During my a yearlong stay in Australia in 2009, once I happened to visit St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney and witness Sunday Services, a formalized way of communal worship by the followers of world’s largest and celebrated religion – the Christianity. The services involved singing of hymns, reading of verses from the Holy Scriptures and possibly a Psalm, a sermon by the Archbishop and then Baptisms of a few young believers. The services were followed by a very informative guided tour of the Cathedral giving a quick insight into the history of the Christianity in Australia in general and of St Mary’s Cathedral in particular.
Impressed by the enriched history of the Christianity and captivated by this very orderly and benevolent way of offering prayers by the Christian’s’ Catholic community, I aimed to study the Christian religion in detail and explore its various aspects. However, the most vital factor which led me to write this paper is my eagerness to understand and analyze a shadowy and controversial yet vital Christians’ Doctrine of the Trinity, as during my visit to the Cathedral I was amazed to view the sermon and hymns glorifying the God, the Christ and the Holy Spirit while putting them all at equal to one and another, despite of the fact that the Christianity, besides Judaism and Islam, is a Monotheistic religion which believes in only one God.
In pursuance to my eagerness to understand and research on the subject matter, I went through a number of books and research articles about Christianity in general and the Doctrine of Trinity in particular written by numerous writers professing differing school of thoughts. Having gone through all these writings, my understanding about the Doctrine of Trinity remained as bewildering as ever before. However, being a student of MPhil in Socio-Cultural Anthropology once I tried to analyse the subject matter in anthropological perspective, my understanding of the issue became much explicit and I could make sense of many underlying facts about this mysterious faith of Christianity.
While doing my research work and writing this paper I have used the secondary data. However, I fully acknowledge and thank for the continual assistance provided by my instructors, my class fellows, and the Bahria University’s library staff during my drawn-out research work.
Introduction
The most debated mystery of the Christian faith has been the Doctrine of Trinity, which defines God as three divine persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three persons, though distinct from one another, co-exist in unity and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial.
Most Christians often say they believe in the Trinity, yet they differ in their understanding of it. There are numerous Trinitarian conceptions that exist today, but generally the Trinity belief is that in the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; yet, together they are but one God. Supporters of the Trinity say that it is founded not only on religious tradition but also on teachings of the Bible. The Greek Orthodox Church calls the Trinity “the fundamental doctrine of Christianity,” even saying “Christians are those who accept Christ as God.” In the book ‘Our Orthodox Christian Faith’ the same Church declares: “God is triune . . . . The Father is totally God. The Son is totally God. The Holy Spirit is totally God.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church describes the Trinity as “the central dogma of Christian theology”.
On the other hand, the critics of the Doctrine of Trinity say it false and man self-fabricated, as the God Almighty stands alone as a separate, eternal, and all-powerful being. They argue that Jesus in his prehumen existence was, like the angels, a separate spirit person created by God, and for this reason he must have had a beginning, i.e. “there was a time when he was not”. They instill that Jesus has never been Almighty God’s equal in any sense; he has always been subject to God and still is. They also believe that the Holy Ghost is not a person but God’s spirit, his active force. The opponents of the doctrine claim that it is not a Bible teaching, one history source even declaring the origin of the Trinity as entirely pagan.
Since the inception of doctrine of Trinity into Christianity about fifteen centuries ago, most Christians who believe in this doctrine have never actually checked it out to see why they believe it. They just assume that it must be true because it is what most churches teach. In addition, many people think it is wrong to question doctrines like this. But the reality is that many Christians who accept the doctrine of Trinity, remain confused and even those who have a deeper understanding of it admit that they do not understand it completely and can’t defend it when challenged. Once stuck, their eventual response is that the Trinity is hard to understand because God is beyond human thinking.
There is another disturbing aspect of this debate that many Christians believe in different Trinity doctrines or at least they understand this doctrine in different ways. Some believe that God is one being that shows himself in three different ways, like water shows itself in the form of ice, steam, and liquid. Others believe that the Trinity is made up of three distinct personalities and these three are in complete unity in love and purpose.
