It is said by some that the early church practiced a form of socialism. They get this erroneous view from passages like Acts 2:44-45 and 4:32-37. These passages say that those in the early church shared all of their possessions and held everything “in common.” On the surface then, it would seem like this was some form of communism or socialism. And if that’s the case, shouldn’t all Christians follow their example?
Often in my writings, I like to remind people of the rules by which we interpret and apply Scripture. Some of those rules include looking at the historical context in which the passage was written, and interpreting a given passage in light of the whole Bible. For more rules for interpreting and applying Scripture, see my booklet Knowing God’s Word, Knowing God’s Will.
First we must ask: “Does the rest of Scripture show that socialism is the best form of economic system?” The answer is an emphatic “no!”
From the very beginning, the Bible advocates for a free-market economic system. Before you throw this pamphlet away, please realize that you cannot blame a free-market economic system for any of society’s ills. We haven’t had a truly free market in America for many generations. A free market is fairly simple: you provide a good or service, and in return, I pay you what we agreed. That’s it. No government to rig the game in favor of one of us. No government interference at all unless one of us feels we have been cheated or coerced.
This is the economic system that God created, and we find it all the way back in the book of Genesis. When God put Adam in the garden of Eden, He gave him work to do (Gen. 2:15). That work (tending the garden), would produce something (fruit), and Adam had a God-given right to have and enjoy what his work produced (Gen. 2:16). God didn’t take half of what Adam produced and give it Adam’s neighbor Larry. Adam got to keep it all for himself and his family.
Of course, later on in Scripture we see that if Larry has a legitimate need, we should use our resources to help Larry out. But in the Bible, charity isn’t something that is the job of the civil government. It is done by individuals, families, and churches. Also, the commands in Scripture to help the poor were not enforced by the government. If you murdered Larry, you would be punished by the civil government. But the government wouldn’t punish you for failing to help him in his time of financial hardship. God may punish you, but the government could not.
Furthermore, the idea that a just society is one in which everyone has an equal amount of wealth is not taught in Scripture. The idea of making the rich redistribute their wealth isn’t biblical either. There was no progressive tithe in the Bible; the rich and the poor both paid 10%. In fact, when it came to the “ransom money” in Ex. 30:11-16, everyone paid a half-shekel. The “rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less” (v. 15). This meant that the poor actually ended up paying a larger percentage of their income.
Even in the Ten Commandments we see socialism outlawed. The last commandment says “You shall not covet” (Ex. 20:17; Deut. 5:21). Some mistake this as saying that you shouldn’t want things, but that’s not what it says. It doesn’t say “don’t want a wife…a house, etc.” It says not to covet your neighbor’s wife, house, or “anything else that belongs to your neighbor.” Inherent in socialism is the idea that if my rich neighbor has more than I do, then I deserve some of his wealth. Socialism is wanting my rich neighbor’s money.
Of course, it’s more than just wanting my rich neighbor’s money, it’s actually taking it. If I take my neighbor’s wealth for my own use, that’s called theft. If I ask the government to take my neighbor’s wealth and give it to me, that’s called socialism. Stealing is stealing whether I do it or whether I ask someone to do it for me. The 8th Commandment forbids individuals and governments from stealing from others.
What then are we to make of the passages in the book of Acts that some claim are teaching communism/ socialism? First, we must note that the book of Acts is what is known as historical narrative. It tells us what happened. Of course, we do get much instruction from the book of Acts, but that doesn’t mean that everything we see in the book of Acts must be done by all Christians (does your church choose its leaders by casting lots? Acts 1:26).
Second, we should note that one of the very passages in question affirms that people have right to private property. After saying that the early church shared their stuff (Acts 4:32-37), Luke records that Peter affirmed that Ananias and Sapphira had the right to own land, and the money they gained by selling that land (Acts 5:4).
Third, we must note that this sharing program was done by a local church. This was done voluntarily, and was not something that was imposed on the disciples by the government.
Fourth, the Bible says that if someone will not work, they should go hungry (2 Thes. 3:10). But in that time and place, many Christians couldn’t work. Because becoming a Christian in that day would often mean being disowned by family members and being ostracized by Jewish society, many Christians would have found it difficult to provide for their families. It is likely that these difficult conditions had a lot to do with the actions of the church in the book of Acts.
Fifth, those Christians who sold their lands (Acts 4:34,37; 5:3) were going to lose them anyway. Remember, that this church, in Acts 2 and 4, was in Jerusalem and the surrounding area of Judea. Jesus had warned many times that Jerusalem would be invaded and destroyed (Luke 19:41-44; 23:28; etc.). The church was warned that when they saw the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem, they were to flee into the mountains (Luke 21:20-24). Knowing that they wouldn’t be able to keep any land that they owned in that area, and having so many fellow believers in need, their actions make perfect sense. But that doesn’t mean that this is the way every church in history must do things.
Socialism pretends to do many things like help the oppressed and make the lower classes more prosperous. But it never works in the long run, because it runs contrary to Scripture. The economic systems and charity programs that God invented are far superior to anything that man has invented. God’s ideas work, socialism doesn’t.