I have something to say to "progressive" Christians and leftists who twist the bible to conform to their ideology, and misapply biblical precepts and principles into meaning something other than what they actually mean. The Bible is not Socialist! As a matter of fact it is inherently capitalistic. It is disturbing to me as a minister of the gospel to see that there are those who believe and teach that the Bible as a whole, and the gospel in particular, is compatible or even promotional of socialism! Someone has said that ignorance is the most expensive thing there is. Ignorance is costly. Ignorance can cost a person an untold amount. The prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” If the Church as an institution, and Christians as individuals, do not understand the biblical precepts of both liberty and economics they will ultimately sit idly by and allow tyranny to subjugate both them and the church, along with society as a whole. In fact, we're already seeing it happen.
Does the bible teach socialism? Was Jesus a Socialist as some today are trying to claim?
Let's begin by defining exactly what “socialism” is. This is the definition as it appears in the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary;
Socialism: 1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.
2 :a) a system of society or group living in which there is no private property; b) a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.
It needs to be clearly and emphatically stated that every single one of these definitions is antithetical to biblical precepts and principles. Yet, today there are bible-college and seminary professors condemning capitalism and advocating for socialism in many of our theological seminaries. These liberal professors are themselves socialist in their world-view and twist the scriptures to fit their own ideology. In the last several decades an ideological theology has evolved in many main line churches and is given euphemistic terms such as the “social gospel” or “Liberation theology”. However, there is no such thing biblically speaking as a “social gospel”. At least not in the sense the “religious left” promulgates it. The gospel is not a “social” gospel but rather it is a “soteriological” gospel. (viz. – a gospel of salvation and transformation through faith in Jesus Christ, not societal transformation through forced government mandate!)
I’ve stated that the Bible is not Socialist but is rather intrinsically capitalistic. So then, let’s look at the biblical model! The foundations of western society and culture were built upon the Judeo-Christian ethic, the core of that ethic being the 10 Commandments. The 8th commandment states, “You shall not steal”. Now please note that the very commandment itself presupposes the legitimacy of a person’s natural and God given right to his own property; i.e. Private Property! It is, as America’s founding father’s often stated, a natural law based upon, “the laws of nature and of Nature’s God.” Yet Socialism seeks to strip society of its God given and inalienable “right” to “private property”.
In his book “Liberty and Tyranny” author Mark Levin rightly notes that, “…private property and liberty are inseparable. The individual’s right to live freely and safely and pursue happiness includes the right to acquire and possess property, which represents the fruits of his own …labor”.
Let me plainly state that the bible in every place and in every way affirms that principle. God’s very first commandment to mankind was to “…be fruitful and multiply…”, and that commandment meant more then just the procreative aspect. God created man to be productive, and to enjoy the fruits of his labor. The writer of Ecclesiastes observed; "Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God." (Ecc.5:18-19)
Socialism violates the laws of nature and of nature’s God.
John Adams, the second President of the United States said, “The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If "Thou shalt not covet," and "Thou shalt not steal," were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society, before it can be civilized or made free.”
Notice that John Adams referred to not only the 8th commandment but also the 10th commandment; “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Again, it needs to be noted that this commandment presupposes a couple of things; a) that a person has a sacred right to their own things, and b) your neighbor may have things that you don’t have! Your neighbor may be more prosperous then you are! In other words, life isn’t necessarily “fair”, and egalitarianism which is a socialist tenet isn’t a biblical one. Furthermore, terms like “social justice” and “equal distribution of wealth” are nothing other than the code words of envy and covetousness masquerading as “equity” and “fairness”. Socialism promulgates its message through the propaganda mouthpieces of envy and class war-fare, and capitalizes on discontent. It thrives on a ‘victim’ and entitlement mentality, based upon a false philosophy of egalitarianism. Socialism masquerades as fairness, “social justice”, and compassion – but it has nothing to do with compassion – it is only about confiscation and control. It is an ideology that believes you exist for the sake of the state rather then the state existing for the sake of the people! And that is a subtle but important distinction!
Marxism holds to the belief that wealth and property should be evenly distributed throughout society and that government is to be the arbiter of that distribution. (It is important to understand that Socialism is a stepping stone to full-fledged Marxism. Wikipedia notes that…Vladimir Lenin, (The first Premier of the Soviet Union) drew upon Karl Marx's ideas of "lower" and "upper" stages of socialism and defined socialism as a transitional stage between capitalism and communism. As Lenin is quoted as saying,
“The goal of socialism is communism.” For orthodox Marxists, socialism is the lower stage of communism based on the principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution" while upper stage communism is based on the principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need"; the upper stage becoming possible only after the socialist stage further develops economic efficiency and the automation of production has led to a superabundance of goods and services.)