Notwithstanding the above, the aim of this paper is to explore and comprehend the Christians’ Doctrine of Trinity from different aspects including the anthropological perspective. In doing so, I will first briefly glance at Christianity as a religion while looking into its origin, brief history and the basic beliefs. Then I will deliberate upon one of Christianity’s most controversial yet pivotal teachings, i.e. the Doctrine of Trinity. In this part of the paper, I will address some of vital questions concerning the Doctrine of Trinity and will try to find their answers from the available texts and writings. Thereupon, I will analyse the said doctrine from anthropological perspective while applying a French social theorist Michael Foucault’s renowned theory on ‘knowledge is power’. I will also highlight perspectives about religion by a few other great philosophers like Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Sigmund Freud. At the end I will draw my conclusion.
Christianity at a Glance
Its Origin, Brief History and Basic Beliefs
The Christianity is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of a Jewish preacher named Yeshua, commonly known as Jesus Christ, who lived in Nazareth, a small town in Galilee of Roman province Judaea, about 2,000 years ago. Yeshua was born to a Virgin Mary probably between 7 and 4 BCE, and was executed in Jerusalem in the spring of the year 30 CE on the orders of the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate. After Yeshua’s death, his apostles formed the Jewish Christian movement, concentrated in Jerusalem. One of Yeshua’s Apostles Simon Peter and then James, who is viewed as either Yeshua’s brother or cousin, headed the group. They regarded themselves as a reform movement within Judaism; as they continued to sacrifice at the temple, circumcise their male children, and follow Jewish kosher food laws etc.
Around 34 CE, Saul of Tarsus, originally a persecutor of the Jewish Christians, while travelling on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus on a mission to apprehend the Jewish Christians had a vision of the resurrected Jesus in a great light. He converted to Christianity and adopted the new name of Paul the Apostle, and became the greatest theologian of the early Christian movement. His writings, along with those of the author(s) of the Gospel of John, provided much of the theological foundation for what has been called Pauline Christianity, a movement that spread throughout the northern and eastern Mediterranean basin. Paul Christianity, which started around 37 CE, was directed primarily to Gentiles, i.e. non-Jews.
The third contesting belief system was Gnostic Christianity, which taught that Jesus was a spirit sent by God to impart knowledge to humans so that they could escape the miseries of life on earth. In addition to Jewish, Pauline and Gnostic Christianity, there were many other versions of Christianity being taught. However, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Army in 70 CE, the Jewish Christian movement was largely dissipated which left Pauline and Gnostic Christianity as the dominant Christian groups. Gentiles within the movement took over control of the former movement.
As compare to other beliefs systems, the Pauline Christianity grew quickly in size and influence over a few decades, and by 313 CE Roman Empire recognized it was a valid religion and by 387 CE it became the official religion of the Roman Empire, replacing other forms of religions earlier being practiced under the Roman rule. Gnostic Christianity was severely persecuted, both by the Roman Empire and the Pauline Christian churches.
During the Middle-Ages, most of the Europe was Christianized. Following the Age of Discovery, through colonization and missionary work, Christianity spread to the American subcontinents, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world. As of today, the Christianity is the most popular and largest religion in the world with around 2.34 billion followers, constituting 33.35 % of world’s total population and growing further at the rate of 1.38 % per annum. It is the predominant religion in Europe, the Americas and Southern Africa, and, in one form or another, is the sole state religion of several countries.
During the 7th century CE, power in the Christian world became polarized in Constantinople and Rome. These two Christian centers gradually grew apart in belief and practice. In 1054 CE, a split was formalized between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Later on, in the 16th century various schisms including the Protestant Reformation led to a fragmentation within the Western Church. The Protestant movement has since splintered into what is now many groups of denominations, and tens of thousands of individual denominations. Consequently, as of today there are three main groups practicing Christianity worldwide; the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Protestant Churches. There are other Christian groups as well that do not fit neatly into any one of these primary categories, like Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church. Of all the Christians in the world today about half are Roman Catholic.
