Christian socialism

Short description: Religious socialism based on the teachings of Jesus

Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capitalism to be idolatrous and rooted in the sin of greed.[1] Christian socialists identify the cause of social inequality to be the greed that they associate with capitalism.[1] Christian socialism became a major movement in the United Kingdom beginning in the 19th century. The Christian Socialist Movement, known as Christians on the Left since 2013, is one formal group,[1][2] as well as a faction of the Labour Party.[3][4]

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, socialism is a "social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members. [...] Early Christian communities also practised the sharing of goods and labour, a simple form of socialism subsequently followed in certain forms of monasticism. Several monastic orders continue these practices today".[5] The Christian socialist Hutterites believed in strict adherence to biblical principles, "church discipline" and practised a form of communism. The Hutterites "established in their communities a rigorous system of Ordnungen, which were codes of rules and regulations that governed all aspects of life and ensured a unified perspective. As an economic system, Christian communism was attractive to many of the peasants who supported social revolution in sixteenth century central Europe" such as the German Peasants' War and "Friedrich Engels thus came to view Anabaptists as proto-Communists".[6]

Other earlier figures are also viewed as Christian socialists, such as the 19th-century writers Frederick Denison Maurice[2] (The Kingdom of Christ, 1838), John Malcolm Forbes Ludlow[2] (The Christian Socialist, 1850), John Ruskin (Unto This Last, 1862), Charles Kingsley[2] (The Water-Babies, 1863), Thomas Hughes (Tom Brown's Schooldays, 1857), Frederick James Furnivall (co-creator of the Oxford English Dictionary), Adin Ballou (Practical Christian Socialism, 1854), and Francis Bellamy (a Baptist minister and the author of the United States' Pledge of Allegiance).

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 Biblical age
* 1.1.1 Old Testament
* 1.1.2 New Testament
* 1.2 Church Fathers age
* 1.3 Early modern period
* 1.4 19th century to present
* 1.4.1 John Ruskin
* 1.4.2 Artists
* 1.4.3 Fabian Society
* 1.4.3.1 Episcopal Church Socialist League and the Church League for Industrial Democracy
* 1.4.4 Bishop Spalding
* 1.4.5 Christian anarchism
* 1.4.6 Christian democracy
* 1.4.7 Communism
* 1.4.8 Liberation theology
* 1.4.9 Spiritualism and occultism
* 2 In Catholicism
* 2.1 19th century
* 2.2 20th century
* 2.3 21st century
* 3 In Calvinism
* 4 Criticism
* 5 Christian socialist parties
* 6 Notable Christian socialists
* 7 See also
* 8 References
* 9 Bibliography
* 10 Further reading

## History

### Biblical age

Elements that would form the basis of Christian socialism are found in the Old and New Testaments.[7]

#### Old Testament

The Old Testament had divided perspectives on the issue of poverty. One part of the Jewish tradition held that poverty was judgment of God upon the wicked while viewing prosperity as a reward for the good, stating in the Proverbs 13:25 that "[t]he righteous have enough to satisfy their appetite, but the belly of the wicked is empty."[8] However, there are other sections that instruct generosity to the "have nots" of society. The Torah instructs followers to treat neighbours equally and to be generous to have nots such as stating:

> You shall not oppress your neighbour [...] but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord.[9]

> --Leviticus 19:13, 18

> For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

> --Deuteronomy 10:17–19[10]

> When you reap in your harvest in the field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. [...] When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again. [...] When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.[7]

> --Deuteronomy 24:19–22

Some of the Psalms include many references to social justice for the poor:

> Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

> --Psalms 82 (81): 3, 4[11]

> Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! [...] He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honour.[11]

> --Psalms 112 (111): 1, 9

Amos emphasizes the need for "justice" and "righteousness" that is described as conduct that emphasizes love for those who are poor and to oppose oppression and injustice towards the poor.[12] The prophet Isaiah, to whom is attributed the first thirty-nine chapters of the Book of Isaiah known as Proto-Isaiah, followed upon Amos' themes of justice and righteousness involving the poor as necessary for followers of God, denouncing those who do not do these things, stating:

> Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. [...] [C]ease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.[12]

> --Isaiah 1:15–17

The Book of Sirach, one of the Deuterocanonical or Apocryphal books of the Old Testament, denounces the pursuit of wealth, stating:

> He who loves gold will not be justified, and he who pursues money will be led astray by it. Many have come to ruin because of gold, and their destruction has met them face to face. It is a stumbling block to those who are devoted to it, and every fool will be taken captive by it.[13]

> --Sirach 31: 5–7

#### New Testament

Jesus Expels the Moneylenders from the Temple by Giovanni Paolo Pannini, 1750

The teachings of Jesus are frequently described as socialist, especially by Christian socialists.[14] Acts 4:32 records that in the early church in Jerusalem "[n]o one claimed that any of their possessions was their own", although the pattern would later disappear from church history except within monasticism. Christian socialism was one of the founding threads of the British Labour Party and is claimed to begin with the uprising of Wat Tyler and John Ball in the 14th century CE.[15]

In the New Testament, Jesus identifies himself with the hungry, the poor, the sick, and the prisoners.[16] Matthew 25:31–46 is a major component of Christianity and is considered the cornerstone of Christian socialism.[16] Another key statement in the New Testament that is an important component of Christian socialism is Luke 10:25–37 that follows the statement "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" with the question "And who is my neighbour?" In the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus gives the revolutionary response that the neighbour includes anyone in need, even people we might be expected to shun.[17] The Samaritans were considered a heretical sect by Jews and neither would usually deal with the other.[17]

Luke 6:20–21 shows Jesus narrating the Sermon on the Plain, stating: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied."[18] Christian socialists note that James the Just, the brother of Jesus, criticizes the rich intensely and in strong language in the Epistle of James:

> Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up for treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.[19]

> --James 5:1–6

During the New Testament period and beyond, there is evidence that many Christian communities practised forms of sharing, redistribution and communism.[20] Some of the Bible verses which inspired the communal economic arrangements of the Hutterites are found in the book of Acts:

> All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

> --Acts 2, 44–45

> All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions were his own, but they shared everything they had.

> --Acts 4, 32

> There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from their sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

> --Acts 4, 34–35

### Church Fathers age

Basil of Caesarea, the Father of the Eastern monks who became Bishop of Caesarea, established a complex around the church and monastery that included hostels, almshouses, and hospitals for infectious diseases.[21] During the great famine of 368, Basil denounced against profiteers and the indifferent rich.[21] Basil wrote a sermon on the Parable of the Rich Fool in which he states:

> Who is the covetous man? One for whom plenty is not enough. Who is the defrauder? One who takes away what belongs to everyone. And are not you covetous, are you not a defrauder, when you keep for private use what you were given for distribution? When some one strips a man of his clothes we call him a thief. And one who might clothe the naked and does not—should not he be given the same name? The bread in your hoard belongs to the hungry; the cloak in your wardrobe belongs to the naked; the shoes you let rot belong to the barefoot; the money in your vaults belongs to the destitute. All you might help and do not—to all these you are doing wrong.[22]

John Chrysostom declared his reasons for his attitude towards the rich and position of attitude towards wealth by stating:

> I am often reproached for continually attacking the rich. Yes, because the rich are continually attacking the poor. But those I attack are not the rich as such, only those who misuse their wealth. I point out constantly that those I accuse are not the rich, but the rapacious; wealth is one thing, covetousness another. Learn to distinguish.[23]

### Early modern period

During the English Civil War and the period of the Commonwealth of England (1642-1660), the Diggers espoused a political and economic theory rooted in Christianity that bears a strong resemblance to modern socialism, particularly its anarchist and communist strains.

### 19th century to present

In France Philippe Buchez began to characterize his philosophy as Christian socialism in the 1820s and 1830s. A variety of socialist perspectives emerged in 19th century Britain, beginning with John Ruskin.

Edward R. Norman identifies three "immediate intellectual sources" for mid-century Christian socialism: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas Carlyle, and Thomas Arnold.[24]

#### John Ruskin

The influential Victorian art critic John Ruskin expounded theories about social justice in Unto This Last (1860). In it, he stated four goals that might be called "socialist" although Ruskin did not use the term.[25]

1. "[T]raining schools for youth, established at government cost".
2. In connection with these schools, the government should establish "manufactories and workshops, for the production and sale of every necessary of life".
3. All unemployed people should be "set to work" or trained for work if needed or forced to work if necessary.
4. "[F]or the old and destitute, comfort and home should be provided".

Although Ruskin was not "an authentic Socialist in any of its various nineteenth-century meanings" as his only real contact with the Christian socialists came through the Working Men's College, he influenced later socialist thinking, especially William Morris.[26]

#### Artists

The painters of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were influenced and sponsored by Ruskin.[27] The artist William Morris was a leader of the Socialist League founded in December 1884.[28]

#### Fabian Society

The Fabian Society was founded in 1884, with both Sydney and Beatrice Webb being among its leading members. The Fabians influenced members of the Bloomsbury Group and were important in the early history of the British Labour Party.[29]

##### Episcopal Church Socialist League and the Church League for Industrial Democracy

Founded in 1911[30] by Vida Dutton Scudder, herself influenced by the Fabian Society, the Episcopal Church Socialist League and its successor the Church League for Industrial Democracy sought to ally Christian doctrine with the plight of the working class[31] as a part of the larger social gospel movement that was taking hold of many urban churches across the United States in the early 20th century.

#### Bishop Spalding

In the November 1914 issue of The Christian Socialist, Episcopal bishop Franklin Spencer Spalding of Utah stated:

> The Christian Church exists for the sole purpose of saving the human race. So far she has failed, but I think that Socialism shows her how she may succeed. It insists that men cannot be made right until the material conditions be made right. Although man cannot live by bread alone, he must have bread. Therefore, the Church must destroy a system of society which inevitably creates and perpetuates unequal and unfair conditions of life. These unequal and unfair conditions have been created by competition. Therefore competition must cease and cooperation take its place.[32]

#### Christian anarchism

The Masses, 1917 political cartoon by socialist cartoonist Art Young

Although anarchists have traditionally been skeptical of or vehemently opposed to organized religion,[33] some anarchists have provided religious interpretations and approaches to anarchism, including the idea that glorification of the state is a form of sinful idolatry.[34][35]

Christian anarchists claim anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels,[36][37] that it is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable—the authority of God as embodied in the teachings of Jesus. It therefore rejects the idea that human governments have ultimate authority over human societies. Christian anarchists denounce the state, believing it is violent, deceitful and, when glorified, idolatrous.[38][39]

The foundation of Christian anarchism is a rejection of violence, with Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You regarded as a key text.[38] Tolstoy sought to separate Russian Orthodox Christianity—which was merged with the state—from what he believed was the true message of Jesus as contained in the Gospels, specifically in the Sermon on the Mount. Tolstoy takes the viewpoint that all governments who wage war, and churches who in turn support those governments, are an affront to the Christian principles of nonviolence and nonresistance. Although Tolstoy never actually used the term Christian anarchism in The Kingdom of God Is Within You, reviews of this book following its publication in 1894 appear to have coined the term.[40][41]

Christian anarchists hold that the "Reign of God" is the proper expression of the relationship between God and humanity. Under the "Reign of God", human relationships would be characterized by divided authority, servant leadership, and universal compassion—not by the hierarchical, authoritarian structures that are normally attributed to religious social order.[42] Most Christian anarchists are pacifists who reject war and the use of violence.[38] More than any other Bible source, the Sermon on the Mount is used as the basis for Christian anarchism.[43] Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You is often regarded as a key text for modern Christian anarchism.[38][44]

Critics of Christian anarchism include both Christians and anarchists. Christians often cite Romans 13 as evidence that the state should be obeyed[45] while secular anarchists do not believe in any authority including God as per the slogan "no gods, no masters".[46] Christian anarchists often believe Romans 13 is taken out of context,[47] emphasizing that Revelation 13 and Isaiah 13, among other passages, are needed to fully understand Romans 13 text.[48]

#### Christian democracy

The political movement of Christian democracy espouses some values of Christian socialism in the form of "economic justice" and "social welfare". It opposes an "individualist worldview" and approves state intervention in the economy in defence of "human dignity". On the other hand, because of its "close association with Roman Catholicism", Christian democracy differs from Christian socialism by its emphasis on "traditional church and family values", its defence of "private property" and by its opposition to "excessive intervention of the state".[49]

Christian democratic parties under various names were formed in Europe and Latin America after World War II. Some became "a major political force".[49]

#### Communism

Christian communism is a form of religious communism based on Christianity and the view that the teachings of Jesus compel Christians to support communism as the ideal social system. While there is no universal agreement on the exact date when Christian communism was founded, Christian communists assert that evidence from the Bible (Acts of the Apostles)[50] suggests that the first Christians, including the apostles, established their own communist society in the years following Jesus' death and resurrection.[50] Advocates of Christian communism argue that it was taught by Jesus and practised by the apostles themselves.[51] Some independent historians confirm it.[52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][20]

#### Liberation theology

Liberation theology is a synthesis of Christian theology and socio-economic analyses, that emphasizes "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples."[63] Beginning in the 1960s after the Second Vatican Council, liberation theology became the political praxis of Latin American theologians such as Gustavo Gutiérrez, Leonardo Boff and the Jesuits Juan Luis Segundo and Jon Sobrino, who popularized the phrase "preferential option for the poor". This expression was used first by Jesuit Fr. General Pedro Arrupe in 1968 and soon after this the World Synod of Catholic Bishops in 1971 chose as its theme "Justice in the World".[64][65]

The Latin American context produced evangelical advocates of liberation theology such as Rubem Alves,[66][67] José Míguez Bonino and C. René Padilla, who called for integral mission in the 1970s, emphasizing evangelism and social responsibility. Theologies of liberation have developed in other parts of the world such as black theology in the United States and South Africa, Palestinian liberation theology, Dalit theology in India and Minjung theology in South Korea.

#### Spiritualism and occultism

After 1848, utopian socialist ideas continued in new religious movements such as occultism and spiritualism.[68] They were often marked by a heterodox Christian identity and a decidedly anti-materialist attitude.

## In Catholicism

Communism and socialism have been condemned by Pope Pius IX, Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius X, Pope Benedict XV, Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, and Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI also condemned both ideologies, while distinguishing them from Democratic Socialism, which he praised. The views of Pope Francis on the issue have also been called into question, with some arguing he holds socialist or communist views, while others argue he does not.[69][70] Pope Francis has denied accusations of him being a communist, calling them a "misinterpretation" of his views. Francis has both denounced "Marxist ideology" as "wrong" and praised communists for "[thinking] like Christians."[71][72]

### 19th century

Pope Pius IX criticized socialism in his works Nostis et nobiscum and Quanta Cura. In his 1849 work Nostis et nobiscum, he refers to communism and socialism as "wicked theories" which confuse people with "perverted teachings."[73] In his 1864 work Quanta Cura, he refers to communism and socialism as a "fatal error."[74]

Communism was later strongly criticized in the 1878 papal encyclical Quod Apostolici Muneris by Pope Leo XIII as he believed that it led to state domination over the freedom of the individual and quelled proper religious worship, inherently turning the top hierarchical power over to the state instead of God. Leo writes in this work that socialists steal "the very Gospel itself with a view to deceive more easily the unwary" and "distort it so as to suit their own purposes."[75] In his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, Leo XIII strongly attacked socialism, stating that it acts against natural injustice and destroys the home. He writes that socialism "must be utterly rejected" by Catholics.[76]

However, the labour movement in Ireland and the United States nonetheless traces its origins back to Roman Catholicism and the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum and the various subsequent encyclicals it spawned.[77][78] The Starry Plough, a symbol associated with socialism in Ireland, was designed with an explicit reference to Catholicism in mind.[79] The right to association such as the creation of and involvement in trade unions and co-operatives are regarded as a core part of Roman Catholic social teaching.[78][80][81][82][83][84] The Knights of Saint Columbanus too can trace its origins back to Rerum novarum.

### 20th century

In 1901, Leo XIII once again condemned socialism in his encyclical Graves de communi re, referring to it as a "harvest of misery" .[85]

In 1910, Pope Pius X attacked socialism in his Apostolic letter Notre Charge Apostolique, predicting that the rise of socialism will be "a tumultuous agitation".[86]

In 1914, Pope Benedict XV wrote his encyclical Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum, which reaffirmed the anti-socialist stance of the Catholic Church, calling on Catholics to remember "the errors of Socialism and of similar doctrines", as taught by his predecessors.[87]

In 1931, Pope Pius XI wrote his work Quadragesimo anno, wherein Pius describes the major dangers for human freedom and dignity arising from unrestrained capitalism and totalitarian communism. Pius XI called upon true socialism to distance itself from totalitarian communism as a matter of clarity and also as a matter of principle. Communists were accused of attempting to overthrow all existing civil society. It was argued that Christian socialism, if allied to communism, was deemed to be an oxymoron because of this. Pius XI famously wrote at the time that "Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist".[88]

Nonetheless, some prominent Catholic socialists did exist during Pope Pius XI's era such as Dorothy Day in the United States (who later abandoned these beliefs and advocated for distributism) and Father Michael O'Flanagan (who was suspended for his political beliefs) in Ireland.[89] Pius XI also clarified that a Catholic was free to vote for the Labour Party, the British affiliate of the Socialist International. Later, in 1937, Pius XI rejected atheistic communism in an encyclical entitled Divini Redemptoris as "a system full of errors and sophisms", with a "pseudo-ideal of justice, equality, and fraternity" and "a certain false mysticism",[90] and contrasted it with a humane society (civitas humana).[91]

In 1949, Pope Pius XII issued the Decree against Communism, which declared Catholics who professed Communist doctrine to be excommunicated as apostates from the Christian faith.[92] In 1952, when referring to socialism Pius XII stated that "The Church will fight this battle to the end, for it is a question of supreme values: the dignity of man and the salvation of souls."[93]

In 1959, on the question of whether Catholics could "associate themselves with the communists and support them with their course of action", a response from the Holy Office under Pope John XXIII replied "No".[94][95] On May 15, 1961, John XXIII promulgated the encyclical Mater et magistra, which reaffirmed the Church's anti-socialist stances. John XXIII wrote

> Pope Pius XI further emphasized the fundamental opposition between Communism and Christianity, and made it clear that no Catholic could subscribe even to moderate Socialism. The reason is that Socialism is founded on a doctrine of human society which is bounded by time and takes no account of any objective other than that of material well-being. Since, therefore, it proposes a form of social organization which aims solely at production, it places too severe a restraint on human liberty, at the same time flouting the true notion of social authority.[96]

In 1971, Pope Paul VI wrote the Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens, stating: "Too often Christians attracted by socialism tend to idealize it in terms which, apart from anything else, are very general: a will for justice, solidarity and equality. They refuse to recognize the limitations of the historical socialist movements, which remain conditioned by the ideologies from which they originated."[97]

Pope John Paul II attacked socialism in his 1991 encyclical Centesimus annus, writing:

> [t]he fundamental error of socialism is anthropological in nature. Socialism considers the individual person simply as an element, a molecule within the social organism, so that the good of the individual is completely subordinated to the functioning of the socio-economic mechanism. Socialism likewise maintains that the good of the individual can be realized without reference to his free choice, to the unique and exclusive responsibility which he exercises in the face of good or evil. Man is thus reduced to a series of social relationships, and the concept of the person as the autonomous subject of moral decision disappears, the very subject whose decisions build the social order. From this mistaken conception of the person there arise both a distortion of law, which defines the sphere of the exercise of freedom, and an opposition to private property. A person who is deprived of something he can call "his own", and of the possibility of earning a living through his own initiative, comes to depend on the social machine and on those who control it. This makes it much more difficult for him to recognize his dignity as a person, and hinders progress towards the building up of an authentic human community.[98]

The 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church, also promulgated by Pope John Paul II, condemns socialism in paragraph 2425, stating:

> The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modem times with "communism" or "socialism." She has likewise refused to accept, in the practice of "capitalism," individualism and the absolute primacy of the law of the marketplace over human labor. Regulating the economy solely by centralized planning perverts the basis of social bonds; regulating it solely by the law of the marketplace fails social justice, for "there are many human needs which cannot be satisfied by the market." Reasonable regulation of the marketplace and economic initiatives, in keeping with a just hierarchy of values and a view to the common good, is to be commended.[99]

### 21st century

In 2004, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the Italian Senate, declaring that "[i]n many respects democratic socialism was and is close to Catholic social doctrine; in any case, it contributed toward the formation of a social consciousness".[100] In 2005, Benedict XVI attacked socialism in his encyclical Deus caritas est, stating, "We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. The Church is one of those living forces...In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man...a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human."[101] In 2007, Benedict XVI attacked Karl Marx in his encyclical Spe Salvi, stating that "[w]ith the victory of the revolution, though, Marx's fundamental error also became evident. He showed precisely how to overthrow the existing order, but he did not say how matters should proceed thereafter...He forgot that freedom always remains also freedom for evil. He thought that once the economy had been put right, everything would automatically be put right. His real error is materialism: man, in fact, is not merely the product of economic conditions, and it is not possible to redeem him purely from the outside by creating a favourable economic environment."[102]

Pope Francis has been viewed as having some sympathy to socialist causes, with his frequent criticism of neoliberalism. Francis claimed that the world economy is "[f]undamental terrorism, against all of Humanity"[103] and that "[i]f anything, it is the communists who think like Christians. Christ spoke of a society where the poor, the weak and the marginalized have the right to decide."[72] When later questioned on whether or not he is a communist, Francis responded "As for whether or not I’m a communist: I am sure that I have not said anything more than what the Church’s social doctrine teaches…maybe the impression of being a little more “of the left” has been given, but that would be a misinterpretation" and that "Marxist ideology is wrong."[104][71]

More recently, movements such as liberation theology have argued for the compatibility of socialism and Catholicism, though they have been rejected by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.[105][106] António Guterres, a practicing Catholic and current Secretary-General of the United Nations is the immediate past President of the Socialist International.

## In Calvinism

In France, the birthplace of Calvinism, the Christianisme Social (Social Christianity) movement emerged from the preaching of Tommy Fallot[107] in the 1870s. Early on, the movement focused on such issues as illiteracy and alcoholism amongst the poor.[108] After the First World War, Social Christianity moved in two directions: towards pacifism and towards ecumenism.

Hence within the movement emerged conscientious objectors such as Jacques Martin, Philo Vernier and Henri Roser, economists pursuing policies that reflected cooperation and solidarity (such as Bernard Lavergne and Georges Lasserre), and theologians such as Paul Ricoeur. One of the pastors in the movement, Jacques Kaltenbach, was also to have a formative influence on André Trocmé.[109]

Under the Vichy regime which had seen the emergence of other forms of witness, particularly the support of internees in the camps and aiding Jews to escape, the movement was reborn to tackle the problems of a changing world. It expressed a Christian socialism, more or less in line with the beginning of a new political left. Political activism was very broad and included the denunciation of torture, East–West debate on European integration and taking a stance on the process of decolonization. It facilitated meetings between employers, managers and trade unionists to discern a new economic order.

After the events of May 68, Calvinism in France became much more left-wing in its orientation.[110] One doctrinal text produced in this period, Church and Authorities, was described as Marxist in its orientation.[110] Churches now seized for themselves the political and social issues to tackle, such as nuclear power and justice for the Third World.

In the early 2000s, the Social Christianity movement temporarily discontinued and its journal Other Times ceased to be published.[108] However, the movement was relaunched on 10 June 2010 with a petition signed by over 240 people[108] and now maintains an active presence with its own website.[111]

Economically, Most Calvinists have supported capitalism and have been in the vanguard of promoting market capitalism[112] and have produced many of France's leading entrepreneurs.[112] With regard to politics and social issues however, they are very much socialists.[110] Three of France's post-war prime ministers have been Calvinists, despite Protestants only making up two percent of the population. Two of these prime ministers have been socialists.[112]

In Australia, the academic Roland Boer has attempted to synthesize Calvinism and Marxism.[113] He has stated that "it became clear to me that within Christianity there is a strong tradition of political and theological radicalism, which I continued to explore personally. Reformed or Calvinist theology did not seem to sit easily with that interest, so I spent many a long year rejecting that tradition, only to realise later that Calvin himself was torn between the radical potential of elements in the Bible and his own conservative preferences".[114]

In Wales, Calvinistic Methodism is the largest non-conformist religion. Its beginnings may be traced to Griffith Jones (1684–1761), of Llanddowror, Carmarthenshire, whose sympathy for the poor led him to set on foot a system of circulating charity schools for the education of children. However, until the nineteenth century, the prevailing thought amongst Welsh non-conformists was that "it would be wiser if the churches limited their activities to those of the altar and not to meddle at all with the state and social questions". This stemmed partly from the traditional nonconformist belief in the separation of church and state.[115]

In his influential sermon Y Ddwy Alwedigaeth (The Two Vocations), Emrys ap Iwan challenged this passive pietism: "We must not think, like the old Methodists, Puritans and some Catholics, that we can only seek Godliness outside our earthly vocation." He condemned those Christians who limited godliness to directly religious matters such as Sabbath observance and personal devotion. He declared that all earthly things, including language and culture, have some kind of divine origin.[116]

Many of the founders of the Welsh nationalist social-democratic party, Plaid Cymru were also devout Calvinists, including John Edward Daniel. Daniel was the theologian credited for bringing neo-orthodoxy to Wales. Daniel argued that God did not create man as an isolated individual but as a social being.[116]

The second generation of Plaid Cymru leaders included R. Tudur Jones. His political stance, combined with Calvinist doctrine, created an integrated vision that was significant to the religious life of Christian Wales in the later half of the 20th century.[117] Jones argued that the "state should be a servant, to preserve order and to allow men to live the good life".[118]

Today, many Calvinist socialists in Wales support same-sex marriage on the grounds that it delivers marriage equality in the eyes of the state while still allowing churches to follow their own conscience, thus upholding the traditional Protestant belief in separation of church and state.[119]

The Calvinist tradition in Plaid Cymru has also influenced its non-violent approach. According to Rhys Llwyd, "[t]he ideal is no fist violence, no verbal violence, and no heart violence. [...] Christians [...] point to the New Testament example of Jesus Christ clearing the temple. Here there is no suggestion of violence against people; rather the tables are turned as a symbolic act. The life and teaching of Jesus Christ were seen as the foundations of nonviolent direct action [for Plaid Cymru members] [...] loving their enemies on the one hand, but not compromising on what they saw as an issue of moral rightness".[120] Plaid Cymru continues to see itself as very much part of the Christian pacifist tradition.[119]

## Criticism

In Rendering Unto Caesar, Lawrence Reed, president emeritus of the libertarian-leaning Foundation for Economic Education, writes that Jesus was not a socialist in that he promoted voluntary giving and charity rather than the mandatory taking by government (taxes).[121] Conservative Evangelical Christian Johnnie Moore Jr., Professor of Religion at Liberty University, a "bastion of the Christian right" in American politics,[122] writing on the homepage of Fox News Radio's Todd Starnes, claimed that Jesus was a capitalist.[123] Traditionalist conservative Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, a Christian fundamentalist organization in the United States, also claimed that Jesus was a capitalist who advocated "voluntary redistribution of wealth".[124]

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was critical of socialist doctrines, and warned that those who seek socialism "may soon have too much of it". Specifically, he regarded collectivist Christianity as inferior to faith on an individual level. He said that "I would not have you exchange the gold of individual Christianity for the base metal of Christian socialism".[125]

## Christian socialist parties

* Agricultural People's Front of Peru
* Christian Democracy (Greece)
* Sandinista National Liberation Front
* Citizen Left (Chile )
* Democratic Party (Italy) (factions)
* Christian Social Party (the Netherlands)
* Christian Social Party (Switzerland)
* Labour Party (United Kingdom ) (factions)
* Social Democratic Party (Romania)
* League of Christian Socialists (the Netherlands)
* Le Sillon (France )
* Ligue de la jeune République (France)

## Notable Christian socialists

The following list includes notable followers of Christian socialism such as:

* R. H. Tawney, ethical socialist, who believed Christianity was the basis of a new morality that secular expression in social democracy[126][127]
* John Archer, former Mayor of Christchurch and President of the New Zealand Labour Party[128]
* Francis Bellamy, original author of the Pledge of Allegiance[129]
* Tony Benn, British Parliamentarian and campaigner[130]
* William Dwight Porter Bliss, American Episcopal priest, writer, editor, and activist[131]
* Sergei Bulgakov, Russian Orthodox Christian theologian, philosopher and economist[132]
* Hélder Câmara, Roman Catholic bishop of Olinda e Recife, Brazil
* Hugo Chávez, former President of Venezuela[133]
* Percy Dearmer, English priest and liturgist[134]
* Tommy Douglas, Canadian politician and Baptist minister, Premier of Saskatchewan[135]
* Marion Howard Dunham, American teacher, activist, suffragist; Corresponding Secretary, Women's National Socialist Union[136]
* Barry Gardiner, British Labour Party politician.[137]
* David Bentley Hart, American Eastern Orthodox philosophical theologian[138]
* Hewlett Johnson, English Anglican priest, called "The Red Dean of Canterbury" and author of The Socialist Sixth of the World (1939) and Soviet Russia Since the War (1947)
* Martin Luther King Jr., American Baptist minister and civil rights activist[139]
* Kenneth Leech, English Anglican priest and theologian
* Walter Nash, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and leader of the New Zealand Labour Party[140]
* Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia[141][142][143]
* Desmond Tutu, South African theologian and former Archbishop of Cape Town[144]

## See also

* Agrarian socialism
* Christian anarchism
* Christian communism
* Christian left
* Christian libertarianism
* Christian views on poverty and wealth
* Distributism
* Ethical socialism
* Jesus and the rich young man
* Labour Church
* Liberation theology
* Omnia sunt communia
* Political Catholicism
* Political theology
* Progressive Christianity
* Religion and Socialism Commission
* Spiritual left

