Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capitalism to be idolatrous and rooted in the sin of greed. Christian socialists identify the cause of social inequality to be the greed that they associate with capitalism. Christian socialism became a major movement in the United Kingdom beginning in the 19th century. Christians on the Left is one formal group, as well as a faction of the Labour Party. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018.
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, socialism is a "social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work isolated, but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members. ... Early Christian communities also practised the sharing of goods and labour, a simple form of socialism subsequently followed in certain forms of monasticism. Several monastic orders continue these practices today."
The Hutterites believe in strict adherence to biblical principles and church discipline, and practices common ownership of nearly all property, resembling a form of communism to secular observers. In the words of historians Max Stanton and Rod Janzen, the Hutterites "established in their communities a rigorous system of Ordnungen, which were codes of rules and regulations that governed all aspects of life and ensured a unified perspective. As an economic system, Christian communism was attractive to many of the peasants who supported social revolution in sixteenth century central Europe", such as the German Peasants' War, and Friedrich Engels came to view Anabaptists as proto-communists.
Other earlier figures viewed as Christian socialists include the 19th-century writers F. D. Maurice (The Kingdom of Christ, 1838), John Malcolm Forbes Ludlow (The Christian Socialist, 1850), Adin Ballou (Practical Christian Socialism, 1854), Thomas Hughes (Tom Brown's School Days, 1857), John Ruskin (Unto This Last, 1862), Charles Kingsley (The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby, 1863), Frederick James Furnivall (co-creator of the Oxford English Dictionary), and Francis Bellamy (a Baptist minister and the author of the Pledge of Allegiance in the United States).
History Biblical age Elements that would form the basis of Christian socialism are found in the Old Testament, as well as the New Testaments. They include , , , , , , , , , , , , , and .
Old Testament The Old Testament had divided perspectives on the issue of poverty. One part of the Biblical tradition held that poverty was judgment of God upon the wicked while viewing prosperity as a reward for the good, stating in the that "[t]he righteous have enough to satisfy their appetite, but the belly of the wicked is empty." There are other sections that instruct generosity to the have-nots of society. Mosaic Law instructs followers to treat neighbours equally and to be generous to have-nots.
Some of the Psalms include many references to social justice for the poor.
Amos emphasizes the need for justice and righteousness that is described as conduct that emphasizes love for those who are poor and to oppose oppression and injustice towards the poor. The prophet Isaiah, to whom is attributed the Book of Isaiah, followed upon Amos' themes of justice and righteousness involving the poor as necessary for followers of God, denouncing those who do not do these things.
The Book of Sirach, one of the deuterocanonical or biblical apocrypha books of the Old Testament, denounces the pursuit of wealth.
New Testament
The teachings of Jesus are frequently described as socialist, especially by Christian socialists, such as Terry Eagleton. records that in the early church in Jerusalem "[n]o one claimed that any of their possessions was their own"; this pattern, which helped Christians survive after the siege of Jerusalem, was taken seriously for several centuries, and was an important factor in the rise of feudalism. While it would later disappear from church history except within monasticism, it experienced a revival since the 19th century. Christian socialism was one of the founding threads of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom and is said to begin with the uprising of Wat Tyler and John Ball in the 14th century.
In the New Testament, Jesus identifies himself with the hungry, the poor, the sick, and the prisoners. Matthew 25:31–46 is a major component of Christianity and is considered the cornerstone of Christian socialism. Another key statement in the New Testament that is an important component of Christian socialism is Luke 10:25–37 that follows the statement "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" with the question "And who is my neighbour?" In the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus gives the response that the neighbour includes anyone in need, even people we might be expected to shun. The Samaritans and Jews claim descension from different Tribes of Israel, which had faced a schism prior to the events described in the New Testament. This schism led to interethnic and interreligious conflict between the two groups.
Luke 6:20–21 shows Jesus narrating the Sermon on the Plain. It reads: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied." Christian socialists cite James the Just, the brother of Jesus, who criticizes the rich intensely and in strong language in the Epistle of James.
During the New Testament period and beyond, there is evidence that many Christian communities practised forms of sharing, redistribution, and communism. Some of the Bible verses that inspired the communal economic arrangements of the Hutterites are found in the book of the Acts.
