Socialism of Christ

by Austin Bierbower

  He warns them, in this propagation, not to be turned back by the terrors that will follow, of which I have already spoken; "for these things must needs come," they being the means, or, at least, the regular attendants, of all revolutions. "When nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, when earthquakes and famines and troubles shall come; when ye shall be delivered up to counsels, and be beaten in the synagogues, and shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, then be ye not troubled. For the Gospel must first be published among all nations." He predicts even that "the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and the children shall rise up against their parents,and shall cause them to be put to death." And He adds, "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake (very likely), but he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved."

  The desolation spoken of by Daniel, He says, will come in the wake of this movement, when those that are in Judea, as we have already quoted, may well flee to the mountains; when those that are on the house-top shall not come down; when those that are with child and give suck shall sorrow; when they may well pray that their flight be not in the winter; when "there shall be affliction such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created, unto this time, nor ever shall be; when unless the Lord should shorten the days, no flesh should be saved; when the sun shall be darkened, and the moon not give her light; when the stars of Heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in Heaven shall be shaken."

  They are, however, to hold on their way amid all this warring of the social elements and apparent chaos of the new birth of empires. "For as the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under the Heaven, shineth unto the other part under Heaven, so shall also the Son of Man be in His day." Having put their hands to the plow, they are not to turn back for anything, but are to remember Lot's wife, and continue in their onward course, face forward, though cities be burning behind them and whole peoples perishing in their wake.

  In the midst of such measures of propagation it is not remarkable that the cause spread. Meetings were held almost daily, sometimes in private houses and secret places for consultation, and sometimes in the synagogues and open air for popular agitation. The day of Pentecost was a field day, when a great mass meeting was held not unlike those of the crusaders at Ratisbon and Clermont, for canvassing and enrolling recruits. Five thousand people are said to have joined them on that one day, making a day like that in France when, in the first revolution, the Marsellaise hymn was first sung, which is said to have gained one hundred thousand people to the republican cause.

  CHAPTER IV

  SOCIALISTIC IDEALS

  The object of this movement, as we have seen, was the elevating of the lower classes, and— since this was to be done by purely social means —the consequent bringing down of the higher; the bettering of the condition of the poor and miserable, and—since there was to be no new production for this, but only a rearrangement of the social relations—the consequent despoiling of the rich and great. The principles underlying the movement were, as in all socialistic movements, equality, fraternity and community. I shall, therefore, set forth these principles in turn, as embodied in Christ's cause, whether contemplated by Him in all their fullness or not.

  Nothing was more plainly taught by Jesus than

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  the equality of all men. In His system there were to be no high, no low; no rich, no poor; no Jew, no Greek; no distinctions of race or blood; no differences of prospect or condition. His Gospel was the same for all, His moral precepts were for all, His promises and threats were for all. With the same regularity that death came to all, came the duties and obligations of Christianty to all. Christ was a thorough republican in principle, and an uncompromising friend of equality in its remotest consequences.

  After condemning the Pharisees who liked "the chief places and greetings in public, and to be called Rabbi," (master), He said, "Beye not called Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. Neither be ye called master, for one is your master, even Christ." Herein was the chief difference between His proposed social system and that of the existing governments and their aristocratic upholders. "Ye know," He said, "that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you. But whosoever shall be great among you, let him be your minister, and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." The leaders of the people in Christ's cause are not called "princes," "generals," "masters," or ''priests," nor are they dignified by any aristocratic or official titles whatever, but simply called "ministers," or "servants,'1 suggesting the leveling title of the French revolutionists— citizen—and showing that in Christ's opinion supremacy is not in the rulers, but in the people. "If any man desires to be first," says Christ, "the same shall be least ot all, and the servant of all." Speaking of Himself, who was expected to come in great splendor, He said, "What went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold they which are gorgeously appareled and live delicately are in king's courts," that is, belong to a monarchical regime, altogether inconsistent with republican simplicity. He discouraged the putting on of gold and costly ornaments and apparel, as being too aristocratic. John the Baptist, His ambassador, who sounded the key-note of his master's policy, came clothed in camel's hair and leather; and Christ Himself, when He made His only entry of state,

  Socialism of Christ—6

  came riding on a jackass, with the simplicity of Jefferson at his inauguration, or of Franklin at the French court.

  According to Christ, God is no respecter of persons, and no difference should be allowed in His government. None are to be high, none low, none foreign, none native; none Jew, none Greek; none master, none servant; but the equality of mankind is to be universal and cosmopolitan. "He hath made of one blood all nations for to dwell on the face of the earth;" and His disciples are asked to call no man "common" or "unclean."