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Leech 2000, pp. 677–678.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Schmidt, Alvin J. (2012) [2011]. "Christian Socialism". The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc0289. ISBN 9781405157629. "Although Frederick Denison Maurice's father was a Unitarian clergyman, Maurice later joined the Church of England, and in 1834 he became one of its ordained clergy. He was appalled by the widespread poverty, the misery of child labor, and the economic plight of the poor and working class in the 1830s and 40s. Similar to his acquaintance, John Malcolm Ludlow, he believed that socialism would ameliorate England's socio-economic problems of the economically oppressed. But neither Maurice nor Ludlow wanted socialism, divorced from Christian principles. Socialism, in their opinion, needed the guidance of Christian values. Thus, Maurice coined the term “Christian socialism” in 1848, as he launched the Christian Socialist Movement. He had another close associate in Charles Kingsley, also an avid proponent of Christian socialism. In 1850, a periodical, The Christian Socialist, was created with Ludlow as editor.".
3. ↑ Thomas Kurian (ed). The Encyclopedia of Political Science CQ Press. Washington D.c. 2011. p. 1555
4. ↑ Routledge, Paul (22 May 1994). "Labour revives faith in Christian Socialism". The Independent on Sunday. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018.
5. ↑ Ball, Terence; Dagger, Richard; et al. (30 April 2020). "Socialism". Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
6. ↑ Janzen, Rod; Stanton, Max (2010). The Hutterites in North America (illustrated ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 17. ISBN:9780801899256.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cort 1988, p. 19.
8. ↑ Cort 1988, p. 20.
9. ↑ Cort 1988, p. 21.
10. ↑ Cort 1988.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cort 1988, p. 22.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Cort 1988, p. 23.
13. ↑ Cort 1988, p. 28.
14. ↑ The Gospels, by Terry Eagleton, 2007
15. ↑ "Labour revives faith in Christian Socialism". 21 May 1994. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/labour-revives-faith-in-christian-socialism-1437750.html.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Cort 1988, p. 31.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Cort 1988, p. 32.
18. ↑ Cort 1988, p. 37.
19. ↑ Cort 1988, pp. 41–42.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Montero 2017.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Cort 1988, p. 43.
22. ↑ Cort 1988, pp. 43–44.
23. ↑ Cort 1988, p. 45.
24. ↑ Norman, Edward (1987). The Victorian Christian Socialists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
25. ↑ Ruskin 1872, pp. xi–xiii.
26. ↑ Norman 1987, pp. 122, 132.
27. ↑ Landow, George P. (2015). "Pre-Raphaelites: An Introduction". http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/1.html.
28. ↑ Cody, David (2002). "Morris's Socialism". http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/morris/wmsocialm.html.
29. ↑ "The Fabian Story". Fabian Society. http://www.fabians.org.uk/about/the-fabian-story/.
30. ↑ "Scudder, Vida Dutton" (in en). Episcopal Church. 2012-05-22. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/scudder-vida-dutton.
31. ↑ "Christian Socialism" (in en). Episcopal Church. 2012-05-22. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/christian-socialism.
32. ↑ Berman 2007, pp. 11–12.
33. ↑ "Anarchism and Religion". https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/nicolas-walter-anarchism-and-religion.
34. ↑ Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre (March 2010). "A Christian Anarchist Critique of Violence: From Turning the Other Cheek to a Rejection of the State". Political Studies Association.
35. ↑ Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre (2010). "The state as idolatry". Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel. Exeter: Imprint Academic. p. 254.
36. ↑ Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre (2010). Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel. Exeter: Imprint Academic. pp. 2–4. "Locating Christian anarchism…In political theology…In political thought"
37. ↑ Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre (2010). Jun, Nathan J.; Wahl, Shane. eds. New Perspectives on Anarchism. Lexington Books. p. 149. ISBN 978-0739132401. "Christian anarchism 'is not an attempt to synthesise two systems of thought' that are hopelessly incompatible; rather, it is 'a realisation that the premise of anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the message of the Gospels'."
38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre (March 2010). "A Christian Anarchist Critique of Violence: From Turning the Other Cheek to a Rejection of the State". Political Studies Association. http://www.psa.ac.uk/journals/pdf/5/2010/1338_1226.pdf.
39. ↑ Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre (2010). Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel. Exeter: Imprint Academic. p. 254. "The state as idolatry"
40. ↑ William Thomas Stead, ed (1894). The review of reviews, Volume 9, 1894, p.306. https://books.google.com/books?id=O40-YRkO0t8C&q="christian+anarchism".
41. ↑ Mather & Crowther, ed (1894). The Speaker, Volume 9, 1894, p.254. https://books.google.com/books?id=sIpNAAAAYAAJ&q="christian+anarchism".
42. ↑ Van Steenwyk, Mark (2013). The UNkingdom of God. Downers Grove IL USA: IVP Books. ISBN 978-0830836550.
43. ↑ Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre (2010). Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel. Exeter: Imprint Academic. pp. 43–80.
44. ↑ Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre (2010). Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel. Exeter: Imprint Academic. pp. 19 and 208. "Leo Tolstoy"
45. ↑ Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre (2011). "Was Jesus an anarchist?". BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2011/05/was_jesus_an_anarchist.html. "The two passages that are most frequently brought up as 'clear evidence'… to respect civil authorities and to honour secular governments as those whom God has placed in authority… are Romans 13 and 'render unto Caesar'."
46. ↑ Alexis-Baker, Nekeisha (October 2006). "Embracing God and Rejecting Masters: On Christianity, Anarchism and the State". The Utopian 5. http://www.utopianmag.com/archives/embracing-god-and-rejecting-masters. "The anarchist position on God can be summed up in the popular slogan, 'No God and no masters'. […] If God is indeed a tyrant as Bakunin asserts then the abolition of God and religion are necessary parts of what it means to be anarchist.".
47. ↑ Craig, Kevin. "Romans 13: The Most Disastrously Misinterpreted Scripture in the History of the Human Race". http://romans13.com.
48. ↑ ""Unlucky 13": Romans 13, Revelation 13, and Isaiah 13… and why the State does not want you to read them together". Vine & fig tree. http://vftonline.org/xmaspiracy/5/Romans13/unlucky13.htm.
49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 "Christian Democracy". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2015. http://0-academic.eb.com.librarycatalog.vts.edu/EBchecked/topic/115089/Christian-democracy.
50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 Acts 2:44, 4:32–37; 5:1–12. Other verses are: Matthew 5:1–12, 6:24, Luke 3:11, 16:11, 2 Corinthians 8:13–15 and James 5:3.
51. ↑ This is the standpoint of the orthodox Marxist Kautsky, Karl (1953). "IV.II. The Christian Idea of the Messiah. Jesus as a Rebel.". Foundations of Christianity. Russell and Russell. http://www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1908/christ/ch10.htm#s3. : Christianity was the expression of class conflict in Antiquity.
52. ↑ Bang, Gustav (March 2001). Crises in European History. Socialist Labor Party of America. p. 24. http://www.slp.org/pdf/others/crises_bang.pdf.
53. ↑ Lansford, Tom (2007). "History of Communism". Communism. Political Systems of the World. Marshall Cavendish. pp. 24–25. ISBN 9780761426288. https://books.google.com/books?id=MjjTt-TITcUC&q=apostles+communist&pg=PA24. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
54. ↑ von Mises, Ludwig (1981). "Christianity and Socialism". Socialism. New Heaven: Yale University Press. p. 424. ISBN 9780913966624. https://books.google.com/books?id=3GXi4MQQs3IC&q=apostles+communist+acts&pg=PA424. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
55. ↑ "Rénan's Les Apôtres. Community life". The London Quarterly and Holborn Review, Volume 26. London. 1866. p. 502. https://books.google.com/books?id=zhoaAQAAIAAJ&q=ananias+punished+death+communism&pg=PA502. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
56. ↑ Unterbrink, Daniel T. (2004). "The Dead Sea Scrolls". Judas the Galilean. Lincoln: iUniverse. p. 92. ISBN 0-595-77000-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=AhBFPH864P4C&q=ananias+punished+death+communism&pg=PA92. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
57. ↑ Guthrie, Donald (1992). "3. Early Problems. 15. Early Christian Communism". The Apostles. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-310-25421-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=uts4VTUm1iEC&q=apostles+communist+acts&pg=PA46.
58. ↑ Renan, Ernest (1869). "VIII. First Persecution. Death of Stephen. Destruction of the First Church of Jerusalem". Origins of Christianity. II. The Apostles. New York: Carleton. p. 152. https://books.google.com/books?id=knYRAAAAYAAJ&q=apostles+communist&pg=PA152.
59. ↑ Ehrhardt, Arnold (1969). "St Peter and the Twelve". The Acts of the Apostles. Manchester: University of Manchester Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0719003820. https://books.google.com/books?id=kAbZAAAAIAAJ&q=apostles+communist+calvin&pg=PA20.
60. ↑ Boer, Roland (2009). "Conclusion: What If? Calvin and the Spirit of Revolution. Bible". Political Grace. The Revolutionary Theology of John Calvin. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-664-23393-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=HIeLYNEq6zsC&q=apostles+communist+calvin&pg=PA120.
61. ↑ Halteman Finger, Reta (2007). "Reactions to Style and Redaction Criticism". Of Widows and Meals. Communal Meals in the Book of Acts. Cambridge, UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-8028-3053-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2RVoa4_qX8C&q=apostles+communist+acts&pg=PA39.
62. ↑ Ellicott, Charles John; Plumptre, Edward Hayes (1910). "III. The Church in Jerusalem. I. Christian Communism". The Acts of the Apostles. London: Cassell. https://books.google.com/books?id=Htk8AAAAIAAJ&q=apostles+communist+acts&pg=PA11.
63. ↑ Dictionary of Historical Terms (1998), Second Edition, Chris Cook, ed., p. 203.
64. ↑ Dault, Lira (January 2015). "What is the preferential option for the poor?". U.S. Catholic 80: 46. https://www.uscatholic.org/articles/201501/what-preferential-option-poor-29649.
65. ↑ "In 1971, the bishops sounded a call for justice" (in en). 2016-10-17. https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/1971-bishops-sounded-call-justice.
66. ↑ Alves, Rubem (1988). Towards a Theology of Liberation. Princeton Theological Seminary.
67. ↑ "Rubem Alves – Liberation Theology Pioneer". New York, NY: Critical Therapy Center. July 19, 2014. http://criticaltherapy.org/rubem-alves-liberation-theology-pioneer/.
68. ↑ See, e.g., Strube 2016a; Cyranka 2016; Braude 1989.
