Marxist secular eschatology, or in simpler terms, the Marxist vision of history’s ultimate goal (telos).

1. The Core Idea

Marxism, though explicitly secular and materialist, still carries a kind of “this-worldly eschatology.” It inherits the structure of religious teleology (a progression toward an end) but replaces the divine with historical material processes.

At its heart:

History moves dialectically toward the abolition of class divisions and the realization of human freedom in a classless, stateless, communist society.

2. From Theology to History

Where Christian eschatology envisions the Kingdom of God and the redemption of creation, Marx transposes this onto the material world:

Theological Model: Marxist / Secular Counterpart

Fall of Man Alienation under class society and capitalism

Salvation Emancipation through proletarian revolution

Messiah / Redeemer The proletariat as collective redeemer

Kingdom of God Classless, stateless, communist society

Providence Dialectical materialism (laws of historical development)

Thus, Marx transforms a religious narrative of redemption into a historical-scientific narrative of emancipation.

⚙️ 3. Dialectical Progression

History, for Marx, advances through contradictions — primarily class struggles that emerge from economic conditions.

Each stage (primitive communism → slavery → feudalism → capitalism → socialism → communism) contains the seeds of its own transcendence.

Capitalism: generates immense productive powers but also alienation and exploitation.

Proletarian Revolution: the working class seizes control of production, abolishing private property.

Socialism → Communism: transition to a society where human beings are no longer alienated from their labor, others, or their own essence.

4. The Telos: The End of Prehistory

Marx famously wrote:

“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. … With the establishment of communist society, the prehistory of human society closes.”

So the telos of Marxist eschatology is not an otherworldly paradise but the beginning of true human history — when material conditions finally allow for genuine freedom, creativity, and communal life.

5. Key Features of Marxist “Eschatology”

Immanent, not transcendent: The end is within history, not beyond it.

Collective, not individual: Salvation is social, not personal.

Material, not spiritual: Liberation concerns human labor and production, not souls.

Inevitable, yet contingent: The telos is historically determined but requires conscious human praxis.

6. In Sum

Marxist secular eschatology envisions the culmination of history as the abolition of alienation through the end of class society, achieved by revolutionary transformation.
It is the redemption of humanity by humanity, not by God — a material resurrection of freedom within the temporal world.