Though, there are many differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible on which the Christianity is based, Christians share a set of beliefs that they hold as essential to their faith. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ). The title “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word “mA?A?iaA” meaning anointed one. Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as saviour of humanity, and hold that Jesus’ coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.
The foundation of Christian theology is expressed in the early Christian ecumenical creeds which contain claims predominantly accepted by followers of the Christian faith. These professions state that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary, was crucified, buried, and resurrected from the dead in order to grant eternal life to those who believe in him and trust him for the remission of their sins. They further maintain that Jesus bodily ascended into heaven where he rules and reigns with God the Father. Most denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge all humans, living and dead, and grant eternal life to his followers. He is considered the model of a virtuous life, and both the revealer and physical incarnation of God.
Christianity has played a pivotal role in shaping of the world’s socio-cultural, political and economic scenario, especially the Western civilization. In words of a renowned American scholar Sam Pascoe, “Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise.”
The Doctrine of Trinity
Exploring the Doctrine of Trinity
The Christian Doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons, the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. According to this doctrine, there is only one God in three persons. Each of them is said to be without beginning having existed for eternity. Each is said to be Almighty, neither greater nor lesser than the others. Each is said to be a complete God in every sense of the word which includes God’s attributes and all are equal in time, position, power and knowledge. Together, these three persons are sometimes called the Godhead. In the words of the Athanasian Creed, an early statement of Christian belief, “the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God”.
According this Doctrine, though distinct from one another, the three persons cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation. In other words, God is not divided in the sense that each person has a third of the whole; rather, each person is considered to be fully God. The distinction lies in their relations, the Father being un-begotten; the Son being begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and (in Western Christian theology) from the Son. Regardless of this apparent difference, the three ‘persons’ are each eternal and omnipotent. While distinct in their relations with one another, they are one in all else. This ancient diagram explains the Trinity quite well.
According to researchers, the word Trinity is not mentioned anywhere in the Holy Scripture, but used by the ancient Christian theologians to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons. Some historians are of the view that the English word Trinity is derived from the Greek word trias, meaning “a set of three” or “the number three” and its first recorded use in Christian theology was by Theophilus of Antioch in about 170 AD. However, some researchers argue that the word Trinity came from the Latin word Trinitas, meaning “the number three, a triad”, and was first used by a Latin theologian Tertullian in 220 AD to express this doctrine.
Development of Trinity into a Christian Doctrine
Up until the end of the second century at least, most of the Christians were united in one basic belief; i.e. they all believed in the supremacy of the God Father. They all regarded God the Father Almighty as alone supreme, immutable, ineffable and without beginning. However, with the passing of those second century religious theologians and leaders, the Church found itself slipping slowly but inexorably toward trinity.
Most of the researchers are of the view that the origin of the trinity doctrine is linked to a controversy, often known as “the Arian controversy”, that occurred in the city of Alexandria in the early part of the fourth century. A certain Alexander was bishop of Alexandria, Egypt who attempted to explain ‘the unity of the Holy Trinity’ that whether “the Son of God, is of the same substance, or only of like substance, with the Father.” Alexander professed that “The Son is immutable and unchangeable, all-sufficient and perfect, like the Father, differing only in this one respect that the Father is un-begotten and the Son was begotten.” In explaining how the Son was begotten, Alexander quoted Jesus saying that “He proceeded from the Father.” Arius, who was a presbyter in charge of a parish church in the same city, dissented from the views set forth by Alexander.
This disagreement reached the level of confrontation between Bishop Alexander of Alexandria and his presbyter Arius. So at a synod held at Alexandria in 321 C.E., in which Arius was deposed and excommunicated. However, Arius still had much support outside Egypt. Many of the important bishops theologically agree with Arius: Jesus Christ is not God.
