10 Reasons Jesus Was Not a Socialist, Part Two

By Laura Zee

In part one of this article, we defined socialism and discussed five reasons Jesus’ teachings were incompatible with socialism. By way of summary, we said that Jesus taught voluntary generosity rather than government redistribution of wealth by force of law. Jesus offers us the opportunity to demonstrate that we trust him as we care for others, beginning with taking care of fellow Christians first. There is to be accountability within the Christian community, which results in a strong witness of God’s goodness and provision for his people. And we are to put away all resentment, envy, and greed, such that we are not comparing ourselves to others but only striving for what is good, excellent, and praiseworthy. We now turn to five more reasons Jesus was not a socialist. 

6. Jesus condemned the rich when he was in areas where wealth was typically obtained through extraction, not hard work and ingenuity.¹

Jesus lived, traveled, and ministered among the wealthy Sepphoris bankers, the wealthy fishing merchants of Magdala, and the Galilean artisans who made their living on large building projects.² Although he certainly had plenty of opportunities to confront wealthy entrepreneurs and investors who earned a good living as a result of their honest hard work, we don’t find such confrontations in the Gospels. Rather, the Gospels indicate Jesus reserved his warnings and condemnations regarding money for his visits to areas in which wealth was typically obtained through extraction by the religiously and politically powerful.³ 

Specifically, Jesus was tough on the wealthy when he was in the high-tax, exploitive, political, and religious center of Judea⁴ and in the politically-tied towns of Tyre and Sidon,⁵ where the Jerusalem shekel was minted, high-level trades with the politically powerful were made, and slaves were sold in open-air markets.⁶ Since socialism is characterized by the full takeover of business and the economy by the government, presumably Jesus would not have kind words regarding socialism today. In contrast, Jesus omitted the lectures and warnings about money when he was in areas where most of the wealth was created through labor, commerce, and investment.⁷ These are more characteristic of free-market economies. 

7. Jesus and his disciples condemned theft. 

Just because an action is carried out by the government doesn’t make it moral. When the government takes innocent lives, demands idol worship, or commands believers to stop sharing the gospel, it’s immoral, even when it’s approved of by a majority of citizens.⁸ Likewise, when the government takes, by threat of law, what some members of society have earned in order to give it to those who didn’t earn it, it’s immoral, even with majority approval.⁹

Socialism, by definition, involves the politically powerful taking what rightfully belongs to others and giving it to those who didn’t earn it. Such “redistribution of wealth” disincentivizes innovation, risk-taking, creative problem-solving, and serving others to the best of our ability because we don’t personally benefit from our efforts. Dissuasion of these critical components of human flourishing is a major reason why socialism consistently leads to decreased production and has even led to mass starvation and death (see #9 below).

8. Jesus and his disciples acknowledged the sinful nature of man. 

Socialism is built on several assumptions about reality. These include the assumptions that: 1) people will work hard and be honest without personal incentive to do so; 2) a small group of elites can predict how much of each good and service the entire population will need; and 3) the world’s wealth is a fixed amount which ought to be divided up rather than increased.¹⁰

While none of these assumptions align with reality,¹¹ the first one, in particular, rejects a foundational Christian doctrine, namely, the inherited sinful nature of mankind resulting from the fall of Adam.¹² Therefore, socialism is at odds with biblical Christianity, and we ought not to be surprised that it consistently produces negative, and often devastating, outcomes.¹³

9. Jesus and his disciples valued human life and flourishing, which are consistently impeded by socialism.

Although Jesus wasn’t concerned with manufacturing equal financial outcomes, he certainly valued life and human flourishing.¹⁴ When we look at the results of socialism, this isn’t what we find at all. 

Some of the most horrific examples of socialism include:

• The Bolshevik Revolution, where at least 10 million people were sent to the gulags in the USSR, and millions more starved in the Terror-Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine
• The Great Leap Forward in China in which between 15 million and 55 million people starved to death
• The socialist experiment in Cambodia in which more than a million people were gruesomely murdered
• The Castro regime in Cuba expropriated the land of Cuban farmers and the businesses of Cuban entrepreneurs, stealing their possessions and livelihoods and exiling millions of people
• The socialist policies of North Korea have caused the starvation of up to 3.5 million people and caused ongoing destitution for an entire nation
• The implementation of socialism in Venezuela turned a once-prosperous nation into a failed state with the world’s highest rate of inflation¹⁵

While these nations and their histories stand as cautionary tales of what happens when socialism is fully embraced, partial socialism — or what is sometimes called democratic socialism or a mixed economy — generally results in partial loss with few, if any, benefits.¹⁶ The more the government takes control of the economy and restricts individual economic freedom, whether through tax increases, minimum wage regulation, stricter rules that prevent the firing of workers, or other regulations and restrictions, the less prosperous the nation becomes.¹⁷ In contrast, the more economic freedom citizens have, the more a nation tends to flourish.

