SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION 



lutionary thinkers since the betrayal of the Chris- 

 tian revolution, and it is certainly not calculated 

 to increase our confidence in Christian socialists 

 who repeat it against the revolutionary thought 

 x>f the very class whose ideals they claim to cham- 

 pion. 



They may flatter themselves that they can 

 force the churches of the ruling classes to sur- 

 render to the Christian socialist interpretation 

 of the gospels and enact those teachings which 

 were a part of the revolutionary message of the 

 ancient Christian proletariat. They might as well 

 expect that the bourgeoisie should carry out the 

 principles of the natural rights doctrine. It 

 would be ridiculous to lose any more words 

 about such a lack of historical understanding. 



Another argument of Christian socialism is 

 that the materialist standpoint prejudices Chris- 

 tian working men against socialism. If this 

 means anything, it means that we should sup- 

 press our better knowledge and prostitute a 

 known natural truth to some petty tactical utility. 

 That would certainly be neither " Christian " in 

 the sense of Christian socialism, nor reconcilable 

 with the ethics of the proletarian revolution. 



Of course, it is not necessary that every mem- 

 ber of the socialist parties should endorse the full 



172 



