' 
 
 OF CHRIS' 
 
LIBRARY * 
 
 OF THK 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Accessions No.^?O-4^& Shelf No. 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
Socialism of Christ 
 
 OR 
 
 Attitude of Early Christians 
 Toward Modern Problems 
 
 BY 
 
 AUSTIN B1ERBOWER 
 
 Author of " The Morals of Christ " " The Virtues and their 
 Reasons " etc 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 CHARLES H SERGEL & CO 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1890, BY CHARLES H. SERGEL & CO. 
 / 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 CHAPTER I GOVERNMENT OF THE POOR.. 5 
 
 " II CONTEMPLATED REVOLUTION 36 
 
 " III POLITICAL PROPAGATION .... 65 
 
 " IV SOCIALISTIC IDEALS 79 
 
 " V PRACTICAL COMMUNISM 93 
 
 1. Community of Goods. . . 93 
 
 2. Duties and Restraints. . . 127 
 " VI MONARCHICAL REACTION . . . 150 
 " VII SPIRITUAL RECONCILIATION. 184 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 GOVERNMENT BY THE POOR 
 
 Like all other great world movements, Christi- 
 anity was at first largely political and socialistic^ 
 and depended on this character for its propaga- 
 tion. The common people in the time of Christ, 
 as at present in Paris and Berlin, were dissatis- 
 fied in their misery, and looked for some revo- 
 lution to relieve them. The disaffection of 
 poverty against wealth, of labor against capital, 
 of commonalty against aristocracy, of subject 
 against ruler, and of slave against master was 
 general throughout the Roman Empire. The 
 lower classes as a body, demanded deliverance 
 from their wrongs and better chances in the 
 over-crowded avenues to wealth and happiness. 
 
6 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 Re-distribution of property, the abolition of 
 individual possessions, the community of goods 
 and other wild projects were espoused with 
 intense interest. Remnants of the old Roman 
 agrarianism, of Lacedemonian and Cretan 
 communism or of Essenic co-operation appeared 
 in nearly all the issues of the day. Any new 
 agitation, accordingly, which, like Christianity, 
 seemed to contemplate these objects, attracted 
 the people, and was, in turn, moulded by them 
 to a politico-social interest. 
 
 At the same time, there was a large republi- 
 can element men of theoretical and ideal turn 
 who dreamed of absolute equality, justice and 
 general good will; and who, accordingly, 
 demanded the overthrow of kings, nobility, 
 priests, privileges and distinctions of blood, 
 and perhaps even anticipated the return of the 
 ancient Roman Republic itself confederate and" 
 cosmopolitan. There was also a nation of dis- 
 contented Jews, in whose country and race 
 Christ was born, who, being dissatisfied in their 
 subjection, looked for a deliverance from the 
 Roman yoke, and' like the Irish and Poles of 
 to-day, wanted back their ancient kingdom an4 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 7 
 
 glory. All these classes naturally espoused with 
 zeal a movement which, like the promised 
 kingdom of Christ, looked toward such a con- 
 summation. 
 
 Such being the desires of the people, Christ, 
 when He first declared His views, and His cause 
 when launched on the public, were interpreted 
 in this interest, and expected to further these 
 ends; so that to the common people in their 
 misery Christ appeared as a Savior, to the ideal 
 Republicans as a Deliverer, and to the mon- 
 archical Jews as a King ; and to them all His 
 new community, or republic, or kingdom 
 seemed like a guaranty of their political ideals. 
 
 I propose, in this essay, to present the social 
 and political aspects of Christ's teachings and 
 of early Christianity, as drawn from the Gospels 
 and from contemporaneous sources. 
 
 In pursuance of this object 'I observe, first, 
 that Jesus proposed, in a general way, to estab- 
 lish a "kingdom, " and announced that this was 
 ; the chief object of His mission. He proposed 
 expressly to establish a new kingdom, in con- 
 tradistinction to the old, or existing kingdoms; 
 a kingdom which should be in the interest of 
 
8 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 the people of the poor, the lower classes, the 
 weak, the sorrowing, the unfortunate, and 
 which should be a kingdom of righteousness, 
 or justice, as opposed to the existing ones of 
 injustice a kingdom in which there should be 
 no oppression, inequalities or wrongs, but 
 where all should be equal and happy. 
 
 He taught His followers to pray and work 
 for this kingdom. The burden of their common 
 prayer was, "Thy kingdom come ; " and they 
 understood themselves as working for a king- 
 dom in all that they did for Christ. He gave 
 much of His attention to explaining this new 
 kingdom, and to getting the people ready for 
 it. The King therein, He said, was to be God, 
 and it was to be a kingdom in which no man 
 was to be above another, a theocracy in which 
 there was to be allegiance to none and author- 
 ity over none, a community in which all should 
 be relieved of their wants, and be happy. 
 
