Scientific Atheism and Its Social Responsibilities (Part I)

In recent decades, atheism has acquired a poor reputation, and scientific atheism has repeatedly come under attack, often tinged with political emotion—not from religious circles, but from certain figures in academia or even political circles. Taking this opportunity of the China Atheism Annual Conference held in Xinjiang, I wish to discuss this issue. Whether my views are appropriate, I hope experts and scholars will offer their corrections.

近数十年来，无神论的名声不佳，科学无神论也屡屡遭到攻击，而且往往还带有政治情感的色彩——这不是来自宗教界，而是出自学界甚或政界的某些人物。借着这次在新疆举办中国无神论年会的机会，我想谈谈这个问题，是否得当，希望专家学者教正。

Critics generally list three charges against atheism: first, that it is a vestige of the “ultra-leftism” of the Cultural Revolution[1]1 The Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) was a mass political movement launched by Mao Zedong, marked by intense ideological struggle, persecution of intellectuals, and widespread social upheaval; it is often invoked in Chinese discourse as a negative example of extremism.; second, that it undermines social harmony; third, that it opposes the policy of freedom of religious belief. These charges can all politically destroy a person, but this article does not intend to respond from the perspective of refuting slanders—because what lies behind such charges is a lack of relevant knowledge, along with a habitual mindset of using political labels against dissenting opinions; in academic discussion, both of these are negative factors that corrupt the atmosphere and should be avoided. As for certain scholars who claim to study the Marxist view of religion yet are irreconcilably hostile to atheism, that is even more worthy of examination.

抨击者列举无神论的罪名大致有三条，一是文革“极左”的遗绪；二是破坏社会的和谐；三是反对宗教信仰自由的政策。这些罪名都可以在政治上置人于死地，可本文并不想从辩诬的角度去做回应——因为提出这类罪名背后隐含的是相关知识的缺失，以及对不同意见惯于使用政治帽子的习惯性思维；在学术讨论中，这两条都是消极的、败坏风气的因素，应该避免。至于某些号称也要研究马克思主义宗教观的学者，竟然与无神论不共戴天，那就更值得探讨了。

I. Atheism Is a Product of Labor and Human Self-Consciousness, an Achievement of Human Civilization and Thought

一、无神论是劳动和人性自觉的产物是人类文明和思考的成果

First, we must clarify what atheism is. As the term suggests, atheism means seeking truth from facts, holding that gods, ghosts, heaven, hell, and any other supernatural forces do not actually exist in the world; that human destiny is in human hands. Is this a fact and a truth that should not or cannot be spoken?

首先要弄清什么是无神论。顾名思义，无神论就是实事求是，认为世界上没有神、鬼和天堂、地狱以及其他任何超自然力量的实际存在；人的命运掌握在人自身的手里。这是事实，也是真理，不应该讲或不可以讲么？

Some scholars say that atheism is not a field of learning; only those without learning advocate atheism. There is some truth to this statement. Because atheism expresses such a very simple fact. Conversely, theism must be “learned,” for it must assert that something which does not exist does exist, and moreover must present it as a sacred being to which the common masses should submit; without “learning” this is indeed impossible. For instance, arguments for the existence of God (ontological, cosmological, teleological, etc.)—how many articles have been written, how many books published? Descriptions of God’s attributes (truth, goodness, beauty, love, omniscience, omnipotence, etc.)—how many works exist? Further explanations of the relationship between God and humanity (the Trinity, original sin and redemption, believers going to heaven and non-believers to hell, etc.), especially the relationship between God and society, including politics, science, ethics, and values—how many publications are there? From the West to China, from ancient times to the present, probably several libraries could not contain them all. Yet everyone also knows: this kind of learning is called “theology.” To avoid public aversion to gods, it is now euphemistically called “religious studies” or “academic theology,” and it is said to have become a “prominent field” in contemporary Chinese “academia.”

