Was Jesus a Socialist?

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PragerU

Non-profit, Self-improvement, Education, Business, History

4.7 • 6.8K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2019

⏱️ 5 minutes

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Summary

Did Jesus support socialism? Do the teachings of Jesus Christ condemn the accumulation of wealth while pushing for the equal distribution of resources? Lawrence Reed, president of the Foundation for Economic Education, explains the misconceptions surrounding one of history’s greatest figures.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Was Jesus a socialist?
0:03.8	Well, if socialism is nothing more than being kind to other people,
0:07.5	then you might think the answer is yes.
0:09.6	But you could be kind to other people and be a capitalist.
0:13.2	John D. Rockefeller probably gave away more money than anyone in human history,
0:17.6	and he was certainly a capitalist.
0:19.8	Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have given away millions, too.
0:23.4	To get an accurate answer to our question, we need to define socialism.
0:28.8	Socialism is the concentration of power into the hands of government elites
0:33.0	to achieve the following purposes, central planning of the economy,
0:37.2	and the radical redistribution of wealth.
0:40.4	Jesus never called for any of that.
0:43.2	No where in the New Testament is he advocate for the government to punish the rich or even
0:47.7	to use tax money to help the poor, nor does he promote the ideas of state ownership of businesses
0:53.5	or central planning of the economy. In Luke 12, Jesus is confronted by a man who wants
0:59.4	him to redistribute wealth.
1:01.5	Master the man says to Jesus,
1:03.5	tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.
1:06.8	Jesus replies,
1:08.4	man, who made me a judge or divider over you?
1:13.1	And then he rebukes the man for being envious of his sibling.
1:17.4	How about Jesus' parable of the talents?
	...

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