Christian communists regard biblical texts in Acts 2 and 4 as evidence that the first Christians liv

[safeinOhio]

Very interesting study of Socialism and Christianity on this page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_communism

(snip)
All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. [...] Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. [...] 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.[29]

—?Acts 2:44–45, Acts 4:32–35

[lark]

1. interesting!

Funny, I never heard about that in all my years of attending church 3x week from age 8 to 17.

[rampartc]

2. great verses for modern "prosperity" ministers to consider

[Igel]

3. They're usually partly quoted.

Without context.

The rest of the context is that it was entirely voluntarily, and there was no judgment and no penalty for not contributing. As soon as it was perceived to be a status symbol or somehow required, people starting lying about their "taxes" and idea it was required was corrected. Try that with any non-utopian socialist plan. First thing is government dictates, second thing is government enforcement with violence against those who don't agree with strong judgments from the (self-)righteous, most of whom believe it's better for others to give so that the believers may receive (either stuff or power).

Voluntarily socialism has a lot of traditional names. Then again, that means it's not really socialism, so there's a bit of definition-shifting and fallacious assumption-making in that sentence.

The rest of the context is that they were there waiting for Jesus' return. What need had they of possessions? They were sojourners, and awaiting their true government--not the Roman-imposed occupation government that abused the population and which Jesus had nothing much to say about. The children of those who committed self-impoverishment probably weren't too happy at going from the top 20% to the bottom 5%. Nor their wives or servants.

[safeinOhio]

5. Reminds me and the child that really wanted a bike.

So, he prayed and prayed for one and nothing happened. So he went to Sunday School and he learned that is not how God works. He then went out and stole one and then prayed for forgiveness.

[Mariana]

6. Remember what happened to Ananias and Sepphira in Acts Chapter 5.

They sold some land and gave some of the proceeds to the Apostles. Peter then demanded to know if they'd handed over all the money from the sale. Of course they should have told him to mind his own business, but instead they lied to him, and they were killed for it. After that, the story says, "Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events."

So we see that the Church started using violence and fear to control the congregation very early on, and that violence and fear was directly related to their contributions. The only way for members to be safe from violence or shame was to just hand over everything.

[SCantiGOP]

4. I've often cited this to right-wingers

It is a pure example of Marx’s basic dictum: From each according to his means; to each according to his needs.

I explain that the text shows that Christianity is not just based on socialism, but rather on pure Utopian Communism.

[uriel1972]

7. antichrist is used in the Bible in two places

both refer to people who are living in the World and professing to follow Christ. In other words not in an isolated commune. Most of the people who call themselves Christian today would qualify as anti-Christ by that definition.

[brooklynite]

8. How is that different from a commune?

Communism fails when you try to upscale it to a nation.