有学者说，无神论没有学问；只有没有学问的人才讲无神论。这话有一定的道理。因为无神论道出的就是这样一个非常简单的事实。相反，有神论必须是“有学问”的，因为它要把本来没有的东西说成是有的，而且还要说成普通大众都应该归命的神圣，没有“学问”确实不成。譬如论证上帝的存在（本体论、宇宙论、目的论之类），写过多少文章，出版过多少图书？描述神的性能（真善美、爱及全知全能之类）的又有多少论著？进一步说明神与人的关系（三位一体、原罪与救赎，以及信神者上天堂，不信者下地狱之类），特别是神与社会，包括政治、科学、伦理以至于价值观的出版物又有多少？从西方到中国，从古至今，恐怕几个图书馆也装不下。然而大家也都清楚：这种学问叫做“神学”，为了避免大众对神的嫌弃，现在又美其名曰“宗教学”或称之为“学术神学”，而且据称已经成为当代中国“学界”中的“显学”了。

Why is it said that there is some truth to the claim that atheists lack learning? Many scholars now eagerly argue that the birth of religion is almost coeval with human civilization, thereby asserting that theism has a long history, is a treasure, and must not be touched. What about atheism? Labor created humanity; what separated humans from animals and made them human began with labor that could make and use tools. Accordingly, once labor became the guarantee and driving force of human survival and development, it simultaneously implied a negation of gods creating humans and creating things, and thus implied the emergence of atheism; productive labor became the first proof of atheism’s validity. As for men and women falling in love, mating, and bearing children, by which humanity continues, this became another proof of atheism rooted in human nature. “Food and sex are human nature”[2]2 “Food and sex are human nature” is a classical Chinese phrase from *Mencius* (告子上), attributed to the philosopher Gaozi, expressing the view that basic physical needs are innate to human beings.; human nature itself firmly ties atheism to the depths of life, and no one can escape it. The world’s three major religions all have ascetic doctrines, precisely because “food and sex are human nature” creates the primordial obstacle to religious faith, and as a result, no religion has ever implemented asceticism thoroughly. Recently the Catholic Pope encountered major trouble: because he concealed and covered up the scandal of clergy molesting children, British atheists threatened to publicly sue him for “crimes against humanity.” Child molestation is one of the evil consequences of ascetic doctrines violating human nature. Reading the famous work *The Decameron* or watching the film *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* can provide a more vivid impression. More intuitively, as soon as an infant is born, its little mouth seeks its mother’s milk, not divine gifts—this is the most everyday observable phenomenon. Thus, without theoretical argument or any learning, as long as one’s nerves are normal, no one waits for pies to fall from the sky, and no virgin becomes pregnant without fertilization or prays to Guanyin[3]3 Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) is a bodhisattva widely venerated in East Asian Buddhism as a deity of compassion who is often prayed to for children. for a child to be sent into her arms. In this sense, everyone is an atheist. We call this spontaneous or instinctive atheism—it exists in all spheres of secular life and runs through a person’s entire life.

为什么讲，说无神论者没有学问也有道理？现在好多学者争着说，宗教的诞生几乎与人类的文明同源，以此说明有神论的源远流长，是个宝，动不得。那无神论呢？劳动创造人；人之所以脱离动物而成为人，始于能够制造和使用工具的劳动。据此，一旦劳动成为人类生存和发展的保障和动力，同时就意味对神造人和神造物的否定，也就意味着无神论的产生；生产劳动就成了无神论得以成立的第一个证明。至于男女相恋，交媾生子，人类由之得以延续，则成了无神论出自人的本性的另一个证明。“食色性也”，人性自身把无神论牢牢地系在生命的深处，任何人都无法摆脱。世界三大宗教都有禁欲主义的教义，因为正是“食色性也”制造了宗教信仰的原始障碍，而其结果，没有一种宗教实行得彻底。最近天主教教皇遇上大麻烦，他因为隐瞒和包庇神职人员娈童的丑闻，闹到英国的无神论者要以“反人类罪”公开起诉他，而娈童就是禁欲主义教义违反人性的恶果之一，这种情况读读《十日谈》这一名著，看看《巴黎圣母院》的电影，就会增加些形象化的印象。更直观一些，婴儿一出生，他（她）的小嘴就要找妈妈的奶吃，而不是去寻求神赐，这是日常最能感知的现象了。这样，不需要理论的论证，也不需要什么学问，只要神经正常，没有人会等着天上掉馅饼，也没有哪位处女不受精即能怀孕或求助观世音即能送子入怀。就此而言，大家都是无神论者，我们称这种无神论为自发的或本能的无神论——它存在于世俗的一切生活领域，而且贯穿于人的一生。

