by Kostas Onisenko
The differences between Christianity and Marxism were pointed out by the deputy head of the Russian Church’s communication with society and the media, political philosopher Aleksandr Shchipkov, during a television program. The comment was about the views according to which these two concepts are being compared.
“The understanding of social justice in Christianity and Marxism is radically different,” Shipkov said. According to Marxism, any material inequality leads to the rise of capital and exploitation, which ultimately leads to the denial of personal property, to its violent removal / abduction from the man, Shipkov stated.
“Christianity, on the other hand, recognizes that material inequality is inevitable.”Two fishermen for the same period, without exploiting each other, will catch a different amount of fish”.
However, Christianity stands against social inequality when one section of society decides the fate of another section. “The recipe of Marxism is the seizure and redistribution of property, but this does not presuppose the mutation of man, his inner healing and correction.
The recipe of Christianity – not to allow oppression altogether, as it arises from value bases. The example of Christ’s self-sacrifice precludes the Christian from sacrificing it for someone else’s personal interests.
“Apart from these, Shipkov named a number of other essential differences between apostolic Christianity and Marxism, such as the historical and moral origins, ways of understanding and dealing with the various problems of humanity.