Quote Source – A Medium Reader/Responder

A Biblical Christian worldview perspective – The assumption that the book of Acts, in the early formation of the Christian church, was significantly different then the Biblical Christian church of today, or that it gave rise to (i.e. “proto”) communism is a common misconception by unbelievers.

The full quote of this responder was …

“I’ll believe US Conservatives are Christians when I see them in the nearest ghetto, washing people’s feet. Early Christianity could reasonably be called proto-Communism. The US Religious Wrong [i.e. a play on the “conservative-right”) are about the least Christ-like people one could imagine.”

Two Points of Disagreement

Is pre-Communism the same as the church in Acts 2?

Pre-communism has nothing to do with early Christianity. The sharing of needs across a group of believers (Matthew 25:35-40, Matthew 5:42, Acts 20:35, Luke 12:33-34) is not at all the same as Communism.

This view of the early church sharing needs as they arose is best described in …

Acts 2:44-47 - And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Webster defines communism as, “a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production.”

Note that under communism “sharing” is a law imposed by a totalitarian government, not a sign of love of one’s neighbor as in Acts during the formation of the early church. The first is founded on governmental laws where everything is owned by the State. The second is voluntary donations based on compassion. Even in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, who sold their land to give money to the poor, God did not condemn them for the gesture, only partially fulfilled. He killed them because they lied about how much money they received (Acts 5:1-11).

Is the Biblical Christian church ignoring its responsibility in sharing today?

The simple answer is, no. America has the highest level of giving of any developed country in the world after Singapore and, “Christian giving accounts for roughly 70% of all charitable giving in the U.S.”

Conclusion

Those who choose to see Biblical Christians and their churches as departing from a desire to “love our neighbor” are really focused on rejecting God’s commands in areas such as same-sex marriages and pro-life … views that run counter to their secular worldview. These issues are not imposed by believers but represent the viewpoint of the Creator of the universe.

Secular detractors of believers are missing or ignoring the fact that American Christians of all stripes donate their time and funds to support those who are not as well off.

Further, to conflate Communism with early Christianity as a way of discrediting today’s Christians based on their statistical association with Conservatives is absurd on multiple levels. Not the least of which is the definitional error of what true Communism is based on … a totalitarian, government-controlled ownership of all material assets.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words

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