Engels defined religion as follows

This paper discusses Engels' contribution to Marxist religious view from five aspects.

I. Origin and development of religion

Engels' research on the origin of religion scientifically explained how religion came into being. Engels believes that the origin and development of religion are consistent with the historical process of human social development. "Religion was born in the most primitive era, which originated from people's wrong and primitive ideas about their own nature and the external nature around them." (3) Religion comes from people's wrong and primitive ideas about their own nature, mainly referring to the idea of immortality of the soul. Engels pointed out that in ancient times, people didn't know the structure of their bodies at all and were influenced by the scenes in their dreams, so they had a concept: their thoughts and feelings were not the activities of the body, but the unique activities of the soul who lived in the body and left the body after death; The image of a person in a dream is that the soul leaves the body temporarily. Therefore, people have to think about the relationship between soul and the outside world. Since people die and the soul continues to live without the body, there is no reason to imagine that it will die, thus creating the concept of immortality of the soul. This concept was produced by the limitations of human beings at that time. (4) Religion comes from the wrong and primitive idea of external nature, that is, natural forces are personified. Engels pointed out that in the eyes of primitive people, natural force is a strange, mysterious and transcendental thing. At a certain stage experienced by all civilized countries, they assimilated natural forces through personification. It is this personalized desire that has created many gods everywhere. The study of comparative mythology proves that natural forces are deified, and have experienced extremely different and complicated personification in different nationalities, resulting in various gods. The origin of religion is not only the deification of natural forces, but also the role of social forces. Engels pointed out that the role of social forces in the origin of religion lies in that such forces, like natural forces themselves, are alien to human beings and cannot be explained at first. They dominate people with the same obvious natural inevitability. At first, God, who only embodies the mysterious power of nature, gained social attributes and became the representative of historical power. In the further development stage, all the natural and social attributes of many gods are transferred to an all-powerful god, and this god itself is only the reflection of abstract people, thus producing monotheism. 6. From the initial concept of immortality of the soul to the personification and deification of natural and social forces, this is the origin of religion. Therefore, Engels pointed out: "All religions are just reflections in people's minds of the fantasy of external forces that dominate people's daily lives. In this kind of reflection, human power appears in the form of superhuman power. " ⑦ Engels' argument about religion well summarizes the external forces of religious formation and the reflection of its fantasies in people's minds.

Engels also explained the formation of world religions with the emergence and development of Christianity. According to Engels' exposition, the original religious ideas shared by the ethnic groups with blood relations have developed uniquely among the ethnic groups after their division and according to their living conditions. In this way, the gods formed in each nation are national gods, and the kingdom of these gods is not beyond the national territory they protect. As long as these peoples exist, these gods will continue to live in people's hearts; These countries have perished, and these gods have perished with them. In the process of conquering the world, the Roman empire made the old nation decline, and the gods of the old nation perished, even the Roman gods who were only suitable for the narrow circle of Rome perished. In the early days of the Roman Empire, people tried to recognize and worship all the foreign gods who were revered except the local gods. This attempt shows the need of being a Roman world empire with world religions. Christianity appeared at this time. Two hundred and fifty years later, it became the state religion of the Roman Empire. The national god perished with the decline of the nation. New social conditions need new gods, so Christianity appeared. Engels also studied the origin of Christianity, which we will explain in another article.

Engels' exposition on the origin of religion enriches the Marxist view of religion. Marxist atheism does not deny the scientific study of the concept of God and the history of religious origin.

Second, the historical development of religion and the changes of social, economic and political systems.

Engels elaborated on religious issues in many aspects, among which the incisive exposition on the role of Christianity in the bourgeois revolution and its relationship with the development of capitalist society in Europe fully reflected Engels' contribution to Marxist religious view.

