Dialectical Materialism, Karl Marx, and Christianity
Introduction
Karl Marx. That name is likely to elicit a powerful emotional response when mentioned. For the politically conservative, thoughts of the confiscation of private property, government control of industry, and Soviet gulags are likely to dominate. For the politically liberal, thoughts of a flattened society, less inequality between poor and rich, and a socialist utopia are likely to dominate. Few names generate as much political debate and vitriol. However, Marx offered more than just political and economic theory; he offered an entire philosophical worldview that must be unpacked to grasp the implications of his ideas fully. The political ideas of Karl Marx were driven by his commitment to a materialistic philosophy, and these ideas stand in contrast to Christianity, which acknowledges both a physical/material reality and a spiritual reality.
Marx and Dialectics
The key to understanding Marx is understanding the process that informed his thinking. Marx was heavily influenced by Hegel, who employed dialectics in his philosophy. Dialectics is the idea that, in order to reach the truth of a concept, there must be conflict and contradiction. This can also be extrapolated from mere thought and into the physical world where conflict among people, countries, or classes is what drives social change…
