\u201cNow all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need<\/em>\u201d (Acts 2:44-45).<\/p>\n \u201cNow the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common<\/em>\u201d (Acts 4:32).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Whereas socialism is a system of wealth redistribution and equalization mandated by the government, what is recorded in scripture is none of that.<\/p>\n They voluntarily \u201csold their possessions and goods.\u201d The system was not confiscatory in nature. The full weight of government was not bearing down on citizens, requiring them, under penalty of arrest, to surrender their hard-earned capital to strangers. Rather, those who shared faith gladly shared property to tend to one another\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n The beauty of church supplied assistance, in contradistinction to that of the government, is the difference between loving generosity and grudging obligation; it\u2019s the difference between giving and taking. The government has the power to prosecute those who evade their taxes, but the church can only encourage its members to give from a sense of caring. God does not want those to give who, themselves, do not want to give (Acts 20:35; II Corinthians 9:6-7).<\/p>\n This system did not disregard private property rights but recognized that liberty. When Ananias and Sapphira lied to God and their brethren about the portion of proceeds they had donated, Peter reasoned with them, \u201cWhile it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?<\/em>\u201d (Acts 5:4). They were not required to surrender the entirety of their personal treasure, but they were obligated to be honest about their giving (Proverbs 25:14).<\/p>\n God appointed governing authorities, not for the redistribution of private property, but to uphold good and to punish evil (Romans 13:1-7; I Peter 2:13-14). Having stated this, the apostle Paul explained, \u201cFor because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God\u2019s ministers attending continually to this very thing<\/em>\u201d (Romans 13:6). Taxes are not paid to equalize each citizen\u2019s financial standing, but to enable rulers to praise the doing of good and execute wrath on those practicing evil.<\/p>\n Distribution was according to \u201cneed\u201d, not an entitlement. Those able to provide for themselves did not line up for a handout. The problem with state-run socialism is that it discourages hard work. It is written, \u201cThe person who labors, labors for himself, for his hungry mouth drives him on<\/em>\u201d (Proverbs 16:26). Hunger, the fulfillment of a personal need, is an excellent motivation to work. Socialism, however, has the opposite effect. The laborer does not gain the full reward of his labor but is made to surrender that reward to authorities who will, in turn, dispense it to those who did not do the work. Meanwhile, the hungry man will not be motivated to labor for himself but will settle into laziness, knowing he can depend on the welfare state to provide for him. Again, it is written, \u201cIf anyone will not work, neither shall he eat<\/em>\u201d (II Thessalonians 3:10).<\/p>\n In the church, when we give, we know who we\u2019re giving to, why we\u2019re giving to them, and whether they really need it. Bureaucracy affords no such assurances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bryan Matthew Dockens It has been argued that socialism is a divinely approved economic system exemplified in scripture. Proponents point to two passages as evidence of their claim: \u201cNow all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[336,310],"class_list":["post-24207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-economic-systems","tag-government"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1328,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-socialism-a-biblical-concept\/","url_meta":{"origin":24207,"position":0},"title":"Is Socialism a Biblical Concept?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Much to my surprise, for the first time that I can remember since the Cold War, there is a flurry of national interest in socialism. As someone who is a student of history, this concerns me. As someone who is politically unaligned, I\u2019m not sure what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36657,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-acts-2-justify-churches-helping-the-poor-in-the-general-population\/","url_meta":{"origin":24207,"position":1},"title":"Does Acts 2 justify churches helping the poor in the general population?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Acts 2 Christians were selling their property and giving to those in need. Were these individuals giving to individuals or individuals giving to the church and the church giving? If it was the church giving, were they giving to non-Christians or Christians only? I've heard this scripture used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3524,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/economic-systems\/","url_meta":{"origin":24207,"position":2},"title":"Economic Systems","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Luke 12:13-34 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many of the things we take for granted in our life are difficult for everyone to produce individually \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Imagine life where you had to produce everything yourself. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That car you drove to services, would you be able to put one together yourself? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What if that also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45041,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-acts-1117-teach-that-people-were-saved-only-by-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":24207,"position":3},"title":"Does Acts 11:17 teach that people were saved only by faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Those who believe in faith alone insist that because of Acts 11:17 they received the Holy Spirit by believing in Jesus they were saved. How must one defend against it? Answer: In Acts 11, Peter is defending his actions in Acts 10. \"But Peter explained it to them in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90778,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-power-to-save\/","url_meta":{"origin":24207,"position":4},"title":"God’s Power to Save","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0by J. F. Dancer When Paul wrote the letter to the saints at Rome, he explained to them why he had not yet visited them. He had promised to come and still intended to do so (Romans 15:24), but had been prevented (Romans 1:13). 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Those who \u201chad all things in common\u201d were \u201call who believed\u201d or \u201cthe multitude of those who believed.\u201d The setting was the church, not the state. The government had nothing to do with this.<\/p>\n