By Joseph Cox
It is my view that for Christians, the majority of the people in the western world, to be truly Christian, meaning to adhere fully to Jesus’ teachings, they should be communists. Communism is not a system of totalitarian government control, nor is it necessarily atheistic. Communism is the ideal society: there are no states, no classes, no oppression; it is, more or less, a practical utopia in my eyes, one in which Christianity’s teachings actively advocates its followers to work towards. While most communists have been atheists, there is a growing movement of socialist liberation theology, especially in Latin America, that is both fully Christian and socialist.
In the Bible, there is clearly evidence that the early Christians practiced a local system identical to communism. In communism, property is owned by the community as a whole, and is operated on the idea of ‘from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs’. In Acts 2:44-45, there is a passage that states, “All that believed were together, and had all things in common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”
Do I really need to explain further how these characteristics of communism were an inherent part of the early Christian communities? The apostles held all their property in common with each other, with their community, just as communism would. All their goods, such as food and other resources, were distributed based on each person’s needs, not whether they could afford it, which is exactly the way a communist system would get resources distributed. In fact, there is another similar passage in Acts 4 that states, “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”
Now, one of many things I hear Christians who argue that Jesus was not a communist is that, “Hey! Communism wasn’t around until about 1,800 thousand years later!” While that is true, Jesus’ views were very communistic regardless of whether He called it communism or not. Also, He’s omniscient, so he knew quite well what communism is. Putting that aside, Jesus’ contempt for the rich was quite evident in the passage Matthew 19:23-24 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, 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.’ ” Jesus Christ, who is God, believed that the rich could not enter into Heaven. I want you to just think about how strong of a statement that is to make, that for the rich man to enter in God’s Heavenly Kingdom, it will be almost impossible though it would still be possible because God can choose to forgive them for the sin of being rich. If being rich is a sin, which undoubtedly it is because it keeps you out of Heaven, then Jesus is clearly against being rich, which is caused by the class system, which communists aim to abolish. A similar passage also implies Jesus’ contempt for the rich, calling them thieves, in Matthew 21:12–13, which states “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” The Cleansing of the Temple is told in all four of the Gospels, meaning it is of great importance.
“But Jesus can’t possibly be a communist!” conservative so-called Christians state, “Jesus was against violence, and communists want the violent overthrow of capitalism!” Let’s look over another passage of the Bible, Matthew 10:34-39, which states, “‘Do not think that I came to bring peace on Earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.’ Jesus did NOT come to bring peace to evil. Evil does not deserve peace. Rather, Jesus wants good to fight against evil with all its might. Jesus does not want to let evil live on. To believe that would be to imply He does not care whether or not evil exists, but He does, and He wants us to fight it! Anyone who has read Revelations knows that Jesus will not be merciful to Evil, but will instead fight and win against it.
There is plenty of evidence that true communism, which is NOTHING like Stalinist Russia, Juchist North Korea, nor neo-liberal China, is the way to go for humanity. Jesus would love nothing more to end the class system, which is inherently unjust. All Christians, regardless of denomination, should advocate and fight for communism every day. Communism would end all poverty and all of the problems that are the result of class society, which is what Jesus would want. Working People of All Countries, Unite!
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Christian_communism_logo.svg (the picture of the cross and sickle i.e. the symbol of Christian communism at the beginning of the article)
http://www.skeptically.org/bible/id14.html (for the Acts passages of the first body paragraph)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2019:23-19:26&version=NIV (for the eye of a needle passage)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/But_to_bring_a_sword (for the “but to bring a sword” passage)
http://www.turnbacktogod.com/story-jesus-wants-all-of-you-not-just-a-part/ (for the “Jesus Wants You” poster picture at the end of the article).
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