Comments on: Is Capitalism “Anti-Jesus”?

By: John Frainee

John Frainee — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:35:52 +0000

Joshua: I understand what you’re saying, but aren’t there truths within analogies?

By: Joshua Jinno

Joshua Jinno — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 03:39:30 +0000

It’s a very wrong headed Eisegesis, if we read the parable of the talents to be about money. If that is the approach you take, you’ll see just what you want to see. In Matthew 25:14, it says “Again, it will be like…” Again what? you can’t read the parable of the talents without the preceding parable of the ten virgins – they are parallel stories, lest the meaning of one be lost.

Why would people so readily read Matthew 25 out of context? when Jesus is very clear on the subject of money elsewhere? “You cannot serve two masters;” or how about “Go sell your possessions give to the poor and follow me.” Look Jesus isn’t a communist or a capitalist, he’s making the point that your economic system, or governmental system CAN’T SAVE YOU.

By: allison

allison — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:37:59 +0000

well I am african american and a christian and was at some point poor. So I could argue that socialism is better because why shouldn’t everybody have the same thing, and like the parable with the master giving the same about to the workers that showed up first as well as last, gives us an idea of salvation and how God doesn’t judge us by works. HOWEVER I won’t, the thing is, God will allow you to be free, (HE gives the power to get wealth) but if we forget the poor, GOD will judge and remove His blessings from you. So I feel like God is sovreign so He will bless those He chooses as long as we don’t abuse and neglect the poor. PArt of the reasons people who feel that we should ‘redistribute’ the wealth are in power are because we have failed the “least of these” and I believe it is judgement If you give it will be given to you, but if your withhold grain, well, even what you make will be taken away. So there is it.

By: Economy and your Finances Carnival Oct 11 2009

Economy and your Finances Carnival Oct 11 2009 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:03:00 +0000

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By: Rosalyn Watts

Rosalyn Watts — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:11:03 +0000

I agree with you that socialism is not the answer. Maybe we should focus attention on why the master divided the talents the way he did in the first place. He distributed the talents among the servants according to what they had already demonstrated in their prior activities. One servant got ten talents, one got five, and one got just one. Based on the servants’ work ethic, diligence, or excellence, the master had already developed a level of trust for the servants he gave ten talents and five talents to. Perhaps if we make ourselves better, more trust-worthy stewards, we won’t have to look to the government or anyone else for assistance. We will have the confidence that God will be faithful to perform His promise that He will supply all our needs.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:52:02 +0000

Capitalism is two parties engaged in business because it is mutually beneficial to each party, if it wasn’t beneficial to one of the parties, either party is free to not engage in business with the other or to engage in business with a different party (competition). There is nothing unbiblical about this.

On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with communism/socialism so long as all participants in the communist system are voluntary participants. If you force people to participate in such a system against their will, the system will only break down, that’s the problem with socialist/communist systems of government.

You can’t force people to be good, that is impossible. God instructs us to work to change ourselves. Never does he tell us to force our will on to others (just like God doesn’t force people to follow him). Economic and government systems will reflect the hearts of those engaging in those systems. If the hearts of the people are after God then the system will flourish, if not, it will eventually crumble.

By: Ly Syin

Ly Syin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:57:13 +0000

Interesting, I have wondered if Christians should be capitalist. I think that is a question that needs an closer look. It’s true the bible does tell us the poor will always be among. Most miracles that are recorded in the bible have to do with psychical and mental health. There are few miracles recorded where people are delivered from poverty. I think our belief in what we will is the case of poverty affects our attitude toward poverty.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:27:20 +0000

Howard, you are being a little dishonest in your analysis of those verses. As Scott pointed out, by measure of free will the servants given talents were equal, but they were not given equal starting amounts to work with. They were not even given equal rewards! They were given starting values based on their abilities and rewarded based on what they generated with them. That sounds a lot like capitalism to me and nothing like the redistribution of wealth for “equal opportunity and access.”

Jesus never forced anyone to do something he knew was good. He gave them examples to follow and then allowed them to make a choice for themselves. Socialism doesn’t do that. It’s the use of force to make people obey a moral guideline set by an earthly authority. Not only does that run contrary to everything Jesus did in his ministry, it is also inherently flawed because it institutionalizes morality into as something dictated by a human-run government. Human beings can never be perfect, so neither can our governments. Free will and personal responsibility have to be the basis for our society or it will fail. There is no viable alternative.

By: Scott Lovingood

Scott Lovingood — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:09:32 +0000

The servants from the talent parable all had equal opportunity to take action. They did not have equal assets to begin with. This is very similar to every person regardless of the economic system. Capitalism makes it easier than any system for someone with less to begin with to make huge gains. Look at the number of rags to riches stories in our country vs the rest of the world.

Even in today’s limited form, capitalism is definitely not anti-Jesus. We all have opportunities but they require work and risk. Just as in the talent parable.

Jesus rebuked Judas for his greed. He consistently rebuked people in his ministry who were focused on earthly wealth vs heavenly wealth. The poor will always be with us because it is human nature. Many people will not make the sacrifices and take the actions to remove them from the ranks of the poor.

No system of government will eliminate poverty. In our country, our “poor” are rich compared to many nations. While we do have some who live in circumstances that are deplorable, it can barely compare to places such as Africa and India.

Capitalism has given us an overall system wide wealth that cannot be compared to any other nation. What we practice today is going away from the tenets that made our country strong.

The basis of capitalism is ownership of private property which was established in Genesis when God made Adam steward over the earth. That concept is what leads to the greatest gains and the greatest ability to give to the poor.

By: Howard

Howard — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:23:25 +0000

Your reference to the “talent” story in Matt. 25 and the “poor” in Mark 14 to substantiate your point on capitalism is misconstrued. The “talent” story must be understood within its context, “under the rule of God” which begins in Matt 24. Then chapter 25 begins with the story of the ten virgins who were given ten lamps, and then all three servants received talents according to their own ability. You will notice that all of them were given something to work with – equal opportunity and access. That cannot be said of under the current state of our capitalistic ideology.
In Mark 14 the person holding the bag (Judas), was the one complaining about the waste of the expensive ointment and how it could have been used to help the poor. Jesus knew he wanted it for himself. So Jesus statement in verse 7 was a rebuke and an indictment against all those who, like Judas never care for the poor. “You always have the poor with you and never did anything for them”. Please read the whole context and just don’t quote a verse to underline a point.