Luke chapter 18:
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18 A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
19 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'
21 "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. SELL EVERYTHING YOU HAVE AND GIVE TO THE POOR, AND YOU WILL HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN. Then come, follow me."
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
2007-12-03 05:35:13 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
More of a socialist, I think.
And that's one passage that the fundie literalists will definitely NOT be taking literally. The Garden of Eden is literal, Jonah in the whale's belly is literal... but selling all you own to give to the poor?? THAT is figurative!!
These folks crack me up. Really.
2007-12-03 05:42:21 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 2⤋
The things we associate with capitalism (a system of private property, human values that place profit motive over social hierarchy or reciprocity) are relatively new. They really started to take root only three hundred years ago in Western Europe and later elsewhere.
Jesus certainly lived in a non-capitalist society, one that Marx would have called 'primitive communist'. But Jesus seems to have advocated personal generosity and a non-materialistic lifestyle. He is certainly not the first person in history to advocate such a lifestyle (look at Lao Tzu or the Hebrew concept of tzadaka/charity). But this is quite different from Marx, who paid little attention to individual morality and was more focused on a class struggle that would yield a society in which economic relations were subordinate to human social relations and not vice-versa.
So Jesus was not a communist in the Marxist sense of the word, nor was he 'the' pioneer of generosity. Though he was quite influential as we know.
2007-12-03 14:00:17 · answer #2 · answered by meta4metta 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sort of, but not as a system of government. The earliest churches were actually communes, where the inhabitants shared all of their possessions. Jesus' disciples literally walked away from everything to follow him, and Jesus was challenging this particular rich man if he could do the same.
2007-12-03 13:48:53 · answer #3 · answered by Beardog 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
That's a good passage about not serving two masters. The young man in the passage served his wealth more than God. What does that have to do with communism?
2007-12-03 14:03:00 · answer #4 · answered by Huevos Rancheros 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Jesus would approve of mass slaughter and gulags as much as He would approve of the Iraq war and Guantanamo.
Many, many Christians throughout the world have interpreted such passages as justification for building, on earth, a more equitable and just society. Some are Socialists.
I'm having a hard time with the idea of Christian Communism, however, in part because of Marx's views, and those of the Chinese and Soviet state, on matters of religion.
2007-12-03 13:45:31 · answer #5 · answered by Silver 3 · 4⤊ 3⤋
The passage wasn't telling him to do that because he was rich and Jesus wanted to spread the wealth amongst everyone he said it to prove a point that some people to much emphasis on material objects that you can't take with you.
2007-12-03 13:39:06 · answer #6 · answered by Tip 5 · 3⤊ 2⤋
You will be saved by the Lord. He is an awesome God who loves you too. Seek Him through prayer and ask Him to help you understand the scriptures of the bible. Then you will be saved too. God Bless.
2007-12-03 13:47:35 · answer #7 · answered by Liza 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Not sure about Jesus but our American Indians living in small groups had to do allot of sharing.
2007-12-03 13:41:27 · answer #8 · answered by Dave M 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You have to understand Evangelicals have re-invented Jesus-they are anti-abortion but care little about the living (they were in large part responsible for electing a pro-war President)it is tough to be a Christian-so you have to re-invent Christ....
2007-12-03 14:00:40 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Depends on how you read it, Ive heard some people say things like "Christ says help your neighbor but he never said you should be forced to."
2007-12-03 13:48:07 · answer #10 · answered by noituloeve maerd 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