Christian communism is a theological view that the teachings ofJesus compelChristians to supportreligious communism. Although there is no universal agreement on the exact dates when communistic ideas and practices inChristianity began, many Christian communists argue that evidence from theBible suggests that the first Christians, including theApostles in the New Testament, established their own small communist society in the years following Jesus' death and resurrection.[1] Many advocates of Christian communism and othercommunists, includingKarl Kautsky, argue that it was taught by Jesus and practised by the apostles themselves.[2] This position is also held by some historians.[3]
There are those who hold the view that theearly Christian Church, such as the one described in theActs of the Apostles, was an early form ofcommunism orChristian socialism. The view is that communism was just Christianity in practice and Jesus was the first communist.[4]
Christian communism was based on the concept ofkoinonia, which means common or shared life, which was not an economic doctrine but an expression ofagape love.[5] It was the voluntary sharing of goods amongst the community.[6]Acts 4:35 records that in theearly Christian Church inJerusalem "[n]o one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but shared everythingin common." The pattern helped the early Christians to survive after thesiege of Jerusalem and was taken seriously for several centuries.[7] While it later disappeared fromchurch history, it remained withinmonasticism[8] and was an important supporting factor in the rise offeudalism. This ideal returned in the 19th century with monasticism revival and the rise of religious movements wanting to revive the early Christian egalitarianism. Because they were accused ofatheism due its association withMarxism, they preferredcommunalism to describe their Christian communism.[9]
The earlyChurch Fathers, like their non-Abrahamic religious predecessors, maintained that human society had declined to its current state from a now lost egalitarian social order.[10] Several historians view the early Christian Church, as described in theActs of the Apostles (specifically theomnia sunt communia reference in Acts 2:44-45 and Acts 4:32-35),[2][10][11] as an early form of communism.[12][13][14] Among Christian communists, the view is that communism was just Christianity in practice and Jesus was a communist.[4] Later historians across several centuries supported the reading of early church communities as communistic in structure.[15][16][17]
From theHigh Middle Ages in Europe, various groups supported Christian communist andrural communalist ideas, and these ideas were also occasionally adopted by reformist Christian sects. An early 12th-centuryproto-Protestant group originating inLyon known as theWaldensians held their property in common in accordance with the Book of Acts but were persecuted by theCatholic Church and retreated toPiedmont.[18]
Around 1300, theApostolic Brethren in northern Italy were taken over byFra Dolcino, who formed a sect known as theDulcinians, which advocated ending feudalism, dissolving hierarchies in the church, and holding all property in common.[18] ThePeasants' Revolt in England has been an inspiration for "the medieval ideal of primitive communism", with the priestJohn Ball of the revolt being an inspirational figure to later revolutionaries,[19] and having allegedly declared that "things cannot go well in England, nor ever will, until all goods are held in common."[20]
During the 15th century around the year 1420, a radical Hussite faction inBohemia known as theTaborites established themselves inTábor. The group sought to live a life similar to that of the early Church. All possessions were held in common, they declared the rejection of their king, and the ruling lord. Additionally, they declared equality among both men and women. This resulted in women receiving education for the first time. Ultimately, the encampment lasted until 1437.[21]
In the 16th century, English writerThomas More, who is venerated in the Catholic Church as asaint, portrayed a society based on common ownership of property in his treatiseUtopia, whose leaders administered it through the application ofreason.[22]
Several groupings in theEnglish Civil War supported this idea, especiallyGerrard Winstanley'sDiggers,[23] who espoused clear communistic andagrarianist ideals.[24][25]Oliver Cromwell and theGrandees' attitude to these groups was at best ambivalent and often hostile.[26]Thomas Müntzer led a largeAnabaptist communist movement during the 16th-centuryGerman Peasants' War,[27][28] whichFriedrich Engels analysed inThe Peasant War in Germany.[29][30]
TheHutterites believed in strict adherence to biblical principles and church discipline, and practised a form of communism.[31] 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 Engels came to view Anabaptists asproto-communists.[32]
Criticism of the idea ofprivate property continued intothe Enlightenment era of the 18th century through such thinkers as the deeply religiousJean-Jacques Rousseau. Raised aCalvinist, Rousseau was influenced by theJansenist movement within the Catholic Church. The Jansenist movement originated from the most orthodox Catholic bishops who tried to reform the Catholic Church in the 17th century to stopsecularization andProtestantism. One of the main Jansenist aims was democratizing to stop the aristocratic corruption at the top of the Church hierarchy.[33]
InChristian Europe, communists were believed to have adopted atheism. In Protestant England,communism was too close to the Catholiccommunion rite, hencesocialist was the preferred term.[34]Friedrich Engels argued that in 1848, whenThe Communist Manifesto was published, socialism was respectable in Europe while communism was not. Theteachings of Jesus are frequently described as socialist, especially by Christian socialists, such asTerry Eagleton.[35] TheOwenites in England and theFourierists in France were considered respectable socialists, while working-class movements that "proclaimed the necessity of total social change" denoted themselvescommunists. This branch of socialism produced the communist work ofÉtienne Cabet in France andWilhelm Weitling in Germany.[36] Weitling was the leader of the Christian communistLeague of the Just whose stated goal was "the establishment of theKingdom of God on Earth, based on the ideals of love of one's neighbor,equality andjustice".[37] This was also referred to by the League as the "new Jerusalem".[citation needed]
In the earliest years of theMormon movement,Joseph Smith promoted thelaw of consecration and the concept of theUnited Order. Today, someMormon fundamentalist groups still apply this principle.[38][39] Christian socialism was one of the founding threads of theLabour Party in the United Kingdom and is said to begin with the uprising of John Ball andWat Tyler in the 14th century.[40]
Pehr Götrek translatedThe Communist Manifesto into Swedish the same year it was published in German. He made changes in it from his Christian influence, such as changing the now famous quote,Workers of the world, unite! toFolkets röst, guds röst! (Vox populi, vox Dei, or "People's voice is God's voice"). He also wrote several works criticising the developing capitalist society from a Christian perspective.[41] Igal Halfin ofTel Aviv University argues the Marxist ethos that aims for unity reflects theChristian universalist teaching that humankind is one and that there is only one god who does not discriminate among people.[42]
In 1914 the American socialist leaderEugene Debs declared that "Pure communism was the economic and social gospel preached by Jesus Christ, and every act and utterance which may properly be ascribed to him conclusively affirms it". He argued that subsequently Christ's words have been co-opted and diluted by individuals to serve their own ends.[43]
Early 20th century science fiction author and socialistOlaf Stapledon stated that "Marxism and Christianity spring from the same emotional experience".[44]Fidel Castro believed, "Christ chose the fishermen because he was a communist",[45] In his book "Fidel and Religion", Castro states that there is a "great coincidence between Christianity's objectives and the ones we Communists seek, between the Christian teachings of humility, austerity, selflessness, andloving thy neighbour and what we might call the content of a revolutionary's life and behaviour". Castro saw a similarity to his goals with the goals of Christ: "Christ multiplied the fish and the loaves to feed the people. That is precisely what we want to do with the Revolution and socialism", adding that, "I believe Karl Marx could have subscribed to theSermon on the Mount".[46]
Ho Chi Minh, although venerated as a communist leader in Vietnam and of aConfucian family background, was well-disposed toChristianity. He said: "The good side of Confucianism is the cultivation of personal ethics. The good side of Christianity is noble benevolence. The good side ofMarxism is the dialectical method. The good side ofSun Yat-sen is that his thinking is suitable to the conditions inVietnam. DoConfucius,Jesus,Marx and Sun Yat-sen not all have the same good side? They all sought the happiness for the people, and prosperity for the society. If today, they were still alive, if they were gathered in the same place, I believe they would certainly be living together in perfect harmony, as good friends. I strive to be their little student". He also used the language of Christianity and quotedBible stories to appeal to Catholics in Vietnam in the fight againstFrance andAmerica, as well as calling for unity between Catholics and followers of other religions.Ho Chi Minh Thought is said to have absorbed ideals from Christianity.[47]
NicaraguanSandinista activist, priest and former Minister for CultureErnesto Cardenal was a proponent of the idea of Christian communism, saying "Christ led me to Marx...for me, thefour Gospels are all equally Communist. I’m a Marxist who believes in God, follows Christ and is a revolutionary for his Kingdom".[48] He later said "The Bible is full of revolutions. Theprophets are people with a message of revolution. Jesus of Nazareth takes the revolutionary message of the prophets. And we also will continue trying to change the world and make revolution. Those revolutions failed, but others will come".[49]
The participants in theTaiping Heavenly Kingdom rebellion, asyncretic Christian-Shenic theocratic kingdom, are viewed by theChinese Communist Party as proto-communists.[50]Soong Ching-ling, aMethodist, was recognized in China with the title of Honorary Chairman of the People's Republic of China.[51]
Christian communists typically regard biblical texts inActs 2 andActs 4 as evidence that the first Christians lived in acommunist society.[10][11][12] Scholars generally agree that theActs of the Apostles and theGospel of Luke were written by the same person. In Luke 12:33, Jesus commands his disciples to sell what they have and give alms, and in Luke 14:33 says that no one can be his disciple who has not forsaken all his possessions. Some historians confirm the view that a form of communism was taught by Jesus and practised by the apostles.[3]
"All who believed were together and hadall things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. ... Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. ... There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need."[52]
— Acts 2:44–45, Acts 4:32–35
Among those historians who support the Christian communist view, Montero offers anthropological evidence that the practices recounted in Acts 4:32–35 were historical and were practised widely and taken seriously during at least the first two centuries of Christianity.[7] Other biblical evidence ofanti-capitalistic belief systems includeMatthew 6:24,[53] which said: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."[54] The slogan "Each according to his abilities" has biblical origins. Acts 11:29 states: "Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea." Additionally, the phrase "To each according to his needs" has a biblical basis in Acts 4:35, which says "to the emissaries to distribute to each according to his need".[55][56]
Various authors, including Thomas Wharton Collens,[57]José Porfirio Miranda,[58][59] andJosé Míguez Bonino, describe biblical sources supporting a common-property society. Bonino wrote: "Is it altogether absurd to re-read the resurrection today as a death of the monopolies, the liberation from hunger, or a solidary form of ownership?" Bonino and Miranda argue against the belief that "Scripture has various meanings", which in their view allow Western conservative theologians "to prevent the Bible from revealingits own subversive message", and that "use the Biblical text ... to defend the status-quo of a pre-revolutionary situation", as summarized by Andrew Kirk. Miranda said: "I am not introducing the Bible to Marx. ... I only wish to understand what the Bible says. ... We want to take the Bible seriously."[60]
Christian communism does not depend merely on the principles of the early apostles, and Christian communists argue that anti-capitalist ideals are deeply rooted in the Christian faith. While moderncapitalism had not yet formed in the time of Jesus, his message was overwhelmingly against the love of money and greed, and in support of the poor. Christian communists see the principles of Christ as staunchly anti-capitalist in nature. Since "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (1Timothy 6:10), it seems natural for Christians to oppose a social system founded—as Christian communists argue—entirely on the love of money. Capitalism is heavily based in the collection ofusury, which was condemned for centuries by the Church based in numerous scriptures. Christian opposition to the emergence of such an interest-based system largely delayedcapitalist development and capitalism did not gather popular support untilJohn Calvin endorsed capitalist practice from a religious perspective.[61]
Several Christian groups formerly practisedcommon ownership and others continue to do so. They may or may not have explicitly used the English termcommunist for self-identification. Extant groups include:
Historically, many groups have practised Christian communism, and may or may not be extant, depending on the case, including:
Both Christian communism andliberation theology stressorthopraxy in Christianity overorthodoxy. A narrative of the nature of contemporary social struggles is developed via materialist analysis utilizing historiographic concepts developed by Marx. A concrete example are the Paraguayan landless movementSin Tierra,[69] who engage in direct land seizures and the establishment of socialized agricultural cooperative production inasentamientos. The contemporary ParaguayanSin Tierra operate in a very similar manner as that of the reformation era Diggers.[70][71] ForCamilo Torres Restrepo, the founder of a Colombian guerrilla group, theNational Liberation Army,[72][73][74] developing this orthopraxis meant celebrating theCatholic Eucharist only among those engaged in armed struggle against the army of the Colombian state while fighting alongside them.[75] In Australia, the academicRoland Boer has attempted to synthesizeCalvinism and Marxism.[76]
In a September 1962 sermon,Martin Luther King Jr., ademocratic socialist andsocial gospel advocate,[77][78] said that "no Christian can be a communist". He stated that "basic philosophy of Christianity is unalterably opposed to the basic philosophy of communism", citing what he saw as rampantsecularism andmaterialism in communism as evidence that communism "leaves out God". He further said that "for the communist there is no divine government or no absolute moral order, there are no fixed, immutable principles." Nevertheless, King acknowledged that "although communism can never be accepted by a Christian, it emphasizes many essential truths that must forever challenge us as Christians." He added:
"Communism in society is a classless society. Along with this goes a strong attempt to eliminate racial prejudice. Communism seeks to transcend the superficialities of race and color, and you are able to join the Communist Party whatever the color of your skin or the quality of your blood, the quality of blood in your veins. ... No one can deny that we need to be concerned about social justice. ... Karl Marx arouses our conscience at this point. ... So with this passionate concern for social justice, Christians are bound to be in accord. Such concern is implicit in the Christian doctrine of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Christians are always to begin with a bias in favor of a movement which protests against unfair treatment of the poor, but surely Christianity itself is such a protest. The Communist Manifesto might express a concern for the poor and the oppressed, but it expresses no greater concern than the manifesto of Jesus, which opens with the words: 'The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captive, recovering the sight of the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.' ... We won't have to worry ... [about] communism. ... It can never be defeated with ammunition. It can never be defeated with missiles. ... The only way that we can defeat communism is to get a better idea, and we have it in our democracy. ... We have it in our Christianity."[79]
Thetheology of Pope Francis has been described ascritical of capitalism, andPope Francis has been viewed as having some sympathy to socialist causes, with his frequent criticism of capitalism and ofneoliberalism. In 2016, Francis said that the capitalist world economy is "[f]undamental terrorism, against all of Humanity".[80] When questioned on whether or not he is a communist, Francis responded: "As for whether or not I'm a communist: I am sure that I have not said anything more than what the Church's social doctrine teaches ... maybe the impression of being a little more 'of the left' has been given, but that would be a misinterpretation."[81] In 2013, he said: "The ideology of Marxism is wrong. But I have met many Marxists in my life who are good people, so I don't feel offended."[82] When asked about being labeled aLeninist by a blog post inThe Economist in 2014, Francis said: "The communists have stolen our flag. The flag of the poor is Christian. Poverty is at the center of the Gospel." He added that communism came "twenty centuries later".[83] In 2024, Pope Francis argued that Christians and Marxists, socialists, and communists shared a common mission and expressed support for the Marxist-Christian dialogue group Dialop.[84]
Christian communists may or may not agree with various parts of Marxism, such as on the way a socialist or communist society should be organized.[85][86] Christian communists also share some of the political goals of Marxists, for example replacing capitalism with socialism, which should in turn be followed by communism at a later point in the future. The youngLouis Althusser andDenys Turner are among Christian or Christianity-influenced philosophers who asserted the coherence of Christianity and Marxism.[87][88] Althusser said: "I became communist because I was Catholic. I did not change religion, but I remained profoundly Catholic. I don't go to church but this doesn't matter; you don't ask people to go to church. I remained a Catholic, that is, an internationalist universalist. I thought that inside the Communist Party there were more adequate means to realize universal fraternity."[89] In 1960sCommunist Czechoslovakia, dialogue between Marxist and Christian philosophers and theologians was co-organized atCharles University byMilan Machovec in Czech and German, with notable participants includingErnst Bloch andErich Fromm.[90]