 With apparent disloyalty and hostility to ex- 
 isting authorities, Jesus taught the people that 
 they belonged to this new kingdom, and that 
 it was their duty to enter into it. The 
 Lord's Prayer, which was the key-note of His 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 9 
 
 ministry, and fraught with all the significance 
 of His mission, was, from beginning to end, 
 capable of being interpreted as a political 
 utterance in this sense. 
 
 For, turning the people away from existing 
 monarchs and patres patriae, He taught them in 
 this prayer to say, "Our Father (and king) 
 which art in Heaven (not on earth). Hallowed 
 be thy name (not Caesar's). Thy kingdom come, 
 (not the Roman or provincial). Thy will be done 
 on earth as it is in Heaven (mark, on earth} 
 etc. For thine is the kingdom, (not Caesar's, 
 or Herod's) the power, and the glory, (all the 
 royal attributes) forever and ever. Amen." 
 (So let it be, Viva il regno!) 
 
 This prayer, I say, which was put in every- 
 body's mouth as a propagating formula, can be 
 construed to embody everything political and 
 revolutionary ; for what is not political in the 
 strictest sense, is interpretable as socialistic; 
 namely the three petitions, "Give us this day 
 our daily bread;" "Forgive us our debts as 
 we forgive our debtors;" and "Deliver us from 
 evil." For the first of these petitions, 
 "Give us this day our daily bread," is the old 
 
io SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 undying and most characteristic of all socialistic 
 cries, and anticipated the commune, of which I 
 shall hereafter speak when, in Christ's new king- 
 dom, it was expected that food would be distrib- 
 uted to all, and daily as they might have need. 
 The second, scarcely less socialistic petition, 
 "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debt- 
 ors," had possible reference to the future 
 holding of goods in common, of which also I 
 shall presently speak; when no man should 
 have money, or right to any, and no man should 
 need any , but when all debts should be wiped 
 out because the property should belong to all. 
 And the petition, "Deliver us from evil," or 
 from existing miseries, was a prayer for what 
 they sought as the ultimate object of their whole 
 movement the salvation of the unfortunate 
 from the misfortunes of society. 
 
 Thus, therefore, in general, Christ proposed 
 to establish a kingdom ; and, like men in all 
 such projects, He was necessarily radical and 
 revolutionary. He proposed to establish a king- 
 dom in the interest of those not in authority, 
 or of the 'outs;" a kingdom favoring the 
 ruled as against the rulers, whether civil or 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 11 
 
 ecclesiastical, and favoring the individual or 
 citizen, as against the states, laws, kings, nobil- 
 ity, priests and land and property owners. 
 
 For the realization of this kingdom there was 
 contemplated all that it implies, and first a gen- 
 eral revolution. This revolution, as already in- 
 timated, was to be in the interest of the people 
 an overturning of the present state for a new 
 one, an elevating of a new class instead of the 
 old a revolution in which the high should be 
 brought low and the low high, the first last and 
 the last first. 
 
 The opening utterances of the Gospel the 
 Beatitudes in the sermon on the Mount were, as 
 recorded by Luke, a comprehensive statement of 
 this idea. "Blessed," says Christ, "be ye poor,K 
 for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are 
 ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. 
 Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh. 
 Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and 
 shall separate you from their company, (aris- 
 tocratic circles and higher classes,) and shall 
 reproach you, (as they generally do the poor,) 
 and count out your name as evil, (low) for the Son 
 of Man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day and leap for 
 
12 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 joy, for behold your reward is great in Heaven 
 (the new kingdom). But woe unto you that are 
 rich, for ye have received your consolation. 
 Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger. 
 Woe unto you that laugh now, for ye shall mourn 
 and weep. Woe unto you when all men shall 
 speak well of you," in short woe unto you that 
 are now in the ascendancy, or in sympathy with 
 such, for you and your cause shall be abased; 
 and, Blessed are ye who are in the unfortunate 
 and nether ranks, for ye shall be brought upper- 
 most by the coming revolution. 
 
 A complete reversal of conditions is to be the 
 result of Christ's work, a reversal which wiH give 
 those a chance who have hitherto had none. 
 "The axe," He says, "is laid at the root of 
 the tree, " and the reversal is to be radical and 
 comprehensive. "Not one stone shall be left 
 upon another," in the social fabric "that shall 
 not be thrown down;" and, in the remodeling of 
 society which is to follow the rejected stone the 
 common people shall be made the head of the 
 corner. 
 
