Was Jesus Christ a communist? Well, he was called a communist by some (W. Winwood Reade, for one). In fact, the early Christian fathers were all self-professed communists. “Among us all things are common, except wives,” writes Tertullian. (I do not doubt that this practice did exist among small groups of dedicated early Christians, and to some extent in monasteries, but it was never institutionalized as a secular system.)
Compare this to the following definition of Communism in Marx and Engels’s Communist Manifesto: “The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property.”
Was St. Thomas More a communist propagandist of a more recent Christian origin? In his Utopia, no one is idle, and the fruits of labor are shared commonly. Not only does he describe a perfect commune, but he also advocates it most ardently:
“Now I have described to you that commonwealth which in my judgment is not only the best, but which alone may claim the name of commonwealth, or public weal. For, in other places every man procures his own private wealth. Here, where nothing is private, the common interests are earnestly looked to…
Is not this an unjust and unkind commonwealth, which gives great fees and rewards to gentlemen, as they call them, and to goldsmiths, and to others who are either idle persons or flatterers, and on the other hand, makes no provision for (the working) poor, without whom no commonwealth can continue?…”
There is a lot to be said for Communism's longevity, which, incidentally, has little to do with the failed Soviet “experiment.” Alluding to the Communist Manifesto, let me sum up this never-say-die ‘Communism’ in one sentence in my own way:
It used to be a dream, then it became a Specter, and only as a Specter has it ever had a life...eternal.
Compare this to the following definition of Communism in Marx and Engels’s Communist Manifesto: “The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property.”
Was St. Thomas More a communist propagandist of a more recent Christian origin? In his Utopia, no one is idle, and the fruits of labor are shared commonly. Not only does he describe a perfect commune, but he also advocates it most ardently:
“Now I have described to you that commonwealth which in my judgment is not only the best, but which alone may claim the name of commonwealth, or public weal. For, in other places every man procures his own private wealth. Here, where nothing is private, the common interests are earnestly looked to…
Is not this an unjust and unkind commonwealth, which gives great fees and rewards to gentlemen, as they call them, and to goldsmiths, and to others who are either idle persons or flatterers, and on the other hand, makes no provision for (the working) poor, without whom no commonwealth can continue?…”
There is a lot to be said for Communism's longevity, which, incidentally, has little to do with the failed Soviet “experiment.” Alluding to the Communist Manifesto, let me sum up this never-say-die ‘Communism’ in one sentence in my own way:
It used to be a dream, then it became a Specter, and only as a Specter has it ever had a life...eternal.
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