Seen in this light, religion is not a natural human need; theism is a burden, a yoke imposed on humanity from outside. The question is: is its basis real? Is its existence rational? How did this thing, lacking objective basis and being irrational, arise, and how was it imposed on people such that they voluntarily or involuntarily accepted it? Such questions require answers, and thus conscious atheism emerged—that is, atheism directed against theism and in opposition to it. The mission of conscious atheism is to expose and criticize the absurdity of theism, refute the errors of theology, explain the roots of religious belief in gods and spirits, and point out the path to overcoming theism. It can be said that it emerged from the very day religion was born. The history of conscious atheism is synchronous with the history of the formation and development of religion. In this sense, atheism is also a very great field of learning: it must refute all theories of gods and spirits, reveal the history and functions of their many organizational forms, and at the same time clarify the scientific, philosophical, and practical human foundations of atheism, even indicating the characteristics of atheistic and non-religious modes of thought and life. Therefore, its scope is far broader than theology, and its thought goes deeper. The *Encyclopædia Britannica* defines “atheism” as an “achievement of civilization and thought”[4]4 The *Encyclopædia Britannica* entry on atheism describes it as “an achievement of civilization and thought,” emphasizing its role in the development of rational inquiry.—this should be an accurate judgment based on extensive scientific research, objective and fair: in atheism is embodied the main process of humanity’s infinite development from barbarism to civilization, from blindness to thought, from incomplete knowledge to complete knowledge, as well as the fundamental spirit of being human. To express all its “achievements” is impossible without sufficient knowledge.

如此看来，宗教并不是人类的本然需求，有神论是后天加在人类头上的一种负担，一副枷锁。问题是，它的依据是否真实，它的存在是否合理，这种没有客观依据而又不合理的东西是怎样产生的，以及如何强加给人们而人们又自愿或不得不接受？这类问题需要回答，于是就有了自觉的无神论——即针对有神论、与有神论对立的无神论产生了。自觉的无神论担负的使命，是揭露和批判有神论的荒诞，驳斥神学的谬误，说明宗教鬼神论的根源以及战胜有神论的途径。可以说，它从宗教的诞生那天起就产生了。自觉的无神论的历史与宗教形成和发展的历史是同步的。从这个意义上说，无神论又是一门很大的学问，它要驳倒一切鬼神论，并揭示其诸多组织形态的历史与功能，与此同时，还要阐明无神论的科学与哲学以及人类实践的依据，甚至要表明无神论和非宗教的思维方式和生活方式的特征，因此论及的范围远比神学广泛，而思想更有深度。《大不列颠百科辞书》对“无神论”的解释是：无神论是人类“文明和思考的成果”——这应该是在大量科学研究的基础上作出的准确判断，是客观公正的：在无神论那里，体现着人类从野蛮到文明，由盲目到思考，从不完全的知向完全的知之无限发展的主要过程，以及人之作为人的基本精神，要把它的所有“成果”表达出来，没有足够的知识是不可能的。

In this regard, theism and atheism concern only the question of factual truth, of which is closer to truth and which tends toward error, and have no necessary connection with a person’s moral character or political tendency. Some scholars now speak loftily of the moral attributes of religion, believing that religious believers all do good deeds, even advocating using religion to maintain social order and harmonize interpersonal relations. This conforms neither to history nor to actual facts, and is logically untenable; similarly, saying that atheism is evil, lawless, or necessarily manifests as political progress is equally inconsistent with facts and logically untenable—because politics and morality belong to entirely different domains from belief or non-belief in gods and spirits. However, once theism is organized—including the construction of a ideological system and the establishment of church organizations—the situation changes fundamentally. It is further endowed with ideological significance and acquires social functions. Simple theism belongs to religious concepts, limited to the spiritual level; as organized religion, it acquires the function of social education, forms social groups, and spiritual force is transformed into material force.

