Religious socialists like Tillich read Marx’s critique as reflection on human essence.

Evidence

But there was also an echo of another viewpoint, supported by religious socialists like Paul Tillich, who emphasized the necessity of radical socialist change for human existence to be fulfilled. They referred to an early Marx whose purpose in criticizing capitalist society was to reflect on the true essence of humanity which had been concealed by the pre-eminence of economic thinking. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 216

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the religious-socialist strand that later diverged from critical theory proper. — connects to: Early-Marx humanism attracted both Lukács-Korsch Marxists and Tillich’s religious socialists