69. ↑ Hale, Christopher (25 February 2016). "Bernie Sanders is wrong: Pope Francis is no socialist". National Catholic Reporter. https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/bernie-sanders-wrong-pope-francis-no-socialist.
70. ↑ Barnidge, Robert P. Jr. (11 March 2016). "Against The Catholic Grain: Pope Francis Trumpets Socialism Over Capitalism". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2016/03/11/against-the-catholic-grain-pope-francis-trumpets-socialism-over-capitalism/?sh=3d4c64ee42d3.
71. ↑ 71.0 71.1 Johnson, Garrett (20 May 2016). "Criticised for Being Communist or to the Left, Here's Pope Francis' Response". https://catholic-link.org/criticised-for-being-communist-or-to-the-left-heres-pope-francis-response/.
72. ↑ 72.0 72.1 Skojec, Steve (11 November 2016). "Pope: "It is the Communists Who Think Like Christians"". OnePeterFive. https://onepeterfive.com/pope-communists-think-like-christians/.
73. ↑ Pius IX, Nostis et nobiscum No. 6
74. ↑ Pius IX, Quanta Cura No. 4
75. ↑ Leo XII, Quod Apostolici Muneris, No. 5
76. ↑ Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum No. 4-5, 14-15
77. ↑ Connolly, James. Labour: Nationality & Religion.
78. ↑ 78.0 78.1 Sinyai, Clayton. "Happy Birthday, Rerum Novarum! – The Catholic Labor Network" (in en-US). http://catholiclabor.org/2019/05/happy-birthday-rerum-novarum/.
79. ↑ "The Starry Plough Flag – Irish Studies". https://irishstudies.sunygeneseoenglish.org/the-starry-plough-flag/.
80. ↑ "Catholic social teachings call to the dignity of creation" (in en). 2016-05-13. https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/catholic-social-teachings-call-dignity-creation.
81. ↑ Considine, Kevin P. (2016-02-02). "Does the church support unions?" (in en-US). https://uscatholic.org/articles/201602/does-the-church-support-unions/.
82. ↑ Kerr, David (10 December 2011). "Pope Benedict: cooperatives help humanize the economy" (in en). http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-benedict-co-operatives-help-humanize-the-economy.
83. ↑ "Pope Francis calls for co-operatives to build a more honest economy | ICA". https://www.ica.coop/en/media/news/pope-francis-calls-co-operatives-build-more-honest-economy.
84. ↑ "Laudato si' (24 May 2015) | Francis". http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html.
85. ↑ Leo XII (1901). Graves de communi re No. 21
86. ↑ Pius X (1910). Notre Charge Apostolique
87. ↑ Benedict XV (1914). Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum No. 13
88. ↑ "Socialism & the Vatican". Time 70 (2): 19. 8 July 1957. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,825096,00.html. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
89. ↑ "Fr. Michael O'Flanagan, letters, 1915 - 1920", Letter from Bishop Bernard Coyne to Fr. Michael O'Flanagan.
90. ↑ Giuseppe Ruggieri (2011). "La condanna dei comunisti del 1949" (in it). La condanna dei comunisti del 1949. Traccani. http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/la-condanna-dei-comunisti-del-1949_(Cristiani-d'Italia)/. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
91. ↑ Stephen Schlosser (2015). David Schultenover. ed. Reproach vs. Rapprochement. Liturgical Press. p. xlviii. ISBN 9780814683019. https://books.google.com/books?id=OvnjCQAAQBAJ&q=l'osservatore romano july 15 1948&pg=PR48. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
92. ↑ "Papal Decree Against Communism" (in en-US). The New York Times. 1949-07-14. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/1949/07/14/archives/papal-decree-against-communism.html.
93. ↑ Pius XII (14 September 1952). Radio message to the Katholikentag of Vienna.
94. ↑ https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-51-1959-ocr.pdf
95. ↑ Heinrich Joseph Denzinger, (DS 3930), Ignatius Press, 43rd ed.
96. ↑ "Mater et Magistra (May 15, 1961) | John XXIII". http://www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_15051961_mater.html.
97. ↑ "Octogesima Adveniens (May 14, 1971) | Paul VI". https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_letters/documents/hf_p-vi_apl_19710514_octogesima-adveniens.html.
98. ↑ "Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991) | John Paul II". https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus.html.
99. ↑ "Catechism of the Catholic Church - Paragraph # 2425". http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2425.htm.
100. ↑ Pera, Marcello; Ratzinger, Joseph (13 May 2004). "Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam". Catholic Education. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
101. ↑ Benedict XVI (25 December 2005). Deus caritas est. https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est.html.
102. ↑ "Spe salvi (November 30, 2007) | BENEDICT XVI". https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi.html.
103. ↑ Knight, Nika (2 August 2016). "Pope Francis: Capitalism is 'Terrorism Against All of Humanity'". Common Dreams. https://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/08/02/pope-francis-capitalism-terrorism-against-all-humanity.
104. ↑ Davies, Lizzy (15 December 2013). "Pope says he is not a Marxist, but defends criticism of capitalism". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/pope-francis-defends-criticism-of-capitalism-not-marxist.
105. ↑ "The Case Against Liberation Theology". 21 October 1984. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/21/magazine/the-case-against-liberation-theology.html.
106. ↑ "Benedict XVI: Liberation Theology was mere "millenarism" that would have no justification today.". Catholic News Agency. 9 May 2007. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/9321/benedict-xvi-liberation-theology-was-mere-millenarism-that-would-have-no-justification-today.
107. ↑ "Social Christianity". Fondation pasteur Eugène Bersier. http://www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/social-christianity/.
108. ↑ 108.0 108.1 108.2 "La relance du christianisme social" (in fr). Radio France. 2010. http://www.franceculture.fr/emission-service-protestant-la-relance-du-christianisme-social-2010-07-18.html.
109. ↑ Chalamet 2013.
110. ↑ 110.0 110.1 110.2 Wells, Paul (May 1988). "L'Église C'est Moi: The French Churches and the 'Me' Generation". Third Way (London: Hymns Ancient & Modern) 11 (5): 14–16. https://books.google.com/books?id=3kBtZ5WdrI8C&pg=PA14. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
111. ↑ "Accueil" (in fr). http://www.christianismesocial.org.
112. ↑ 112.0 112.1 112.2 "Prim but Punchy". The Economist 346 (8064): 48. 16 April 1998. http://www.economist.com/node/160426. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
113. ↑ "Professor Roland Boer". University of Newcastle. https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/roland-boer.
114. ↑ Oudshoorn, Dan (24 December 2010). "An Interview with Roland Boer (On Marxism and Theology)". https://poserorprophet.wordpress.com/2010/12/24/an-interview-with-roland-boer-on-marxism-and-theology/.
115. ↑ Llwyd 2015, p. 3.
116. ↑ 116.0 116.1 Llwyd 2015, p. 4.
117. ↑ Davies et al. 2008.
118. ↑ Llwyd 2015, p. 5.
119. ↑ 119.0 119.1 Llwyd 2015, p. 7.
120. ↑ Llwyd 2015, p. 6.
121. ↑ Reed 2015.
122. ↑ Anderson, Nick (2015-03-23). "Virginia's Liberty University: A mega-college and Republican presidential stage". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/03/23/virginias-liberty-university-a-mega-college-and-republican-presidential-stage/.
123. ↑ Moore, Johnnie. "Was Jesus a Socialist or a Capitalist?". Fox News Radio. http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/was-jesus-a-socialist-or-a-capitalist.html.
124. ↑ Fischer, Bryan (15 October 2015). "Jesus Was Not a Socialist". American Family Association. http://www.afa.net/the-stand/bible/2015/10/jesus-was-not-a-socialist/.
125. ↑ One Lost Sheep, 1889.
126. ↑ Ormrod, David (1990). Fellowship, Freedom & Equality: Lectures in Memory of R.H. Tawney. London: Christian Socialist Movement. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-900286-01-8. "Tawney's was undoubtedly the most forceful and authentic voice of Christian socialist prophecy to be raised during the 1920s and 30s, echoing into the 1950s."
127. ↑ Gardiner, Juliet, ed (1995). The History Today Companion to British History. London: Collins & Brown. p. 734. ISBN 978-1-85585-261-7. https://archive.org/details/historytodaycomp0000unse/page/734.
128. ↑ Gustafson, Barry (2012). "Archer, John Kendrick". The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3a17/archer-john-kendrick. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
129. ↑ "Grand Lodge of BC and Yukon profile of Bellamy". Freemasonry.bcy.ca. http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/bellamy_f/bellamy_f.html.
130. ↑ Sydney Higgins (1984). The Benn Inheritance: The Story of a Radical Family. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-78524-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=1aRhQgAACAAJ. Quoted in Brown, Rob (27 September 1984). "Vital key to the real Tony Benn". The Glasgow Herald: p. 8. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vMtAAAAAIBAJ&pg=4768,5509048.
131. ↑ Webber, Christopher L. (1959). "William Dwight Porter Bliss (1856–1926): Priest and Socialist". Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 28 (1): 9–39. ISSN 2377-5289.
132. ↑ "Sergei Bulgakov » News from different disciplines". yqyq.net. 2009. http://yqyq.net/5485-Sergeiy_Nikolaevich_Bulgakov.html.
133. ↑ Lustig, Robin (20 October 2005). "Hugo Chavez: Charming provocateur". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4359924.stm.
134. ↑ Southwell, F. R.; Barry, F. R.; Gray, Donald (2004). "Dearmer, Percy (1867–1936)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32763.
135. ↑ Thomas, Lewis, ed (1982). The Making of a Socialist: The Recollections of T.C. Douglas. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press. ISBN 978-0-88864-070-3. https://archive.org/details/makingofsocialis00doug.
136. ↑ Abbott, Wenonah Stevens (1903). "The Women's National Socialist Union". The Comrade: An Illustrated Socialist Monthly (Comrade Publishing Company) 2 (1). https://books.google.com/books?id=-ygrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
137. ↑ "Socialist labels for Barry Gardiner and Jeremy Corbyn". BBC News. 14 May 2019. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-48268699/socialist-labels-for-barry-gardiner-and-jeremy-corbyn.
138. ↑ "Can We Please Relax About 'Socialism'?". The New York Times. 27 April 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/opinion/sunday/socialism.html.
139. ↑ King Jr., Martin Luther (2015). West, Cornel. ed. The Radical King. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-1282-6.
140. ↑ Gustafson, Barry (2013). "Nash, Walter". The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4n2/nash-walter. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
141. ↑ Maiden, Samantha; Edwards, Verity (15 December 2006). "Rudd Backtracks on Socialism". The Australian Financial Review. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20930265-2702,00.html.
142. ↑ Rudd, Kevin (October 2006). "Faith in Politics". The Monthly (17). https://www.themonthly.com.au/monthly-essays-kevin-rudd-faith-politics--300. Retrieved 4 June 2016. "A Christian perspective, informed by a social gospel or Christian socialist tradition, should not be rejected contemptuously by secular politicians as if these views are an unwelcome intrusion into the political sphere.".
143. ↑ Gordon, Michael; Grattan, Michelle (14 December 2006). "Rudd Rejects Socialism". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/rudd-rejects-socialism/2006/12/13/1165685753120.html?page=fullpage.
144. ↑ Du Boulay 1988, p. 236.

