Christian socialism
Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus.[1] Many Christian socialists believe capitalism to be idolatrous and rooted in the sin of greed.[2][3] Christian socialists identify the cause of social inequality to be the greed that they associate with capitalism.[2] Christian socialism became a major movement in the United Kingdom beginning in the 19th century. The Christian Socialist Movement, known as Christians on the Left since 2013, is one formal group,[2][4] as well as a faction of the Labour Party.[5][6]
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, socialism is a "social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work isolated, but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members. ... Early Christian communities also practised 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."[7]
The Hutterites believe in strict adherence to biblical principles and church discipline, and practised a form of communism. 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 Friedrich Engels came to view Anabaptists as proto-communists.[8]
Other earlier figures viewed as Christian socialists include the 19th-century writers F. D. Maurice (The Kingdom of Christ, 1838),[4] John Malcolm Forbes Ludlow (The Christian Socialist, 1850),[4] Adin Ballou (Practical Christian Socialism, 1854),[9] Thomas Hughes (Tom Brown's School Days, 1857),[10] John Ruskin (Unto This Last, 1862),[11] Charles Kingsley (The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby, 1863),[4] Frederick James Furnivall (co-creator of the Oxford English Dictionary),[12] and Francis Bellamy (a Baptist minister and the author of the Pledge of Allegiance in the United States).[13]
History[edit]
Biblical age[edit]
Elements that would form the basis of Christian socialism are found in the Old Testament, as well as the New Testaments.[14] They include Deuteronomy 15:1–5, Ezekiel 18:7, Isaiah 58:2–7, James 2:14, James 5:1–6, Job 31:16–25, 28, John 11:10–11, Leviticus 25: 35–38, Luke 4:18, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 19:23–24, Matthew 25:40–46, Proverbs 28:3–28, and Proverbs 31:9.[15]
In Calvinism[edit]
Australia[edit]
In Australia, the academic Roland Boer has attempted to synthesize Calvinism and Marxism.[153] In a 2010 interview, he stated that "it became clear to me that within Christianity there is a strong tradition of political and theological radicalism, which I continued to explore personally. Reformed or Calvinist theology did not seem to sit easily with that interest, so I spent many a long year rejecting that tradition, only to realise later that Calvin himself was torn between the radical potential of elements in the Bible and his own conservative preferences."[154]
France[edit]
In France, the birthplace of Calvinism, the Christianisme Social (Social Christianity) movement emerged in the 1870s from the preaching of Tommy Fallot.[155] Early on, the movement focused on such issues as illiteracy and alcoholism amongst the poor.[156] After the First World War, Social Christianity moved in two directions — towards pacifism and towards ecumenism. Within the movement emerged conscientious objectors, such as Jacques Martin, Philo Vernier, and Henri Roser, economists pursuing policies that reflected cooperation and solidarity, such as Bernard Lavergne and Georges Lasserre, and theologians like Paul Ricoeur. One of the pastors in the movement, Jacques Kaltenbach, was also to have a formative influence on André Trocmé.[157]
Under the Vichy regime, which had seen the emergence of other forms of witness, particularly the support of internees in the camps and aiding Jews to escape, the movement was reborn to tackle the problems of a changing world. It expressed a Christian socialism, more or less in line with the beginning of a new political left. Political activism was very broad and included the denunciation of torture, East–West debate on European integration and taking a stance on the process of decolonization. It facilitated meetings between employers, managers, and trade unionists to discern a new economic order. After the events of May 68, Calvinism in France became much more left-wing in its orientation.[158]
One doctrinal text produced in the 1960s, Church and Authorities, was described as Marxist in its orientation.[158] Churches now seized for themselves the political and social issues to tackle, such as nuclear power and justice for the Third World. In the early 2000s, the Social Christianity movement temporarily discontinued and its journal Other Times ceased to be published.[156] The movement was relaunched on 10 June 2010 with a petition signed by over 240 people,[156] and now maintains an active presence with its own website.[159] Economically, most Calvinists have supported capitalism and have been in the vanguard of promoting free-market capitalism, and have produced many of France's leading entrepreneurs.[160] With regard to politics and social issues, they are socialists.[158] Three of France's post-war prime ministers have been Calvinists, despite Protestants only making up two percent of the population. Two of these prime ministers have been socialists.[160]
Wales[edit]