History has abundantly proven and shown that the theory stated above has never worked and has failed miserably every where it’s been tried. But the real agenda is ultimately about power. It is about world dominance and control which is satanic at its very core. I am not saying that all socialists are satanic. But at the very core of Marxist philosophy is a God-rejecting, humanistic approach to world governance. Socialistic Imperialism will be the form of government in the Kingdom of The Beast. Sad to say, this is what is taking place right now at this very moment, there is a “pushing” towards a “soft-socialism”, a “Democratic Socialist movement”, which is the “transitional” phase toward a more completely socialist order. It is in reality a setting of the stage for a “global world order”.
There are sincere folks who appeal to the book of Acts (cf./ Acts 4:32) to suggest that the early church was socialist in it’s practice. But that is a complete misunderstanding both of what the early church was practicing and what socialism teaches. Those who would appeal to the practice of the early church in the book of Acts, overlook the fact that what they began to practice was a voluntary benevolence, not a forced redistribution of wealth! The bible never teaches a forced redistribution of wealth. There is a difference between contribution and confiscation! To contribute voluntarily to help meet needs is a virtue. To have something taken by compulsion of government and confiscation is tyranny. Virtue can only reside in what is voluntary in character and choice. Compulsion can never be virtuous. When the government steps in to confiscate legitimately earned income in order to give it to those who do not work, or merely have less, (I am not speaking of those who legitimately cannot work, such as the sick, and the elderly, but those who are able but not willing) that is not virtue, that is a corruption of compassion. Moreover, what is especially galling is the disingenuous of the “limousine liberals”, and the ‘progressives’ who claim that they are the defenders of the “working poor” when in fact they themselves are the creators of a dependent welfare class. It is precisely the unbiblical policies of these “progressives” that creates an “entitlement” mentality that keeps the “working poor” poor! Why work harder, if others will give me what I need! Why should I be more industrious if the government it going to take it away from me anyway? It is simply maddening to hear the unmitigated hypocrisy of people like former Vice President Joe Biden go around saying that it is “patriotic” to pay more in taxes in order to “spread the wealth around” so we can help the “less fortunate”, only to find out that his personal tax returns showed that on 2.9 million dollars that he made over seven years, his ‘charitable’ giving was only $3,000.00! Over the course of seven years and with 3 million dollars in earnings he only gave three thousand dollars to charity!? The hypocrisy is mind-numbing! Yes, these socialist social-engineers love to “spread the wealth around”, as long as it’s not their wealth you’re spreading around! They self-righteously rail against “the rich”, while they themselves live luxuriously and have oppressed and kept people under their power through the divisive tax policies that create a government dependent class and a welfare state!
Socialism is an unbiblical system where a person loses his liberty, his property and his incentive to make an honest profit. Capitalism, on the other hand, is a biblical principal of FREEDOM, PRIVATE PROPERTY, and the right to EARN A PROFIT!
Jesus' parable of the talents in Matthew, (Matt. 25:14) and the parable of the mina’s in Luke are both parables based upon the usage of capital and investment and making the most of what you have in order to bring about profitable increase.
Notice Matt.25:14 &15
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability...”
Take note of two very important points here:
1. It was the business man’s own capital, that which he owned personally, that he invested with his servant’s (I.e. employees) Today we would call him a “venture capitalist”. This is the antithesis of Socialist philosophy
2. Notice v 15; the kingdom of heaven is not egalitarian!
Egalitarianism is NOT a biblical teaching precisely because it defies natural law!
In the parable of the Mina’s we have a similar story with some variations, but the theme is the same: Investment with an expected return upon that investment.
Luke 19:15; “...and when he (the nobleman) returned...he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.”
Jesus taught that the laborer was worthy both of his hire and of his wages, and the bible as a whole teaches that God blesses honest labor and prospers the diligent. Profit is not a sin, only dishonest gain and theft is. Wealth is not a crime, only selfishness is.
As Winston Churchill famously framed it: “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”
Make no mistake, the gloves are off and the socialist statist’s, and their new found friends on the religious left preaching “social justice” will be the preachers, teachers , and pied pipers for the marching forward of the deceptively euphemistic Democratic Socialism.
However, it is neither Christian nor biblical despite their claims, but rather a twisted and perverted gospel based on envy and covetousness. It is a false gospel they present based on the egalitarian theories and ideology of Carl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin and others, but not on the gospel of Jesus Christ nor the teachings of the Apostles, nor the teachings of the bible.
– Andy White -
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