  He even puts Himself in the category of common citizenship, and declares His equality with all men. He approves the affirmative answer of His disciples made to the inquiry, "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" saying in addition, "Ye shall, indeed, drink of the cup that I shall drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with."

  In choosing His apostles, of chief counselmen and ministers, He took them not from the great or titled, but from laboring men, fishermen and tax-collectors. He moved in the society of Mary, Martha, Lazarus and the poor of the little towns and villages of Judea, instead of the rich of the metropolis. He went among publicans and sinners, and if occasionally He was found among Pharisees and wealthy professionals, it was with perfect indifference to their rank.

  He makes it the reproach of the Pharisees, as we have seen, that they assume a superiority over others, that "they love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and chief places and to be called master;" that they impose heavy duties on others, and, instead of submitting to the same themselves, in the spirit of equality, do not do so much as touch them with one of their fingers

  So radical was Christ's view of equality understood to be, that when the centurian came to have his servant healed, and Christ proposed to go to his house and heal him the centurian declined, saying, "I am not worthy that you should come into my house, for I am one under authority, having soldiers under me, (a man of rank), and say to one man, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Do this, and he doeth it," and so am not republican enough for you.

  In sending His disciples out He tells them to salute no man by the way; as if in Quaker-like simplicity He would not have them so much as take off their hats to a fellow man, but show all the same simple respect; or, with the prejudice of the French socialists, would not so much as have them say, "Mr." or "Sir," but simply "yea," "yea," and "nay," "nay;" or "citizen," and "friend."

  He taught the doctrine of equality and of equal deserts notwithstanding all
differences in character and service. In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard He enforces the principle that whether you have upon you the deserts of the third, the sixth, the ninth, or the eleventh hour, you should yet receive your meed of equality, honor and respect in the kingdom of Christ.

  Jesus took special pains also to condemn all actual inequalities then existing, even to the remotest consequences of His doctrine. No socialist could go farther in pointing out trivial inconsistencies in those who pretended to practice equality, or who thought they were already acting fully up to the doctrine. As long as you make your servant inferior to yourself, say they, or debar him from your table or family, you are no true republican; and Jesus says, reproving a similar lack of republicanism among the socialists : "But which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will say unto him, by and by, when he is come from the field, 'Go and sit down to meat;' and will not rather say to him, 'Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird tl^self and serve me, until I have eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat and drink;'1 in opposition to all of which He further says in illustration of the proper doctrine of equality, that He Himself will make them sit down at meat, while He, the master, will gird Himself and serve them.

  And elsewhere it is related: "And there was a strife among them which of them should be accounted the greatest. And He said unto them, The kings of the earth exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so; but he that is greatest among you shall be as the younger; and he that is chief as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at meat? But I am among you as he that serveth."

  He made himself an illustrious example of this principle of equality, as of all His teachings, an example which only a prominent man can give. "The Son of Man," He said, "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. He taught not only the equality of all men, but the theory that the rulers and chiefs are the servants of those whom they rule, (or serve, rather), public servants, not kings, lord's or masters, and He gave the name of ministers, and not rulers, to those whom He appointed to the more responsible positions in His work.

  He explicitly taught that all government is for the ruled; that the ruler, instead of aggran - dizing himself by his position, should sacrifice himself for the people; in all of which He was also an example. He lived and died for the people, like Codrus, Curtius and Winkelried.

  When His disciples, anxious about preferment, asked who should be greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, He took a child, and placed it in their midst, and said, "Whoso shall humble himself as this little child, the same shall be the greatest;" and the tender words, "Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven," struck a blow at the pretensions of governmental superiority; maintaining, as they did, that the requisite qualifications of citizenship in the new kingdom of righteousness, should be unpretentious, child-like equality. ''Unless ye become as this little child," He says elsewhere, "ye cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven." Ambition in this kingdom will always overleap itself, and fall into the opposite degradation. "Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

  Christ did not even approve of His disciples calling Him "good master." "There is one good" (master), He says, "and that is God." Nor would He, in turn, recognize any one else as master, or show homage except as to an equal. When the devil tried to induce Him to bow down and worship him, that is, to show him deference as a superior, He declined to do so, though all the kingdoms of the world were offered to Him for such subjection. For it was then that He uttered the general republican sentiment, "Thou shalt worship (or show homage to) the Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve," not kings, nobles, potentates, or men in any capacity.

