Von Stein on Difference Between Socialism and Communism

“Socialism is essentially different from Communism, which has a purely negative character vis-a-vis the present state of things, or which aspires in a confused and unconscious manner to realize the idea of a new social order which it conceives of vaguely. The difference is essential; socialism is positive, whereas communism is negative, socialism wishes to create a new society, whereas communism wishes to destroy the present society … Socialism wishes to realize its ends by the power of truth, whereas communism wished to do it by the violence of the crowd, by revolution and crime.”

Lorenz Von Stein
Socialism and Communism in Today’s France — A Contributed to Contemporary History — pg. 28

Author: jetbrane

I am a Pastor of a small Church in Mid-Michigan who delights in my family, my congregation and my calling. I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Paedo-Calvinist Covenantal in my Christianity Reformed in my Soteriology Presuppositional in my apologetics Familialist in my family theology Agrarian in my regional community social order belief Christianity creates culture and so Christendom in my national social order belief Mythic-Poetic / Grammatical Historical in my Hermeneutic Pre-modern, Medieval, & Feudal before Enlightenment, modernity, & postmodern Reconstructionist / Theonomic in my Worldview One part paleo-conservative / one part micro Libertarian in my politics Systematic and Biblical theology need one another but Systematics has pride of place Some of my favorite authors, Augustine, Turretin, Calvin, Tolkien, Chesterton, Nock, Tozer, Dabney, Bavinck, Wodehouse, Rushdoony, Bahnsen, Schaeffer, C. Van Til, H. Van Til, G. H. Clark, C. Dawson, H. Berman, R. Nash, C. G. Singer, R. Kipling, G. North, J. Edwards, S. Foote, F. Hayek, O. Guiness, J. Witte, M. Rothbard, Clyde Wilson, Mencken, Lasch, Postman, Gatto, T. Boston, Thomas Brooks, Terry Brooks, C. Hodge, J. Calhoun, Llyod-Jones, T. Sowell, A. McClaren, M. Muggeridge, C. F. H. Henry, F. Swarz, M. Henry, G. Marten, P. Schaff, T. S. Elliott, K. Van Hoozer, K. Gentry, etc. My passion is to write in such a way that the Lord Christ might be pleased. It is my hope that people will be challenged to reconsider what are considered the givens of the current culture. Your biggest help to me dear reader will be to often remind me that God is Sovereign and that all that is, is because it pleases him.

One thought on “Von Stein on Difference Between Socialism and Communism”

  1. This is a very important distinction since many, even among our otherwise like-minded Christian brethren, have failed to grasp it. I’d like to add a few excerpts from Werner Sombart for your consideration:

    “WE do not believe, and do not wish to believe, in perfect happiness on earth for mankind, and there should be none. The wandering in this “vale of tears” is a testing and purifying period for man. We believe in no purification for man; we do not believe in the “natural goodness of man.” We believe rather, that man will persist in sin till the end of time. p. 146.

    [Communism’s] effect upon fallen mankind, led astray by it, is fatal, because it regards the present only as an [evolutionary] step to a higher, better, more perfect future. It, therefore, depreciates the daily life and ascribes to an eternally new formation a value which it does not possess. To perpetually renew, hinders all culture. In case of doubt, the old is always more valuable than the new. In accordance with its very nature, culture is old, rooted, and indigenous. For that reason no healthy, strong period has ever subscribed to the mania of progress. p. 149. The elimination of divine attributes in natural thought corresponds to the dehumanization in technical thought. p. 230.”

    Werner Sombart, ‘A New Social Philosophy’

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *