Here is an example of criticism by an outside source A second problem is his claim that religion is wholly determined by material and economic realities Not only is nothing else fundamental enough to influence religion but influence can not run in the other direction from religion to material and economic realities This is not true If Marx were right then capitalism would appear in countries prior to Protestantism because Protestantism is the religious system created by capitalism but we don t find this The Reformation comes to 16th century Germany which is still feudal in nature real capitalism doesn t appear until the 19th century This caused Max Weber to theorize that religious institutions end up creating new economic realities Even if Weber is wrong we see that one can argue just the opposite of Marx with clear historical evidence