The Bible and Capitalism

Apr 14  Hudson Barton. Comments: 7

It's interesting that we often speak of the Bible as teaching us the principles of "share and share alike" and to hold property in common with one another.  But the truth is precisely the opposite. The Bible teaches private ownership and capitalism.  It does not teach socialism.  One can see this in the created order, in the "ten commandments" and in the Gospels. 

The created order

Consider for example that in the created order, capital comes first and labor comes afterwards. The first verse in the Bible is "In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  It's not until the very end of the creation story that we hear about man, and then he is introduced (on the 6th day) with the idea that man is to have "dominion" over that earth (capital) and to "subdue" it, etc..  

The Ten Commandments

What do the Ten Commandments mean and how are they relevant to us today? 

The entire Decalogue is about ownership and trespass. We are taught here about who owns what, and what constitutes a taking of something that does not belong to us. Specifically forbidden are trespasses against:

  • the Lord's Person (#1),
  • the Lord's Name (#2), 
  • the Lord's Sovereignty (#3), 
  • the Lord's Time (#4), 
  • your ancestors' honor (#5), 
  • your neighbor's life, defined broadly to include anything he holds dear (#6),
  • your neighbor's spouse and the persons of his household (#7), 
  • your neighbor's property (#8), 
  • your neighbor's integrity (#9) 
  • Finally, you shouldn't even wish for anything that is not yours (#10).

The witness of the Gospels

Then there's the witness of Jesus who teaches, in parable after parable, to manage the property entrusted to you wisely.  In all I count 39 parables that pertain to the wise and righteous, or foolish and sinful management of time, money and other forms of capital.  To be sure Jesus also gives us parables about labor, but the general impact of them is to teach that we do not get what we deserve, nor especially what we think we need or want but rather what is granted to us by God.  This is the opposite of the socialist ideal.  See Matt.20:1-16, Luke 17:7-10

The exception that proves the rule

There is a story of the church in Jerusalem beginning in Acts 4:32  that describes a practice that some have described as Christian socialism or communism; "... no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common."    As the story moves forward through Acts 5:11 however we see that this story is not so much about the commonality of possessions as it is about dishonesty, possessiveness and generosity.  As narrow as this exception is, it is still not about dispossession of one's earthly goods.

Conclusion. We are God's prized possession.

