Evidence for divine hostility toward the flesh in the modern era is undeniable. Where once God invited the faithful to taste and see that God is good, they are now forewarned not to trust any of their senses. In his diatribe against the Venerable Erasmus, Martin Luther mocked “diatribe” for “her” trust in God’s revealed Word. A century later Philipp Jakob Spener will caution his readers against placing trust in “hearing the Word,” “baptism,” the “Eucharist,” “prayer,” “worship” — in short, in any outward, material, expression of faith.
In our seminar, the Theology of Karl Marx, we invite participants to reflect critically on how capitalism fundamentally reshaped what Christians have come to believe and how they have come to express their faith.
Sessions 1-3 introduced us to the ways that abstract time and value fundamentally reshaped Christianity from the eleventh through the fourteenth centuries. In session four we witness the full impact of Christ’s commodification. Christ’s body has been eliminated. Only his abstract value form remains.
Pia Desideria is counted a classic in Pietist literature. In it Christians are invited to renounce every last trace of divine materiality: Word, baptism, eucharist, prayer, worship.
This is the community of Christians that set sail to all parts of the world, not to spread a Gospel of peace and reconciliation, but to instruct the ignorant heathen on their need to exploit one another and the material world. Because, once bodies are no longer sacred, only then are they open to full exploitation.
Join us on Sundays, at 3 pm PST, in person in the C Robbins Clark Library at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Berkeley, or online. To learn more, point your browser to https://newconsensus.org/marx-marks.html. Or simply click on the CR code.
Marx-Marks 