Church Fathers age Basil of Caesarea, the Church Father of the Eastern monks who became Bishop of Caesarea, established a complex (later called Basileias) around the church and monastery that included hostels, almshouses, and hospitals for infectious diseases. During the great famine of 368, Basil denounced against profiteers and the indifferent rich. Basil wrote a sermon on the Parable of the Rich Fool in which he states:
John Chrysostom declared his reasons for his attitude towards the rich and position of attitude towards wealth. He said:
Early modern period During the English Civil War and the period of the Commonwealth of England (1642–1660), the Diggers espoused a political and economic theory rooted in Christianity that bears a strong resemblance to modern socialism, particularly its anarchist and communist strains. Some scholars believe the Munster Rebellion may have formed an early socialist state.
19th century to present In "Religion and the Rise of Socialism", historian Eric Hobsbawn argued that the "modern working-class socialist movement has developed an overwhelmingly secular, indeed often militantly anti-religious ideology." At the same time, he and other historians cited examples where this was not the case, particularly Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries, where E. P. Thompson and Stephen Yo said a form of ethical socialism dominated the labour movement. A prominent example of Christian socialism, or socialist Christianity, was Keir Hardie, a founder of the Labour Party in Britain, who said he learnt his "Socialism in the New Testament", where he said he found what he described as his "chief inspiration". Those socialists argued that socialism was the embodiment of the teachings of Jesus, and that it would also rescue the church from Mammon, which they said caused it to have lost its way and become corrupt by siding with the rich and powerful against the poor. According to this view, socialism was not anti-religion but was opposed to those who would use it to support capitalism and the status quo. James Connolly is credited with setting the groundwork for Christian socialism in Ireland. Connolly, who wrote a story for the Christian socialist journal Labour Prophet, said: "It is not Socialism but Capitalism that is opposed to religion ... when the organised Socialist working class tramples upon the Capitalist Class it will not be trampling on a pillar of God's Church but upon a blasphemous defiler of the Sanctuary, it will be rescuing the faith from the impious vermin who make it noisome to the really religious men and women."
In France, Philippe Buchez began to characterize his philosophy as Christian socialism in the 1820s and 1830s. A variety of socialist perspectives emerged in 19th-century Britain, beginning with John Ruskin. Edward R. Norman identifies what he describes as the three "immediate intellectual sources" for mid-century Christian socialism: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas Carlyle, and Thomas Arnold. The United States also has a Christian socialist tradition. In Utah, it developed and flourished in the first part of the 20th century, playing an important part in the development and expression of radicalism. Part of a larger, nationwide movement in many American Protestant churches, Christian socialism in Utah was particularly strong, and dedicated Christian socialist ministers, such as Episcopal Church bishop Franklin Spencer Spalding of Utah and Congregational minister Myron W. Reed in the American West, were fierce advocates for the miners laboring in the Mountain states.
John Ruskin The influential Victorian era art critic John Ruskin expounded theories about social justice in Unto This Last (1860). In it, he stated four goals that might be called socialist even though Ruskin did not use the term. "[T]raining schools for youth, established at government cost." In connection with these schools, the government should establish "manufactories and workshops, for the production and sale of every necessary of life." All unemployed people should be "set to work" or trained for work if needed or forced to work if necessary. "[F]or the old and destitute, comfort and home should be provided."
Although Norman says Ruskin was not "an authentic Socialist in any of its various nineteenth-century meanings", as his only real contact with the Christian socialists came through the Working Men's College, he influenced later socialist thinking, especially the artist William Morris.
Artists The painters of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were influenced and sponsored by Ruskin. Morris was a leader of the Socialist League founded in December 1884.
Fabian Society The Fabian Society was founded in 1884, with Beatrice Webb and Sydney Webb being among its leading members. The Fabians influenced members of the Bloomsbury Group and were important in the early history of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom.
Episcopal Church Socialist League and Church League for Industrial Democracy Founded by Vida Dutton Scudder in 1911, herself influenced by the Fabian Society, the Episcopal Church Socialist League and its successor, the Church League for Industrial Democracy, sought to ally Christian doctrine with the plight of the working class as a part of the larger social gospel movement that was taking hold of many urban churches across the United States in the early 20th century.
In the November 1914 issue of The Christian Socialist, Spalding stated:
Christian anarchism