 As prophetic of the mission of Christ the 
 announcement is made at His birth: "Behold 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 13 
 
 this child which is set for the fall and rising 
 again of many in Israel;" and again, "For unto 
 you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ 
 the Lord, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the ; 
 glory of thy people Israel;" in other words, a 
 light to lighten the peoples of all countries, and 
 the especial glory of the people of Israel. "Pre- 
 pare ye," says His messenger in contemplation 
 of this, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make 
 His path straight; let the high places be made low, 
 and the valleys be exalted. And all flesh and 
 not the better circumstanced only shall see the 
 salvation of God. Every one that exalteth him- 
 self shall be abased, and he that humbleth him- 
 self shall be exalted." "God hath chosen the 
 weak things of the world to put to naught those 
 that are mighty," and the weak shall yet rise up to 
 stand in the place of their oppressors. The rich 
 and the great who have hitherto had the manage- 
 ment of the world, having proved faithless to 
 their trust, are to be despoiled, and the inheri- 
 tance given to others. "They have eaten and 
 drunken, " says Christ, " and beaten my servants," 
 the people; and now He proposes to inaugurate 
 a new regime without them. 
 
14 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 The parable of the marriage supper illustrates 
 this; showing how God had called up succes- 
 sively the different classes to conduct the interests 
 of humanity, until, on experiencing the faithless- 
 ness of all the rest, He comes at last to the 
 people. The King, He tells us, made a feast 
 for His Son. He invited the noble guests the 
 rich, the polite, the officials but they, having 
 separate interests of their own, would not come. 
 He then sent for the people to the lanes and 
 highways and hedges. The former, He tells us, 
 who had tried to rule the world, were not worthy; 
 and now He was about to give the government 
 over to the poor. "He hath scattered the 
 proud in the imagination of their hearts; He hath 
 put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted 
 them of low degree; He hath filled the hungry 
 with good things, and the rich He hath turned 
 away empty." "Blessed," says Christ, in view 
 of this democratic consummation, " are the eyes 
 which see the things that ye see, for I tell you 
 that many prophets and kings have desired to 
 see those things which ye see, and have not seen 
 them; and to hear those things which ye hear, 
 and have not heard them." 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 15 
 
 His followers generally expected, as I shall 
 hereafter more fully show, elevation in exchange 
 for their former degradation. Throughout 
 Christ's entire career, during which there was 
 much talk of a "kingdom," the question ever 
 recurred as to who should be greatest in this 
 kingdom, or who should have the chief offices and 
 positions of honor. Everything, in short, indi- 
 cates that it was this prospect of elevation that 
 actuated many in espousing the cause of Christ. 
 A worldly rather than a spiritual kingdom was 
 contemplated by them; and the kingdom of 
 Heaven was expected to be in this world rather 
 than in another, and to be distant in time gather 
 than space. 
 
 This appearing to be the general object and 
 aim of the Christian movement, the agitation was 
 essentially popular a movement of the people 
 in the interest of the people of the poor, the 
 sorrowing and, in short, of les miserable*. "When 
 Jesus saw the multitude' 7 we are told, "He \ 
 was moved with compassion on them, because 
 they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep 
 having no shepherd." He meant, He said, to 
 gather these up and give them a chance. " Come 
 
16 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 unto me, " He accordingly cries, "all ye that 
 labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
 rest. Take my yoke upon you (instead of that 
 of the old society) and learn of me, for I (even 
 the King and Ruler Himself)am meek and lowly 
 in mind, and ye shall find rest for your souls." 
 We have seen that while it was prophesied that 
 He would "scatter the proud in the imagination 
 of their hearts," and "put down the mighty from 
 their seat," it was added that He would "exalt 
 them of low degree," and that, while without sym- 
 pathy, He would "turn the rich away empty," He 
 would "fill the hungry with good things." The 
 angel, or messenger who announced His coming, 
 spoke of Him as one bringing something good 
 for the people. "Behold I bring you good 
 tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.'- 
 " Glory to God in the highest," is the general . 
 ejaculation of ancient Christianity, "peace on \ 
 earth, good will to men ! " Christ is foretold as 
 "a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of 
 the people of Israel." "The spirit of the Lord *, 
 God is upon me," He says, in contemplation of 
 ' His future career, ''because He hath annointed 
 me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 17 
 
 me to heal the broken hearted; to preach 
 deliverance to the captive, and receiving of sight 
 to the blind; to set at liberty them that are 
 bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the 
 Lord." Christ quotes this from Isaiah, and 
 then says: " This day is this scripture fulfilled 
 myour ears." 
 
 The Beatitudes, as reported by Matthew, 
 
 ? 
 
 are nothing but an enunciation of the same 
 idea. Whereas the rich and great have here- 
 tofore monopolized the control and happiness 
 of the world, it is now to be another class that! 
 is to do this. < ' Blessed, " He says, < are the poor 
 in spirit (the intellectually weak), for theirs (and 
 not the able men's) is the kingdom of Heaven, 
 (that is, this new kingdom in contemplation). 
 Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be 
 comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall 
 inherit the earth. Blessed are they which 
 hunger and thirst after righteousness, (and not 
 after wealth and power), for they shall be 
 filled." For there appears to be no reference 
 here to spiritual, but only to temporal advanta- 
 ges: "they shall inherit the earth; " " they shall 
 be comforted-, " "they shall Refilled." Blessed," 
 
