This verse from Acts is often used by people to prove that communism is based on Christian principles.
Is there any truth to the idea that Christianity teaches communism? Why or why not?
Also, ask your parents or grandparents about their memories of the Soviet Union and the Cold War.
Record their answers along with your answer to the first question.
i dont think that chritianity supports communism, yes every one is equal at the foot of the cross, but that doesnt mean that on earth we are all to deserve the same treatment as every one else. think about all the poeple who work hard and honor christ whith their efforts, and then they are treated the same as a lazy bum. and the lazy bums are treated the same as the people who work hard, thats not fair. so no christianity supports equal treatment of the races but not communism.
ReplyDeleteaudrey garrett
In my opnion Christians are not Communist. The verse was just saying that we are all equal. But not saying that we are equal when we work harder than some people. Christians don't teach others to be communist either because of the political time line. We as christians are equal because God loves us equaly but some people may work harder than others and earn more but that doesnt mean we are different. Communism thinks that everyone should get paid equaly even if they give the same effort.
ReplyDelete-Margaret R. :)
No. that verse does not prove communism is what Christians should do. In some ways, equality is good. But when the government is above everyone, it isnt truly equal. Also my parents nor grandparents know anything more than what the news told them about the S.U. ...
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that Christianity teaches communism because, for one thing, communism is sinful and assumes that people will be perfect. Also it is trying to create a utopia when only God is able to do that. Therefo-re, communism i0s unChrist-like. My grandpa says that during the cold war communism was all in the news and there were many debates. This proves that some people are easily swayed to thinking like this.
ReplyDeleteChristianity does not teach communism, there is a difference between charity and redistribution of wealth. With charity, you give your possesions, food, property, etc. away because you wish to, voluntarily. Meanwhile, redistribution of wealth is forced upon someone and an involuntary act. During the Cold War, I have heard stories from my parents of atomic bomb drills, alongside the usual fire and tornado drills. And they were conducted the same way as well, by just getting under the desk, besides that, I really haven't heard much else.
ReplyDeleteCommunism not an aspect of a Christian life. God does not support the ideas of it. First off, Communism forces people to do things that they do not want to do. They cannot do what God made them gifted in. It permits you only to do one thing and one thing only. Everything is government run. God supports the ideas of free will, not being constantly restricted. My grandpa said that the Cold War was a scary time in his life. He had the constant feeling that he could get bombed at anytime by Russia. He always had a lump in his throat. When it finally ended, he said he was so relieved and the lump left him. But he always tells me how i should not take the safety of America for granted.
ReplyDeleteI dont think communism is a godly thing. first of all in the verse it says we are all equal and together. it works untill you look at the gov. they are much higher than the rest of the people. also it takes away free will which god promotes. and my mom talks about bomb drills and treats in school.
ReplyDelete,Ryan Wesley
I don't think that Christianity because this verse is stating that these people had the same things. It is not saying that all these people deserved to have the same thing. Communism makes people have the samething by force from the government. Christianity teaches that if you believe that this person deserves the same amount as the other person then so be it. But it doesn't say that this person is demanded to have the same amount as the other person even if they don't deserve it. Only if the person deserves the same amount will Christ enforce it on you not if you don't deserve it.
ReplyDeleteCommunism coming from the bible and Christianity is completely false. For someone to think that is kind of twisting the bible verse. Its saying to give if you can give because we as believers need to stick together. And even though in the bible it says that everyone is equal that doesn't mean the government should take money from people that earned it. Its saying everyone has the same rights but it has nothing to do with finance and property and money and stuff like that
ReplyDelete~Gabrielle Boswell :)
christianity does not teach communism in any way. christianity is a choice. communism is not a choice. if your country is communist you do not have a choice to do something else. but christianity is not mandatory. You have a choice. God does not want to scare people into his ways. But communism is not a choice you have to do what they want you to do. and no one knows about the soviet or cold war personally. :(
ReplyDeleteTo my personal opinion, this verse has nothing to do with communism. I think this is explaining how people should treat each other fairly and equally. Communism, on the other hand is by no means equal. It is the complete opposite. In fact the bible says in Proverbs 14:23; All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." Only hard work will bring benefits, but communism supports laziness and procrastination when the government pays/rewards everyone not on their hard work, but on trying to be fair when in reality they are being unjust.
ReplyDeleteMy mom remembers the Cold War as a time when being a communist was the same thing as being a terrorist.
Naomy Grand'Pierre
Period 6
There is no truth that christianity teaches communism. This verse is saying that by christians generosity we give, but not that everything should be distributed equally. In commnism when all the money is divided equally we have nothing to give. When we give, we are third, God first, people in need second, then ourselves. My dad remembers that the cold war was a continuing between russia and the united states after world war 2. He also remembers that it was a struggle between western cultures and communism. He also remembers Ronald Reagan increasing the pressure on the Soviet Union until eventually they fell.