Since Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, it has developed with the feudal system in Europe. According to Engels' analysis, in the Middle Ages, with the development of feudal system, Christianity became a religion with corresponding feudal hierarchy. In the Middle Ages, all other forms of ideology-philosophy, politics and law-were integrated into theology and became the main body of theology. Therefore, any social movement and political movement at that time had to take the form of theology. For the feelings of the masses who are completely influenced by religion, if we want to set off a huge storm, we must let the vital interests of the masses appear in the cloak of religion. Adapting to the rise of the bourgeoisie is a Protestant heresy. The inexcusability of Protestant heresy is compatible with the invincibility of the emerging civil class. The first large-scale action of the emerging civil class against the feudal aristocracy took place in Germany, that is, the religious reform. The peasant uprising in the Reformation formed the climax of this revolutionary movement. ⑨

Engels made a profound discussion on the relationship between religious reform and social revolution in the article "German Peasant War". Engels pointed out that the religious struggle in the sixteenth century was carried out for very clear material and class interests. If the class struggle at that time was carried out under the symbol of religion, and the interests and demands of all classes were still hidden under the cloak of religion, then this did not change the essence of the matter, and it is easy to explain it with the conditions of the times. In medieval Europe, politics and law were in the hands of monks and became a branch of theology, and everything was handled according to the prevailing principles in theology. Church dogma is also a political creed, and the words of the Bible have legal effect in all courts. The supreme authority of theology in the whole field of knowledge activities was the inevitable result of the position of the church in the feudal system at that time. It can be seen that all attacks on the feudal system at that time must first be attacks on the church, and all revolutionary social and political theories must also be theological heresies. Because, to violate the social system at that time, we must strip the sacred coat from the system. The anti-feudal revolutionary opposition appeared in the form of mysticism, open heresy or armed uprising with the different conditions of the times. Attending Engels thought that Martin Luther (1483- 1546) and Thomas Munzer (1490- 1525) were full representatives of their respective parties in the German anti-feudal revolution. Martin Luther eventually became the representative of the reformists in the civil class. Although he first came out to oppose the dogma and system of the Catholic Church in 15 17, farmers and civilians regarded his opposition to the call of monks and preaching Christian freedom as a signal of uprising. Thomas Munzer became the representative leading the peasant war. "His theological philosophy theory not only attacks all the main arguments of Catholicism, but also generally attacks all the main arguments of Christianity. He spread a kind of pantheism under the cloak of Christianity, and his pantheism is quite close to the modern reasoning thinking method, and even almost atheism in some places. He denied that the Bible was the only revelation and that it was absolutely correct. In his view, the real vivid revelation should be rationality. Rationality is an inspiration, which exists in all times and countries and will continue to exist. Opposing the Bible with reason is the spirit of destroying it with words. Because the holy spirit proclaimed in the bible is not something other than us; The Holy Spirit is reason. Faith is just the active expression of reason in the human body, so non-Christians can also have faith. Through this belief and lively reason, everyone can have divinity and go to heaven. Therefore, heaven is not on the other side, it must be found in this life. The mission of believers is to establish heaven, the kingdom of heaven, in this world. " {1 1} Engels also pointed out, "Just as menzel's religious philosophy is close to atheism, his political program is also close to communism ... menzel's program is not so much a summary of the demands of the civilians at that time, but rather a genius foresight of the liberation conditions of the proletarian factors that have just begun to develop among the civilians at that time. ..... The kingdom of heaven known to menzel is nothing more than a society without class differences, private property and state power against members of society. " {12} Engels believed that the lightning released by Luther caused a prairie fire. The whole German nation is engaged in sports. Luther translated the Bible, so he gave the civilian movement a powerful weapon. In the translation of the Bible, Luther made a sharp contrast between the simple Christianity in the first few centuries A.D. and the feudal Christianity at that time, and made a sharp contrast between a society with overlapping classes and artificial feudal hierarchy and a collapsing feudal society. Farmers use this weapon to oppose governors, nobles and monks in all aspects. In the movement, various factions formed, and Luther had to make a choice among them. Finally, they abandoned the lower class in the movement and stood on the side of citizens, nobles and princes. {13} From Engels' exposition of German religious reform, we can see the role of Christianity as a revolutionary ideological weapon in the revolutionary movement when European society disintegrated in the Middle Ages.

