"What does it mean to be a Marxist?"

I suppose it should be obvious that I am not a Marxist, but I would commend to you Prof. Norm Geras' test, "What does it mean to be a Marxist?" Prof. Geras, of the UK's University of Manchester, is an "oldline" Marxist, not one of the radical chic - which he roundly criticizes in this posting.

I've been reading Norm's work since I began blogging in 2002 and I was honored to be the subject of his 67th "Normblog Profile" in 2004.

Norm offers three perspectives to answer the question: the personal, the intellectual and the socio-political. This is very much a worthwhile read regardless of your affinity, or not, with Marxism conceptually.

I sent Norm an email, thus:

[H]ere is one question and one observation:

Q: Do you think that Christianity and Marxism are inimical, conceptually, to one another, or can there be a conceptual accord? I do not refer to the frankly Marxist bent of much contemporary theology and social principles, many of which barely or only passingly cite the Scriptures. The leftist trend of our leading seminaries in the UK and the US hardly needs be mentioned. Rather, I mean, do the teachings directly from, say the Gospels, and/or from the Jewish prophets, leave room for faithful declaration of, for Christians, the Apostles Creed, or for Jews the Mosaic Law? Does Marxism, as you have delineated it, leave room for (though not at all necessarily affirm) that human affairs are under the majesty of a God who can and does intervene in human affairs?

The observation: your apologia for Marxism, especially in the socio-political section, struck me as a form and content (significantly) that is easily adaptable for a Christian apologist such as I to use with equal integrity. I mean this as a compliment, by the way, since, like Marxism, Christian practice has much in history that cannot be justified by apologists such as I. Yet withal, I take that history into account and declare, I am a Christian, nonetheless.

Perhaps he will answer.