those who just are not endowed with many natural talents, such as a high intellectual awareness and an ability for discernment? What about those who have been rendered inactive by life, who are old or ill---those who can no longer hope to 'give birth to humanity's inner wealth' and promise the rich and fully developed persons Marx promised for the future? And then, there is the problem of death and dying. Orthodox Marxist philosophers have had little to say on this subject. This may be an indication that Marxism does not yield an answer for individual death which after all is an essential characteristic of human existence with which everyone has to come to terms." (Pg. 43)
He asserts, "Christians must not be taken in by the myth that selfish individuals can form a universally unselfish collective. This may come about temporarily by force, but it will soon fall apart or it will be limited to superficial levels." (Pg. 45) Later, he argues, "When applied to ethics, atheism results in titanic, unlimited authority of man over his actions." (Pg. 120)
He concludes, "the deepest reason for the spiritual breakdown of Marxism is a fundamental self-contradiction which lies at its base. This exists in the fact that a materialist and Darwinist concept of the genesis and development of the world cannot be reconciled with the demand for brotherliness and solidarity... An evolutionary theory based on competition cannot produce a society where the highest value is love of neighbor... Where materialism is presupposed there is no motivation for unselfishness. Materialism remains the chains for the whole project... The lack of a deeper motivation for unselfish action also makes Marxist Communism appear as an elaborate, but unfounded idealism. Speaking in theological terms, it demands of man a life of sanctification without the preceding experience of regeneration." (Pg. 153-154)
There aren't a whole lot of critiques of Marxism by Christians (one is Gary North's 'Marx's Religion of Revolution'), and even fewer by evangelicals. This one is therefore all the more valuable for its rarity.
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