就此而言，有神论和无神论涉及的仅是事实的真相问题，是孰更接近真理与孰更趋向谬误的问题，而与人的道德资质和政治趋向没有必然的联系。现在有些学者高谈宗教的道德属性，认为信教群都是行善的，以至于提倡用宗教维护社会治安，协调人际关系，这既不符合历史也不符合现实的事实，逻辑上不通；同样，说无神论就是邪恶，无法无天，或一定表现为政治进步，同样不符合事实，逻辑不通——因为政治、道德与有无鬼神信仰是完全不同的领域。但是，一旦有神论被组织化，包括思想体系的构建和教会组织的确立，情况就有了根本性变化，它被进一步赋予了意识形态的意义，具有了社会的性能。单纯的有神论属于宗教观念，只限于精神层面；作为组织化了的宗教，具有了社会教化的功能，形成社会团体，精神力量转化成了物质力量。

The dual spiritual and material organization of theism has complicated the content that atheism must address, extending far beyond “who has stated the facts and who possesses the truth” to encompass virtually all areas of real life, including worldviews, outlooks on life, value systems, as well as morality, politics, society, and law. This type of atheism reached its climax in the West, beginning with the Renaissance, passing through the Enlightenment, and culminating with the Young Hegelians, as the new bourgeoisie opposed the theocratic politics of feudalism and modern science underwent great development. Because the atheism of this period had a distinctly anti-feudal and anti-theological character, it is commonly called “militant atheism”; and because it fully utilized the scientific achievements of the time, employing the spirit and methods of science as its weapons, and promoted the development of science, it is also called “scientific atheism.”

有神论之被精神和物质的双重组织化，促使无神论应对的内涵也复杂起来，大大超出了“是谁道出了事实，是谁拥有真理的范围”，而进一步涉及到世界观、人生观、价值观体系以及道德、政治和社会、法律等几乎现实生活中所有领域。这种无神论，西方从文艺复兴起始，经启蒙运动而至青年黑格尔派，随着新型资产阶级反对封建主义的神权政治和近代科学的大发展，达到了高潮。由于这个时期的无神论具有鲜明的反封建主义和批判神学的性质，人们一般称之为“战斗无神论”；又由于它充分采用了当时的科学成果，以科学的精神和科学方法为武器，对科学发展起着推动作用，所以又被称作“科学无神论”。

II. Types of Atheism and the Characteristics of Marxist Atheism

二、无神论的种类和马克思主义无神论的特点

The concept of “atheism” was imported from the West, specifically in reference to Christian theism. Traditionally, Christianity recognizes only one God and denies any deities worshipped by other religions, which gave Western atheism the particular character of being anti-monotheistic. Christianity dominated the ideological and cultural sphere of the West for at least a thousand years, and its influence persists to this day; with strong support from the United States over the past twenty-plus years, it appears to be regaining strength. Consequently, atheist currents directed against Christianity have also been historically continuous, rising and falling, diverse in form and rich in content, including deism, pantheism, skepticism, agnosticism, and even nominalism as a branch of theology, all of which became variants of atheism.

“无神论”这个概念是从西方输入的，特别是针基督教有神论而言的。从传统上说，基督教只承认一个神，否定其他宗教所信奉的任何神祗，致使西方的无神论也具有了反一神论的特别性质。基督教独占西方思想文化领域统治地位至少一千数百年，至今余绪未止，近20多年在美国的大力扶植下，又有重新发威的模样。因此，针对基督教的无神论思潮也历史延绵，彼伏此起，形式多样，内容丰富，诸如自然神论、泛神论、怀疑论、不可知论，甚至作为神学一支的唯名论，都成了无神论的变种。

Current Western atheism, on the one hand, defends science—for example, opposing intelligent design theory and strengthening scientific research into religious mystical experience; on the other hand, it defends democracy, upholding the constitutional principle of separation of church and state, opposing religion’s entry into schools, and even more so opposing the use of religion as a pretext for war mobilization or violence. But the most powerful force is the call of the secularization process of society for the rationalization of human nature, giving rise to so-called secular humanism and the New Atheist movement. We also call this atheism “scientific atheism”; their slogan is not to fight against religion, but to advocate a non-religious life. They believe that a non-religious life relies on human beings’ own intelligence and talent to achieve their own happiness, which highlights human nature more than relying on external forces like gods, and is also more suited to the development of human independence and freedom.

