The Contemporary Introspection Of Marx And Engels' Religious View

The religious view of Marx and Engels is the basic view and attitude of Marx and Engels about the nature, functions and the birth, development, and dying away. Religious view is an important part of the thought system of Marx and Engels, but it is not received enough recognition for a long time. But the "religious hot" appears all around the world especially in our China from the second half part of the 21st century especially after 70s leads the religious view of Marx and Engels going to the proscenium of academe, giving powerful explanation to the current "religious hot".Marx and Engels are not the inherent antitheists, their religious view also go through a continuous change progress, realizes three big leaps:from the theism to antitheism (idealistic antitheism); from idealistic antitheism religious view to historical materialistic religious view and the magnitude development of religious view in their late time. Some of the viewpoints of Marx and Engels about the religious nature, functions and development forming during this progress we should persist, and some of them we should develop, so it can give better explanation to the "religious hot" and make religion adapted to the social society.Where there is religion, there is the reflection about it. Among these reflection, the most important one is the answer to "what is religion", that is the seeking about the nature of religion. It is the premise and basis of other issues. Among the more than ten discussions about religion, Marx's "Theory of Religion as Opium" and Engels's "religion theory of reflection" are the most controversial ones. Both of them have been regarded as the most fundamental definition of religion nature in Marxism religion view by the academic community, while along with the development of the science of religion especially the starting of the new stage about reform and opening up, those two judgments concerning the religion nature have aroused furious controversy. The discussion about "Theory of Religion as Opium" has benefited the academic community of religion and even the whole academic community. It is not only in the aspect of religion nature that we do not regard the "Theory of Religion as Opium" as Marxism's fundamental judgment any longer, but also in the whole religious study in which the right direction of study, scientific research method, and the stress-free and permissive work environment and atmosphere are all established and built. In such atmosphere, we pay more attention on the wholeness and contemporary spirit in study about Marxism classical work, while in the study of religion nature tends more towards diversification on the premise of emphasizing key points. The "cultural religion" and "moral religion" highlight in such kind of study. The "religion theory of reflection" is a more scientific definition of the religion nature relative to the "Theory of Religion as Opium". But this kind of definition also has its deficiency, and the Lv-Daji's "religion theory of four factors" is a new definition about religion nature. New theory always comes in to being and develops in blatancy and contends, including "religion theory of four factors". "No matter how many kinds of religion in the world, there will be the same number of religion definition; while the hostility among different religions definition no less than the people who believe different religions." It needs query and contend to the science development and things' cognation, but this do not indicate that the query and contend can not go on without limitation, while the unitive recognition counts for nothing. The things' development unifies motion and standstill as well as the development of theories. The reasons that the contend about religion nature is ceaseless and hard to reach a consensus are:on one hand, religion itself is a very complicated study object, and the multivocal word of religion tends to vagueness of research; besides, the Marx and Engels'religious views are not concentrated, so it is hard to grasp on whole; on another hand, subjectively, the subject background and certain view of the researcher make the definition of religion sophisticated to some extent, but at the same time lead to certain localization, short of wholeness, profoundability and the synthetic study with multidimensional and multi-angle of view, and these introspection can make our study on religion nature better.The view of functions is one of the important contents of Marxism religion view, and Marx's the "Theory of Religion as Opium" is the research on religion from the angle of function in essence. Marx and Engels' social role of proletariat revolutionist and ideologist decides that they used to analyze religious function from the angle of social revolution, especially the religious political function; and because the aculeate contravention between the German and papacy, so they boil the religious social function to the negative ones of oppression, cheat, spiritual narcosis, preserve the governance and collusion with them. But the negative religious function just an aspect of the religious function, the whole function can not be instead by the negative one. Along with the massive archaeology discovery and the publication of cultural anthropology works, Marx and Engels give new reorganizations to primitive communes and primitive religions, and those lead them to some new understand about the origin of religion and function. Then pointed that