Posted on 08/17/2011 8:52:17 PM PDT by lbryce
As the debate over the government’s debt and its role in assisting the poor intensifies, some on the far left have begun to claim that Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible advocate socialism and preach against capitalism.
While this notion gives many conservative Christians angst, it is an ideal that is quickly gaining steam among atheists (and some left-leaning believers) who find themselves more on the fiscally-liberal side of the political spectrum.
Last week, atheist Gregory Paul, a freelance researcher, author and illustrator, penned a piece for the Washington Post in which he claims that socialism has its roots in the Christian Bible. In his article, Paul questions why Christians have abandoned the socialistic inclinations espoused by Jesus Christ to embrace capitalistic beliefs that contradict, in his view, Biblical principles.
Paul contends that “a set of profound contradictions have developed within modern conservative Christianity.” These contradictions are so perplexing, he says, that they “set one’s head spinning.” In Paul’s eyes, Christians who denounce Darwin’s evolutionary science, yet espouse social Darwinism (i.e. capitalism) are doing so without examining the antithetical nature of their thinking. He writes:
Many conservative Christians, mostly Protestant but also a number of Catholics, have come to believe and proudly proclaim that the creator of the universe favors free wheeling, deregulated, union busting, minimal taxes especially for wealthy investors, plutocrat-boosting capitalism as the ideal earthly scheme for his human creations.
In citing examples straight from the Bible that he calls “outright socialism of the type described millennia later by Marx,” Paul pleads his case. The first example he gives is focused upon Jesus’ warning to the wealthy that they may not inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24, which reads, ..
(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...
no.
capitalist.
Jesus live under the corrupt rule of Rome. He certainly didn’t expect Rome to take care of the poor.
More: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2122608/posts
Whenever some socialist tells me that I need to advocate a socialist takeover of the government because Jesus was a communist I tell them that ... if they really wish to do that ... takeover the government with socialism because Jesus was a socialist ... then EVERY PERSON IN POWER HAS TO BE A CHRISTIAN AND HAS TO BE DEVOUTLY SO AND TESTED FOR IT EVERY MONTH.
That shuts them up pretty quickly.
No Jesus was not a socialist.
These trite associations are offensive to the spirit.
nope. probably the oldest lie in church age.
NO and we “are not” our brothers keeper.
"Thou shalt not steal" is an affirmation of property rights, which socialism denies, iirc.
NO!
Neither shall you covet your neighbour’s wife.
Neither shall you desire your neighbour’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
Jesus Christ taught people to turn to God as their sufficiency, not some government.
I guess the left needs some lessons in Proverbs . . . the ant, the Virtuous Woman . . .
That and the 10th Commandment.
Part of socialism/marxism is to disseminate inflammatory rhetoric specifically designed to agitate and demoralize. Making the claim that Christian philosophy somehow parallels Marx & Engels, or Mao’s little red book is ludicrous, yet people will get all bent out of shape and try to counter it with rational argument. It’s a game of whack-a-mole with the left. It’s supposed to get you all hot and tilting at windmills.
If you don't view the two entities are different, of course you believe Jesus was a socialist.
Charity is a matter of free will, not government force. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Would Jesus agree with all the policies of our government or how the people’s funds are spent or who pays and who does not? He left it to us to choose.
With the exception, I think, that if you want your neighbor’s house, field, slave (where permitted), ox, donkey or other property and you and he can freely come to terms, you can *buy* the property you want and then it’s yours.
Jesus was a Torah believing Jew, and Torah endorses private property rights. Jesus was not a socialist.
Ask your socialist friends, "when Jesus returns and rules from His throne in the Holy of Holies, in the Temple, on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, in Israel, will he establish a socialistic democracy? Or will He establish His kingdom?" Since none of them believe He will return, they won't be able to answer.
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