Foundations of Christianity
by Karl Kautsky
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First published in 1925, Karl Kautsky presents a Marxist history of Christianity and Christian society. Divided into four key sections, the book begins by considering the personality of Jesus as portrayed within Pagan and Christian sources and highlighting the Church's difficulty in presenting a unified and concurrent image of Jesus and interpretation of His words. Next, Kautsky analyses the structure of Roman society, with particular emphasis on the slave-holding system, the Roman State and show more the historiography of the period. In the third section, an early history of the Jewish people is presented, whilst the final section discusses the beginnings of Christianity and the social struggles present within early Christian society. This is a fascinating reissue, which will be of particular interest to students of Church History, Christian theology and the various interpretations of Jesus. show lessTags
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Kautsky's magnum opus remains a classic of historical scholarship and Marxian social analysis. Completed in 1908, its short opening section on "The Person of Jesus" reflects the undeveloped state of Biblical scholarship at the time. But after these few pages, his volume offers a wealth of historical materials and interpretations which retain their value to this day.
The body of the volume is divided into three books of approximately equal size: "Society in the Roman Empire," "The Jew," and "The Beginnings of Christianity." Each of these represents a penetrating essay in the social, economic, and cultural aspects of its subject. Each illuminates matters of great historical importance: for the Roman Empire, the analysis of slavery; for the show more Jews, the ethos of trade; and for the origins of Christianity, the vague but energetic communism that permeated the early Christian community.
Is Jesus a Socialist?
As the debate over the government’s debt and its role in assisting the poor intensifies, some Leftists claim that Jesus and the Bible advocate socialism and preach against capitalism.
In citing examples from the Bible that calls for outright socialism of the type described millennia later by Marx several may be cited. The first example is focused upon Jesus’ warning to the wealthy that they may not inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24, which reads, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”). Then, there are the verses in the book of Acts. Acts 2:42-47 reads:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
And then Acts 4:32-35 reads:
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
These Biblical accounts, teamed with a story in chapter five in which a man and wife were stricken dead for failing “to turn over all…property to the church,“ could constitute the first description of socialism in history. Over time, some might argue that Christianity has separated itself from the socialistic nature of the Book.
For example, some might argue that the intellectual foundations for the alliance between capital and God were laid after World War II by Roman Catholic William Buckley, who, like some others contrived to maneuver around their churches’ skepticism about mercantile interests, worked to convert frugal church goers into materialistic consumers who spend their Sundays watching spectator sports and charging up interest loaded debt at the mall.
After reading this account of Christianity‘s origins and the Bible’s alleged economic contents, others might argue that socialism is a relatively new construct, and dismiss the notion that Jesus was “pro-Socialist.”
Furthermore, it is problematic to view socialism as a “biblical mandate” and that the better question should not be, “Does the Bible mandate socialism?” Instead, critics and adherents, alike, should be asking, “Is socialism compatible with the Bible?”
A socialist interprets Jesus’s substantial encouragement for the poor and warnings against the moral pitfalls of wealth as support for socialism. Yet one has to travel quite the intellectual and theological distance to equate admonitions towards charity and warnings against greed with divine sanction for the appropriation of private property rights, handing over monies to the Roman tax collectors--which Jesus did not do--and the forcible redistribution of wealth.
The man and wife who were stricken dead in Acts perished because of their deceit, not because they hadn’t turned all of their possessions over to the church. Also, in Luke, Chapter 10, Jesus says that “the worker deserves his wages” (clearly, this statement meshes more with capitalism). Expounding upon these ideas, there are other themes and statements throughout the Bible that contradict socialism’s tenets:
While the Bible calls us to help the poor, it is also clear that the poor must help themselves to the extent they are able. In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul warns against idleness and says, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” In 1 Timothy 5, Paul also declares, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Even inclusion on the widows’ “list” (which entitled widows to receive aid from the church) was conditioned upon age and good conduct.
Socialism creates poverty, witness for example the few remaining socialistic nations are stricken with economic deficiency and intense interdependence as a result of the economic system. Today, the recent events striking Europe — London’s riots and Greece, Spain, Italy and Ireland’s economic woes — to failed experiments with socialism. Concerning these nations, their idle but well-fed youth, demanding ever-more from a state they give nothing, are either in the streets or threatening chaos.
At the end of the day, Christians have overwhelmingly rejected socialism because the Bible is contradictory to its underpinnings.
