Christianity is a Socialist religion

Socialism is at the heart of true Christianity, and has been ever since the time of its founder. Indeed, if we are to believe the Gospel of Luke, the trend started with his mother, who, even before Jesus was born, pronounced the revolutionary words of the Magnificat:

“He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent empty away.” (as translated in the Book of Common Prayer)

There are plenty of examples from the life of Christ that put him firmly on the side of the poor against the rich. There is the story, for example, of the rich young man who wanted to be a disciple but who could not bear to be parted from his wealth, which led in turn to the famous line from Matthew that “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God”. Whatever may have happened to that line in translation, the general meaning is clear enough.

Then there is the episode of Jesus getting very annoyed at the capitalists who were hard at work making their fortunes as money-changers in the temple courtyard at Passover. 

According to Matthew he threw over their tables and called them “thieves”, which leaves little doubt as to his general point of view.

These examples might be taken as showing opposition to capitalism, but do they show him as a socialist? This writer interprets the story of the feeding of the 5,000 as being exactly that. Here you have a host of people turning up for an afternoon out to hear the new preacher. It would be very unlikely that only one boy thought to take any food with him, but he was the only one who was prepared to share what he had with anyone else. However, when Jesus pointed him out and thereby shamed everyone else into sharing what they had brought with them, they produced enough from their backpacks to feed everybody there.

No miraculous explanation is needed here, and indeed the story works better if the magical element is removed, because this is pure Socialism at work. Everyone benefits if the wealth is shared. Those who have too much make a contribution to help those who have too little, and so everyone has enough.

In the Acts of the Apostles it is stated that the early Church was run on Socialist lines, with all its members expected to pool their resources which were then redistributed. All sorts of arguments have been advanced to the effect that this does not prove that Christianity started along Socialist lines, but these have generally been excuses to allow rich Christians to stay rich. 

Throughout the centuries, the Church has shown many examples of communities in which the members have engaged in practical Socialism. The story of monasticism has shown very clearly the practical working out of Marx’s dictum: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”. Those who could contribute the most, from their wealth or work, did so, and those whose needs were greatest were given the most.

There are, admittedly, many problems with Socialism, one being that, in order for wealth to be shared, it has to be created in the first place. However, Socialism does not preclude personal ownership of the means of gaining wealth, which is why it is Socialism and not Communism. A Socialist can be relatively rich, as long as he or she is prepared to make a greater contribution to the common good than someone with less wealth.

Another problem, and the most important one, is human nature, such that people who have acquired wealth are generally reluctant to see it taken away from them, whether through taxes, theft or any other means. However, in order to be a Christian, and follow the instructions of Christianity’s founder, it is difficult to see how one can escape from the conclusion that one’s religion demands that a substantial portion of one’s wealth be redistributed.

Many Socialists have indeed been driven by Christian principles, believing that their faith demanded that they seek social justice for all. From the 19^th century onwards in the UK, the Nonconformist churches have gathered their strength largely from working-class communities where Socialism is also strong, and the two trends have melded together very easily.

For someone like Donald Soper (1903-98), a leading Methodist and pacifist, it would have been impossible to consider Christianity as being anything other than a Socialist movement, because their aims pointed in exactly the same direction, namely social justice for all. He notably criticised Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for policies that were incompatible with Christianity. It was Margaret Thatcher who pointedly stated that there was no such thing as Society, but her vision of a perfect world, where everybody made as much money for themselves as they could, and the weakest went to the wall, would seem to be as far removed from that of Jesus Christ as from Socialism.

© John Welford