Christian Communism
Your Place of Safety
Below I've reproduced two chapters -- “Early Christianity: Religion of the Oppressed” and “Christian Communism” -- from Crises in European History, by Dr. Gustav Bang, a Marxist historian. The booklet first appeared serially in the Daily People, a daily newspaper published in the United States by the Socialist Labor Party, in 1909-10.
Before I became a believer, I studied Marxism while in prison. I was convinced for a time that communism without more was the answer to poverty, injustice, violence, and other social problems. I diligently studied all the socialist literature I could obtain freely -- especially whatever the Socialist Labor Party put out I was capable of purchasing.
I still believe communism to be the answer, but the wisdom of the Bible must be made the governing ethos for it to really work. Communism with its foundation resting solidly on God's commandments and Christ's teachings will win the day once it's fully understood how such a system can bring about the perfect human character full of love mixed with the mercy desired by Christ (Matthew 5:7; 9:13; 12:7; 23:23; James 2:12-13) that will produce the ability of internalizing God's laws so well that punishment and the fear of it are no longer necessary. Ezekiel 11:19-20; Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 10:15-18; 1 John 4:18.
Once perfect Christian character is achieved, man will be in the position to mercifully control the increasingly dangerous technologies, such as nanotechnology, artificial intelligence/robotics, and genetic engineering, as we advance towards the scientifically prophesied technological singularity, and be in the position to live out the infinite life spans these technologies will make possible once death and suffering become a thing of the past as prophesied in Revelation 21:3-4. Perfect Christian character will also provide the strength and motivation needed to practice calorie restricted diets and intermittent fasting which will always play a necessary part of any technologically engineered life span.
Once Christian communism is in place and there's no longer an exploiter and exploitee, human labor power will no longer be wasted on frivolous materialism and short sighted thrills as it is today. The full productive apparatus can then be harnessed to achieve real progress and a higher way of life without distraction.
I agree with Dr. Bang where he says:
"It was the communism of property and consumption, the communistic form of
society which was the natural expression of the social longings of the ancient
proletariat, and which in the first Christian congregations was not only proclaimed
but practiced. It was as yet impossible to form a social ideal of productive
socialism—the cooperative commonwealth—because the historical conditions for
such an order of society were wholly lacking;"
"Very early, in the course of but a few decades, pure communism disappeared, as in the nature
of things it had to, because the class interests which there found expression, those
of the proletariat and petty bourgeoisie, had as yet no future before them."
Today, however, is another matter. The expected break throughs in science and technology should be sufficient to provide the conditions necessary to establish a Christian communist society that will endure. Christian communism can work and "a friendly Artificial Intelligence (AI)" created within its framework if the people prepare for it now. Science and technology and Christian communism need one another. Together the future is theirs.
You might well say Christian communism has been tried before but failed. This, however, is not true. What was tried was communism with its basis in some form of Catholic or Protestant doctrine that clearly misconstrued the true teachings of the Scriptures. Failure was inevitable under these circumstances. God would not commit His Holy Spirit to assist an endeavor of this sort.
My brethren quickly point out that Dr. Bang was in error to say that Ananias and Sapphira were killed because they withheld a part of their wealth when it was the lying to the Holy Spirit that was the real reason. Acts 5:1-10 (NIV). I have to agree the error is palpable. But, I must point out the obvious. Had Ananias been truthful with Peter and told him he desired the money for his own use Peter would have been obligated to bar him from taking part in the blessings of the early Christian Church as it was then developing under God's guidance. Ananias would not have been “one in heart and mind” with the rest of the believers and this would've prevented his participation with them. Acts 4:32. The early believers “shared everything.” None held anything back.
The early Christian Church in Acts renounced private property and shared everything on the basis of Christ's teaching that this was a necessary part of the process of becoming perfect. Matthew 19:21. The 12 disciples followed this practice as well. Verse 27. We must assume God intended the early Christian
Church to be an example or role model for Christians today, and that He intends to revive it in the end times as the perfect way of life capable of providing a “place of safety” during the “great tribulation” prophesied to come on the world to test it. Revelation 3:10; 7:14-15.