ReplyDeleteKristen Fikse per. 5
Communism does not want Christianity or any other faith based religions in their country. The leaders want everyone to look to the government to provide all of their needs which forces equality. Christianity does not require people to give but encourages it. Proverbs 12:24-25 states, "One man gives freely yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, becomes to poverty." The one who gives not as an obligation but to bless others will be blessed. Not only through possessions can we give to others but also in fellowship, with our time, and our talents. This is more what Christianity is about. It is not about guilt giving to others, but genuine giving, and God promises to bless that.
ReplyDeleteNo, I do not think that Christianity teaches communism. In the verse they voluntarily shared with each other, but they weren't required to share to be believers. Unlike communism, where it's forced upon you.
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference in giving away and redistributing. The vere is talking about giving away and helping others. Communisim redistributes everything to make everyone equal. Another thing is that the believers were sharing by choice with each other. In a Communist society the rich are forced to give up wealth to the poor to make them all equal. My mom remembers many things about the cold war. One example that was a little propoganda was that all bad guys were Russian. This is showing how the United States used entertainment to portray the Russians as bad.
ReplyDeletecole barber
period 5
I do not think that Christian values are communist. The verse says that believers had "everything in common." However, the redistribution was mostly based on the amount of land or crop that each person had. Back in Bible times, the population was highly made up of lower an middle class workers, often farmers. These people had most of the same things, as well as same opportunities. Now there are many diverse working jobs, and people get paid many different amounts of money. There is a difference between sharing what you make and getting what you make taken and given away. This is the key difference between Christianity and Communism.
ReplyDeletePeter Keith Period 5
There is no truth to the idea that Christianity teaches communism, because communists take away and distribute wealth. Christians give to the needy but don't take anything away to make everyone equal. In God's eyes we as Christians are equal in Christ. No one is favored over the other by God. He loves each and every one of us equally.
ReplyDeleteparents: My parents remebered being a teenager when the Cold War was going on. They said that Ronald Reagan was in office at the time that the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union/ Communism crashed. They said they don't remeber a lot because it wasn't affecting America as a country. It just affected the political people. It was more a political war than a physical war.
Megan Fikse
World Cultures
period 6
christianity doesnt not support communism. Christians have their faith and love for Christ in common, but not everyone is the same in the reality. Someone who works hard shouldn't be treated the same as the people that do not work as hard. God loves us all the the same but rewards the ones who are willing to work for what they want and lets the bums be bums.so no christianity does not suppot communism.
ReplyDeletecommunism is controlled by the government and people have no rights. christians are supposed to be joined together but we are all supposed to have rights. communism is not based on Christian beliefs because of the complete opposites of human rights. from what my parents remeber the cold war waqs in between ww2 and the 1980s. it was not an actual war but a political war between the capitalist allies and communist allies. the cold war also involved who had the strongest nuclear force. the end of the cold war was also the end of the soviet union.
ReplyDeleteyes when communism was first made i bet some of the principles were base of christian beliefs. communism today is nothing like christianity. they do not believe in every body should be equal they believe inthe govt. should rule and there should be no belief in gods. my dad says he remembers the cold war being on the news. about how the soviet union was the biggest threat. how the news said the soviet union was going to bomb us and going to come over and fight
ReplyDeleteby sageblackwood
Kristina Harrington
ReplyDeleteI do not see any similarities between Christianity and communism. God gives everyone a choose whatever to except him or not. On the other hand, communism does not allow choose. You are either satisfied with what you are given or you are not. The verse teaches us that God is pleased when believers come together and are on one accord. Christians are happy with the choice to serve God, but with communism people would rather have a choose other than the one that was made for them. My uncle remembers that America was trying to advance democracy through the world and Russia was trying to advance communism during the cold war.
i do not believe that communism goes along with Christianity.Communism states that everybody has the same talents and is the same. But God made us all different and unique with different likes and talents. In the Bible verse, what they all had in common was The Lord in their hearts. This verse also mentions how we are called to give to the neady. God does say that we are supposed to. But He doesnt expect us to not work hard and expect to recieve everything they need from the people that do. He rewards the ones that work hard for what He has in store for them
ReplyDeleteMary Kendrick
No, that verse does not mean that Christianity is similar to communism. All it says is that we should all be equal. In my opinion I don't think Christianity is similar to communism. In communism you are forced to do or believe something, but with Christianity you have a choice whether or not you want to believe God or not. My dad remembers that Russia and the
ReplyDeleteU.S were always trying to out do each other.
-Rayna Mock
This verse in Acts is not saying that believers take money from others to "regive" to other people. The believers are donating out of the kindness of their hearts with their own possesions. It is very easy for people to take this verse in the wrong way. Communism, on the other hand, is when the government taxes rich people more and redistributes the money equally to everyone. However, because humans are sinful, greed can overtake these leaders and when they are receiving so much money and since they control where the money goes, they most likely will keep more for himself. Also, this is very unfair for the hard- workers because they will not make any more money than a lazy person. The main points during the cold war and soviet union that my grandparents remembered were the bomb shelters that went underground that people would pay lots of money for. My grandparents remembered one of Ronald Reagan's greatest accomplishments which was to get Russia to tear down the Berlin wall.
ReplyDeleteNo I do not think that there is any relation between communism and Christianity. The verse is saying that people should look out for their neighbors and help everyone. Not to take peoples money by taxing them extra and controlling their lives. There is a huge difference. Jesus commands us to treat everyone equal but he is not gonna love us any more than anyone else if we do this. We are all equal in his eyes at all times.
ReplyDeleteAs for the cold war, my father says that he remembers that when he was a kid there was always the fear that the Soviet Union would invade the USA or drop a nuclear bomb on us. They had regular drills to practice what they would do in the event of an attack. There was a lot of fear during the cold war. When we drive to our lake house in Alabama, we still can see a lot of the old bomb shelters from the 1950's.
I can see why people think communism is based on Christian principles but it is not based on Christian principles. A Christian principle is to help the ones in need. This does not mean the government should take everything and and give out everything equally. Some people are more gifted than others but may not work as hard as the less gifted people. Depending on what you do for a living and how hard you work at your job should be the base of the amount of money, property, etc. that you receive. My parents do not recall any memories from the Cold War or the Soviet Union.
ReplyDeleteMatt Olson
Per. 5
this verse doesn't support communism completely because the believers were unified by God and they had the choice to be unified. In communism, the people are forced to be the same because the few in power assume that people will work hard and remain loyal. Humans are naturally lazy and naturally make their own decisions. However, there is some truth that this represents communism because the verse says believers had everything in common and they gave freely to those in need. The idea of communism sounds good but it is based off assumptions about people's character.
ReplyDeleteboth my parents say they are too young to know
I don't believe that this verse supports communism. God wanted everyone to be equal, but when people are equal they all work together to make choices. In a communist government only several certain people make the choices, and there isn't much freedom. In Psalm 119:44-46 it says that we should obey the laws, but it also says that we should walk in freedom. God wants us to do both of those things and communism does not support both freedom and obedience. Therefore, communism may sound good to some people, but the verse in the Bible does not support it. My parents said that during the Cold War the countries were building up nuclear weapons so everyone was afraid that they were going to be bombed.
ReplyDelete~Megan Schwarzkopf~
World Cultures, Period 6
No, i dont think that the verse supports communism. It is just saying that the christians were supportive of each other. I can see why people would think that because of what communism is based off of. Jesus never another. The people weren't coming together to said that any government is better than support the government but each other. Christianity doesnt teach comunsim but the ideals of communsim might be based of off the ideals of communism.
ReplyDeletemy parents say that the soviet Union was a super power that was bent on our destructuion they did secretive and nefarious things to get what they wanted. They were our enemies in the cold war and they terrified my parents. My parents had to practice drills in case of a nuclear attack. They had civil defense shelters in every town to protect them from the attacks. It was communism verses capitalism and they thought communsim would win.
No. Christianity teaches it's followers to worship God and to look only to him for guidance. Christianity also emphasizes sharing and generosity. Communism teaches its believers to look only to the State for leadership and what is necessary to live including food and shelter. Communists leaders like Stalin and Lenin threw people in jail for attending church or even bowing down to pray. The communist way of life demanded a classless society and redistribution of wealth. That should not be confused with what the Lord teaches in the Bible. The Cold War years were synonymous with distrust and hatred. The Eastern block citizens were all taught to hate America, its democracy, and its principles such as freedom. The communist leaders attempted to shield its people from all American influences and examples of the American way of life. The Cold War was a time when people often spoke of war, spies, and nuclear bombs. The tension of the Cold War only began to decrease when the Berlin Wall was torn down and President Reagan exerted the United State's military superiority through its star wars defense program.
ReplyDeleteSarah Zschunke per. 5
Communism dictates that the government owns everything and allows the government to take money and redistribute it. With Communism everyone is believed to be equally skilled, the bible says we all have different God given gifts, talents, and abilities. I believe that the bible does not support Communism. The Government cannot and should not provide every thing for everybody. God doesen't give you everything He says you have to work. My mom said that she remembers having to go through bomb drill just like tornado or fire drills and she also remembers the fall of the Soviet Union.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Bible does talk about sharing with others there is a difference between giving and taking. In communism it is all about taking, the government is taking money from the wealthy and redistributing it to the poor. In Acts I think it is saying that people were giving with joyful hearts to help others in need. Also in the Bible it talks about working as if working for the Lord. This means that you should work your hardest and by doing this God will always provide what you need.
ReplyDeleteMy parents remember their being hostility towards the Soviets, but not much else.
I do have a few pro's and con's about how Christianity could and couldn't teach communism. First off, communism is basically no freedom what so ever. There are many MANY rules, and communism people try to form a utopia- a perfect society. Christianity says that we are all born sinners, so no world can be perfect, or a utopia. No world except Heaven.(this is how Christianity teaches communism). Heaven will be perfect, and everyone will know what to do and no one will be bad or sinners anymore. So basically this world will never be perfect, even if communists try to make it as perfect as possible, it will never be.
ReplyDeleteIn Communism, people didn’t give their property willingly, because it was taken from them by force from the ruling party. This was the result of a revolution and a civil war that followed the revolution. The Communist theory is based on the concept that people are good, which denies what the bible teaches about sinful nature. And since the sinful nature of man makes them selfish and not happy to share and live in happiness with each other, the idea of communal living was forced on the people, and it failed. The bible doesn’t teach anything on Communism.
ReplyDeleteMy mom lived in Russia during the cold war. She says she was content during the Cold War. Everything was the same as before. It was a closed country because of the Iron Curtain. They couldn’t travel, and they didn’t know much information. The single channel on TV translated that America was the enemy. The TV said that everyone in America had a gun, and they lived immoral lives. Since it was the only channel on TV, every Russian believed in what it told them. Life was not as abundant as American life, but since people couldn’t travel and see, life was good. People still were paid the same amount of money, and school and doctor visits were free. Propaganda diluted her mind, and my mother said she was a very happy child during the Cold War. As an adult, my mom says she can understand all of the manipulation, propaganda, and cruelty, but as a child, she was in bliss.
This verse talks about selling property to give to people out of the goodness of their heart. This does not relate to communism in any way. In communism the government isn't trying to give to the people. The government does give to the poor, but they do this by taking what other people have earned.It may have seemed ok for all of the people in russia, but it was all they had ever known. They had little freedom, so they did not understand exactly what was so awful about communism. Communism takes away any freedom, choice, or individuality that you have. Ths verse simply talks about being generous and staying together.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather said that during the Cold War, life was scary. He remembers hiding under the desks at school to prepare in case of a nuclear attack and hearing abut the great threat that Russia was. He said that the Cold War simmered and simmered for a very long time and because both the U.S. and Russia had nuclear weapons, there was much fear in America and in Russia.
Grace Langella p.5
Communism is not based on Christian principles. God made us all equal, but gave us diffrent talents. Were not all meant to be the exact same. Were supposed to be diffrent and honor God's talents. He gave us. Communism defintley does not go off Christian principles.
ReplyDeleteJordan Smith
Christianity does not teach communism! I strongly beleve there is a diffrence betwen providing for the pore and making evreyone equill. The bible says that life is not fair comunisum strives to make life fare.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Bell
Somewhat. Communism has some of the same principles as Christianity, such as love your neighbor, work for the glory of God, or in communism, the government. I can see why people think Communism is based on Christianity, but the only problem is God is perfect and the Communist Govt. is not.
ReplyDelete-John Kendrick
It depends on who you ask this question to. China would say that this teaches communism, but America would say that it points people away from communism. I believe that it can’t be interpreted either way. Just because people sold property together and gave possessions to people that needed them doesn’t mean that this is or isn’t communism. However, I don’t think Jesus approves of communism. I think he believes everyone is equal, but that people shouldn’t be given the same amount of money for their work.
ReplyDeleteSydney
That verse does not teach communism. Just because it says that we are all in common, that doesnt mean it supports communism. It is saying that we all are in common because we share God as our Father. Unlike communism the Bible says that we are all unique in our own way. Compared to communism where that states eveyone is the same.
ReplyDelete-Courtney Alexander
There is a little truth to that. The bible does teach us that everyone is equal in God's eyes and that we should share our wealth by giving back to the poor. But it doesn't teach us that we can take from others to give to the poor. It doesn't teach us things that can be found in many of the foundations of communism. In many ways the ways of Communism cannot be found in the bible.
ReplyDeleteQuinn Larimer prd. 6