At what point does a theology become an ideology? How can a Christian distinguish the two? Jacques Ellul has always taken pains to differentiate them, but in this book he provides both a theoretical framework and important examples. Some popular theologies, particularly those that attempt to intertwine biblical theology with Marxist thought, fall into the trap of reaching "theological" conclusions by other means, Ellul believes, so that we cannot consider them as true theologies. From both a biblical-theological and sociopolitical perspective Ellul examines the attempt to relate Christianity to Marxist thought. By reviewing in detail several key Marxist-Christian books, Ellul exposes the weaknesses of so-called Marxist Christianity (which he says is neither Marxist nor Christian), and argues that the biblical perspective takes exception to all political power, leaving Christian anarchism as the realistic revolutionary option. The preface by translator Joyce Main Hanks provides an excellent introduction to the book, showing how it fits into Ellul's thought and how it relates to Ellul's previous work.

This book focuses on Jesus before Christianity and Marx before Communism. It argues not only that both men sought to end moral and economic estrangement forever, but that Jesus' relational revolution failed because it lacked the foundation of Marx's emancipatory revolution. The absence of the emancipatory conditions for moral regeneration encouraged Jesus' followers to transform his teachings and practices into fetishes and illusions of the Christian Church. Jesus made the same mistake as the later Young Hegelians, who assumed that a change of mind (in Jesus' case, a change of heart) would change the world. Marx's emancipatory revolution also failed, partly because the conditions for abolishing estrangement were absent, and partly because his theories had been misunderstood. The result was the "crude and thoughtless communism" he warned against in the Ecomonic and Philosophical Manuscripts. Now that Marx's theory has been recovered in full and most of the conditions for liberation are present in the West, the stage has been set for the renewal of the emancipatory revolution, which should dissolve what remains of existing Communism at the same time it lifts the burdens of estrangement, spiritual impoverishment, and statism from the shoulders of those living in the bourgeois nations of the West and Third World.

Christianity has for centuries been the dominant religion in Europe and in much of the world beyond. Marxism has inspried the widest and deepest social movements of modern times. The encounters between the two have been correspondingly arduous and complex, ranging from drawn combat to dialogue. In this absorbing study, James Bentley reconstructs one key sequence in the history of the relationship: the dialogue between Marxists and Christians in the German-speaking countries of Europe over the past hundred years. Bentley offers a rich and detailed discussion of the explorations, debates and controversies of the period. The Christian writers discussed here include Blumhardt, Barth and Solle; among Marxists, such contrasting figures as Kautsky and Bloch receive concentrated attention. The historical and political settings of the dialogue are constantly present in Bentley’s study—from the First World War to the Vietnamese revolution, from the rise of Stalin to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Between Marx and Christ makes a fascinating scholarly contribution to the history of European thought—and casts unexpected light on the intellectual orgiins of latter-day “theology of liberation.”

Reprint. Originally published: Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 1974.

Is There Hope in the Chaos? Our civilisation is unstable. Everyone can feel it. We face a looming mental health crisis. Slavery, censorship and superstition are back. Our politics are polarising. All the affluence in the world can’t seem to quench our thirst for meaning and purpose. But maybe there is hope—if we know where to look. In this timely book, Kurt Mahlburg shows how profoundly the West has been shaped by the life and teachings of Jesus—from our democratic freedoms and our pursuit of reason and science to our belief that every life is precious. Could rediscovering Jesus be the answer to our crisis?