The Marxist View of History

If you truly understand the goal of Marxism it is not difficult to see its influence on American culture today. Marx stated in his Economics and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, “The entire so-called history of the world is nothing but the creation of man through human labor...” His historical materialism views man as a mere economic unit trapped in a class struggle.

Look around you, the struggle at work between management and labor, the struggle between the so-called races permeates the culture, the feminist movement has elevated the struggle between men and women to levels never before seen in history. None of this has come about by accident. One of the most prolific authors, disseminating the materialistic worldview of Marxism through his writings on history was Charles Beard. He purposely de-emphasized the Biblical influence on the founding of America, and tainted the character of the founders.

It is important to point out the fallacy of neutrality. To apply the providential view of history to your interpretation of history you must presuppose that the Christian God is the one and only true God and that He has revealed himself in the pages of Holy Scripture. The Christian must not shrink from this admission, for it is true. The materialist, or Marxist, must presuppose that the only thing that matters is matter. Just as the Christian has not scientifically proven the existence of God and the truth of the Bible, the materialist cannot scientifically prove the truth that matter is all there is.

Moving forward under the presupposition that God is sovereignly in control of history you can interpret history based on this truth. Any view of history that denies the sovereignty of God must of necessity distort the facts of history. Everyone has the same basic facts to deal with when interpreting history, but a Christian thinker will interpret history based on God's Providence, while the Marxist will interpret the same facts based on materialism. Compare this to evolution. The Christian sees millions of fossils buried in mud and interprets that as evidence of a great flood. The Marxist sees millions of fossils buried in mud and sees that as evidence of the survival of the fittest. Same facts, same evidence, but diametrically opposed conclusions. It is the same with historical facts. A Christian thinker reads the First Amendment to the Constitution and sees God, by His supreme authority over both church and state, distinguishing the authority that is be exercised by the church from the authority that is to be exercised by the state. The Marxist reads the First Amendment to the Constitution and sees a repudiation of God's authority over the state. Same facts, same evidence, diametrically opposed conclusions.

An effectuation of the Christian worldview would dispense with the class struggles caused by the divisions of the materialists. The struggle between management and labor would be smoothed over by following the scriptural guidelines for masters and slaves. There could be no racism, because scripture only recognizes one race – the human race. The struggle between men and women ceases when men and women recognize and fulfill their God-given roles within the family, and live as one complete unit. The divisions caused by the Religious Secularist denies Biblical standards of good and evil remain to the extent that secularism is present in the culture, but as the Christian worldview becomes more effectual the influence of secular humanism will win. Finally, there will probably always be divisions within Christendom, however, these divisions are a result of wrong doctrine. Though Christians are as guilty of interpreting scripture based on their presuppositions, the more the Christian worldview captures the church the more Christians will reconcile differences within the church. When you are willing to admit that you are starting with presuppositions then you are willing to examine those presuppositions to determine their validity.