1. Weaknesses in the Christian View of Value

Christianity promotes excellent virtues, as expressed in the following biblical passages:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39).
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44).
“Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them” (The Golden Rule, Matt 7:12).
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5).
“So, faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23).

Although in Christianity there are many other virtues, it is stated that “love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1), which means that the basis for all virtues is love. It is also stated that “Love is of God…. God is love” (1 John 4:7-8), which means that the basis of love is God.

Yet, in our modern age the existence of God came to be denied by Nietzsche, Feuerbach, Marx, Russell, Sartre, and many others. Christianity has not been able to respond effectively to such God-denying philosophies. That is to say, in the confrontation between theism and atheism, Christianity has lost ground. As a result, a great number of people have become influenced by atheism. Furthermore, a challenge has been issued by Communism against the Christian view of value. Communists deny the concepts of absolute love and love for humankind, as asserted in Christianity, and insist that real love is class-centered love, or love for one’s comrades. In a society where there are conflicts of interest, there can be no love beyond one’s own social class. One simply has to choose to stand either on the side of the proletariat or on the side of the bourgeoisie. It is impossible to practice a love for humankind in an actual class society. Ultimately, say the Communists, love for humankind is an empty phrase that can not be put into actual practice.

To hear such assertions, certainly class-centered love sounds more actual, whereas Christian love sounds merely conceptual. Especially for those who are not convinced of the existence of God, it is quite natural that Christian love does not seem to be so convincing. It is also not surprising that Liberation Theology and Dependency Theory have emerged today in the Third World. According to Liberation Theology, Jesus was a revolutionary who came to save the oppressed and the poor of his age. Therefore, Liberation Theology preaches that those who are true Christians must fight for social revolution. Thus, sympathy for the poor agrees well with the Communist view of class-centered love, and eventually this kind of sympathy becomes aligned with Communism in working to solve actual problems. ⁶

According to Dependency Theory, poverty in the third world arises from structural contradictions between advanced countries and the third world, and is unavoidable. This theory asserts that in order for the third world to be liberated from poverty, the third world must confront advanced capitalist nations. Dependency Theory attempts to align itself with Communism in much the same way as Liberation Theology does. ⁷

Neither Liberation Theology nor Dependency Theory possesses a coherent philosophy, a coherent theory of history, or a coherent economic theory when compared to Communism. Therefore, eventually they can not but be absorbed by Communism. Christianity has been unable to take an effective course of action to resolve this situation.