The second and perhaps most important component of Karl Marx's economic theory is that the ideal society can only exist once all private property had been abolished. In fact, Marx himself said that communism could be summed up in one sentence..."the abolition of private property."Can such a statement be reconciled with Christian philosophy? Absolutely.
The New Testament of Acts describes the early church...perhaps the only true model of a church in Christian history...as sharing everything in common. Here is Acts 2:44-45 (NIV)...
"All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."
Whether or not the early Christians gave up all their private property will never be known. But the reigning idea is that private property should not be a concern for a Christian. A Christian's eyes should be focused on Heaven and not be obsessed with the temporal.
There is a grain of truth in Buddha's observation that all suffering is caused by desire and to eliminate suffering you must eliminate desire.
How pervasive is the desire for private property...especially in a capitalistic society? Capitalistic society is run on the engine of greed. Success is soley determined by how much profit you can generate. The germ of profit motive easily infects all aspects of our lives. Soon we become obsessed with having more and more. Even if we do not reach the level of obsession all of us still put enormous concern into our private property.
I am as guilty as anyone. I like my "stuff." But sometimes I wonder how much simpler or elegant my life would be without the albatrosses hanging around my neck (Is that a mixed metaphor? Should I have said millstones instead?). How much time do we all put into worrying about our things? How often do our things and our need for things get in the way of our relationship with Christ? How many people have ignored calls to Christian service in order to preserve their status quo?
So yes, I believe it is indeed possible to reconcile Marx's theory of private property with the Biblical standard.
Special thanks to Simba, my cat, who played fetch with me the entire time I wrote this blog.