 Socialism of Christ 2 
 
i8 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 He continues, "are the merciful," and "the 
 pure in heart, " characters very different from 
 those who, under the old conditions of society, 
 were calculated to gain the mastery of the world 
 bloodthirsty though heroic men who ruled by 
 force. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they 
 (and not the warriors, as hitherto) shall be called 
 the Sons of God, " (the Divi or Deified, as the old 
 heroes and emperors, like Hercules and Augus- 
 tus, used to be). "Blessed are they which are 
 persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is 
 the kingdom of Heaven," (in other words, The 
 persecuted shall become the possessors of power). 
 "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and 
 persecute you, and say all manner of evil against 
 you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceed- 
 ing glad, for great is your reward in Heaven." 
 
 In short, all these Beatitudes were a group of 
 promises to the world, that the weaker, submis- 
 sive, and non-resistant element, should rise to con- 
 v^ quer and rule in society; that moral instead ofi 
 physical and intellectual force should prevail;) 
 that women, children and invalids, instead of 
 strong men, should be the enviable ones; and 
 that martyrdom, tears and sprrpw, instead of 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST xg 
 
 gratification and vitality, should be the future 
 elements of power; a thought which is else- 
 where expressed in the words "God hath 
 chosen the weak things of the earth to confound 
 the strong and the mighty, " and which we have 
 fulfilled in subsequent events when the Cross 
 rose over the Roman eagle and the lion of 
 Carthage; and when the Mater dolor os a and the 
 sorrowing Magdalene became the goddesses of 
 the Roman Empire. 
 
 Everywhere this idea % is set forth that the 
 under and distressed classes are to have the 
 power. "The poor have the gospel preached 
 to them, " or "There is good news for the poor.'* 
 The ministers and agents of this new kingdom 
 were taken from among fishermen, tax gatherers 
 and other laboring and menial classes. Christ 
 appeared Himself as a carpenter, or carpenter's 
 son, and employed nobody of any social preten- 
 tions in His work, nor did He make any such pre- 
 tentions Himself. He called Himself the "Son 
 of Man," and was delighted to be known as the 
 representative of humanity, and the champion 
 of the people, Though others called him the Son 
 of God, He does not appear to have appropriate^ 
 title Himself, 
 
20 , SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 Throughout all the ministry of Jesus, accord- 
 iigly, there was a tenderness for the poor and 
 4 concern for their wants. He defended them 
 Against the creditor, the landlord, the op- 
 pressor of the widow and fatherless, and 
 tried to turn the hearts of such classes to 
 ) a regard for them. "Give to him that ask- 
 eth," He says, "And from him that would 
 borrow turn not away;" "Pure religion," accord- 
 ing to His system, "is to visit the fatherless and 
 widows in their affliction." He encourages the 
 giving of alms, and the relieving of distress 
 wherever found. 
 
 The grand distinction in His mind between those 
 who are fit for His kingdom and those who are 
 not fit, is that the former regard helpfully the 
 sufferers in want, and the latter do not. "I was 
 hungry," He says and by 7 He explains that 
 He means every member of humanity "I was 
 hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and 
 ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye 
 took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, 
 and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came 
 unto me." 'For," He adds, "inasmuch as ye 
 have done it unto one of the least of my 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 21 
 
 brethren, ye have done it unto me." "Whoso- 
 ever," He continues, "shall give to one of my 
 disciples a cup of cold water in my name, he shall 
 have his reward. " 
 
 He came, He says, 'to save the lost;" and is 
 "not willing that one of His little ones shall 
 perish;' 7 meaning thereby the people, whom He 
 took specially under His care. When the hungry 
 and fainting multitude crowded around Him, and 
 "the disciples said, 'Send them away that they 
 may go and buy themselves bread, for they 
 have nothing to eat/ He answered, 'Give ye them 
 to eat/ "for "He was moved with compassion 
 on them. " He shows this human itarian tender- 
 ness especially in His feeling for children, who 
 represented to Him humanity in its helpless and 
 passive state, as against the great overgrown 
 oppressors in wealth and wickedness. "Whoso 
 receiveth a little child," He says, "receiveth 
 me." "Whoso shall receive one of sucBf 
 children in my name receiveth me." 
 
 He carried out this love for the people even 
 to an extent not reciprocated by them ; measur- 
 ing His love not by their return but by their 
 wants. Whether they espoused His cause or 
 
*2 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 not, He never ceased to espouse theirs. When 
 His forerunners went to the villages of the 
 Samaritans to make ready for Him, and the 
 people would not receive Him, and when, in 
 consequence, James and John asked that fire 
 might be brought down from Heaven to destroy 
 them, as in the time of Elias, He rebuked them, 
 giving therein an answer good for all popular and 
 revolutionary persecutors, whether in the name 
 of religion or government : "Ye know not what 
 spirit ye are of \ I came not to destroy men's \ 
 lives but to save them. " And His last cry, when 
 crucified, was that God would forgive the 
 people who did it. The whole idea of Christ's 
 appearance on earth, indeed, is, that He came 
 to do men good because they had done Him 
 wrong a lesson which His persecuting followers 
 have been slow to learn, except as a theory. 
 