the religious function has two aspects, and they also believe religion is a kind method to understand the world. There mainly are three viewpoints:"view of two ways", "view of three ways" and "view of four ways". But at the same time, they all deem that Marx has pointed the theoretical way is different from the religious wan and artistic way; the former one is to know by abstract reason, and the latter one is by visual emotional. Marx put forward the proposition of "the way human being to know the world" mainly from the angle of mode of thinking, so, the religious way to know the world of Marx mainly means the ideological religion, while we should understand and explicate from the character of multi-factor:not only the ideological religion, but also the organic, ritualistic and active religion. For Engels' "theory of religious frock", we should definitude the many meanings of it, and at the same time, we need distinguish and estimate different religious frock. Although Marx and Engels have more comprehensive understanding about the religious function, and make further development to their religion view, but along the constant development of society and religion, our understanding of religious function should be deepen, only like this, it can go along with the character of Marxism religion view which is keeping up with the times, can be compatible with socialism better, and be in-phase with the harmonious society.Religious research never avoids some important issues such as the origin, development and dying out in future of religion, these issues are also important parts of Marxism religious view. The religious origin is a controversial issue from modern times, presenting a situation of "a hundred schools of thought contend":Manito theory, worship theory, original inspire theory, animatisms theory, totem theory, pre-animatisms theory, and so on. They make the research of religion a splendid legacy, which can not only spur the multi-methods using in the religious study, but also cultivate the logical growth point. While, for many reasons, the religious research has been in a period of few study, becomes wounding down. Marx and Engels look for the religious origin from the common customs basis based on the former production. In the primitive religious origin, influenced by the epistemology angle of religionists in the 18th and 19th century, Engels mainly seek the religious origin from the limitations of epistemology; Marx consider the" alienation in work" as the origin of the classic society religion. The process they open up the religious origin is in fact a religion→political country→civil society→productive labor→practice process. Actually, we can boil the religious origin of Marx and Engels to natural origin, social origin, epistemology origin and psychological origin. The religion will go through a constant developmental process as soon as it comes into being. Looking at the classical religious evolutionism, new religious evolutionism, religious degeneration, protosomatic and creative religious developmental theory, they are all defective or even false. Directed by the historical materialism, Marx an Engels have proposed many religious developmental schematics, such as the natural religion→polytheism→monotheism schematics, spontaneous religion→artificial religion, and clan-tribe religion→nation-state religion→cosmopolitan religion, although the latter one is still synoptical to some extent, it is more scientific than the former ones, and do much meaning to the development of Marxism' religious view. Religion is a production when history develops to certain phrase and develops along with the social advancement. How is its future developmental trend, forever or dying out? "Religious eternal theory" and "religious dying out theory" are two the complete opposed viewpoint about the religion future. The viewpoint of religion going to disappear of Marxism religious view has profoundly opened out the historical necessity and essential conditions of religious dying out, claims that it is a natural process of religion withering away, and can not be banned by war or law, needing a long period. The dying out of religion is necessary in theory, while it is endless in reality. During this long period, we need not only defer to the object rule, but also exert subjective initiative to accelerate the dying out of the religious exiting foundations.Theory should link with practice, and serve to the practice. Marxism religion view is historical materialism religious view, and also the direction to understand and deal with the religious problems rightly during the social revolution success and the process of modernization construction leaded by Chinese Communist Party and Chinese governmental leader. The abrupt of USSR and East Europe is neither the finality of Marxism nor the Marxism religious finality. Marxism (religious view) still exists and develops ratting, and has its value of the time. While to manifest and realize the present value it can not be without the all-around and scientific understanding and the explanation and setting to the new issues and situation, so we need not only back to classical works of Marx and Engels'religious theory, but also "back to Marx", "let Marx go to the present times" and "develops Marx". Stick to the methodology direction of Marxism religious view, lead the religion adapt to socialism actively, and construct harmonious society in order to make the religion a harmonious gene in the socialism harmonious construction.