The Bible isn’t an economics textbook, but many Christians believe its underlying principles are most consistent with the free economy. There are reasonable critiques of that opinion, but the verses cited in favor of socialism do not support socialism. show less
The body of the volume is divided into three books of approximately equal size: "Society in the Roman Empire," "The Jew," and "The Beginnings of Christianity." Each of these represents a penetrating essay in the social, economic, and cultural aspects of its subject. Each illuminates matters of great historical importance: for the Roman Empire, the analysis of slavery; for the show more Jews, the ethos of trade; and for the origins of Christianity, the vague but energetic communism that permeated the early Christian community.
Is Jesus a Socialist?
As the debate over the government’s debt and its role in assisting the poor intensifies, some Leftists claim that Jesus and the Bible advocate socialism and preach against capitalism.
In citing examples from the Bible that calls for outright socialism of the type described millennia later by Marx several may be cited. The first example is focused upon Jesus’ warning to the wealthy that they may not inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24, which reads, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”). Then, there are the verses in the book of Acts. Acts 2:42-47 reads:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
And then Acts 4:32-35 reads:
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
These Biblical accounts, teamed with a story in chapter five in which a man and wife were stricken dead for failing “to turn over all…property to the church,“ could constitute the first description of socialism in history. Over time, some might argue that Christianity has separated itself from the socialistic nature of the Book.
For example, some might argue that the intellectual foundations for the alliance between capital and God were laid after World War II by Roman Catholic William Buckley, who, like some others contrived to maneuver around their churches’ skepticism about mercantile interests, worked to convert frugal church goers into materialistic consumers who spend their Sundays watching spectator sports and charging up interest loaded debt at the mall.
After reading this account of Christianity‘s origins and the Bible’s alleged economic contents, others might argue that socialism is a relatively new construct, and dismiss the notion that Jesus was “pro-Socialist.”
Furthermore, it is problematic to view socialism as a “biblical mandate” and that the better question should not be, “Does the Bible mandate socialism?” Instead, critics and adherents, alike, should be asking, “Is socialism compatible with the Bible?”
A socialist interprets Jesus’s substantial encouragement for the poor and warnings against the moral pitfalls of wealth as support for socialism. Yet one has to travel quite the intellectual and theological distance to equate admonitions towards charity and warnings against greed with divine sanction for the appropriation of private property rights, handing over monies to the Roman tax collectors--which Jesus did not do--and the forcible redistribution of wealth.
The man and wife who were stricken dead in Acts perished because of their deceit, not because they hadn’t turned all of their possessions over to the church. Also, in Luke, Chapter 10, Jesus says that “the worker deserves his wages” (clearly, this statement meshes more with capitalism). Expounding upon these ideas, there are other themes and statements throughout the Bible that contradict socialism’s tenets:
While the Bible calls us to help the poor, it is also clear that the poor must help themselves to the extent they are able. In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul warns against idleness and says, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” In 1 Timothy 5, Paul also declares, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Even inclusion on the widows’ “list” (which entitled widows to receive aid from the church) was conditioned upon age and good conduct.
Socialism creates poverty, witness for example the few remaining socialistic nations are stricken with economic deficiency and intense interdependence as a result of the economic system. Today, the recent events striking Europe — London’s riots and Greece, Spain, Italy and Ireland’s economic woes — to failed experiments with socialism. Concerning these nations, their idle but well-fed youth, demanding ever-more from a state they give nothing, are either in the streets or threatening chaos.
At the end of the day, Christians have overwhelmingly rejected socialism because the Bible is contradictory to its underpinnings.
The Bible isn’t an economics textbook, but many Christians believe its underlying principles are most consistent with the free economy. There are reasonable critiques of that opinion, but the verses cited in favor of socialism do not support socialism. show less
The original German title was more accurately translated as "The Origins of Christianity" in the first English edition published in England. The 1925 American English edition changed the title to "Foundations of Christianity."
EL CRISTIANISMO: SUS ORÍGENES Y FUNDAMENTOS
"Así surgió una nueva oposición entre los hombres. En el preciso momento en que el galo y el sirio, el romano y el egipcio, el español y el griego, empezaban a perder su identidad nacional, surgió la gran diferencia entre creyentes y no creyentes santos y pecadores, cristianos y paganos, que pronto iba a dividir al mundo como un abismo", escribe Kautsky .
El libro sumerge el lector a la Antigüedad y también a la lucha de clases. Al final de la República la sociedad romana presenta "inmensas oposiciones sociales, muchos odios de clase y mucha lucha de clases, insurrecciones y guerras civiles, un deseo ilimitado de una vida diferente y mejor, así como la abolición del orden social show more existente". Ésta fue la atmósfera en la que se generó el cristianismo, el mayor movimiento de los oprimidos de la historia de la humanidad.