当前西方的无神论，一方面在捍卫科学，例如反对智能设计论，加强对宗教神秘主义经验的科学研究等；一方面是捍卫民主，坚持政教分离的宪法原则，既反对宗教走入学校，更反对将宗教用于战争动员或暴力借口。但最强势的力量，是社会的世俗化进程对人性理性化的召唤，有了所谓世俗人文主义和新无神论运动的兴起。我们也称这些无神论为“科学无神论”；他们的口号不是与宗教战斗，而是提倡非宗教的生活。他们认为非宗教的生活是依靠人自身的聪明才智去谋取人自身幸福生活，比依靠神等外力更突显人性，也更适应人的独立与自由的发展。

Broadly speaking, Marxist atheism also falls within the category of scientific atheism, but it is more thorough, more scientific, and is a higher form of scientific atheism. As for Marx himself, he completely broke free from the Christian domination of his family and school during the period when he participated in the Young Hegelian Left movement and broke with Hegelian idealist philosophy. Engels recalled the situation at that time with the following passage: “Because of the actual necessity of the struggle against existing religion, the mass of the most determined Young Hegelians fell back upon English and French materialism… At that time, Feuerbach’s *The Essence of Christianity* was published… The liberating effect of this book can only be imagined by those who experienced it themselves. Everyone was excited: we all became Feuerbachians for a time. How warmly Marx welcomed this new viewpoint, and how strongly it influenced him (despite critical reservations), can be seen from *The Holy Family*” — this new viewpoint was humanist atheism. It reversed the absurd claim that God created man, demonstrating that man created God; with this, the entire worldview was turned upside down. This was the highest achievement of the French Enlightenment and also the end of classical German philosophy. As everyone knows, Marx then moved from criticizing Feuerbach’s abstract humanism to studying man as the sum of social relations, and especially to the discovery of historical materialism and surplus value. This prompted him to shift from the critique of religion and the exposition of atheism to the creation and leadership of the scientific socialist movement, transforming from a thinker into a great revolutionary. In this regard, Marx’s critique of religion also shifted mainly from criticizing feudalism to criticizing Christianity, which upholds the capitalist system and the interests of the bourgeoisie. His atheism is integrated into his entire theoretical system and the practice of scientific socialism. Therefore, we can say that there is no Marxist view of religion or atheism that exists outside the entirety of Marxism. Whoever talks about a Marxist view of religion or atheism outside the entirety of Marxism is fragmenting Marxism. Similarly, to abstract Marxist research and deliberately bypass Marx’s critique of religion, especially to expel its atheist worldview from the exposition and study of the Marxist view of religion, is a base castration. I personally do not believe that the essence of the Marxist view of religion is atheism; rather, atheism is the cornerstone and starting point of its entire religious worldview, because atheism is only one component, or a general attribute, of its view of religion, not its unique characteristic. Just as the theory of class and class struggle is a component of scientific socialism, and anyone who attempts to excise it from class society is a revisionist, but it is not the unique characteristic of Marxism, nor is it Marx’s discovery.

宽泛些说，马克思主义无神论也属于科学无神论范畴，但更彻底，更科学，是科学无神论的高级形式。就马克思本人言，他彻底摆脱家庭和学校的基督教统治，是在参加青年黑格尔左派运动，与黑格尔唯心主义哲学决裂的时期。恩格斯回忆当年的情况有这样一段话：“由于对现存宗教进行斗争的实际必要性，大批最坚定的青年黑格尔分子返回到英国和法国的唯物主义……这时，费尔巴哈的《基督教的本质》出版了……这部书的解放作用，只有亲身体验过的人才能想象得到。那时大家都很兴奋：我们一时都成了费尔巴哈派了。马克思曾经怎样热烈地欢迎这种新观点，而这种新观点又是如何强烈地影响了他（尽管还有批判性的保留意见），这可以从《神圣家族》中看出来”——这种新观点，就是人本主义的无神论——它把神造人的妄说颠倒过来，说明神是人造的；随着是整个世界观被翻了一个个。这是法国启蒙运动的最高成果，也是德国古典哲学的终结，接下去大家也都知道，马克思从对费尔巴哈抽象人本学的批判转向对人作为社会关系的总和之研究，特别是对唯物史观和剩余价值的发现，促使他从对宗教的批判和对无神论的阐述转向了对科学社会主义运动的创建与领导，从思想家而成为伟大的革命家。就此而言，马克思主义的宗教批判也从主要对封建主义批判转向主要对维护资本主义制度和资产阶级利益的基督教的批判，它的无神论融含在它的整个理论体系和科学社会主义实践中。因此，我们可以说，没有离开马克思主义整体之外的什么马克思主义宗教观和无神论，谁若离开马克思主义整体奢谈之外的马克思主义宗教观和无神论，谁就在割裂马克思主义；同样，把马克思主义研究抽象化，有意地绕开马克思主义对宗教的批判，尤其是在马克思主义宗教观的阐述和研究中，驱除它的无神论世界观，那就是卑下地阉割——我个人不认为马克思主义宗教观的实质是无神论，而是它的全部宗教世界观的基石和出发点，因为无神论只是它的宗教观的一个组成部分，或者一般属性，不是它独有的特质；正像阶级和阶级斗争学说是科学社会主义的组成部分，谁企图从阶级社会中割裂出去，谁就是修正主义，但它不是马克思主义的特质，也不是马克思主义的发现一样。