The Bible teaches that we are incapable of fulfilling the Law, of not trespassing against either God or our neighbor... that Christ alone succeeded in that as part of His plan to save a people for Himself. Jesus does not intend to share us with anyone; not Mother Earth, not Aristotle, not Allah or Buddha. We are His cherished possession and we shall not slip through his fingers.
Br. Rodd Umlauf, ASF The Scriptures do not teach Captitalism. The Bible teaches Covenantal Familism. Capitalism promotes the individual over family. Familism teaches the Family as the primary building block that the state has the duty to protcts the interests of over the rights of the individual Modern Captialism is built on usary and interest ( forbidden in Scripture)and big business over the interests of the family. According to the Bishops of Rome, Socialism, Communism and Captitalism ore not Christian, but instead Familism is the Biblical model. April 20, 2010
Hudson Br. Rodd. I'm willing to be wrong, but you have not presented a case. You have not provided any Scripture to support that view, and I dare say the Bishops of Rome have not either. Contentions about what is the "basic building block" is irrelevant to this discussion. The concepts of ownership and stewardship of property (capitalism) for individuals, families and nations are primal to Biblical understanding in both the Old and New Testaments. April 20, 2010
Br. Rodd Dear Hudson, The first time I encountered Covenantal Familism was in a lecture by a Presbyterian minister. At the core of the economic principle of Familism is the Doctine of the Trinity and Covenant Theology. God is not a solitude, He is a Family; Father , Son and Holy Spirit. What I'm saying is that the Family is priority over the Individual. There is not space here to give the Biblical Principles of Covenantal Familism other than to say that I'm sure you are framiliar with the concept of the Covenat Family in Scripture. What I'm saying is that it would be wise for the State to develope economis principles which raises the Family up and above the rights of the competetive individual who puts himself over the needs of Family. Blessings of Peace and Good to you Hudson April 21, 2010
Hudson OK. I now get your point. What you are saying is that the foundation is in the Trinity, that eternal relationship of Love wherein the members of the Godhead enjoy a common purpose, an economy divided in terms of function but not of substance. I agree with you that the family is the basic building block of an economy in that sense. I did not mean to disassociate individuals from their families. The concept of inheritance implies that there is commonality of ownership between father and son. At the same time, it reinforces the fact that the object of inheritance is property. Our creeds say this as well... everything that the Father has, the Son has. The Decalogue itself suggests that in the economy of the Trinity, there is no competition but rather mutual honor and support. However, when inheritance (property) is divided between brothers, the Bible says there is competition, in full understanding that it is the source of conflict between families. God's Law condemns the stealing of property (inherited capital) of another man, and it encourages the stewardship of one's own inheritance for one's own family. There is still no socialism in the Biblical economy. It is an economy based on the possession, investment and stewardship of property (capital). April 23, 2010
Br. Rodd Dear Hudson, I agree that Socialism is not Biblical, neither is Communism. One thing Christians must state loudly is that all that we have is God's property. Nothing that I have belongs to me. Yes, God has placed certain things in my stewardship, but nothing is my property...it belongs to the Father. We live in an economy of gift. God is the source of all good. As God freely gives to His children in a family program, not a welfare program, we do not hoard and allow ourselves to be greedy and put our interests above the interests of others in God's family. We treat each other as brothers and sisters, not in competition. Modern Capitalism is all about the quest for Capital at the expense and abuse of family, neighbor, and nature. It relies on the Biblically forbidden practices of usury and interest all for material gain, the unnatural breeding of money with amounts to economic sodomy. Capitalism is part of the Empire of looking out for #1. and turning away from the poor, or using the poor to labor to make the rich richer. Promoting the Economy of Gift is what I read in Scripture, based on Covenantal Familism. April 26, 2010
Hudson The same Bible that tells the rich man not to trust in his riches tells the poor man not to covet them. I hope we agree on that much. The assumption behind it all however is one of possession of property. As such, I completely disagree with you that "modern Capitalism is all about the quest for Capital at the expense and abuse of family, neighbor, and nature." That rhetoric is indistinguishable from Marxism. Capitalism, by definition, requires property law and requires it to be enforced. Allowing someone to abuse one's neighbor or to abuse nature (shared resources like water and air) is not at all a tenet of capitalism. In fact, it is the rigor of property law that has established pollution as a form of trespass against neighbor. As for your paradigm of "the poor" vs. "the rich", just because the Bible asks a property owner to leave some sheaves in the field for the poor does not mean that the poor has an ownership stake in the rich man's (his family's) field. If it did, that would be Marxist and the Bible teaches the opposite. Again, by definition, "usury" is taking from the borrower (investor) so much that he is not permitted to reap the harvest of his own work and ingenuity. Exploitation of this sort, while not prohibited as such in pure capitalism, is not in capitalism's interest. Lenders like to get repaid without repossessing the collateral. Usury is relevant only in primitive, non-capitalist or feudal economies, not in efficient economies. That does not mean it doesn't exist, but rather that it exists only where free-markets do NOT exist, such as when Fannie Mae encourages borrowers to take on too much debt. It is socialist manipulation of free markets that is abusive of the poor, not capitalism. May 06, 2010
Hudson Again, if lender/borrower, buyer/seller, employer/worker are not satisfied with their mutual arrangements, then it is a sign that capitalism has NOT worked. Capitalism can exist only in free and lawful societies. Socialism, by contrast, does not exist in free societies. It presumes governing elites whose duty it is to expropriate men's property and subject their labor to bondage, all for what they claim to be the "common good". May 06, 2010

Add a comment

Name:
E-mail:
Comment:
Email again: