Engels: On the History of Early Christianity
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https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1894/early-christianity/
The history of early Christianity has notable points of resemblance with the modern working-class movement. Like the latter, Christianity was originally a movement of oppressed people: it first appeared as the religion of slaves and emancipated slaves, of poor people deprived of all rights, of peoples subjugated or dispersed by Rome. Both Christianity and the workers’ socialism preach forthcoming salvation from bondage and misery; Christianity places this salvation in a life beyond, after death, in heaven; socialism places it in this world, in a transformation of society. Both are persecuted and baited, their adherents are despised and made the objects of exclusive laws, the former as enemies of the human race, the latter as enemies of the state, enemies of religion, the family, social order. And in spite of all persecution, nay, even spurred on by it, they forge victoriously, irresistibly ahead. Three hundred years after its appearance Christianity was the recognized state religion in the Roman World Empire, and in barely sixty years socialism has won itself a position which makes its victory absolutely certain.
Three hundred years after its appearance Christianity was the recognized state religion in the Roman World Empire, and in barely sixty years socialism has won itself a position which makes its victory absolutely certain.
As this was written in 1894 if it takes socialism as much time to triumph as Christianity that means we are talking about 2134 — another 110 years.
Actually that socialism will have been established by then doesn’t seem an unreasonable assumption. Personally I would agree that this is an absolute certainty on the grounds that sooner or later people will realise that, as a matter of fact (not opinion) the common ownership and democratic control of the Earth’s resources, natural and industrial, is the only framework within which the problems currently facing humanity can be effectively tackled.
Alan wrote in this forum that Engels was mistaken about the origin of the primitive christians but the historical description made by Engels is totally correct and it has been confirmed by others sources including christian sources, and some of them have given credits to Engels including the movement of the liberation theology, the only ones that see negativity on Engels are the Marxist humanists but they support Lenin and Trotsky.
There are many sincere and good peoples within the religion movement and most of them are members of the working class, and christianity was not born as a movement to kill peoples as most secular atheist have propagated, most religion had a materialistic origin born within an economic system, and christianity evolved within classical slavery and then it became the negation of the negation.
Personally I grew up with Jesuits, salesians and Lasalle brothers and I learned many good things from them, I do not think that everything is negative but I broke away from them when I learned historical materialism
It is really possible to establish a new society despite the fact that workers are moving toward the right and totalitarian leaders but within the same movement there is a large discontent within the working class, the election of Donald Trump by some millions of American workers it also a sign of discontent when they prefer to vote for the economy, but they do not have the theoretical understanding that it is the economy the one that is producing their own misery, left-winger only see the leaders, or the individual but they do not see the contradiction that workers are facing at the present time.
I have seen workers taking class consciousness from one day into another day, and rebelling themselves against their own oppressors although those movements were only for reforms, but it does show that a vast majority of workers taking class consciousness can establish a better society
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