El cristianismo, en sus orígenes, era un movimiento comunista y predicaba un odio salvaje contra el rico. Es interesante remarcar, a modo de ejemplo, el evangelio de Lucas en el que el rico va el infierno y el pobre al seno de Abraham, "no porque el primero sea un pecador y el último un justo (...). El rico es condenado por la simple razón de que es rico". Kautsky hace numerosas e interesantísimas citas de textos cristianos en este sentido. En algunos de ellos Cristo aparece como una figura bastante alejada del personaje sumiso siempre dispuesto a ofrecer la otra mejilla: "Fuego vine a traer a la tierra: ¡y qué quiero, si ya está encendido! (...) ¿Pensáis que he venido a la tierra a dar paz? No; sino disensión (...) No he venido a traer paz, sino espadas".
El libro establece un punto de inflexión en el amplio movimiento de lucha contra la opresión romana: la destrucción de Jerusalén, el foco de resistencia más activo, en el año 69 d.C. Los dos siglos anteriores fueron de grandes y crecientes esperanzas en la revolución, mientras el Estado romano, inestable y desgarrado por conflictos internos, parecía que iba a derrumbarse en cualquier momento. La destrucción de Jerusalén destruyó también las expectativas de cambios profundos y abrió un periodo de estabilización del Imperio Romano, hechos que tuvieron un efecto en la comunidad cristiana.
El cristianismo fue perdiendo su carácter rebelde hasta convertirse en una religión que predicaba la resignación y la creencia en un mundo mejor... en los cielos. Dice Kautsky: "...sería difícil encontrar alguna otra religión tan rica en contradicciones y en suposiciones irrazonables como la cristiana porque difícilmente otra religión surgió de elementos tan asombrosamente diferentes: el cristianismo fue transmitido por el judaísmo a los romanos; por los proletarios a los gobernante del mundo; por una organización comunista a una organización formada para la explotación de todas las clases".
Efectivamente, la religión cristiana acabó siendo un instrumento en manos de los opresores. Es muy interesante la descripción detallada que hace el libro del proceso interno de degeneración del movimiento cristiano, donde el control de las finanzas y de un aparato cada vez más desarrollado acaba en manos de una casta privilegiada y totalmente divorciada de los principios que dieron origen al movimiento.
El cristianismo debe su grandeza al poderoso impulso de las masas oprimidas contra la división de la sociedad entre ricos y pobres, pero se desarrolló en una fase de la humanidad en la que no había condiciones materiales para el igualitarismo. El movimiento fue usurpado por la clase dominante, que hasta hoy utiliza la religión como un modo de castrar y hacer inocuas las aspiraciones de las masas de un mundo mejor. Queremos un mundo mejor en la tierra, no en los cielos.
Karl Kautsky
Nació en Praga el 18 de octubre de 1854, en el todavía poderoso Imperio Austrohúngaro. Estudió Historia y Filosofía en la Universidad de Viena. En 1875 se convirtió en miembro del Partido Socialdemócrata de Austria (SPÖ). Entre 1885 y 1890 estuvo en Londres, donde conoció y se hizo amigo de Friedrich Engels. En 1891, fue el coautor del Programa de Erfurt Partido Socialdemócrata de Alemania (SPD), junto a August Bebel y Eduard Bernstein.
Después de la muerte de Engels, en 1895, Kautsky se convirtió en uno de los más importantes e influyentes teóricos del socialismo y de la Segunda Internacional, formando el núcleo marxista del partido junto a Bebel.
En esa época, era considerado despectivamente por Trotsky, entre otros, como el «legislador teórico del marxismo internacional».
Rompió con Rosa Luxemburgo y el ala izquierda del SPD en 1914, después de haberse integrado el Partido Socialdemócrata Independiente entre 1917 y 1919, volvió a unirse al SPD en 1922. Hacia el final de la Primera Guerra Mundial, Lenin atacó a Kautsky llamándolo «oportunista» y «renegado», comparando sus posiciones a las del reformista Eduard Bernstein. Para 1934, Kautsky escribió un trabajo titulado Marxismo y bolchevismo: democracia y dictadura.
Karl Kautsky murió en su exilio de Ámsterdam el 17 de octubre de 1938, a los 83 años de edad. show less
"Así surgió una nueva oposición entre los hombres. En el preciso momento en que el galo y el sirio, el romano y el egipcio, el español y el griego, empezaban a perder su identidad nacional, surgió la gran diferencia entre creyentes y no creyentes santos y pecadores, cristianos y paganos, que pronto iba a dividir al mundo como un abismo", escribe Kautsky .