The sustained controversy caused unrest in the whole Roman Empire and Constantine the Great, in order to resolve the issue invited all bishops of the Christian Church (around 300 at that time) to Nicaea (which is now in modern Turkey) in May 325 C.E. Consequently, the creed of Nicaea was signed by 218 bishops who endorsed the Son as co-equal to God. However, the controversy over the nature of Jesus continued for next more than sixty years and gradually involved every conceivable authority; general councils, Popes, Emperors, bishops alone or in parties, and the faithful at large.
A second ecumenical council met in Constantinople in the year 381 CE. This Council gave the finishing touch to the doctrine of “three persons in one God” stating that Jesus and God were co-equal, co-eternal and the deity of the Holy Spirit. From that time the Roman Emperors resolved and proclaimed they would punish all Christians who would not believe in and worship three persons in one God. Thus, the doctrine of the Trinity came to be formally established as the basic foundation of Christian faith for the next fifteen centuries.
Subsequently, the doctrine of the veneration of Mary as the “mother of God” and “bearer of God” was also formulated at the Second Council of Constantinople (553 C.E.) and the title of “Eternal Virgin” was added. “In the prayers and hymns of the Orthodox Church the name of the mother of God is invoked as often as in the name of Christ and the Holy Trinity”aˆ¦.” In the Roman Catholic doctrine, Mary, the mother of God, was identified with the figure of the divine Wisdom. The process of deifying the mother of God went a step further here, in that Mary is treated like a divine hypostasis (substance), the figure of heavenly Wisdom.”
All through this period of development there had been protests made by those who wished to preserve the truth of the Gospel from the innovations; but they were gradually overborne, until at length, when the innovators were strong enough, they called other Christians “Heretics”, and persecuted them.
Factors that Influenced the Doctrine of Trinity
According to most of the researchers the prime factor that influenced the doctrine of Trinity to formulate into a fundamental belief of Christianity has been its connections with the paganism. Throughout the ancient world, as far back as Babylon, it was common for pagans to worship triad gods. This practice was also prevalent before, during and after Christ in Egypt (Horus, Osiris & Isis), India (Siva, Brahma & Vishnu), and Babylon (Ishtar, Sin & Shamash). With the spread of Christianity especially the Pauline’s ministry during the first two centuries CE, most of the pagans in the Mediterranean basin converted to Christianity. They brought with them their centuries old socio-cultural traditions and religious beliefs. After the death of the Apostles, such pagan beliefs began to creep in Christianity. One may think that Paganism was dominated by Christianity, but it is perhaps more accurate to say that Christianity adapted it. Even the fact that Christians worship on Sunday was the adoption of a Pagan festival, because the Jews used to worship on Saturday.
Some researchers are also of the view that one of the factor behind formulation of doctrine of Trinity as Christians’ fundamental faith had been the personal interest of the Roman emperors to wield maximum powers over masses by exploiting religion through the use of Church as a tool. It was in this context that the Constantine the Great, after coming into power in 312 CE, ended the persecution of the Christians and the suppression of the early Church which were continuing since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through conversion to Christianity special favors were offered to the people in the form of political, military and social gains. As a result, thousands of non-Christians joined the Church and enabled Constantine to exercise great power over the Church affairs. Constantine’s involvement in religious affairs was to such an extent that he himself presided over the proceedings of the Council of Nicaea and exercised his political power to bring to bear the bishops to accept his theological position. The Encyclopedia Britannica summarizes the proceedings of the Council of Niacea as follows:
“The Council of Niacea met on May 20, 325. Constantine himself presiding, actively guiding the discussion, and personally proposed (no doubt on Ossius’ prompting) the crucial formula expressing the relation of Christ to God in the creed issued by the council, “of one substance with the Father.” Over-awed by the emperor, the bishops, with two exceptions only, signed the creed, many of them against their inclination.”
Justifications by the Trinitarians about the Doctrine of Trinity
The people who support the Doctrine of Trinity, commonly known as the Trinitarians, justify it on the basis that some verses in the Holy Bible, of which a few mentioned below, have specific reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as distinct entities in a single narrative.