 Jesus loved the people with such tenderness 
 that it was said in His time, "Such love hath no 
 man." He delighted, as we have seen, to be 
 called the Son of Man , and to represent men's 
 feelings and wants in His social conduct, "When 
 thou makest a dinner, or a supper," He said, 
 ''call not thy friends, uor thy brethren, 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 23 
 
 thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; * * 
 but when thou makest a feast call the poor, the 
 maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be 
 blessed." In the parable of the great supper, 
 as we have seen, He commanded the calling in 
 of the people, who had hitherto been excluded 
 from such places to make room for the great. 
 In the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin 
 He teaches that there is more care, and should 
 be more, for one that is lost or in want, than 
 for the ninety and nine that are in comfort. 
 The parable of the prodigal son, as well as the 
 treatment of Mary Magdalene, and of the woman 
 taken in adultery, is likewise a lesson of for- 
 giveness and reception into favor of those who 
 have fallen, or been distressed in society. He 
 claims repeatedly that He came to "seek and to 
 save the lost ;" and that His mission was wholly 
 for the elevation "of them that sit in darkness 
 and the shadow of death. " 
 
 His miracles were nearly all done in the in- 
 terest of the poor and unfortunate. He made 
 bread to feed the hungry ; He healed the lame^ 
 the blind, the sick and the distressed, who were 
 mostly beggars and unfortunates in society ; Re 
 
24 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 raised the widow's son and the mendicant 
 Lazarus; He healed the leper; He drove the 
 devils out of a poor beggar, and sent them into 
 a rich man's hogs ; and in relating the parable 
 of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man, He 
 had the beggar borne away to Heaven to rest in 
 Abraham's bosom, and sent the rich man to 
 hell ; the only merit or demerit that we can dis- 
 cover in either being that the one was poor 
 and begged, and the other rich and lived well. 
 When John, in doubt and in prison, sent to 
 Him to know whether He was really the 
 Messiah that should come, or whether they 
 should look for another, He sent back this 
 reply: "Go tell John what things ye see; the 
 blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the 
 dead are rised, and the poor have the Gospel 
 preached to them. " 
 
 And while Jesus had such an affection for the 
 common people, and sympathy for their suffer- 
 ing, it was this class which, in turn, had a 
 fondness for Him, and almost exclusively this 
 class. "The blind, the lame and the halt," we 
 are told, "came to the temple to see Him," and 
 every where trooped around Him for sympathy 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 25 
 
 and aid j while, on the other hand, "the priests 
 were angry, " and the wealthy stood aloof. "The 
 common people," it is said, "heard Him gladly," 
 and stood by Him when the authorities, ecclesi- 
 astical and civil, combined against Him. 
 
 For, it is said, "when the priests and rulers 
 church and state went to the palace of the 
 high priest, and consulted to kill Him, they were 
 afraid to do it on a feast day, lest the people 
 should make an uproar;" and when they finally 
 did get Him in their power it was not by taking 
 Him openly, but by getting Judas to betray Him 
 privately. The people were generally true to 
 Christ, as He had been to them. The ecclesi- 
 astical and state authorities alone were respon- 
 sible for His crucifixion ; notwithstanding the 
 church has generally ascribed that crime to the 
 people. "As He went through the country 
 preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom of 
 God," we are told that "the people gladly 
 received Him. " When the question was asked 
 by Jesus, "Whom say they that I am?" and it 
 was answered : "Some say Elias is risen from 
 the dead, some say a prophet, " and others make 
 various answers, Jesus asked confidently, as 
 
26 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 being of most importance, "Whom say the 
 people that I am?" "And when the chief 
 priests, scribes and elders sought to kill Him, 
 they could not find what they might do because 
 the people were very attentive to hear Him. " 
 Often did the people save His life; but never 
 the ecclesiastics or the rulers. He owed His 
 safety to the mob rather than to the police, the 
 courts, or the clergy. And, be it ever said to 
 the shame of the religious, that when the God 
 whom they worshiped came to the earth to see 
 them, the church itself caught Him and killed 
 Him. 
 
 Such in general was the mutual affection of 
 Jesus and the people, and such the popular 
 character of the early Christian movement. 
 
