THE CHALLENGE OF MARXISM TO EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ETHIOPIA

In view of the worldwide expansion of Marxism this study aims to arouse evangelical Christians to take more seriously the Marxist challenge and to seek an adequate response to it. The author starts with a thesis that to meet this goal the Western one-sided anti-Communism must be rejected and replaced by a more balanced view of Marxism. The basic thesis is that evangelical Christianity can offer a much more constructive alternative than Marxism both to individuals and to a society where a radical socio-political change is needed. The way of presenting the problem rises from the author's personal experience in Socialist Ethiopia, where he served within the Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus during the stormy years of revolution.; Within this framework the author gives first a general overview of Marxism as ideology, socio-economic theory and political program. After that the encounter between Christianity and Marxism is discussed on the ideological level and then on the practical level between the Christian Church and Marxist states, focusing on the USSR, China and Ethiopia. Then the basis for an adequate Christian response is developed, and finally some perspectives on the role of evangelical churches in Marxist societies are presented.; The discussion of the ideological encounter between Christians and Marxists reveals many common concerns, i.e. for social justice. This provides a good starting point for dialogue, in which also evangelicals are urged to get engaged. On the other hand, this study takes up also the atheistic and even demonic side of Marxism and concludes that Christianity and Marxism are mutually so exclusive belief systems that no kind of synthesis is possible between them.; The presentation of the church-state encounter in Marxist societies confirms the thesis that Marxism does not provide satisfactory answers to the innermost questions of human beings. This challenges evangelical Christians to holistic mission. As a main conclusion it is stated firmly that Christians living in Marxist lands have a real contribution to make to their own society. But the role the Church has to take in such a situation is one of the suffering servant, combined with the Church's prophetic voice.