For the role of Christianity in the bourgeois revolution in Europe, Engels made a profound exposition in the introduction of the English version of "The Development of Socialism from Utopia to Science". Engels believed that the huge international center of European feudalism was the Roman Catholic Church. It unified the whole feudal western Europe (despite all kinds of internal wars) into a big political system and opposed the divided Greek Orthodox Church and Islamic countries. It endowed the feudal system with a sacred aura. It established its own hierarchy in a feudal way, and finally, it was the most powerful feudal Lord, owning a full third of the real estate in the Catholic world. If we want to successfully attack the secular feudal system in every country from all aspects, we must first destroy its sacred central organization. Engels believed that the long-term struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism reached its climax in three decisive battles. The first time was the so-called religious reform in Germany. Luther called for rebellion against the church, which aroused two political uprisings: one was the lower-class aristocratic uprising led by Flantz von Bauhinia Root (148l-1523) in 523, and the other was the peasant war in 525. Both uprisings failed. As a result, Germany has not been among the politically active European countries for 200 years. Luther's religious reform established a new creed, that is, religion suitable for absolute monarchy. Luther's reform failed, but French Calvin's religious reform won. Calvin's religious reform highlighted the nature of the bourgeoisie and made the church Republican and democratic. Where the kingdom of God has been a republic, the kingdom on earth will no longer be subordinate to monarchs, bishops and lords. Calvinism established a republic in Holland and a Republican Party in England, especially in Scotland.

The second bourgeois uprising took place in Britain, and a ready-made theory was found in Calvinism. The initiator of this revolution is the urban middle class, while the finisher is the rural farmers. Like the Reformation in Germany, it was the peasants who provided the fighting troops, and it was precisely the peasants who were bound to go bankrupt because of this economic result of winning again and again. King Henry VIII generously disposed of the land of the church and produced a large number of new bourgeois landlords. In the process of British bourgeois revolution, Protestant sects provided the bourgeoisie with flags and soldiers.

The French Revolution was the third bourgeois uprising. However, this is the first time to completely abandon the religious cloak and fight on the undisguised political front. This is also the first time to really carry the struggle to the end until the aristocrats on one side of the war are eliminated and the bourgeoisie on the other side wins completely. Engels also compared the bourgeois revolutions in Britain and France. He believes that if materialism becomes the creed of the French Revolution, then the God-fearing British bourgeoisie will stick to its religion more tightly. The more materialism spreads from France to neighboring countries, the more it is supported by various similar theoretical ideas, especially German philosophy. The more educated people in mainland China generally need materialistic and liberal ideas, the more stubbornly the British middle class adheres to its various religious beliefs. These creeds can be different from each other, but they are all obvious Christian creeds. Engels' statement objectively reflects the situation of various Christian sects in the process of British bourgeois revolution and industrial revolution.

The role of religion in the bourgeois revolution in Europe was determined by the social and historical conditions at that time. Due to the rise of the bourgeoisie, the class that has the most direct interest in the struggle against the rights of the Roman church is the bourgeoisie. Because of the dominant position of religion, every struggle against feudalism at that time was bound to put on the cloak of religion, and it was bound to point the finger at the church first. Engels pointed out: "The general historical movements are all religious, even in the Christian field, this religious color is only manifested in the primary stage of the bourgeois liberation struggle, that is, from the thirteenth century to the seventeenth century; At the same time, this color can not be explained by Feuerbach's thought, but by the history of the whole Middle Ages, which only knew one ideology, namely religion and theology. But by the eighteenth century, the bourgeoisie was strong enough to establish its own ideology suitable for its class status. At this time, they carried out their great and thorough revolution-the French Revolution, and only resorted to law and political thought. Only when religion blocks their way do they pay attention to religion. " {14} Since the bourgeois revolution, in the historical development of western countries, secularization has generally weakened the social role and social influence of religion because of the separation of church and state or the de facto separation of church and state, although religion still occupies an important position in the ideology of western society. The development of social history shows the social adaptability of religion and the changes of religion with the social and historical process. Engels' exposition on the relationship between religion and bourgeois revolution profoundly expounded the social function of religion under certain conditions.

Three. Religion and science

The relationship between religion and science is an important aspect of Engels' research on religious issues, and it is also the unique contribution of Engels to Marxist religious view.

Engels took the understanding of natural forces as an important and decisive reason when discussing the emergence of religion and the concept of God. Engels thought: "In the eyes of primitive people, natural forces are strange, mysterious and beyond everything. At a certain stage experienced by all civilized countries, they assimilated natural forces through personification. It is this personalized desire that has created many gods everywhere; The consensus of all people used to prove the existence of God just proves the universality of this individualized desire as an inevitable transitional stage, thus proving the universality of religion. Only by truly understanding the power of nature can we drive all kinds of gods or gods out of various places. " {15} From this exposition of Engels, we can see that ignorance of natural forces is an important reason for the emergence of religious theism. Only with the development of understanding of natural forces and natural sciences will people's religious concepts change. The development history of natural science and the change of religion since modern times show the close relationship between the change of religious concept and the development of natural science.

In medieval Europe, religious theology had supreme authority in the whole field of knowledge activities, and all other disciplines became branches of theology. In the Middle Ages, "science was just a obedient handmaid of the church, and it was not science at all." {16} In medieval Europe, science was strangled by theology. During the development of science, nothing was left in the Christian Middle Ages. With the rise of bourgeoisie and bourgeois revolution, natural science was born and formed in this revolution.

Engels deeply analyzed the relationship between the development of modern natural science and modern social change and religion in his article Dialectics of Nature. Engels believed that modern natural science, like the whole modern history, started from such a great era, which was called the Reformation by the Germans, the Renaissance by the French and the 1950s by the Italians. But none of these names can fully express this era. This is an era that began in the second half of the fifteenth century. The king's regime relied on citizens to overcome the power of feudal nobles and established a huge monarchy based on nationality in essence. Modern European countries and modern bourgeois society developed on this basis. The Renaissance showed the ancient glory of Greece, Italy experienced unprecedented artistic prosperity, and the ghost of the Middle Ages disappeared. Sailing around the world has broken the boundaries of the old earth and laid the foundation for the future world trade and the transition from handicraft industry to workshop handicraft industry, which is the starting point of modern large-scale industry. The Reformation destroyed the Roman Catholic dictatorship, and most Germans accepted Protestantism. At the same time, among the Romanesque people, a kind of free thought absorbed from Arabs was nourished by the newly discovered Greek philosophy, which prepared for materialism in the18th century. This is the greatest and most progressive change that mankind has never experienced, and it is an era that needs giants and produces giants. Those who lay the foundation for the modern bourgeoisie have never been restricted by the bourgeoisie. "Natural science was also developing in the general revolution at that time. It was completely revolutionary in itself, and it wanted to fight for its right to exist. Natural science, together with the great Italian figures who started modern philosophy, sent its martyrs to the crematorium and the prison of the Inquisition. It is worth noting that Protestants have persecuted the free research of natural science more than Catholics. When Serbia was about to discover the process of blood circulation, Calvin burned him to death and baked him alive for two hours. The Inquisition is content to simply burn Giordano Bruno. " {17} Engels' exposition tells us that in the early stage of the development of modern natural science, the conflict between religion and science was quite fierce, because the emergence and development of science challenged the authority of the church and impacted theological ideology. Although religion persecutes natural scientists, natural science has opened up a road for itself in the struggle with its historical inevitability.

Mikolaj Kopernik (1473-1543) published his monograph "On the Operation of Celestial Bodies" in1543 and put forward Heliocentrism. Heliocentrism of Copernicus destroyed Ptolemy's geocentric theory, which was brought into his system by medieval scholasticism, challenged the authority of the church on natural matters, and had an important influence on people's thoughts and beliefs, leading to an ideological revolution, that is, a change in the concept of human cosmology and the relationship between human beings and the universe. Engels pointed out: "Since then, natural science has been liberated from theology, although the debate on individual opposing views has been delayed until now, and it is far from getting results in the minds of many people. But the development of science has made great strides since then, and it has gained a kind of power, which can be said to be proportional to the square of its distance from the starting point. " {18} The development of modern natural science completely confirmed Engels' assertion.