 Like all popular or socialistic agitations, the 
 Christian movement was, moreover, one in 
 special opposition to riches, money-making, and 
 business generally, these being the interests, as 
 then conducted, that were most antagonistic to 
 the people's welfare. It took grounds against 
 hardship on debtors, against usury, and appar- 
 ently against even the honest paying of debts, 
 as well as against the classes who were wealthy, 
 
 J 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 27 
 
 enterprising, or in any way engaged in trade or 
 commerce. This, more than anything else, 
 characterizes the radicalness of early Christian 
 socialism, or communism. Christ seemed to 
 recognize the whole foundation of business as 
 wrong, and to contemplate an entire reorganiza- 
 tion of society a reorganization resting on 
 something like a community of goods and enter- 
 prises. At least His contemporaries could put 
 no other meaning on His words. Of this, how- 
 ever, I shall speak hereafter. 
 
 I observe now, however, that, in contempla- 
 tion of something better, He shows throughout 
 His whole teachings a strong dissatisfaction 
 with, and studied opposition to, wealth and 
 property as then existing. "Take no thought," 
 He says, "for your life, what ye shall eat or 
 what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, 
 what ye shall put on. Behold the fowls of the 
 air ; for they sow not, neither do they reap ;" 
 or, according to another Gospel, "Consider 
 the ravens, which have neither storehouse nor 
 barns; and yet your Heavenly Father feedeth 
 them." "Consider the lilies of the field, how 
 they grow , they toil not, neither do they spin ; 
 
28 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in 
 all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 
 Wherefore if God so clothed the grass of the 
 field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast 
 into the oven, shall He not much more clothe 
 you, O ye of little faith?" 
 
 He sought even to turn the people away from 
 concern about the necessaries of life, saying, 
 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His 
 righteousness, and all these things shall be 
 added unto you. Take, therefore, no thought 
 for the morrow, for the morrow shall take 
 thought for the things of itself ;" and then, as 
 if to enforce the idea that they should concern 
 themselves only for the present, and to get 
 through the passing day, He adds, ''Suffi- 
 cient for the day is the evil thereof" Carpe 
 diem, and leave the rest in unconcern. "What," 
 He asks, "will it profit a man if he gain the whole 
 world and lose his own soul?" "Take heed 
 and beware of covetousness, " He further says, 
 "for a man's life consisteth not in the abund- 
 ance of the things which he possesseth. " He 
 then relates the parable of the foolish rich 
 man, who had been industrious, and built 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 29 
 
 barns, and filled them well, and then proposed 
 to retire and enjoy himself, or as he expressed it, 
 to "eat, drink and be merry;" in which parable 
 Jesus portrays the most honest and faultless 
 conditions of wealth, and yet disapproves of it. 
 'Thou fool, " He says, "this night thy soul shall 
 be required of thee. " "So,"' He continues, "is 
 he that layeth up treasure, and is not rich toward 
 God. " "Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon 
 earth," is His further advice, "for where your 
 treasure is there will your heart be also. " 
 And He observes in commenting on the para- 
 ble of the rich man and Lazarus, that the rich 
 man had his good things in this life, and Laza- 
 rus will have his in the next ; as if the same 
 person could not have both. He commends 
 those who have left "houses and lands for the 
 kingdom of God's sake," and promises that 
 : they shall receive manifold more in this present 
 time, and in the world to come, life everlasting. " 
 The incompatibility of holding this world's 
 goods and at the same time espousing His cause 
 He often asserts. ''Ye cannot serve God and 
 mammon." "Go sell that thou hast, and dis- v 
 tribute to the poor, and thou shalt have 
 
30 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 treasure in Heaven." To the ruler wno nad 
 kept all His commandments from his youth 
 up, but who was rich, He said, "Yet lackest 
 thou one thing," which was to get rid of his 
 riches. In explaining the parable of the sower, 
 which was directed in part against wealth and the 
 wealthy, He says, "The cares of the world, the 
 deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other 
 things choke the seed." "How hardly," He 
 says at another time, "shall they which have 
 riches enter the kingdom of Heaven. It is 
 easier for a camel to go through the eye of a 
 needle than for a rich man to enter the king- 
 dom of Heaven." And in confining the king- 
 dom and cause of Christ to the poor He says, 
 "Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom 
 of God. * * But woe unto you that are 
 rich, for ye have received your consolation." 
 "He hath filled the people with good things, 
 and the rich He hath turned away empty." 
 
 St. James, an associate of Jesus, who en- 
 forced His teachings, wrote soon after this as 
 follows : "Go to now, ye rich men ; weep and 
 howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 
 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 31 
 
 are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cank- 
 ered, and the rust of them shall be a witness 
 against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were 
 fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for 
 the last days. Behold the hire of the laborers 
 who have reaped down your fields, which is of 
 you kept back by fraud, crieth ; and the cries 
 of them which have reaped are entered into 
 the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived 
 in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton ; ye 
 have nourished your hearts as in a day of 
 slaughter, ye have condemned and killed the 
 just, and he doth not resist you. " 
 