In Wales, Calvinistic Methodism is the largest non-conformist religion. Its beginnings may be traced to Griffith Jones (1684–1761), of Llanddowror, Carmarthenshire, whose sympathy for the poor led him to set on foot a system of circulating charity schools for the education of children. Until the 19th century, the prevailing thought amongst Welsh non-conformists was that "it would be wiser if the churches limited their activities to those of the altar and not to meddle at all with the state and social questions." This stemmed partly from the traditional nonconformist belief in the separation of church and state.[161]
In his influential sermon Y Ddwy Alwedigaeth (The Two Vocations), Emrys ap Iwan challenged this passive pietism. He wrote: "We must not think, like the old Methodists, Puritans and some Catholics, that we can only seek Godliness outside our earthly vocation." He condemned those Christians who limited godliness to directly religious matters such as Sabbath observance and personal devotion. He declared that all earthly things, including language and culture, have some kind of divine origin.[162] Many of the founders of the Welsh nationalist social-democratic party, Plaid Cymru, were also Calvinists, including John Edward Daniel. Daniel was the theologian credited for bringing neo-orthodoxy to Wales. Daniel argued that God did not create man as an isolated individual but as a social being.[162] The second generation of Plaid Cymru leaders included R. Tudur Jones. His political stance, combined with Calvinist doctrine, created an integrated vision that was significant to the religious life of Christian Wales in the later half of the 20th century.[163] Jones argued that the "state should be a servant, to preserve order and to allow men to live the good life."[164]
In the 21st century, many Calvinist socialists in Wales support same-sex marriage on the grounds that it delivers marriage equality in the eyes of the state, while still allowing churches to follow their own conscience and upholding the traditional Protestant belief in separation of church and state.[165] The Calvinist tradition in Plaid Cymru also influenced its non-violent approach. According to Rhys Llwyd, "[t]he ideal is no fist violence, no verbal violence, and no heart violence. ... Christians ... point to the New Testament example of Jesus Christ clearing the temple. Here there is no suggestion of violence against people; rather the tables are turned as a symbolic act. The life and teaching of Jesus Christ were seen as the foundations of nonviolent direct action [for Plaid Cymru members] ... loving their enemies on the one hand, but not compromising on what they saw as an issue of moral rightness."[166] Plaid Cymru continues to see itself as very much part of the Christian pacifist tradition.[165]
Notable followers of Christian socialism include:
Notable Christian socialist groups and parties include:
Reception[edit]
In Britain, Christian socialism is viewed positively by many different backgrounds, ranging from Nonconformists to Roman Catholic, particularly Anglo-Catholic Ritualism.[195] It is viewed critically by some socialists,[196][197] who reject it as utopian socialism and for its methodology, and by some religious figures and popes,[198] who rejected socialism's compatibility with Christianity due to its perceived atheism and materialism. Continental Reformed Protestant pastor Henri Nick defended it, saying: "It is not socialism that I would criticise, but atheism falsely called social."[199]
Anglo-Catholic Christian socialism was part of Catholic polemic against perceived Protestant individualism and puritanism, which led many anti-Ritualist Protestants to associate Catholicism and socialism.[200] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, an English Particular Baptist preacher, was critical of socialist doctrines, and warned that those who seek socialism "may soon have too much of it". Specifically, he regarded collectivist Christianity as inferior to faith on an individual level. He said: "I would not have you exchange the gold of individual Christianity for the base metal of Christian Socialism."[201] Tommy Fallot, a French Lutheran pastor, argued: "Socialism has drawn a good deal of its program from the Gospel. It seeks to build a society on the pillars of justice, something the Gospel seeks to do as well. In that regard, a condemnation of socialism would represent a condemnation of the Gospel and the prophets."[202]
Views of Christian socialism generally depend on the left–right political spectrum. While Christian leftists argue that Jesus would prioritize the poor and migrant's rights over opposition to abortion, Christian rightists argue he would be against wealth redistribution, illegal immigrants, abortion, and same-sex marriage.[203] The conservative view is reflected by Lawrence Reed, president emeritus of the American libertarian-leaning Foundation for Economic Education,[204] American conservative and evangelical Christian Johnnie Moore Jr.,[205] and Bryan Fischer, an American traditionalist conservative, of the American Family Association, a Christian fundamentalist organization.[206] Opposing this view on the right is Quentin Letts, who said, "Jesus preached fairness — you could almost call him a Lefty".[207]