The scientific revolution started by Copernicus wrote a challenge to theology, but Newton (1622- 1727) ended this period with the assumption that God ascended for the first time. Engels believed that "the highest universal thought reached by natural science in this period was the purposeful thought about natural arrangement." According to this theory, cats were created to eat mice, and mice were created to prove the wisdom of the creator. "{19} This shows that it is a historical process for modern natural science to get rid of the bondage and influence of theological thought, which should be realized through the development of natural science. It was the German philosopher Kant (1724- 1804) who opened the first gap in this rigid view of nature.

1755, Kant put forward the "nebula hypothesis" of the formation of the universe in his General History of Nature and the Theory of Celestial Bodies. Engels pointed out that in Kant's book, the question about the first ascension was cancelled, and the earth and the whole solar system appeared as things gradually produced in the process of time. Kant's discovery contains the starting point of all continuous progress. If the earth is a gradual thing, then its current geological, geographical and climatic conditions, its plants and animals must also be a gradual thing. It should have not only a spatially adjacent history, but also a temporally continuous history. Kant's hypothesis was later enriched and demonstrated by Laplace (1749- 1827) and Herschel (1738- 1822). Engels believes that nature does not exist, but is generating and disappearing, which is supported by other aspects. First of all, geology came into being. It not only recognizes the whole earth, but also recognizes that the surface of the earth today and the plants and animals living on it have a history in time. This understanding was quite reluctant at first. Ju Ye Wei's theory (1769- 1832) that the earth has experienced many revolutions replaces the creative action of a single God with a series of repeated creative actions, making miracles the fundamental lever of nature. Only Ryle (1797- 1875) brought rationality into geology for the first time, because he replaced the sudden revolution caused by the creator's whim with the gradual change of the earth. {20} Then, Engels further discussed the progress in various fields of natural science and its influence on religion.

Engels pointed out that the great progress of physics in19th century proved the transformation from heat to mechanical force and from mechanical force to heat, and determined the mechanical equivalent of heat. Great progress in physics has proved that all so-called physical forces, that is, mechanical force, heat, light, electricity, magnetism and even so-called chemical force, can be transformed into each other under certain conditions without losing any force. The amount of exercise that exists in the world is constant. All kinds of special physical forces, that is, the so-called constant "species" in physics, become various forms of material movement that are transformed into each other according to certain laws. The contingency of the existence of so many physical forces has been ruled out from science, because their mutual relationship and transformation have been proved. Physics, like previous astronomy, has reached a result, which inevitably points out that the eternal cycle of moving matter is the final conclusion. {2 1}

Chemistry has also made great progress in the19th century. Engels pointed out that after lavoisier (1743- 1794), especially after Dalton (1766- 1844), the amazing and rapid development of chemistry attacked the old view of nature from another side. In the past, inorganic methods were used to produce compounds that could only be produced in living organisms, which proved that the laws of chemistry were also applicable to organic and inorganic substances, and filled most of the gap between inorganic and organic worlds that Kant thought could not be crossed so far. {22}

In the field of biological research, the systematic scientific research and exploration, as well as the progress of paleontology, anatomy and physiology, especially the systematic application of microscope and the discovery of cells, have accumulated a lot of materials, so it is possible and necessary to use comparative methods to study biology. With the in-depth discovery in various fields of biology, by the middle of the 19th century, the attack on species invariance and provenance theory was successfully completed by Darwin. At the same time, it is found that protoplasm and cells are the lowest organic forms that exist independently. Engels pointed out in this regard: "The basic view of the new view of nature is complete: all rigid things have melted, all fixed things have dissipated, everything that is regarded as special and eternal has become fleeting, and the whole nature has been proved to be moving in an eternal flow and cycle." {23} "In this cycle, any limited material existence mode, whether it is the sun or nebula, individual animals or animal species, chemical combination or decomposition, is also temporary, and nothing is eternal except the constantly changing and moving material and the laws of its movement and change." {24} From Engels' exposition on the development of modern natural science in 18,19th century, especially in19th century, we can clearly see that Engels always linked the development of modern natural science with its influence on theological view of nature. As Engels said, "Natural scientists who believe in God treat God worse than scientists anywhere else." {25} "Under the onslaught of science, one army after another laid down their weapons, and one castle after another surrendered. Until the end, the infinite realm of nature was conquered by science, and there was no place for the creator. " {26} The relationship between the development of natural science and religious theology lies in that the progress and discovery of science constantly destroy the dictatorship of religious theology, change people's view of nature, and make people gradually get rid of the shackles of religious theology's view of nature. The development of materialist view of nature is in direct proportion to the development of natural science.