  He guarded at the same time against the reductio ad absurdum of this principle. The advocates of equality often carry their doctrine to the extent of raising the lower classes so high as to place them above the upper classes, putting these latter under as lower classes; just as the advocates of liberty sometimes claim liberty even to enslave others, (as in the southern states before our war), or claim the right to take away others' rights. It was thus that the French revolutionists tore off the disabilities of the people to impose them on their opponents, exchanging the reign of Louis XVI for the reign of terror. It was thus that the Roundheads resisted the despotism of the monarchy of Charles I to adopt that of Cromwell; and it was thus that the Puritans resisted religious persecution to the extent of persecuting their persecutors.

  It is somewhat the tendency of all socialistic sympathizers to think that the laboring man, the poor, the "strikers" the common people, in short, should rule, even to the exclusion of the equal rights of capitalists and others. An Irishman once expressed his idea of equality thus : "One man is as good as another and sometimes better." Christ says, in restraint of such extremes of application, and at the same time as recognizing the principle of equality above laid down, ''The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple to be as his master, and the servant* that he be as his lord," or as it is elsewhere expressed, "The disciple is not above his master, but every one that is perfect (in his social relations) shall be as his master."

  Fraternity is another doctrine dearly held by all socialists, and which also appears prominent in the Christian cause. Socialists have much to say about the brotherhood of man, the universality of love, the cosmopolitan character of duty. Their schemes have always been for great ameliorations of the whole race—for universal republics, international compacts and arbitration, the equality of all nations and races, as well as of all men, for equal national as well as equal individual rights. This is the object of the internationalists of to-day, who seek to bring about ultimately the United States of Europe and a general community of all the world.

  Christ fully appreciated this sentiment of fraternity, and inculcated it on every available occasion, as did His adherents also for Him; and they did it in face of the prejudices of the Jews among whom they lived. "For God hath made of one blood," it was said, "all nations for to dwell on the face of the earth." God is represented as no respecter of persons. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, but one in Christ." The parable of the good Samaritan was given by Jesus to specially illustrate and enforce this doctrine; showing that a man belonging to a race most hated by the Jews, but good and kind to a Jew, was better than the priest and the Levite—the most sacred class of the Jews—who passed him by; that the Samaritan, the stranger, and the foreigner are all neighbors, and that this extent of application must be given to the term "neighbor" in the command, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" that man is a citizen of the world, and should have sympathy for all peoples, no matter what their race, nationality, or creed.

  He broke down the barriers of the old religion, by which it had been confined as the religion of the Jews. His religion was for the Gentiles also. He expounded it Himself to the Samaritan woman, notwithstanding His Jewish followers ''wondered that He spake to her." His chief minister, Paul, was sent out as par excellence the apostle of the Gentiles. Peter was instructed against his prejudices by a "sheet let down from Heaven," and made to learn that foreign people, like forbidden beasts and birds, were not "common" or "unclean." Christ mingled and ate with publicans and sinners. Some of His apostles were aliens, being chosen promiscuously from several nationalities. Medes, Parthians, Romans, all races were admitted to the church on the day of Pentecost; and by the "tongues of fire" His disciples were empowered to preach His cause in all languages to all peoples. The announcement to the shepherds at His first coming was a proclamation of this idea: "Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people."

  One of the loveliest things ever said is the approval by Christ of those who pity and befriend man in any capacity, or in any place: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." It is Christ's note of introduction, put into the hand of every member of humanity, introducing him to every Christian he may meet; and containing the sentiment that the favor shown to such person, stranger or unfortunate though he be, will be taken as a personal favor to Christ—the ordinary sentiment conveyed in our polite forms of introduction to-day.

  Concerning the other socialistic ideal, "community," I shall speak specially in the next chapter.

  CHAPTER V

  PRACTICAL COMMUNISM

  i. Community Of Goods—-The principal idea, however, contained in socialism is that of community—a community of goods and enterprises. The socialists of all ages have aimed to so organize men that there should be no rich, and no poor; that none should have anything, and none want anything, but that all should labor and produce, and all be satisfied and happy; a state where the title to everything should be in the whole, and every one should be an equal part of the whole; where all should labor for each, and each for all; each contributing according to his capacity, and receiving according to his wants. They would make the state a family workshop, and the whole world a confederation of communes, in which none should labor, as now, for the benefit of rich capitalists, but all work for themselves and for all others at the same time.