Although flourishing nations do tend to have greater wealth inequality between the poorest members of society and the wealthiest, everyone is better off overall when individuals have greater economic freedom.¹⁸ According to Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, as a direct result of capitalism, since 1970 the percentage of humanity living in extreme poverty has fallen by 80%.¹⁹ Before then, more than 1 in 4 people around the world were living on a dollar a day or less. Today, it’s about 1 in 20. This didn’t happen because of government handouts, redistribution of wealth, or socialism. It happened because of globalization, free trade, property rights, the rule of law, and entrepreneurship, all of which are essential features of capitalism.

10. Jesus and his disciples desired the growth of the church and Christian influence.

A growing body of research shows that as the welfare state grows, the church shrinks and so does its influence.²⁰ As the government gains power, religious freedom is often reduced, and people in need rely more heavily on the government to provide for them rather than participating in communities that hold them accountable to biblical standards of morality.

Given that secular governments don’t use their wealth to fund Christian ministry, it only makes sense that there would be less money for such activities under a secular socialist government.²¹ Without pastors, evangelists, and apologists to teach and disciple, schools devoted to raising up leaders with a Christian worldview, and ministries dedicated to creating, publishing, and distributing Christian materials — all of which require money donated by believers — Christian influence wanes.   

Conclusion

While all economic systems are comprised of sinful people and no system eliminates sin, socialism ignores the reality of sin altogether by expecting people to give their best, take risks, work hard, and innovate even when there is little to gain from it. Socialism further perpetuates and incentivizes sin by taking from those who earn wealth and giving it to those who don’t. Socialism robs nations of financial freedom and prosperity, it diminishes Christian influence, and often it results in millions of deaths. None of this recalls to mind anything Jesus or his disciples taught us to seek or support.

Rather, the Apostle Paul taught, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7).

References:

1. Jerry Bowyer, The Maker Versus the Takers: What Jesus Really Said About Social Justice and Economics (New York: Fidelis Books, 2020). ↩︎
2. Bowyer, The Maker Versus the Takers, 34-40. ↩︎
3. Bowyer, The Maker Versus the Takers, 17-75. ↩︎
4. Mark 10:1, 17; Luke 6:17-25, 18:18, 19:1-8; Mark 11:15-18 ↩︎
5. Luke 6:17 ↩︎
6. Bowyer, The Maker Versus the Takers, 45-49. ↩︎
7. Bowyer, The Maker Versus the Takers, 18-39. ↩︎
8. This is clear from passages that call for obedience to God rather than men when the two diverge, including Acts 4:18-20; Acts 5:29; Daniel 3:16-18 (see also Hebrews 11:33-34); and Revelation 13:15-17. ↩︎
9. Exodus 20:15, 17; Deuteronomy 5:19; Exodus 22:1-14 ↩︎
10. Sahil Chinoy, Nathan Nunn, Sandra Sequeira, and Stefanie Stantcheva, “Zero-Sum Thinking and the Roots of U.S. Political Divides,” May 15, 2024, https://socialeconomicslab.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/zero_sum_political_divides.pdf. ↩︎
11. Thomas Sowell, Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy, 5th ed. (New York: Basic Books, 2015). ↩︎
12. Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 5:12, 18-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 ↩︎
13. Russell A. Berman, “Leaving Socialism Behind: A Lesson from German History.” Hoover Institution (Stanford: Leland Stanford Junior University, 2020), accessed June 20, 2024, https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/research/docs/humanprosperityproject_berman.pdf; H.R. McMaster and Leopoldo Lopez, “Venezuela: The Disaster Of The ‘Socialist Revolution’ And Prospects For Recovery,” Hoover Institution, March 16, 2022, https://www.hoover.org/research/venezuela-disaster-socialist-revolution-and-prospects-recovery; “The Index of Economic Freedom,” Heritage Foundation, last modified October 2023, https://www.heritage.org/index/pages/report. ↩︎
14. John 10:10 ↩︎
15. “H.Con.Res.9 – Denouncing the horrors of socialism,” Congress.gov, accessed June 20, 2024, https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/9/text. ↩︎
16. Lee E. Ohanian, “The Effect of Economic Freedom on Labor Market Efficiency and Performance,” Prosperity Project, accessed June 20, 2024, https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/research/docs/prosperityproject_ohanian_final.pdf. ↩︎
17. “The Index of Economic Freedom,” Heritage Foundation, last modified October 2023, https://www.heritage.org/index/pages/report. ↩︎
18. John Tamny, “Income Inequality is Good,” PragerU, September 5, 2016, https://www.prageru.com/video/income-inequality-is-good. ↩︎
19. Arthur Brooks, “If You Hate Poverty, You Should Love Capitalism.” PragerU, August 31, 2017, https://www.prageru.com/video/if-you-hate-poverty-you-should-love-capitalism. ↩︎
20. Ben Johnson, “How Socialism Causes Atheism,” Religion & Liberty 29, no.3 (December 11, 2019), https://www.acton.org/religion-liberty/volume-29-number-3/how-socialism-causes-atheism. ↩︎
21. This is not the case in Islamic countries, where there is no separation of church and state and the government funds Islamic activities. ↩︎