El libro sumerge el lector a la Antigüedad y también a la lucha de clases. Al final de la República la sociedad romana presenta "inmensas oposiciones sociales, muchos odios de clase y mucha lucha de clases, insurrecciones y guerras civiles, un deseo ilimitado de una vida diferente y mejor, así como la abolición del orden social show more existente". Ésta fue la atmósfera en la que se generó el cristianismo, el mayor movimiento de los oprimidos de la historia de la humanidad.
El cristianismo, en sus orígenes, era un movimiento comunista y predicaba un odio salvaje contra el rico. Es interesante remarcar, a modo de ejemplo, el evangelio de Lucas en el que el rico va el infierno y el pobre al seno de Abraham, "no porque el primero sea un pecador y el último un justo (...). El rico es condenado por la simple razón de que es rico". Kautsky hace numerosas e interesantísimas citas de textos cristianos en este sentido. En algunos de ellos Cristo aparece como una figura bastante alejada del personaje sumiso siempre dispuesto a ofrecer la otra mejilla: "Fuego vine a traer a la tierra: ¡y qué quiero, si ya está encendido! (...) ¿Pensáis que he venido a la tierra a dar paz? No; sino disensión (...) No he venido a traer paz, sino espadas".
El libro establece un punto de inflexión en el amplio movimiento de lucha contra la opresión romana: la destrucción de Jerusalén, el foco de resistencia más activo, en el año 69 d.C. Los dos siglos anteriores fueron de grandes y crecientes esperanzas en la revolución, mientras el Estado romano, inestable y desgarrado por conflictos internos, parecía que iba a derrumbarse en cualquier momento. La destrucción de Jerusalén destruyó también las expectativas de cambios profundos y abrió un periodo de estabilización del Imperio Romano, hechos que tuvieron un efecto en la comunidad cristiana.
El cristianismo fue perdiendo su carácter rebelde hasta convertirse en una religión que predicaba la resignación y la creencia en un mundo mejor... en los cielos. Dice Kautsky: "...sería difícil encontrar alguna otra religión tan rica en contradicciones y en suposiciones irrazonables como la cristiana porque difícilmente otra religión surgió de elementos tan asombrosamente diferentes: el cristianismo fue transmitido por el judaísmo a los romanos; por los proletarios a los gobernante del mundo; por una organización comunista a una organización formada para la explotación de todas las clases".
Efectivamente, la religión cristiana acabó siendo un instrumento en manos de los opresores. Es muy interesante la descripción detallada que hace el libro del proceso interno de degeneración del movimiento cristiano, donde el control de las finanzas y de un aparato cada vez más desarrollado acaba en manos de una casta privilegiada y totalmente divorciada de los principios que dieron origen al movimiento.
El cristianismo debe su grandeza al poderoso impulso de las masas oprimidas contra la división de la sociedad entre ricos y pobres, pero se desarrolló en una fase de la humanidad en la que no había condiciones materiales para el igualitarismo. El movimiento fue usurpado por la clase dominante, que hasta hoy utiliza la religión como un modo de castrar y hacer inocuas las aspiraciones de las masas de un mundo mejor. Queremos un mundo mejor en la tierra, no en los cielos.
Karl Kautsky
Nació en Praga el 18 de octubre de 1854, en el todavía poderoso Imperio Austrohúngaro. Estudió Historia y Filosofía en la Universidad de Viena. En 1875 se convirtió en miembro del Partido Socialdemócrata de Austria (SPÖ). Entre 1885 y 1890 estuvo en Londres, donde conoció y se hizo amigo de Friedrich Engels. En 1891, fue el coautor del Programa de Erfurt Partido Socialdemócrata de Alemania (SPD), junto a August Bebel y Eduard Bernstein.
Después de la muerte de Engels, en 1895, Kautsky se convirtió en uno de los más importantes e influyentes teóricos del socialismo y de la Segunda Internacional, formando el núcleo marxista del partido junto a Bebel.
En esa época, era considerado despectivamente por Trotsky, entre otros, como el «legislador teórico del marxismo internacional».
Rompió con Rosa Luxemburgo y el ala izquierda del SPD en 1914, después de haberse integrado el Partido Socialdemócrata Independiente entre 1917 y 1919, volvió a unirse al SPD en 1922. Hacia el final de la Primera Guerra Mundial, Lenin atacó a Kautsky llamándolo «oportunista» y «renegado», comparando sus posiciones a las del reformista Eduard Bernstein. Para 1934, Kautsky escribió un trabajo titulado Marxismo y bolchevismo: democracia y dictadura.
Karl Kautsky murió en su exilio de Ámsterdam el 17 de octubre de 1938, a los 83 años de edad. show less
Feb 26, 2018 (Edited)Spanish
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