What does the Bible say about Socialism? The following article by Peter Goeman (Shepherds Theological Seminary) spells it out biblically, in an easy to follow manner.
While they are different subjects, there is a connection between Socialism, Critical Race Theory and the demands of LGBTQ. At the core of it all is a focus on Self and greed and the rejection of God’s Word. I think Paul Henebury expressed it well, “Independence is the ground-motive of the sinner.” (The Words of the Covenant)
Of course, some church leaders today would strongly disagree with me, but that’s another subject.
What Socialism advocates
In four subheadings, Peter Goeman summarizes the nature of Socialism:
1) Socialism advocates communal property
2) Socialism advocates forced redistribution
3) Socialism promotes laziness
4) Socialism assumes the goodness of mankind
But how does the Bible respond?
Socialism is becoming popular in the United States, especially among the younger generations. One poll noted that 61% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 thought positively of socialism. Another poll said that 43% of Americans thought some form of socialism would be a good thing for the United States. The popularity of socialism in the United States is due in part to the political popularity of politicians like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but it also seems that many young people embrace socialism without really understanding what socialism is.
Socialism is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” Although there are different variants of socialism, the governmental control over production and distribution is the common denominator in most cases. Thus, the heart of socialism is the control and ownership of the means of production and their distribution by the government.
Historically, one would be hard pressed to find an example of success in socialism. Thomas Sowell, famed Stanford economist made the following famous statement, “Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.” Similarly, Margaret Thatcher famously noted that socialism was doomed to fail because eventually you run out of other people’s money…keep reading
Maranatha