Laurence Ryan V.

Mata December 16, 2018

4PHL1

“Karl Marx’s Notion of God”

Introduction:

There are many thinkers who attempted to prove the existence of God and they have done

so in many different ways. We can trace in history that during the Medieval era, many

philosophers emerged and attempted to reconcile faith and reason. One example is St. Anselm.

He tried to deduce God’s existence from an idea of God, who is for him a being which nothing

greater can be thought, he argued that because God is the being which nothing greater can be

thought therefore God must exist in reality. 1 Another philosopher of the medieval period is St.

Thomas Aquinas. His philosophy especially his Summa Theologiae became the model of

philosophy for the Catholic Church. The Church recognized that his philosophy is compatible to

the Church’s teachings and divine revelation. Moreover, his five way of proving God’s existence

became famous in the discipline of philosophy. There were many more thinkers aside from

Anselm and Thomas in the medieval period who have thought of reconciling faith and reason.

Furthermore, as time passes by and the society advanced to modernity because of many

discoveries, the age of enlightenment which began from Descartes had dawned in the

consciousness of man. The concern of thinkers is not anymore about faith and God. Many

thinkers tried to liberate their thoughts away from Theology giving way to a philosophy which

does not consider God and divine revelation. Kant became the paramount figure of the age of

enlightenment. He informed readers in his massive works especially in the Critique of Pure

1
Jules M. Brady, SJ, “New Approaches to God: Based on Proofs by Anselm, Aquinas, and Kant” (Massachusetts:
Genesis Publishing Company, 1996), 11.
Reason that in the knowledge about God, both can win the argument that God exist or not. What

will happen is dialectics of two opposing terms. One can have a brilliant idea that God exist and

can prove so. On the other hand one can also argue that God does not exist and can also prove so.

The reason is because God cannot be contained into a material object of reality. God cannot be

studied the way physics and mathematics do. However, we can still have brilliant ideas about our

concepts of God.

The implication of the thoughts brought about during the beginning of modernity in the

person of Rene Descartes have caused a shift to the way man thinks and philosophize. Kant’s

thoughts were also a response to the questions and problems of modernity. Furthermore, the age

of pure reason emerged. A separation from faith and reason came to be and one of the famous

thinker who separated reason and faith is Karl Marx. His materialist philosophy caused a

commotion or is a critique to Christian philosophy and tradition. Many reacted to his thoughts,

some accepted it and some denied it. Furthermore, the Church, in the words of Pope Paul VI had

warned those who speak about Christianity for socialism must bear in mind that this idea or

conception contradicts both ideologically and practically the very nature of Christian religion,

which should not be used or instrumentalized.2

Thus being new to Marx’s concepts and philosophical ideas I have chosen this topic for

my paper in order to gain more knowledge and understanding about Marx’s idea of a God.

Perhaps by understanding some knowledge about his concept of God, I may be able to arrive to

some knowledge and understanding why the Catholic Church is critical with his philosophy.

Liberalisms and Revolutions

2
Joseph M. de Torre, “Marxism, Socialism, and Christianity” (Manila: Sinag-Tala Publishing, Inc., 1982), xvi.
 Historians claims that it was in the early 19th century wherein men have witnessed a

profound transformation in social life.3 There have been many forms of liberalism and revolution

that occurred in History and Mark’s thinking was influenced by such thought and he in turn

influenced many others as well. Such examples of liberalism that occurred in the long history of

thought are: intellectual liberalism, moral liberalism, religious liberalism, Political liberalism,

there was also a revolution that occurred and influenced Marx’s thoughts and this revolution is

the industrial revolution which leads to economic to liberalism. 4 This is the period or is the

common thought that occurred during the time of Marx.

Family Background

Karl Marx was born on the 5th of May 1818. He was born at Trier in the Rhineland. His

parents were Hirchel and Henriette. Their family belonged to a respectable Jewish middle class.

His father was a lawyer and was a descendant from a long line of Jewish rabbis. 5 His mother was

also a Jew who came from Holland. We can trace base from his family background that Marx in

his early stage of life was formed in a Jewish culture and belief. However some scholars narrated

that Marx’s family had never really practiced Judaism,6 whether or not this statement is true, it

might perhaps dawned in the consciousness of Marx ideas about the worship of the God of

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob which was the thought and teachings of the Jewish tradition.