“As soon as Jesus Christ was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and landing on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
“The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”
“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”
The Trinitarians interpret these verses as support for the doctrine of Trinity, because these verses speak of distinct entities mentioned by name in a single nerative. They argue, though the New Testament does not use the word “I¤I?I?I¬I‚” (Trinity) nor explicitly teach it, yet it provides the referencing material upon which the doctrine of the Trinity could be formulated. In addition, the Old Testament has also been interpreted as foreshadowing the Trinity, by referring to God’s word, his spirit, and Wisdom, as well as narratives such as the appearance of the three men to Abraham, which the Trinitarians view as support of a Trinity.
Rejection of Doctrine of Trinity by the Non-Trinitarians
Many groups in Christianity, commonly known as non-Trinitarians, do not believe in the Doctrine of Trinity or the way the God is described in the Trinity and His relation with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Non-Trinitarian groups also differ from one another in their views about the nature of Jesus Christ, depicting him variously as a divine being second only to God the Father, as God but not eternally God, as Son of God but inferior to the Father (versus co-equal), as a prophet, or simply as a holy man. The non-Trinitarians reject the Doctrine of Trinity on the basis that the expression “God the Father”, “God the Son” and “God the Holy Spirit” were not known or advocated by Jesus or the early Christians. They argue that the Apostolic Fathers and those of the succeeding generations up to the last quarter of the 4th century CE never have thought of a triune God. They believed in One Omnificent, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Transcendent Creator Who alone is to be worshipped.
Some Christian history researchers and scholars also dispute the authenticity of the Trinity and argue that the doctrine is the result of “later theological interpretations of Christ’s nature and function.” In their view, the doctrine of the Trinity was coined by the Christians about three hundred years after Jesus. The four Canonical Gospels, written between 70 and 115 CE, contain no reference to the Trinity. Even Saint Paul, who imported many foreign ideas into Christianity, knew nothing of the Triune God. The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits that the doctrine of the Trinity was unknown to the early Christians and that it was formulated in the last quarter of the 4th century. At first the Christian faith was not Trinitarian . . . It was not so in the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the New Testament and other early Christian writings. The early Christians, however, did not at first think of applying the (Trinity) idea to their own faith. They paid their devotions to God the Father and to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and they recognized the Holy Spirit; but there was no thought of these three being an actual Trinity, co-equal and united in One.
Denouncement of Doctrine of Trinity by the Holy Qur’an
Islam’s holy book the Qur’an denounces the concept of Trinity as an over-reverence by Christians of God’s Word, the prophet and Messiah Jesus Christ son of the Virgin Mary. The Qur’an declares Jesus as one of the most important and respected prophets and Messengers of God, primarily sent to prevent the Jews from changing the Torah, and to refresh and reaffirm his original message as revealed to Moses and earlier prophets. The Qur’an reveals that the creation of Jesus is framed similar to the creation of Adam out of dust, but with Jesus’ birth meaning his creation excludes male human intervention rather than creation completely without human participation. According to Qur’an teachings belief in Jesus as a prophet, as well as belief in the original Gospel and Torah and belief in Jesus’ virgin birth are core criterion of being a Muslim and Qur’anic criterion for salvation in the hereafter along with belief in the Prophet Muhammad and all the prior prophets. In short, in Qur’an the God is seen as being both perfect and indivisible. He can therefore have no peer or equal. Jesus, being God’s creation, can never be considered to be equal with God or a part of God. So, any believe in the concept of Trinity is considered as blasphemy in Islam.
Anthropological Perspective about the
Doctrine of Trinity
In the preceding paragraphs I have tried to explore the Christians’ Doctrine of Trinity from different historians and researchers’ point of view. The study confirmed that this doctrine had no roots in the teachings of Jesus Christ, his Apostles or the early Christian theologians. It was gradually evolved and formulated after at least three hundred years of Christ resurrection. No doubt, this doctrine has been in hot discussion in the Christian world for centuries and has retained the central most space in Christian theology. Though, tons of literature has been written down to analyse this Trinitarian doctrine, but its understanding remains as bewildering as ever before. Now, in order to comprehend this doctrine from anthropological perspective I will try to deconstruct it by going through its contents and by discourse analyses while applying Michael Foucault’s theory on ‘knowledge is power’.