 The practical measures which Christ proposed 
 touching wealth were in the same spirit as 
 these general views. To the ruler who came 
 to Him desiring to enter His kingdom, He said, 
 "Go sell all thou hast, and distribute to the 
 poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven. " 
 "Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon 
 earth, '' He said elsewhere, "where moth and rust 
 doth corrupt, and where thieves break through 
 and steal. " He also counseled those who would 
 lend money, to "lend expecting to receive noth- 
 ing. If ye lend to them of whom ye hope to re- 
 
32 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 ceive, what thank have ye ? for sinners also lend 
 to sinners, to receive as such again. " He was 
 opposed to usury, by which term He meant sim- 
 ply "interest," and condemned the receiving of 
 money for the use of money in any shape, if 
 not the receiving back of the principal itself. 
 "There was a certain creditor," He relates with 
 approval, "which had two debtors : the one 
 owed him five hundred pence, and the other 
 fifty, and when they had nothing to pay,, he 
 frankly forgave them both." "Take heed," is 
 His perpetual caution, "and beware of covet- 
 ousness;' r as if this was the leading sin of His 
 time. 
 
 So radical was His position understood to be 
 in this matter, that it is related that "the 
 Pharisees, who were covetous, derided Him." 
 His views on money and money-making, on 
 brokerage, and on business enterprises gener- 
 ally, were understood to be as decided and un- 
 compromising as on any other subject, and such 
 as called forth the condemnation and ridicule 
 of moneyed and business men. On going into 
 the temple, where brokers and sellers were at 
 their work, He upset the tables of the money 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 33 
 
 changers, and drove out them that were trading 
 and selling doves, and, like the socialist, 
 Proud'hon, styled their business theft. "My 
 house ye have made a den of thieves." La 
 propriete c'est le vol. He commended the widow, 
 however, who gave her mite ; because in giving 
 it "she gave of her substance," and gave all 
 "she possessed. " The apostles understood this 
 feature of His movement to be socialistic, and 
 availed themselves of their property sacrifices to 
 challenge His admiration, and gain His favor, 
 "Lord, we have forsaken all, " they said, "What 
 shall then be our reward?" 
 
 Christ exhibited also like the socialist of mod- 
 ern times, a decided hostility toward priests and 
 their clerical supporters, who have ever been the 
 foremost enemies of the social and liberal move- 
 ments, and the conservative upholders of wealth 
 and society in its existing forms. It was against 
 these the ecclesiastical authorities that He 
 had specially to contend. He hated the Pharisees 
 in particular, who were the Jesuits of His time, 
 and spoke of them much as the French socialists 
 speak of these worthies now. The liberal men 
 
 of no age have had confidence in priests, 
 socialism of Christ 3 
 
34 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 Christ calls them "whited sepulchres full of 
 dead men's bones;" "hypocrites, making for a 
 pretence long prayers," and schemers choosing 
 public places where they can make capital out of 
 their devotions. "They bind, " He says, "heavy 
 burdens, grievous to be borne, and lay them on 
 men's shoulders, but they themselves will not 
 move them with one of their fingers. But 
 they love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and 
 chief places and greetings in public, and to be 
 called Rabbi, "a description which still applies to 
 priests in the countries where the socialistic move- 
 ments are mostly in progress ; and where they are 
 believed to give good advice, but not to follow 
 it, "Now do ye, Pharisees," He continues, 
 "make clean the outside of the cup and the 
 platter, but your inward part is full of ravening 
 and wickedness. Ye tithe mint and rue and all 
 manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and 
 the love of God. " "Woe unto you, Pharisees. 
 * * Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, 
 hypocrites, for ye are as graves which appear 
 not, and the men that walk over them are not 
 aware of them." And again, "Beware of the 
 leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocricy. 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 35 
 
 He tells the people to do as they say, but not 
 to do as they do. They suggested to Him, as 
 He saw them going about like our fat priests, 
 with their big bow-windowed fronts, that they 
 had been devouring widows' houses. 
 
 Thus the movement of Christ was, in general, 
 one against both the civil and the ecclesiastical 
 institutions ; and the theories, passions, and im- 
 pulses in it were those which generally accom- 
 pany revolutions in the interest of the people. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 CONTEMPLATED REVOLUTION 
 
 I observe next that there was, by reason of 
 this movement, and from the first was expected 
 to be, a great conflict, or clash of authori- 
 ties; that Christ's kingdom was not deemed 
 reconcilable with the existing temporal king- 
 doms, but was expected to usurp their author- 
 ity, and supplant them ; in other words, that 
 the Christian movement was revolutionary in 
 a political sense. 
 
 "Ye cannot," says ^Christ, "serve God and 
 mammon," the Heavenly and the earthly king- 
 dom. "No man can serve two masters; for 
 either will he love the one and hate the other, 
 or cling to one and despise the other." Ye 
 
 cannot serve Christ and Caesar. The disciples 
 36 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 37 
 
 were repeatedly instructed not to be conformed 
 to the world, or existing state of things, 
 (aioni touto). 
 