Roland Boer, the son of aPresbyterian minister, said: "There is a tradition within Marxism of engagement with religion that is usually characterised as atheistic and disinterested, but I argue there is a continuous stream of major Marxist figures who have written on questions of religion and engaged specifically with the Bible or with theological debate. Some people contend that Marxism borrowed its main ideas from Christianity and Judaism and reconstructed them as secular ideology, but I think that is extremely simplistic – the relationship is much more complex."[76] AboutKarl Marx's famous quote about religion being the "opium of the people", he argues it has been largely misinterpreted, and that at that timeopium was both valued and denounced for its medicinal qualities and its addictive potential. He said: "That ambivalence over religion is really what is embodied in Marx's metaphor, rather than the notion that it is just a drug that dulls the senses and makes you forget your suffering." About Christian communism, he said: "The Christian communist tradition is what really interests me and keeps me involved with religion. I am fascinated by the radical, revolutionary dimension of Christianity."[76]
Latin American liberation theology influenced parts of theevangelical movement and Catholic bishops in the United States.[91] Its purported use of "Marxist concepts" led in the mid-1980s to an admonition by theVatican'sCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). While stating that "in itself, the expression 'theology of liberation' is a thoroughly valid term",[1] the prefectCardinal Ratzinger rejected certain forms of Latin American liberation theology for focusing on institutionalized or systemic sin and for identifying Catholic Church hierarchy in South America as members of the same privileged class that had long been oppressing Indigenous populations from the arrival ofPizarro onward.[92]
While thetheology of Pope Francis has been described ascritical of capitalism and sympathetic to socialism, Francis has expressed varying interpretations of Marxism in particular. In 2013, Pope Francis said: "The ideology of Marxism is wrong. But I have met many Marxists in my life who are good people, so I don't feel offended."[82] When asked about being labeled aLeninist by a blog post inThe Economist in 2014, Francis said: "The communists have stolen our flag. The flag of the poor is Christian. Poverty is at the center of the Gospel." He added that communism came "twenty centuries later".[83] In 2024, Pope Francis argued that Christians and Marxists, socialists, and communists shared a common mission and expressed support for the Marxist-Christian dialogue group Dialop.[84]
Christianity was the expression of class conflict in Antiquity.
I am going to argue that the accounts found in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37 describe historical economic practices found within the early Christian community; practices that were taken very seriously, which were widespread over different Christian communities around the Roman world, and which lasted for at least well into the second century. I am also going to argue that these economic practices were grounded in both Jewish and Christian theology and had precedent in Jewish tradition and practice; as well as the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
Early Christian communities also practiced 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.
That we may work in righteousness, and lay the Foundation of making the Earth a Common Treasury for All, both Rich and Poor, That every one that is born in the Land, may be fed by the Earth his Mother that brought him forth, according to the Reason that rules in the Creation. Not Inclosing any part into any particular hand, but all as one man, working together, and feeding together as Sons of one Father, members of one Family; not one Lording over another, but all looking upon each other, as equals in the Creation; ... .
Mao and the Chinese Communists largely represented the Taiping rebellion as a proto-communist uprising.
After turning the convert into a capitalist, the Calvinist doctrine of predetermination then made him comfortable with the uneven distribution of wealth. ... Weber's central thesis on the relationship between Calvinist ethics and the rise of capitalism is that the former directly led to, and sustained the growth of the latter.
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