What are the characteristics of Marxist atheism? First, proceeding from historical materialism, it must use history to explain religion, not religion to explain history. This points to the social basis of religion’s emergence, digs up the roots of theism, and at the same time draws a clear line with culturalism, which exaggerates the role of religion one-sidedly and uses “culture” to explain religion and religion to explain “culture.” Second, the analysis of capitalism through the theory of surplus value discovered that the true subject and motive force of the socialist movement is the proletariat, representing the advanced productive forces. This incorporated atheism into the scientific socialist movement, making it an organic part of it. Third, it inherits and develops the outstanding achievements of humanity in atheist thought, especially the continuous contributions of science, which constantly enriches, substantiates, and makes atheism persuasive, while at the same time clearing away obstacles of religious theology for the sustained development of science. In this way, Marxist atheism possesses three most distinctive characteristics: the theory of historical materialism, the practice of the scientific socialist movement, and the scientific spirit that runs through it all.

马克思主义无神论的特点是什么：首先，是从唯物史观出发，必须用历史说明宗教，不能用宗教说明历史，由此指明宗教产生的社会基础，挖了有神论的根柢，同时与片面夸大宗教的作用，将宗教泛文化化———即用“文化”说明宗教和用宗教说明“文化”的文化主义划清了界限。其次，是剩余价值论对资本主义的分析，发现了社会主义运动的真正主体和动力，乃是代表先进生产力的无产阶级，由此把无神论纳入了科学社会主义运动，构成它的有机部分。第三，继承与发展人类在无神论思考方面的优秀成果，特别是科学不断作出的贡献，促使无神论不断丰富、充实和有说服力，同时为科学的持续发展扫除宗教神学的障碍。这样，马克思主义无神论就具有了三个最鲜明的特点：唯物史观的理论与科学社会主义运动的实践以及贯彻始终的科学精神。

Lenin inherited Marxist atheism and made important developments to it. In practice, this atheism was the ideological weapon for the critique of weapons against Russian theocratic politics, and also the primary measure to prevent and purge religious erosion of the workers’ party. In theory, Lenin specifically analyzed and criticized the fallacies of religion from a philosophical foundation, i.e., from the epistemology of materialism and dialectics, in terms of thinking methods. In particular, Plato and Aristotle, who were regarded by Christian theology as its philosophical basis, and Neo-Kantianism, widely used by modern and contemporary theology, became the starting point for revealing the epistemological roots of religion’s emergence, thereby also developing the epistemology of materialist dialectics. For various reasons, Lenin’s contributions in these areas have been almost completely excluded from the purview of the “Marxist view of religion.” The losses incurred thereby have impoverished our research and made it lack more positive constructiveness. To draw everyone’s attention, I quote a passage here for your consideration:

列宁继承了马克思主义无神论，并做了重要发展。在实践上，这种无神论是对俄罗斯神权政治进行武器批判的思想武器，也是防范和肃清宗教对工人政党侵蚀的首要举措。在理论上，列宁特别从哲学基础上，即从唯物主义和辩证法认识论上对宗教的谬误进行了思维方法上的分析和批判，尤其是被基督教神学奉为哲学依据的柏拉图、亚里斯多德和被近现代神学广泛利用的新康德主义，成为揭示宗教藉以产生的认识论根源的首创，从而也发展了唯物辩证法的认识论。由于种种原因，列宁在这些方面的贡献几乎被完全排斥在“马克思主义宗教观”的视野之外，由此带来的损失使我们的研究显得贫困，缺乏更积极的建设性。为了引起大家的注意，我这里引一段话请大家思量：

