Christian Community Networking

 Ramon Roane,author/speaker

Christ was a socialist? Really?

This week I saw a banner online that said “Jesus was a Socialist.” What? I did a double take. I thought I knew Jesus, but I never knew that Jesus was identified as a socialist. I did a word search of the bible from cover to cover for the words socialism or socialist and  found none. So, where did this come from? Mr. Gregory Paul wrote an article for the Washington Post entitled, “From Jesus’ socialism to capitalistic Christianity.” In 550 words or less I would like to examine both the message and the messenger of this article, to see if Christ supports socialism.

Socialism is an economic system in which the means of production are publicly or commonly owned and controlled cooperatively. Socialism is a relatively modern construct, a governmental system invented roughly 1,800 years after Christ’s death, not a biblical mandate. The question, then, is how is socialism compatible with Christianity, because the bible doesn’t mandate it?

Mr. Paul claimed Jesus was pro-socialist. Since, socialism is a governmental system this would rule Jesus out, because Christ didn’t come to establish a government, but His church. He misinterprets Matthew 19:23-25, the story of the rich young ruler. Jesus was not saying that the rich cannot get into heaven, but if your wealth is your god, then you can’t enter. Then he turns to Acts 2:42, where it reads “And all that believed were together, and had all things common.” Again, he misinterprets the scripture. The things they had in common are what they believed. When the next verse says they sold their possessions, it was not all of their possessions, but they sold accordingly to those in need in the church. All of the above was voluntary.

Your giving in the church is always voluntary and not forced. He uses the story of Ananias and Saphhira to support forced giving, because the execution of the couple. Again, Mr. Paul misinterprets the scripture. They were not killed because of how much they gave, but because they lied to the Holy Spirit. Remember, Peter told them it was their money away. Mr. Paul’s whole argument rests on this event.

Christianity is incompatible not just with socialism but also many aspects of the modern welfare state. We are called us to help the poor, it is also clear that the poor must help themselves to the extent they are able. The bible warns against idleness and says, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

Now, I would like examine the messenger, Mr. Paul. He is an independent researcher on subjects dealing with paleontology, evolution, religion and society. He is also an atheist. Now, this is the problem. We have a non-believer, Mr. Paul, trying to interpret the scriptures. Let’s check the book,

1 Corinthians 2:16 (KJV)

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

Mr. Paul views the bible as just a book. We Christians view as the Living Word of God. His argument that Christ is pro-socialism doesn’t hold water and Mr. Paul not only needs water, but the belief in the saving grace of Jesus Christ and baptism in the watery grave.

What say you?