Engels' contribution to Marxist religious view in religion and science is also reflected in his research on the origin of human beings. Engels clearly pointed out that labor "is the first basic condition of the whole human life, and it has reached such a level that we have to say that in a sense, labor creates people themselves." {27} Engels expounded the role of labor in the transformation from apes to humans. In the process of human evolution, the human hand is not only the organ of labor, but also the product of labor. Man is the most socialized animal of all animals. The development of labor promotes the members of society to combine with each other more closely and cooperate together, thus promoting the emergence of language. Language and labor have also become the main driving forces for the ape brain to gradually become the human brain. The more and more clear consciousness of brain marrow and the organs that serve it, as well as the development of abstract ability and reasoning ability, in turn promote labor and language and promote its further development. With the appearance of fully formed people, society came into being. Labor is also constantly developing, more perfect and more multifaceted. In addition to hunting and animal husbandry, there are agriculture, textiles, textiles, metallurgy, ceramics and navigation. Art and science finally appeared together with commerce and handicrafts, and developed from tribes to nations and countries. With the development of law and politics, the reflection of religion as the illusion of human existence in human mind has also developed. In the face of all these things, which first appear as the products of the mind and seem to rule human society, the simpler products made by the hands of labor take a back seat. In the primitive stage of social development, the mind planning how to work has been able to carry out the planned work not through its own hands, but through the hands of others. The rapid progress of civilization is entirely due to the brain and the development and activity of the brain marrow. People are used to explaining their behavior by thinking rather than demand. In this way, with the passage of time, an idealistic world outlook has emerged. Since the natural science has made great strides in the19th century, people have become more and more aware of their consistency with nature, and the absurd and anti-natural views that oppose spirit and matter, man and nature, and soul and body have become increasingly impossible. This view appeared in Europe after the collapse of classical antiquity, and got the greatest development in Christianity. {28} Engels' research on the origin of human beings and his exposition on the role of labor in the process of transformation from apes to human beings run through the scientific spirit of materialism, and at the same time criticize religious idealism's views on nature and the origin of human beings.

Engels' study of religion and science also involves criticism of pseudoscience. In Dialectics of Nature, Engels exposed and criticized the fantasy, blind obedience and superstition caused by pure experience and contempt for dialectical thinking, which were mainly caused by idealism and divinity.

Engels pointed out that Wallace was the first natural scientist who appeared this situation (1823- 19 13), and both he and Darwin put forward the theory that species mutate through natural selection. However, in 1844, Wallace listened to a lecture on mesmer's hypnosis by a gentleman named Spencer Hall, and did the same experiment on his students, trying to confirm hypnotic phrenology. In order to find out this problem, Engels also did an experiment. The result of the experiment is that no organ can show its function unless the hypnotized person knows what is expected of him. Engels also revealed that Mr Spencer Hall was a very ordinary charlatan, who, under the protection of several priests, ran around Britain, using a young girl as a hypnotic phrenological performance to prove the existence of God and the immortality of the soul, and proved that the materialism advocated by Irving people in major cities at that time was incorrect. Engels pointed out that by 1865, Wallace had traveled in tropical places. After returning in 12, the deification of table dance made him join various "psychic" groups. As for Wallace's belief that the gods will be photographed, Engels revealed that it is not difficult for a photographer to find a "model" for the gods.

Engels also exposed and criticized other researchers of the phenomenon of falling gods, such as the British natural scientist, the discoverer of the chemical element thallium and the inventor of the radiometer william crookes (1832- 19 19), as well as the gods of the European continent, Russian researchers of falling gods and German idealists. After exposing that the so-called god-dropping technique is just a scam, Engels pointed out: "Here we have seen clearly what is the most reliable way from natural science to mysticism. This is not an over-theorization of natural science, but a contempt.