“Human cognition is not a straight line (nor does it proceed along a straight line), but is an infinite approximation to a series of circles, an approximation to a spiral curve. Any segment, fragment, or small section of this curve can be transformed (one-sidedly transformed) into an independent, complete straight line, and this straight line can lead people (if they fail to see the forest for the trees) into a quagmire, into clericalism (where the class interests of the ruling class will consolidate it). One-sidedness and narrow-mindedness, rigidity and ossification, subjectivism and subjective blindness—these are the epistemological roots of idealism. And clericalism (i.e., philosophical idealism) certainly has its epistemological roots; it is not without foundation; it is undoubtedly a barren flower, yet it is a barren flower growing on the living, fruitful, genuine, powerful, omnipotent, objective, absolute tree of living human cognition.” (On the Question of Dialectics)

“人的认识不是直线（也不是沿着直线进行的），而是无限地近似于一串圆圈，近似于螺旋的曲线。这一曲线的任何一个片段、碎片、小段都能被变成（被片面地变成）独立的完整的直线，而这条直线能把人们（如果只见树木不见森林的话）引到泥坑里去，引到僧侣主义那里去（在那里统治阶级的阶级利益就会把它巩固起来）。直线性和片面性，死板和僵化，主观主义和主观盲目性，就是唯心主义的认识论根源。而僧侣主义（即哲学唯心主义）当然有认识论的根源，它不是没有根基的，它无疑地是一朵不结果实的花，然而却是生长在活生生的、结果实的、真实的、强大的、全能的、客观的、绝对的人类认识这棵活生生的树上的一朵不结果实的花。”（《谈谈辩证法问题》）

Guiding people in how to think correctly so as to commit few or no errors is also one of the finest traditions of the Chinese Communist Party. It has played a huge and irreplaceable role in ensuring that we correctly understand Chinese history, judge the nature of society, and assess the current situation. The errors of religious theology provide rich material for studying why human cognition goes wrong and how to correct these errors so as to move toward correct cognition. Lenin set forth this task in his struggle against the fog of religion, and it should naturally be a subject of Marxist atheism.

指导人如何正确思维而不犯或少犯错误，也是中国共产党最优秀的传统之一，它在保证我们正确认识中国历史和判断社会性质以及当前形势方面，曾起过巨大的，不可替代的作用。宗教神学的谬误，对于研究人的认识之所以会犯错误，以及如何纠正这些错误以趋向正确的认识，提供了丰富的资料，列宁在同宗教迷雾的斗争中提出了这一任务，理应是马克思主义无神论的当然课题。

