Arend Theodoor van Leeuwen

Professor of Christian Social Ethics in the Catholic University of Nijmegen

Critique of Heaven and Earth

In his series of lectures, van Leeuwen explores natural theology through an investigation of Karl Marx. Focusing on Marx’s transformation of the critique of religion into the critique of right, theology into politics, and heaven into earth, he examines the origins and development of Marx’s thought. The first series is concerned with the exposition of young Karl Marx, and the second is a study of Marx’s ‘mature’ ideas. He justifies his approach by recognising the need for such scholarship in the theological climate of the time.

Biography

Arend Theodoor van Leeuwen was born on 1 September 1918 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. A theologian and writer, he was active in politics, economics, and missiology. One of many ‘red ministers’ who emerged after the Second World War, he was involved in left-wing politics and thought, falling out with labour government. After working as a missionary in Indonesia, he returned to the Netherlands after an accident, dedicating himself to promoting conversations connecting Christianity, Marxism, and economics.

Van Leeuwen was involved with the World Council of Churches and the Prague Peace Movement. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not see the modern age as a moral vacuum, or as a world in need of traditional re-evangelization, but rather as a space in which theology must expose the new pseudo-gods of the middle class. He was widely known for his book-length study on secularisation, Christianity in World History (1964) and De Nacht van het Kapitaal (1984).

Published/Archival Resources

Published as Critique of Heaven, Critique of Earth.