As part of my collection of pro-and-con libertarian humor, I’ve shared some images of “Libertarian Jesus.”
- Libertarian Jesus I
- Libertarian Jesus II (though I suppose this is actually an example of anti-Libertarian Jesus)
- Libertarian Jesus III
There’s another perspective, of course. Many mainline protestant denominations have very statist political agendas, and there’s a “liberation theology” strain of Catholicism.
Some of these people even might argue that Jesus was a socialist. Back in 2009, I shared some excerpts from a skeptical column by Cal Thomas on this topic. Today, let’s take a deeper look.
In a video for Prager University, Larry Reed looks at the Bible to determine whether Jesus was a socialist.
I’m certainly not an expert on theology, but I definitely liked Larry’s point about the warning against envy in the 10 Commandments.
After all, “Thou shall not covet” certainly seems inconsistent with class-warfare policy.
Let’s see what others have written on this topic.
In her Wall Street Journal column, Mary Anastasia O’Grady explains that socialism, with its emphasis on the collective, is inconsistent with Catholic religious teaching.
Socialists pose as humanitarians and sometimes even as Christians but their system strangles the person, who is at the heart of Catholic teaching. Catholic University of America research fellow Father John McNerney, author of “Wealth of Persons” (2016), describes the “real wellspring” of human progress as emanating from “the unique, irreplaceable and unrepeatable . . . reality of the individual acting in relation to his neighbor.” …Economists understand that the profit motive is integral to entrepreneurship. But it is about much more than material gains. Father McNerney illustrates the point in his book with the story of Agnes Morrogh-Bernard, a Sister of Charity who worked in the west of Ireland in the aftermath of that country’s notorious 19th-century famine. Starvation had wiped out whole communities, when not physically, spiritually. …Sister Agnes recognized that “mere philanthropic handouts could not recover” the annihilated Irish spirit. The community needed a creative outlet; it needed work. …Agnes’s “entrepreneurial acumen,” Father McNerney writes, was “the spark that ignited the bright star of a small industry in post-famine Ireland.”
Writing for FEE, Randy England opines on what is found in the Bible
Jesus spoke many times of the poor. He talked about the last judgment when he would commend those who help others, especially the poor… He said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven… Jesus’ exhortations to help the poor have been used as arguments for the redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. …Jesus looked to personal charity and the state of the rich man’s heart. …It is notable that Jesus never even hinted that third parties or the state should forcibly redistribute the rich man’s wealth. On the one occasion when Jesus was presented with an opportunity to work an equal distribution of wealth, he quickly declined… Instead, he warned against greed while declining to play the busybody.
In other words, Jesus wasn’t a socialist. Or, if we want to be more accurate (since he presumably didn’t have any views about government ownership, central planning, or price controls), he wasn’t a redistributionist.
At least not if that required government coercion.
P.S. Also from the humor collection, President Trump disagrees with Jesus.
P.P.S. On the topic of religion and public policy, I’ve been critical of Pope Francis. His heart may be in the right place, but he’s misguided about the policies that actually help the less fortunate. For what it’s worth, it would be helpful if he was guided by the moral wisdom of Walter Williams rather than the destructive statism of Juan Peron.
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I always thought Jesus was an Anarcho-Syndicalist.
Hi Dan,
I cced Dr Steve Kates in. He is a world renown Classical Economics Scholar his strength is J.S.Mill and many other areas in Economics. Yours is Fiscal and many other areas. Mine is Theology and learning more Economics from you both. Please allow me to share my strength regarding this topic.
God is never for coercion never! Jesus is definitely not a Socialist.
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit (who inspired the 40 authors to write the 66 books of the canon bible) are completely void of Socialist tendencies and thoughts. If you ever study all 31,102 verses with a Political Economic (PE) lens like I do perennially then you ought to get a summary like mine:
[cid:image002.png@01D53FC8.13497D10]
In your wonderful post re: [cid:image004.png@01D53FBB.5884CC70] The context is always if you want to help the poor, then you can help them. We are never told we have to help the poor. We are never coerced only encouraged. Even then, it is a gift (when we help the poor) not a command we have to enact. And, at the time Jesus was walking on Earth there was an established Roman Empire with a developed government (with an army, network of roads etc), yet He never ever not once- advised us to join with it to help people. He knows the thoughts of man. Power corrupts. Thus, the fourth point above – whenever there were comments made to help the community it was always if you want to.
Regarding the huffpost article the columnist fails to grasp the Bible never says money is evil. The love of money is the evil not the money itself. It is only when we love money more than our Lord and our neighbour and our enemies. Money is neutral. It is people (all of us, including Popes) that are fallen. It is us that can do evil not money. The first thing to be aware of with people like huff post columnists or other non-scholars is those who only quote a few scriptures and draw a view- they are cherry picking. You must consider all 31,102 verses before you draw any conclusions. And, Jesus only states wealth is bad when it blocks your priority of reliance. We are to rely on God, not the material possessions we have. This is why there are passages suggesting it is the wealthy who find it more difficult to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Wealth and money is NEVER put down it is only PUT IN ITS PLACE. The main time it is put in its place is when people may rely on it rather than God. It is only put down in the context of the one thing we ought to rely on more = accepting God. Otherwise Jesus would have said everyone give all your money to the poor. Now all the poor have the money and we who had the money are now poor. And we havent solved anything have we? If money is evil why would Jesus use it Himself for 33 years and refer to it so many times in a neutral light. Notice how Peters huff post article draws on a mere two verses, and leaves out 31,100 verses! He wins a cherry picker award. [Image result for blue ribbon award]
The only thing Economists are required to know regarding this topic, whether Atheist or Agnostic (or even believers), is this: Socialist-Christians only look at the ends and ignore the means of Socialism. They ignore the coercion required to enact Socialist systems. See the first 4 or 5 above which are all freedom orientated. Some people (mere mortals) may justify ends with the means BUT GOD VALUES HOW WE HELP (ie. THE MEANS) NOT JUST THE ENDS. Both means and ends are equally important to God not just the ends. I cannot emphasise this enough. Socialism will never work because the means goes against Gods character. He wants us free to accept Him, and this we can naturally transpose to imply how we live- freely. Capitalism has many flaws because we are all flawed… it is the least worst because we all fall short of perfection even Huffpost columnists. But, Gods Word is perfect, and this is what Gods Word says (effectively): God is never for coercion never! Jesus is definitely not a Socialist.
Sincerely
Nathan Saunders
You’re not an expert I guess, rather than ‘not an excerpt’ 🙂