## Bibliography

* Berman, David R. (2007). Radicalism in the Mountain West, 1890–1920: Socialists, Populists, Miners, and Wobblies. Boulder, Colorado: University Press of Colorado. ISBN 978-0-87081-884-4.
* Braude, Ann (1989). Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women's Rights in Nineteenth-Century America. Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-7500-5. https://archive.org/details/radicalspiritssp00braurich.
* Chalamet, Christophe (2013). Revivalism and Social Christianity: The Prophetic Faith of Henri Nick and André Trocmé. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications. ISBN 978-1-61097-858-3.
* Cort, John C. (1988). Christian Socialism: An Informal History. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books. ISBN 978-0-88344-574-7. https://archive.org/details/christiansociali0000cort.
* Cyranka, Daniel (2016). "Religious Revolutionaries and Spiritualism in Germany Around 1848". Aries (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers) 16 (1): 13–38. doi:10.1163/15700593-01601002. ISSN 1570-0593.
* Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel; Baines, Menna et al., eds (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6.
* Leech, Kenneth (2000). "Socialism". in Hastings, Adrian; Mason, Alistair; Pyper, Hugh. The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 676–678. ISBN 978-0-19-860024-4. https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00hast. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
* Llwyd, Rhys (2015). "Plaid Cymru, Welsh Nationalism and Christianity: A Historical Perspective". Ethics in Brief (Cambridge, England: Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics) 2015 Election Series (5). http://www.klice.co.uk/uploads/ethics in brief/eib_llwyd_e2015_5_web.pdf. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
* Montero, Roman A. (2017). All Things in Common: The Economic Practices of the Early Christians. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock. ISBN 978-1-5326-0791-2.
* Norman, Edward (1987). The Victorian Christian Socialists. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press (published 2002). doi:10.1017/CBO9780511560743. ISBN 978-0-521-53051-4.
* Reed, Lawrence (2015). Rendering unto Caesar: Was Jesus a Socialist?. Atlanta, Georgia: Foundation for Economic Education. ISBN 978-1-57246-037-9.
* Ruskin, John (1872). "Unto this Last": Four Essays on the First Principles of Political Economy. New York: John Wiley & Sons. https://archive.org/details/untothislastfou00ruskgoog. Retrieved 3 June 2016.John+Wiley+&+Sons]&rft_id=https://archive.org/details/untothislastfou00ruskgoog&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Religion:Christian_socialism">
* Strube, Julian (2016a). "Socialist Religion and the Emergence of Occultism: A Genealogical Approach to Socialism and Secularization in 19th-Century France". Religion 46 (3): 359–388. doi:10.1080/0048721X.2016.1146926. ISSN 1096-1151.
* ——— (2016b) (in de). Sozialismus, Katholizismus und Okkultismus im Frankreich des 19. Jahrhunderts. Die Genealogie der Schriften von Eliphas Lévi. Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten. 69. Berlin: De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-047654-5.

