with religion only in so far as it stood it its way."
In the same pamphlet, Engels goes on to trace the history of the Chris. tian religion. "The Roman world empire brought about the downfall of the old nationalities. national gods decayed, even those of split with the condi into hierarchy. there develSode Catabl heresy, cities there point. burghers. ... Germany -SOn.
nor sufficiently Calvinist served as a banner republicans LENIN argued strongly against the writer Maxim and defending "the idea of God"
"God is the complex of those deas, worked out by the tribe, the nation. mankind, which awaken and organise social feelings, hav. ing as their object to link the individual with society and to bridle zoological individual.
Lenin, in a blunt reply rgued that *This theory is cleart; wrong ano ciearty reac tionary. Like the Christian socialists (the worst variety The old of "socialism" and its worst distortion). you make use of a memoo wih сосчике your best intentions) repeats the hocus-pocus of the priests You eliminate from the idea of God everything about it from real life (filth, prejudices, sanctifed ignorance the tion, on the one hand. And serfdom and Instead of the reality of history and life there is substiawaken and organise social and justice and the like. But your good wish remains your rebel- masses, and its significance is By virtue of that relationness) that you have put a woo neips them keep the people in slavery It is untrue that God is the which suppresses the mate. took both by external nature and Nowadays both in Europe and in Russia any, even the