World Christianity and MarxismDenis Janz argues that the encounter with Marxism has been the defining event for twentieth century Christianity. No other worldview shook Christianity more dramatically and no other movement had as profound an impact on so many. Now the Cold War is over and as we approach the end of the century we need, Janz says, to ask ourselves what happened. This book is the first unified and comprehensive attempt to analyze this historic meeting between these two antagonistic worlds of thought and action. The intellectual foundation of this antagonism is to be found in Karl Marx himself, and thus the book begins with an account of Marx's assault on Christianity. All the diverse philosophical and political manifestations of Marxism were ultimately rooted in Marx's thought, and supporters based their greater or lesser hostilities toward Christianity on their reading of his critique. Janz follows this with an overview of Christian responses to Marx, extending from the mid-19th century to the onset of the Cold War. He argues that within this time frame Christianity's negation of Marx was not absolute; the loud "no" to Marx bore with it an important, if muted, "yes." With this intellectual groundwork in place, Janz turns to an examination of the encounter as it unfolded in specific national contexts: the United States, the Soviet Union, Poland, Nicaragua, Cuba, China, and Albania. The experiences of these countries varied widely, from Poland where Christianity maintained its strongest independence, to Nicaragua where a Christian alliance with Marxism contributed to revolutionary change, to Albania where a Stalinist government attempted to abolish religion entirely. From this survey emerges the evidence that world Christianity has clearly internalized some of the prominent features of its antagonist, suggesting that the "Marxist project" is not as utterly defunct as many have assumed. |
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Table des matières
| 97 | |
Chapter 9 Cuba | 110 |
Chapter 10 China | 123 |
Chapter 11 Conclusion | 150 |
Notes | 155 |
Index | 185 |
Autres éditions - Tout afficher
World Christianity and Marxism Denis Janz,Professor of the History of Christianity Denis R Janz Aucun aperçu disponible - 1998 |
Expressions et termes fréquents
Albania alienation already American Christians anticommunism antireligious Antireligious Propaganda argued atheism believers bishops capitalism Cardenal Castro Catholic Church century China Today Chinese Church Chris Christ Church in China Church leaders clergy communism Communist China Communist Party consciousness criticism critique Cuba Cuban Church culture democratic dominant economic Enver Hoxha Ernesto Cardenal exploitation fact faith foreign God’s hierarchy History of Marxist-Leninist Hoxha human ideology influence intellectual K. H. Ting Karl Marx Kirk labor Lenin liberation Lutheran World Federation MacInnis Maoism Marx's Marxism Marxist-Leninist Atheism Maryknoll Medellín Michnik missionaries movement Nicaragua Niebuhr numbers official Orbis Orthodox Church Paul Tillich peasants Poland Polish political Pospielovsky Practice in Communist priests Protestant Protestantism Quoted in ibid Religion in China Religion in Communist Religious Policy revolution Russian Sandinista Social Gospel socialist society Solidarity Somoza Soviet Union Stalin Stalinist struggle theology thought three-self Tillich traditional transformation USSR Vatican Western York
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Page 12 - The religious reflex of the real world can, in any case, only then finally vanish, when the practical relations of everyday life offer to man none but perfectly intelligible and reasonable relations with regard to his fellowmen and to nature.
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Page 140 - Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven, Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, *I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness...
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Page 10 - Feuerbach starts out from the fact of religious self-alienation, the duplication of the world into a religious, imaginary world and a real one. His work consists in the dissolution of the religious world into its secular basis.
Page 13 - The social principles of Christianity justified the slavery of antiquity, glorified the serfdom of the Middle Ages and equally know, when necessary, how to defend the oppression of the proletariat, although they make a pitiful face over it.
Page 60 - Our government makes no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith - and I don't care what it is," and isn't that a complete negation of any real religion?
Page 10 - The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it" — conceals an important qualification: that judgment, action, and change are ultimately products of history.