I also disagree with Dr. Bang where he sees the development of Christianity as springing blindly from the conditions of the times in a social evolutionary fashion. Today, I believe God created the conditions necessary for Christianity to develop as it did. And, of course, I believe it was Satan who was responsible for true Christianity's demise at the hands of the Roman Empire when its rulers executed the true believers and then twisted and paganized its teachings until it was totally unrecognizable from what Jesus taught and practiced.
My copy of Crises in European History says:
“Gustav Bang was born September 26, 1871, in a small provincial town in
Denmark. He died on January 31, 1915. His father was a minister, who also
acquired a considerable reputation as a historian, and it was from the father that
young Bang imbibed his love of history.”
It's my belief, Dr. Bang learned something of the Bible from his father as well.
It's my hope you learn as much from Dr. Bang as I did.
EARLY CHRISTIANITY: RELIGION OF THE OPPRESSED
We see how the necessary elements for the spread of Christian teachings had
been created through the intellectual, religious and moral currents, each of which
with logical necessity sprang from the social changes at the end of antiquity. The
“fullness of time,” as it graphically was called, had arrived. When Christianity in
the first centuries of our era spread among those colonies of Jews, scattered
throughout the Roman Empire, it found their minds prepared. It gave definite form
to those conceptions which had taken hold of the consciousness of the population,
particularly the proletariat. And it was not only its religious and moral ideas which
met with sympathy, but also its social ideas.
Christianity, in its first and purest form, was a religion for the proletariat, for
the poor, suffering and oppressed in society. These were the people to whom Christ
spoke. Immediately before his first appearance as a teacher, he read in the
synagogue of Nazareth the prophecy of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, . . . ” (St. Luke 4:18; Isaiah
61:1) In his foreboding the nature of his activity is outlined. And what he later says
coincides: “. . . Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye
that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall
laugh.” (St. Luke 6:20–21) “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.” (St. Matt. 11:28)
It was also the common people that gathered around him and listened to him.
His apostles were poor fishermen and artisans, and great was the anger and
indignation of the pillars of society, the pharisees and scribes, because “publicans
and sinners kept close to him to hear him.” It was just the miserable and despised
people who sought refuge with him, and found not only consolation for the soul but
also practical defense against those who were hard on them. The story of the woman
caught in adultery is in its sublime simplicity the most scathing expression of
contempt for the existing moral hypocrisy, and the answer he gave applies as
strongly today: “. . . He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her.” (St. John 8:7)
Thus his message was one of compassion and leniency for the poor and outcast
in society; but for the rich he had but hard and threatening words. The rich man
suffered grievously in hell, not because he was so very wicked and sinful, but simply
because he was rich and enjoyed his wealth, “clad in purple and costly linen and
lived every day in magnificence and joy,” while Lazarus slept at his door and ate the
crumbs from his table. Again and again is the same conception of wealth expressed.
His is an absolute denunciation of any society where there are rich and poor,
affluence and want. “. . . woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your
consolation.” (St. Luke 6:24) “. . . Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly
enter into the kingdom of heaven. . . . 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.” (St. Matt.
19:23–24) And when the wealthy man, who has kept all the commandments from
his youth, asks what he must further do to inherit eternal life, Jesus answers:
“. . . If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou
shalt have treasure in heaven. . . . ” (St. Matt. 19:21)
In the proclamations of the disciples the same rejection of all wealth is
repeated, and particularly in the James letter the rich are denounced because of the
exploitation and suppression to which they subjected the poor: “Do not rich men
oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?” (St. James 2:6) [Emphasis
added.] “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come
upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold
and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and
shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last
days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of
you kept back by fraud, crieth: [emphasis added] and the cries of them which have
reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on
the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of
slaughter.” (St. James 5:1–5)
It was, accordingly, a decided proletarian tendency which dominated
Christianity in the first centuries of our era, a tendency which theology of later
times only succeeded in misrepresenting by sophistically exercising a most reckless
violence against the old traditions. And just as proletarian was the positive social
ideal which Christianity proclaimed.
