Adventists on Evolution & Marxism

[Dale]

In its widely distributed booklet, Hidden Truth, Amazing Bible Facts Revealed, the Seventh Day Adventist Church, SDA, makes an astounding claim about the relation between Marxism and evolution. The Hidden Truth booklet is given away free at Seventh Day Adventist hospitals.

"Closely related, evolution, Marxism's first tenet, is also losing its credibility."
Hidden Truth, p. 7, column 1.

What is the relation between Marxism and Charles Darwin's evolution? Were Karl Marx and Frederich Engels inspired by Darwin's evolution to come up with an atheistic way of organizing society?

<>Karl Marx and Frederich Engels published the Communist Manifesto, or Manifesto of the Communist Party, in 1848.
<>Charles Darwin first presented his theory of evolution to other scientists in 1858. The Origin of the Species was published in 1859.
<>In other words, Communism was a serious movement at least eleven years before Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection was even published, let alone accepted.


The only mention of "evolution" in The Communist Manifesto is as follows:
(1) "Or, on the contrary, must it first pass through the same process of dissolution such as constitutes the historical evolution of the West?"
(2) " . . . of struggles between exploited and exploiting, between dominated and dominating classes at various stages of social evolution . . ." [lenghy sentence]

The Communist Manifesto refers to "historical evolution" and to "social evolution" but contains no mention of biological evolution, human evolution, or even "evolution" without a modifier.

 

[TheManeki]

The Seventh-Day Adventists have a history of hangups regarding evolution. I'm not sure if it is still the case, but it was true in the past.

Just a quick history review (mostly from Ronald Numbers' The Creationists):

• Adventism sprang up as an offshoot of the Millerites, a Christian sect who believed that the world was going to end in the 19th century (Oct 22, 1844 was their last guess).
• Ellen White was regarded by the Adventist church to be a prophetess, and her pronouncements shaped a lot of their theology, including
  • Biblical literalism
  • As an outgrowth of their belief in Biblical literalism, belief that the world was created in 6 24-hour periods, as well as belief in a global Noachian flood.
• George McCready Price, who in the early 20th century popularized the concepts of a 6-day creation and global Noachian flood, was an Adventist. Interestingly enough, up to this point the majority of Christians interpreted Genesis to point towards some form of old-Earth creationism, with a small but growing minority favoring theistic evolution. Noah's flood was considered to have been a local event. Before Price, only a minority of Christians (such as some in the conservative wing of the Lutheran denomination) believed in a literal 6-day creation and global flood.

 

[Chalnoth]

In its widely distributed booklet, Hidden Truth, Amazing Bible Facts Revealed, the Seventh Day Adventist Church, SDA, makes an astounding claim about the relation between Marxism and evolution. The Hidden Truth booklet is given away free at Seventh Day Adventist hospitals.

"Closely related, evolution, Marxism's first tenet, is also losing its credibility."
Hidden Truth, p. 7, column 1.

What is the relation between Marxism and Charles Darwin's evolution? Were Karl Marx and Frederich Engels inspired by Darwin's evolution to come up with an atheistic way of organizing society?

<>Karl Marx and Frederich Engels published the Communist Manifesto, or Manifesto of the Communist Party, in 1848.
<>Charles Darwin first presented his theory of evolution to other scientists in 1858. The Origin of the Species was published in 1859.
<>In other words, Communism was a serious movement at least eleven years before Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection was even published, let alone accepted.


The only mention of "evolution" in The Communist Manifesto is as follows:
(1) "Or, on the contrary, must it first pass through the same process of dissolution such as constitutes the historical evolution of the West?"
(2) " . . . of struggles between exploited and exploiting, between dominated and dominating classes at various stages of social evolution . . ." [lenghy sentence]

The Communist Manifesto refers to "historical evolution" and to "social evolution" but contains no mention of biological evolution, human evolution, or even "evolution" without a modifier.

So? What's your point?

 

[flatworm]

Actually, it's quite well corroborated historically that Communism outright rejected Darwininan evolution and Mendelian genetics. Admitting that basic traits were inherited rather than acquired was anathema to a philosophy aimed at eliminating the heriditary class structure.

See wikipedia entries for Trofim Denisovich Lysenko and Lysenkoism.

My advice to religious leaders: Stop lying about things that can so easily be verified. Once people realize you're full of it concerning ordinary, easy-to-check things, why would they believe you concerning fantastical claims beyond the hope of human verification?

 

[Naraoia]

Once people realize you're full of it concerning ordinary, easy-to-check things, why would they believe you concerning fantastical claims beyond the hope of human verification?

I don't know why they would but apparently some people do.

 

[InTheCloud]

George McCready Price, who in the early 20th century popularized the concepts of a 6-day creation and global Noachian flood, was an Adventist. Interestingly enough, up to this point the majority of Christians interpreted Genesis to point towards some form of old-Earth creationism, with a small but growing minority favoring theistic evolution. Noah's flood was considered to have been a local event. Before Price, only a minority of Christians (such as some in the conservative wing of the Lutheran denomination) believed in a literal 6-day creation and global flood.

So that was one of the culprits.

 

[Vene]

Is there a point in this? Does it really matter that Marxism is older than Darwinian evolution? (I say Darwinian as Lamarckian evolution is an older, albeit false, evolutionary hypothesis)

 

[Dale]

Chalnoth:
"So? What's your point?"


One of the most frequently repeated claims of Creationists is that atheism and evolution are connected, if not identical. Likewise, many religious conservatives assume atheism and Marxism to be much the same. (Actually, for Marxists to be atheists is more common than for atheists to be Marxists.)

My post deals with that claim.

I'm not sure what the largest, or most influential, religious denomination actively advocating Creationism is, but the Seventy Day Adventists are a good candidate. Many Baptist churches have little if anything to say about Creationism. For the SDA, the ultra-literalist, Creationist bias is all over the place. It is significant when they make such a huge blunder in even the briefest summary of their position on that subject.

I have thought for a long time that one of the basic misconceptions of Creationists is that they exaggerate the significance of Darwin in the intellectual history of the world. They apparently assume that the ideas of Christianity were all-powerful in society before Darwin. This simply is not true. Religion has always been a powerful force in society but it has never been the only force.

 

[Dale]

TheManeki:
"Noah's flood was considered to have been a local event."

There is some evidence that this might be true.

"As an outgrowth of their belief in Biblical literalism, belief that the world was created in 6 24-hour periods, as well as belief in a global Noachian flood."


The SDA continues to be maddeningly literalist. The same booklet, Hidden Truth, gives the exact shape and size of New Jerusalem as literal fact. It does not occur to them that it could be symbolic or open to interpretation.