Furthermore, a scholar of had narrated that the home where the young Marx grew did not

really develop in Karl’s mind and person much of a patriotism attitude. 7 What gave way this

thought is the fact that his parents, though they live in a German soil were not really a German

3
Charles J. Mc Fadden, “The Philosophy of Communism” (New York: Benzinger Brothers, Inc., 1939), 3.
4
Ibid., 5.
5
Ibid., 6.
6
Ibid.
7
descent but Jewish. We know that in our history that during the World War II that Germans in

the person of Hitler has despised the Jews. Even though his father, Hirschel, had chosen

Germany as a place for his family to live, he still did not give or accept the official religion of the

Prussian State. Moreover, his mother, Henriette, who was also a Jew did not also accept the State

religion. She was born and was raised in Holland and in an account she had never learned to

write or speak correct German.8 The early years in Marx’s life was marked by notable event in

the family. At an age of six his family became a convert to Christianity. They embraced

Protestantism.

However, though his family embraced Christianity, a historian narrated that they only

accepted it because of political reasons. They have never really totally left aside their Judaism

belief and they also never have accepted Protestantism. In a way they never really have practiced

Judaism and their acceptance of Christianity was only prompted by somehow purely political,

social and economic reasons,9 it seems that their acceptance of Christianity was only an outward

acceptance and not a mere conversion of their faith in God.

Marx grew up as an intelligent man. There is no doubt about his brilliant mind. His

institutions for studies acknowledged his high intelligence and competence in studying at the

Trier Gymnasium in the year 1830 to 1835. He studied law in the University of Bonn but did not

finish it. After a year he went back to his home in the summer of 1836.10

Hegel’s Influence

On the same year in autumn of 1836 Marx entered the University of Berlin. In the

University of Belin, he encountered many brilliant thinkers of his age. He was introduced to
8
Ibid., 7.
9
Ibid., 8.
10
Ibid.
philosophy and developed his own philosophical mind because of the influence of Hegel’s

philosophy. Marx and Engels acknowledged that most of their essential theories in philosophy

were probably because of the influence of Hegel’s philosophy. 11 Hegel’s thoughts influenced

their own philosophical analysis more than any other.

Moreover, Marx did not accept Hegel’s thought and became Hegelian in his person. He

learned to develop his own thoughts by his critique of some of Hegel’s ideas and thus assert his

own ideas and understanding about certain manners. He mentioned in a letter to his father that

after reading Hegel’s writing he mentioned that it is grotesque and he found it displeasing.12

Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism

The materialist idea and the idea that knowledge is historical has its own implications. If

knowledge or truth stands in history and materiality then everything is changing and is under the

process of dialectics. If that is so religion in itself and the truth that any religion is teaching is

pragmatic or a product of human history of civilization. Therefore truth can change and so as

man’s idea of God or any divine revelation as it is which is contrary to what the medieval

philosopher is trying to solve.

Marx have embraced the idea of a dialectical materialist. This thought became the idea of

the Marxist party. This idea was derived from Hegel’s concept of dialectics, Marx improved the

thought and thus making his own philosophical system about dialectical materialism. Dialectical

materialism is a philosophical idea that deals with the approach to the phenomena of nature. 13

This is very different to metaphysical idea that the medieval thinkers introduced. The medieval

11
Ibid.
12
Maximilien Rubel and Margaret Manale, “Marx Without Myth: A Chronological Study of His Life and Work” (San
Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers 1975), 14.
13
Joseph Stalin, “Dialectical and Historical Materialism” (New York: International Publishers, 1940), 5.
philosophers believed in the idea of the absolute being which governs all and is unchanging. This

is what St. Thomas five ways of proof of the existence of God is all about and the idea of

Anselm about the being that which nothing greater can be thought. For them the idea of God is

the unchanging truth that governs all reality. A metaphysical and transcendental idea. However

for Marx it is different, he turned his thoughts to the material realities of this world and

formulated his own concept of dialectical materialism. It is a method of studying and

apprehending the phenomena of nature. It views the reality of nature as materialistic and the

method of looking at nature is dialectical. 14 Dialectical materialism is just one of Marx’s ideas.

There is also another important philosophical idea that Marx has and that is the idea of a

historical materialism.

Historical materialism is somehow an extension of the principles of dialectical

materialism in the study of the social life.15 It is the application of the principles of dialectical

materialism to the society thus making it as the study of the society and history at the same

time.16

Dialectics

The word dialectics came from a Greek word dialego which means to discourse or to

debate. During the ancient and even medieval time, they discourse and debate on an idea in order

to discern and to have a common ground about the truth. The way Thomas of Aquinas wrote his

work summa theologiae is an example of a discourse or a debate. He will raise a question then he

will record objections for a specific topic then he will quote a philosophical or theological work

14
Ibid.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid.
then he will give his answers to each objection. By doing so he made a temporary disclosure of

contradiction in order to arrive at a unified truth.

