Editing Christian left (section)

=== Early years ===
For much of the early history of [[anti-establishment]] leftist movements, such as [[socialism]] and [[communism]], which was highly [[anti-clerical]] in the 19th century, some established churches were led by clergy who saw revolution as a threat to their status and power. The church was sometimes seen as part of the establishment. [[Revolution]]s in the [[United States]], France and [[Russia]] were in part directed against the established churches, or rather their leading clergy, and instituted a [[separation of church and state]].

In the 19th century, some writers and activists developed the school of thought of [[Christian socialism]], which infused socialist principles into Christian theology and praxis. Early [[socialist]] thinkers such as [[Robert Owen]], [[Henri de Saint-Simon]] based their theories of socialism upon Christian principles. [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] reacted against these theories by formulating a [[secular]] theory of socialism in ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]''.