PopeWatch: Christian Socialism

On Tuesday the Pope blasted money as a master instead of God, and from the reading regarding Ananias and Sapphira, noted how early Christians shared their goods in common as a result of an outpouring of grace through the Holy Spirit:

The Pope draws from the day’s reading the virtuous example of Barnabas who sells his field and gives the proceeds to the Apostles. And in contrast, Francis cites another passage from Acts: that of Ananias and Sapphira, a couple who sell their field and pretend to give the entire proceeds to the Apostles but who in fact, keep part of the money for themselves.  That lie costs them dearly; both die on the spot. 

God and money are two “irreconcilable” masters, Francis stresses. And, he warns against confusing “harmony” with “tranquility:”

“A community can be very tranquil…things are fine … But it is not harmonious. I once heard a wise thing from a bishop: ‘There is tranquility in the diocese. But if you touch on a certain problem – this problem or that problem – war breaks out.’  This is negotiated harmony, and this is not of the Spirit. Let’s say that it’s a hypocritical harmony like that of Ananias and Saphira and what they did.”

Francis concludes, encouraging a re-reading of the Acts of the Apostles and their portrayal of the first Christians and their life together. “We will do well,” he says, to understand the importance of their fraternal generosity and how to bear witness to such a lifestyle in our daily lives.

“The harmony of the Holy Spirit grants us the generosity to possess nothing as our own, while there is someone in need.”

Go here to read the rest.  I assume that the Pope’s interpretation of the proto-socialism embraced by some early Christian communities must be true spiritually, because it is certainly not true historically.  Most of the Christian communities got rid of the common ownership of goods by the end of the first generation of Christians.  There are signs in the New Testament of the problems that common ownership caused, in addition to the grim story of Ananias and Sapphira.  Saint Paul’s admonition for example that those who do not work should not eat, his concern that young widows became busybody ladies of leisure and in general that some Christians were taking advantage of other Christians by attempting to be idle while others worked.  The popularity of socialist nostrums and bunkum today is odd when in the New Testament we have a clear record that socialism does not work, outside of monasteries and convents, even with small groups of dedicated Christians.