Kant gave a discussion regarding dialectic. In metaphysical thought such as God,

freedom and immortality of the soul there will always be an argument because it is not grounded

to material reality which is sensible and can be known directly by the use of reason. Reason can

always formulate and argue about the existence of God, freedom and immortality of the soul in

the most brilliant argumentation, however those who contradict the existence of God, freedom

and immortality of the soul can also give a most brilliant idea regarding these topics. In the end

there is always a thesis and anti-thesis in the process of debate or dialectics and Kant introduced

this concepts the thesis and the anti-thesis in his critique of pure reason. Moreover, our reason

according to him cannot disregard our idea of freedom, immortality of the soul and God, for

short metaphysical ideas because he understood these concept as the fate of reason. 17 Kant

argued the our reason has this fate that in the process of knowing or understanding, reason

cannot escape questions which cannot be ignored because for him it is just natural for reason to

ask about God’s existence or any metaphysical questions. It is the very nature of reason to ask

and inquire about these things yet it suffers from lack of understanding and knowledge no matter

how much reason contemplates on metaphysical realities because of the very fact that such

metaphysical questions also transcends the ability of reason to cognize the totality of such

concepts or truths.18

Opposite of Metaphysics

17
Immanuel Kant, “Critique of Pure Reason” trans. ed. Paul Guyer (USA: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 99.
18
Ibid.
 The dialectics in Marx’s thoughts which were influenced by Hegel is entirely opposite to

metaphysics.19 There are reasons why dialectics is opposite to metaphysics. First reason is

because dialectics does not regard nature as an accidental accumulation of things. Dialectics

claims that the whole reality of this world is connected and is an integral whole, in which

everything are organically connected, dependent on and is determined by each other. 20

Furthermore, the dialectical method implies that there should be no phenomenon in nature that

can be understood individually by itself which is isolated from other surrounding phenomena.21

Second reason why metaphysics is contrary to dialectics is because dialectics sees things

as in constant change. The material things and nature is not in a state of rest, unmoving. We must

look at nature and material realities as something that constantly changing because it is in a

continuous movement. They are in a continuous renewal and development as if something is

always arising from them and is always in a developing process. 22 Dialectics also claims that we

must not only look at things on the standpoint of interconnection or interdependence but also in

the movement, their development and of the changes that occurred.

Thirdly, the reason why dialectics is contrary to metaphysics is the idea that dialectics is

historical in approach, there is a past and future notion attached to it. If in the process the past is

considered then there is an understanding of a dying idea or any form of concept, and if it is also

futuristic in view then it means that the idea is also developing. 23 The past is the negative and the

future is the positive. When there is the negative and the positive then there is a contradiction,

19
Stalin, “Dialectical and Historical Materialism”, 7.
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid., 9.
23
Ibid., 10.
when there is a contradiction there is always the possibility of creating something new over and

over again.

The God of the Jews

A more interesting account about Marx’s idea of a God can be found in his being an anti-

Semite.24 He sees the action of his parents as a model of capitalism because of their skills in

handling money. He noticed his parents’ control over money that money that it became a symbol

of power that his parents can manipulate or control over him. He classified the god of the Jews as

money.

There can be moments in life wherein a child can feel that his parents love other material

things more than their sibling, this is what I noticed about what happened to Marx. He is longing

for a parents love and he blamed money for it seem to have taken away the attention of his

parents. This is what I imagined it to be. Moreover it is also possible that Marx’s became angry

to his parents because they have not gave him the material thing that he asked thinking that it

would not benefit him and he felt disappointed and controlled by such gesture. This could be the

reason why Marx chose to blame God and look at the God of the Jews as a worldly God.25

Conclusion

24
William H. Blanchard. “Karl Marx and the Jewish Question,” Political Psychology 5, no. 3 (September 1984), 368.
25
Ibid.
 Gone are the days wherein philosophy has become a handmade of Theology. Here comes

the new era of thinkers who dichotomized philosophy and theology, claiming that faith is not

compatible to reason. Marx is one of the influential thinker who thought of separating faith and

reason, philosophy and theology. This is because Marx was not raised as a religious person by

his family and that he used his family’s behavior as the work of God and associated it as being a

model of a capitalist.

It is also important to know that Marx is not concern about theological beliefs of in the

philosophy of religion. He is just trying to relate to his people the closest way possible and he

has done it by recognizing the material reality that unites people together and is common to all.

He saw the real need of the society and he realized that the ideal philosophy about faith will not

help address the real cry of the poor and those who are alienated by social relation. Faith is good

but it is addictive as if it blocks the mind of the material reality and does not really address nor

see the problem as they are.

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