All Christians Should Be Socialists (Christian Anarchy - Part 2)
"Shouldn't all Christians be socialists?"
Sometimes I want to beat my own brains in with a hammer. This question.... THIS STUPID QUESTION that seems to come up in almost every discussion about Christianity and politics. This is Part 2 of my series on Christian Anarchy. If you're interesting in following this series, please begin with Part 1. This topic is taking me on a bit of a bunny trail from the main question - Can a Christian be an anarchist? But it comes up so often I need to address it. Just to get it out of the way. I'll start be giving a quick rundown of this argument: The evidence: 1. Jesus told a rich man that the greatest commandment is to "love your neighbour as yourself." Then he told him: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19:21 (NIV) Jesus believed in giving up your riches and sharing the wealth with the poor. This is the main focus of socialism. 2. Jesus healed the sick without charge. Do I need to cite a verse? There are so many occasions of this you can look it up yourself if you don't believe me. Clearly Jesus would have approved of universal healthcare. 3. On more than one occasion Jesus fed the masses. Again, this was free of charge. 4. Jesus taught that those who do the same as Him (heal the sick, feed the hungry) would be rewarded: "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward." Matthew 10:42 (NIV) 5. Jesus taught that greed (a capitalist vice) can keep a man out of heaven. Jesus Was a Socialist and You Should Be One Too!
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
Mark 10:25 (NIV)
6. The early church, following the teachings of Jesus was socialistic.
44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke breadin their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:44-47 (NIV)
It is clear that the teachings of Jesus are consistent with the philosophy of socialism. From each according to his ability to each according to his need. This is how Jesus lived and his church followed this example.
Rebuttal
I've seen this meme pop up on many libertarian Facebook pages. Honestly, this is almost all that's needed by way of rebuttal.
Yes, Jesus championed the virtues of love and charity while condemning greed and selfishness. He fed the hungry and healed the sick. His church gave to the poor and shared everything. But all of this was done voluntarily. Socialism requires the violent coercive force of the state to achieve this kind of "equality."
Jesus told his followers to live virtuous lives marked by love, sacrifice and giving. He never once told them to pass these responsibilities on to a group of violent oppressors. That idea flies in the face of everything Jesus taught.
Thanks for reading. If you liked this article, please follow me @sethlinson and tune in for tomorrow's entry into this series, "What Does the Bible Say About Government?"
~Seth
Yes! like I always try to tell the socialist Jesus folk. He told us that we should help those in need as individuals an of our own merit. Not to ask enforces to rob everyone and give their money away. Donate your own money, not someone elses
the only people jesus ever, on record, took action against, was the money changers. i don't remember him ever advocating coercion, only self defense. thanks for this. socialists are nutballs.
Jesus wasn't a socialist/didn't preach socialism... he advocated for peaceful and voluntary exchanges and that is in-line with voluntaryism.. not socialism.
Exactly! And thanks for the memes :)
Well i believe religion and government should be separate. Religion is how you want to pray or what group you choose to follow. I'm christian, I don't pray to any idols (jesus) cause its against our ten commandments, and if jesus was a socialists, o well doesn't mean you have to be one too.
I believe religion and government should be separate in the same way I believe everything and government should be separate. Government should not exist because it is inherently immoral. But more on that in the coming days...
I'm confused about how you can say you're a Christian but you consider Jesus an "idol" that we have no obligation to follow. The word "Christian" literally means "little Christ." Care to explain?
Yes your right, but lots of people forget you have to follow the ten commandments and not go around it. You can not pray to an idol which is jesus, or any other thing. "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3) You cannot go around it... We can talk about jesus-his story or any other prophets story, lets not forget the ten commandments came before jesus.
But Jesus is God. That's a pretty central doctrine of Christianity.
Summary by @tldr:
This topic is taking me on a bit of a bunny trail from the main question - Can a Christian be an anarchist?
Matthew 19:21 (NIV) Jesus believed in giving up your riches and sharing the wealth with the poor.
They broke breadin their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
Socialism requires the violent coercive force of the state to achieve this kind of "equality."
If you liked this article, please follow me @sethlinson and tune in for tomorrow's entry into this series, "What Does the Bible Say About Government?"
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Jesus "P.B.U.H"=peace be upon him. Was against the GOVERMENT he was sent to his people the children of ISREAL. Free them from the Romans rule, but most of them rejected him, and turned against him because he said "I was sent not to destroy the commandments of Moses, P.B.U.Them, but to up hold them. and this is why most of the children of ISREAL rejected him.
It's hard to give cheerfully when you do so under coercion. I can see why you started with this post.