In Chinese history, there was no such term as “atheism,” because China has traditionally been a country where polytheism and atheism coexisted. “Putting people first” and “the people are the most valuable” are traditional concepts that have run through three thousand years of history; the simultaneous creation and abolition of gods is the true religious characteristic of China. The elevation of conscious atheism to the philosophical level began with the emergence of the two concepts of “qi” (vital energy) and “dao” (the Way), which completely eliminated the mysterious aspect of “Heaven” and the concept of “man and Heaven.” By the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the hundred schools of thought contended, and religion had no independent status. From the Han and Wei dynasties onward, indigenous Daoism and imported Buddhism emerged, ranking alongside Confucianism as the Three Teachings, standing in a tripod and merging, forming a relatively stable cultural structure before the Opium War. Within this, Daoism regarded “immortals” as the highest achievement of human cultivation; Buddhism listed “heavenly gods” among the sentient beings of the world, without any special privileges, and even the highest fruit of Buddhahood was an “awakened one” attainable by everyone, not a creator god. Therefore, China never had a god who created the world and humanity, and never recognized the world or humanity as the creation of any god. Legend speaks of Pangu who separated heaven and earth, and Nüwa who created humans and mended the sky, but these are myths about the ancestors of the Chinese people, absolutely not objects of faith. In ancient times, there was also a great flood, but the one who controlled the flood and saved the people was Yu the Great, not God giving Noah an ark. Fire was invented by Suirenshi through drilling wood, not a spark stolen by Prometheus from Zeus in heaven. The emphasis was on human nature; there were long debates about whether human nature was good or evil, but there was never any recognition that humans were born with sin, nor any seeking of redemption from a savior. Precisely because of this, there was no such thing as Western-style theology or atheism that refuted theology. The oldest religious behavior was divination to fathom the Mandate of Heaven or the fortunes of Heaven, extended to practices like reading bones, physiognomy, fortune-telling, observing celestial phenomena, and geomancy—things close to shamanism that are now criticized as ignorant superstition. Ancient opponents called this “rejecting the false and absurd.” What truly had theoretical significance was the “theory of the indestructibility of the spirit” advocated by Buddhism, and the “theory of the destructibility of the spirit” of its critics—here “spirit” refers only to the soul. Notions of ghosts and goblins were widespread, collectively called “the theory of the existence of ghosts,” with opponents being “the theory of the non-existence of ghosts.” Other illegal idol worship was called “excessive sacrifice,” and illegal religious-type organizations were called “evil cults,” and so on—none of these fall under the Western concept of atheism. The emergence of the concept of atheism in China is directly related to the introduction of Christianity. The first to use it was likely Zhang Taiyan’s “On Atheism,” which directly targeted Christianity and other monotheistic religions. Later, it was used by Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, and other figures of the May Fourth Movement, who further included the spiritualism and other ignorant superstitions of China at that time within the scope of theism, using the term “atheism” to negate together the “god” of monotheistic religions. The atheism we commonly refer to mainly follows this tradition of the May Fourth Movement.

中国历史上没有无神论这个名称，因为中国传统上是一个多神主义与无神论并存的国家。“以人为本”和“民为贵”是贯彻三千年历史的传统观念，造神与废神并行才是中国的宗教特色。将自觉的无神论提到哲学层面的，当从“气”与“道”两个概念的产生开始，它们完全排除了“天”以及“人天”观的神秘性一面；以至于到了春秋战国，百家争鸣，没有宗教的独立地位。自汉魏以来有了土产的道教和外来的佛教，与儒家并列为三，鼎立而合流，形成鸦片战争之前相对稳定的文化结构。其中道教把“神仙”看作是“人”修炼的最高成就；佛教把“天神”列在世间众生行列，没有任何特权，即使最高果位的佛也是人人可及的“觉者”，而不是造物主；因此，中国从来不存在创世造人的神，不承认世界和人是什么神的创造物。传说中有开天辟地的盘古，有造人补天的女娲，但他们都是关于华夏祖先的神话，绝对不是信仰对象；远古也发过大洪水，治水救民的是大禹，不是上帝给予挪亚的方舟；火是燧人氏钻木的发明，不是普罗米修斯从天上宙斯那里偷下来的火种。重视的是人性，有人性善恶的长期争论，但绝不承认人先天有罪，也不会寻求救世主的救赎。正因如此，也就没有西方那样的神学和驳难神学的无神论。最古老的宗教行为是窥测天命或天运的占卜，推而广之是看骨相、面相、算八字，观天象、看风水之类的近乎巫觋而今被批判为愚昧迷信的部分，古代的反对者名之为“疾虚妄”；而真正具有理论意义的是佛教所倡“神不灭论”，以及批判者的“神灭论”——此“神”仅指灵魂；鬼魅魍魉之类的观念很普遍，统称“有鬼论”，反对者即是“无鬼论”；其他非法的偶像崇拜称为“淫祀”，非法的宗教类组织名为“邪教”，如此等等，都不属于西方无神论的概念。中国无神论概念的出现，与基督教的传入直接有关，首先使用者，当是章太炎的《无神论》，它的锋芒直指基督教等一神教；而后为陈独秀、胡适等“五四”人物所用，进一步将中国当时的灵学以及其他愚昧迷信也列入了有神论范围，用“无神论”一词连同一神教的“神”一起全部否定之。我们通常指谓的无神论，主要是沿袭“五四”的这一传统。

(To be continued)

（未完待续）

Online editor: Jia Fei

网络编辑：嘉扉