CHRISTIAN COMMUNISM
It was the communism of property and consumption, the communistic form of
society which was the natural expression of the social longings of the ancient
proletariat, and which in the first Christian congregations was not only proclaimed
but practiced. It was as yet impossible to form a social ideal of productive
socialism—the cooperative commonwealth—because the historical conditions for
such an order of society were wholly lacking; the consumptive communism, the
enjoyment of things in common, became the ideal of the proletarians of those days.
This principle is prominent in the Gospels, and particularly in the “Acts.” He
who would follow Christ had to give up all his property, donate it to the
congregation, and the congregation lived in a common household, maintained
through common ownership. It was not a voluntary matter whether or not one
should place his belongings at the disposal of the congregation. On the contrary, it
was considered a mortal sin to neglect. Ananias and his wife Sapphira were
punished with death because they had withheld part of their wealth for their
private benefit (Acts 5). The Christian was to be personally propertyless, and could
only be co-sharer of the common possessions. In the “Acts” we find a description of
the original Christian congregations, and find them constructed in accordance with
the commands of Christ, based upon the ideas of an absolute communistic relation
of property and consumption.
“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And
sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man
had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and
breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and
singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And
the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:44–47)
“Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were
possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the
things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and
distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.” (Acts
4:34–35)
It is conceivable how such a communistic society would absorb the great mass
of the starved and oppressed proletarians, not only in Palestine, but also throughout
the vast Roman Empire. But it will also be seen that its duration, of necessity,
would be short. The number of destitute people to be kept satisfied grew rapidly,
but the amount of wealth at disposal increased very slowly. Soon the bottom would
be reached. At the beginning they rested content with the idea that Christ would
soon return and that the end of the world was at hand. But as time went on the
difficulties increased. From the letters of the apostles, particularly those of Paul, we
receive a vivid impression of the sharp admonitions which were administered in
order to obtain necessaries for the support of the poor in the community. Very early,
in the course of but a few decades, pure communism disappeared, as in the nature
of things it had to, because the class interests which there found expression, those
of the proletariat and petty bourgeoisie, had as yet no future before them. It was
changed to a decrepit charity for the support of the clergy at the expense of the
congregation; to the sacrament of the Lord’s supper as a last remnant of the oldtime
meals, in which all participated; here and there also to a monastic life and
semi-caricatures of the days of the early Christians.
The wealth which was collected for the community was more and more used for
the support of that upper class of ecclesiastics who gradually raised themselves
above the rest of Christian society, and the clergy made ever greater demands for
personal contributions from the members of the congregation. Thus the old
Christian communism was gradually transformed into the medieval, exploiting
church. Theology simultaneously became active, explaining away and
misinterpreting the expressions and statements of the New Testament regarding
wealth and poverty, to rob them of their “salt” and adjust the Christian teachings to
suit the ruling class in society.
But still, long after, there were sects trying to carry the program of ancient
Christianity into effect. As late as the close of the Middle Ages the old Christian
ideals played their role in the class struggle. And even today the accounts given in
the “Acts” are condemnatory of the hypocrisies of our time, of the hypocrites who
endeavor to show, Bible in hand, the right and justification for private property,
whereas no socialist agitator has used stronger language against nor more
mercilessly denounced this right than did Christ and his disciples.
I would also like to point out that Christian communism is not only for the poor as Dr. Bang says, but for the wealthy, who have eyes to see and ears to hear. The wealthy, who have the wisdom to see the utter necessity of Christian communism and the heart to sink their time and money into the early stages of its development, will be blessed by God and do well.
Edited by elijah3, 15 December 2007 - 12:05 AM.
