Karl Marx's Views on Religion

Karl Marx has greatly influenced the creation of the modern world and was one of the first revolutionary communist. Through his literary works and philosophies he helped to inspire many 20th century communist regimes including the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and North Korea. Marx’s ideas did not end at communism; his religious ideology also helped shape and mold the 20th century world. Karl Marx was born in 1818 in Trier, Germany and died in 1883. He was a philosopher who turned to economics and politics in his mid 20’s. His family was Jewish but they converted to Christianity so that Marx’s father might pursue his career as a lawyer. Marx studied law in Berlin and then wrote a thesis for his doctorate in philosophy. Marx had originally hoped to have an academic job but he had involved himself with a group of too radical thinkers and received no job prospects. Marx turned to journalism which led him to consider communist theory. Marx wrote many pieces of literary works, some are the Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, Introduction, On the Jewish Question, the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, Theses on Feuerbach, the German Ideology, and the Communist Manifesto. The Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, Introduction discusses the criticism of religion. Marx states that the criticism of religion is the prerequisite of all criticism. According to Karl Marx, religion is like other social institutions in that it is dependent upon the material and economic realities in a given society. It has no independent history; instead it is the creature of productive forces. As Marx wrote, “The religious world is but the reflex of the real world.” (Marx) Marx believed that man makes religion and religion does not make man. Religion is man’s self-consciousness and self-awareness so long as he has not found himself or has already lost himself again. State and society produce religion. Religion is the general

Cited: Engels, Friedrich, and Karl Marx. The Communist Manifesto London: Penguin, 2002. Marx, Karl. “Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right.” Paris, France 1844. Wolff, Jonathan. “Karl Marx.” Stanford University, California. 28 January 2008 <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx>.