In order to do that I will apply his structural theory to deconstruct this doctrine as power is employed to analyse knowledge, i.e. the concept of discursive formations. Foucault has a unique lens to see the world, societies, and its different institutions, and to use his own perspective about the knowledge and power. His philosophical theories addressed what power is and how it works, the manner in which it controls knowledge and vice versa, and how it is used as a form of social control. His first argument is that “all relationships are the relationships of power” which are diffused in the fabric of society ontologically, and its intrinsic urge to control others, everyone, and everything. He argues that in the human cultural history irrespective of time and space as a major rule human wants to control human by nature. Foucault divides all human history in three episteme; pre-historic, religious and scientific episteme respectively. He describes religion as a tool to control people. In his view, knowledge such as scriptures, symbols, myths and rituals play a pivotal role to prove legitimacy of any religion.
Knowledge is information and skills acquired through experience and education. Foucault describes four types of contesting knowledge that exist at parallel in a society; i.e. dominant, subordinate, marginalized and muted knowledge. According to Foucault, knowledge as power is used very carefully and politically by the knowledge creators to control human mind. Dominant knowledge creators are the drivers of the society as an elite class in the Marxist paradigm. Dominant knowledge producers create knowledge as discourse which elect some people, and give them the gaze to judge masses in the society, which means society is panoptical and individuals are under constant surveillance that they are doing their jobs properly. If some deviate from their role then the system declare them unfit and put them into asylum.
In Foucault’s perspective the society is held up in illusion and false consciousness. He annihilates all beliefs, norms, traditions and rules as discourse created by the dominant knowledge producers which are overwhelmingly imposed on the society. He proclaims that “no knowledge is authentic, all are socially constructed.” In line with many other postmodernists, Foucault argues that the reason to contest between knowledge is that there is a gap between the surface knowledge and living knowledge. Through discourse analysis, power structures may be uncovered and questioned by way of analyzing the corresponding fields of knowledge through which they are legitimized. This is one of the ways that Foucault’s work is linked to critical theory. The corollary of the concepts of Foucault is “ruling under the rubric of knowledge as power to dominate the thoughts of society”.
Now applying Foucault’s theory on to the Doctrine of Trinity, we would evaluate its legitimacy as divine revelation or socially constructed theology. As we explored earlier, the doctrine of Trinity came into existence through a gradual evolution that took over two centuries. The Christianity that started its career as a pure monotheistic religion drifted slowly but inexorably toward polytheistic beliefs under the influence of pagan traditions and the dominant class of that time, i.e. the Roman emperors. The earlier Christian theologians and council of Bishops like Gnostic (50 CE), Justin Martyr (150 CE), Theophilus (169 CE), Irenaeus (177 CE), Tertullian (192 CE), Clement (215 CE), Hippolytus (220 CE), Origen (230 CE), Sibellius (255 CE), Arius (320 CE), Council of Nicaea (325 CE), Council of Constantinople (381 CE), Council of Chalcedon (451 CE) played their role in the formulation of doctrine of Trinity by continuously defining and re-defining the nature of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit and their relations to one another. Throughout this process the dominant class of that time used its political muscles to keep the doctrine in line with the state mechanism. In short, the knowledge created by the religious theologians and scholars in collaboration with the ruling class was employed to wield maximum power, and that power was used to control the masses.
Now we will exchange the lens of Michael Foucault with other great philosophers of nineteenth and twentieth centuries in order to analyze this doctrine in their own conceptions and perceptions. One of the great figure the social philosopher and the most influential political atheist Karl Marx has a very unique materialistic world view to see the processes in the society. He proclaims a conflict view of religion as “the sigh of the oppressed creature”, “the illusory happiness of men”, “the reflex of real world”, “the opium of