## Further reading

* Bissett, Jim (1999). Agrarian Socialism in America: Marx, Jefferson, and Jesus in the Oklahoma Countryside, 1904–1920. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3148-1.
* Bliss, William D. P., ed (1897). "Christian Socialism". The Encyclopedia of Social Reform. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company. pp. 251–260. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediofsoc00blisrich. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
* Boyer, John W. (1995). Culture and Political Crisis in Vienna: Christian Socialism in Power, 1897–1918. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-06960-9.
* Hopkins, Charles Howard (1940). The Rise of the Social Gospel in American Protestantism, 1865–1915. Yale Studies in Religious Education. 14. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.
* Kingsley, Charles (1898). The Works of Charles Kingsley. 2. Philadelphia: John B. Morris & Company. https://archive.org/details/workscharleskin08kinggoog. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
* Kingsley, Frances Eliza Grenfell, ed (1885). Charles Kingsley: His Letters and Memories of His Life. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. https://archive.org/details/charleskingsley05kinggoog. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
* Leno, John Bedford (1892). The Aftermath with Autobiography of the Author. London: Reeves & Turner.
* Maurice, Frederick, ed (1885). The Life of Frederick Denison Maurice: Chiefly Told in His Own Letters. 2 (4th ed.). London: Macmillan and Co.. https://archive.org/details/lifeoffrederickd02mauriala. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
* Myles, Robert J. (2019). Class Struggle in the New Testament. Lanham: Fortress Academic. ISBN 978-1-9787-0209-7.
* Phillips, Paul T. (1996). A Kingdom on Earth: Anglo-American Social Christianity, 1880–1940. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-01580-4.
* Simkin, John (2014). "Christian Socialists". http://spartacus-educational.com/REsocialism.htm.
* Spargo, John (1909). "Christian Socialism in America". American Journal of Sociology 15 (1): 16–20. doi:10.1086/211752. Zenodo: 1431287. ISSN 0002-9602. https://zenodo.org/record/1431287.
* Woodworth, Arthur V. (1903). Christian Socialism in England. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Company. https://archive.org/details/christiansocial01woodgoog.
* Young, Shawn David (2010). "From Hippies to Jesus Freaks: Christian Radicalism in Chicago's Inner-City". Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (Toronto: University of Toronto Press) 22 (2): 1–28. doi:10.3138/jrpc.22.2.003. https://www.usask.ca/relst/jrpc/art22(2)-jesusfreaks.html. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
* Du Boulay, Shirley (1988). Tutu: Voice of the Voiceless. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 9780340416143.

* v
* t
* e

Religion in politics

General concepts

* Anti-clericalism
* Anticlericalism and Freemasonry
* Caesaropapism
* Clericalism
* Clerical fascism
* Confessionalism
* Divine rule
* Engaged Spirituality
* Feminist theology
* Thealogy
* Womanist theology
* Identity politics
* Political religion
* Progressive Reconstructionism
* Religious anarchism
* Religious anti-Masonry
* Religious anti-Zionism
* Religious communism
* Religious humanism
* Religious law
* Religious nationalism
* Religious pacifism
* Religion and peacebuilding
* Religious police
* Religious rejection of politics
* Religious segregation
* Religious separatism
* Religious socialism
* Religious views on same-sex marriage
* Secularism
* Secular religion
* Separation of church and state
* Spiritual left
* State atheism
* State religion
* Theocracy
* Theonomy

Christianity and politics

* Blaine Amendment
* Christian anarchism
* Christian anti-communism
* Christian anti-Masonry
* Papal ban
* Christian anti-Zionism
* Christian communism
* Christian corporatism
* Christian democracy
* Christian egalitarianism
* Christian environmentalism
* Evangelical environmentalism
* Christian fascism
* German Christians
* National Catholicism
* Positive Christianity
* Protestant Reich Church
* Christian feminism
* Mormon feminism
* Christian humanism
* Christian law
* Christian left
* Evangelical left
* Christian libertarianism
* Christian pacifism
* Christian peacemaking
* Christian reconstructionism
* Christian republic
* Christian right
* Christian socialism
* In Utah
* Christian state
* Christian Zionism
* Cisalpinism
* Dominion Theology
* Febronianism
* Gallicanism
* Liberation theology
* Papal state
* Pillarisation
* Political Catholicism
* Relations between the Catholic Church and the state
* In Argentina
* Sphere sovereignty
* Subsidiarity
* Temporal power
* Theodemocracy
* Ultramontanism
* Neo-ultramontanism

Islam and politics

* Hui pan-nationalism
* Human Rights in Islam
* Imamate
* Islamic anarchism
* Islamic anti-Masonry
* Islamic anti-Zionism
* Islamic democracy
* Islamic fascism
* Islamic feminism
* Sharia law
* by country
* Islamic nationalism
* In Pakistan
* In South Asia
* Islamic pacifism
* Islamic republic
* Islamic socialism
* Islamic state
* Islamic Zionism
* Islamism
* Criticism
* Islamization
* Khilafat
* Petro-Islam
* Political quietism
* Taliban
* Talibanization
* Two-nation theory

Judaism and politics

* Halachic state
* Jewish anarchism
* Jewish anti-Zionism
* Haredim
* Jewish Autonomism
* Jewish democracy
* Jewish fascism
* Kahanism
* Revisionist Maximalism
* Jewish feminism
* Jewish law
* Jewish left
* Jewish pacifism
* Jewish political movements
* Jewish right
* Jewish secularism
* Jewish socialism
* Bundism
* Humanistic Judaism
* Poale Zion
* Religious Zionism
* World Agudath Israel

Hinduism and politics

* Akhand Bharat
* Hindu feminism
* Gandhism
* Hindu law
* Hindu modernism
* Hindu nationalism
* Hindutva
* Hindu Rashtra
* Panun Kashmir
* Bangabhumi
* Hindu revolution
* Hindu revivalism
* Hindu environmentalism
* Integral humanism
* Indigenous Aryans
* Rama Rajya
* Saffronisation
* Shuddhi
* Uniform civil code

Buddhism and politics

* Buddhists anti-communism
* Buddhist feminism
* Buddhist law
* Buddhist modernism
* Buddhist nationalism
* 969 Movement
* Nichirenism
* Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
* Buddhist socialism
* Engaged Buddhism
* Humanistic Buddhism
* Secular Buddhism

Other

* American civil religion
* Imperial cult
* Ancient Rome
* Gottgläubig
* Khalistan movement
* Neopaganist feminism
* Religious aspects of Nazism
* Creativity (religion)
* Nazi Satanism
* Personality cult
* State Shinto

Find out more on Wikipedia's
Sister projects|

* Media
from Commons
* Quotations
from Wikiquote
* Data
from Wikidata

|

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian socialism. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Religion:Christian_socialism&oldid=2412622"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template