 Throwing off allegiance to Caesar, they were 
 opposed to paying taxes or showing any marks 
 of submission. When the tax collector came, 
 on one occasion, Peter bluntly refused to pay 
 him, and Christ defiantly asked : "Do the kings 
 of the earth take tribute from strangers, or from 
 their children?" as much as to say: Let Caesar 
 get tribute from those who acknowledge Caesar. 
 Christians owe allegiance only to Christ. And 
 once, to avoid difficulty, and yet not compromise 
 principle, Peter took the tax money from a 
 fish's mouth and passively allowed it to go to 
 pay his and Christ's dues; much as the non- 
 resistant Quakers and Menonites do who will not 
 pay war or civil taxes, but peaceably allow the 
 collector to "take" them. 
 
 The question was frequently asked by those 
 who wished to embarrass Jesus or make Him 
 commit Himself, "Is it lawful to give tribute 
 to Caesar?" a question which He always evaded 
 by some such answer as, "Render to Caesar 
 what belongs to Caesar; and to God what be- 
 
38 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 longs to God," without making any concession 
 to Caesar. When He was accused before Pilate, 
 one of the charges was, "We found this fellow 
 perverting the nation, and forbidding to give 
 tribute to Caesar." In various ways was Christ's 
 disloyalty and that of His followers toward the 
 existing government believed at the time to 
 be manifested. An argument made before 
 Pilate by the Jews was: "If thou let this man 
 go, thou art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever 
 maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. " 
 When some of His followers were arrested, and 
 brought before the rulers, it was said of them : 
 "These all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar ; 
 saying that there is another King, one Jesus; 
 and they troubled the people and the rulers of 
 the city, when they heard these things. " Others 
 testified against Stephen in a speech of certain 
 foreigners, "Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians 
 and others of Asia, " that "they heard him say that 
 this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, 
 and change the customs which Moses delivered 
 to us." It was popularly reported of Christ 
 that He intended to" restore all things ;" meaning 
 to some the old Jewish monarchy, to others thg 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 39 
 
 ancient Roman Republic and to others an 
 entirely new form of society in any event 
 disloyalty to Caesar. 
 
 Jesus seems to have excited the people against 
 the laws generally, as well as against the mon- 
 archy and dynasty. He advised them not to go 
 to court, but to compromise, or, if need be, to 
 give up all their rights rather. "Agree with 
 thine adversary," and keep out of the hands of 
 the officer or judge, was His advice. "If any 
 man take thy coat, give him thy cloak also." 
 He had an unfavorable opinion of the law, as 
 socialists now have, many of whom regard it as 
 superfluous or oppressive, whence they are called 
 "Anarchists." The lawyers are a class whom 
 the socialists propose to abolish in their new 
 system. 
 
 Christ would dispense with even the Jewish 
 law, which He thought had been fulfilled in 
 Him, and, having served its purpose, was now 
 worthless. He would make it, therefore, give 
 way, with all other civil authority, to His reor- 
 ganization of society. "The Law and the Pro- 
 phets, " He said, "were until John ; since that 
 time the kingdom of God is preached, and every 
 
40 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 man passeth into it. H And so, throughout all 
 His teachings, He is ostensibly in open opposition 
 to the existing governments and order of society. 
 
 It appears also that force was contemplated 
 in this opposition, at least at first; so that a 
 conflict of arms and blood were in prospect. An 
 old kingdom and civilization cannot go down, 
 and a new one arise, without war, war being the 
 invariable condition of a change of dynasty, of 
 form of government, or of basis of society. "I 
 came," says Christ, "not to bring peace, but a 
 sword." "The kingdom of Heaven suffereth 
 violence; and the violent take it by force. 1 
 "Suppose ye that I came to give peace on 
 earth? Nay, but rather division. For from 
 henceforth there shall be five in one house, 
 divided, three against two, and two against 
 three; father against son, and son against 
 father ; mother against daughter, and daughter- 
 in-law against mother-in-law." 
 
 The disciples at one time secretly armed 
 themselves, as if for a trial of their strength, 
 or for making a nucleus of an army for their 
 future operations. The impetuous Peter 
 actually commenced to fight, and among other 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 41 
 
 exploits, cut off the ear of the high priest's 
 servant. There was also at one time an open 
 fight between the followers of Christ and 
 others; for it is said of Barabbas, who was 
 released, instead of Christ, at the crucifixion, 
 that he was one "who had made insurrection 
 with Jesus, and in the riot killed a person." 
 
 That Christ, or at least His followers, contem- 
 plated force in their proposed revolution, 
 appears also from many other circumstances 
 mentioned in the Gospels. At one time Jesus, 
 in considering the difficulty and hopelessness of 
 His task, arising from the apparent security of 
 the then existing powers, said, in view of match- 
 ing them with an equal force on His side, 
 "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, 
 his goods are safe. But when a stronger than 
 he shall come upon him, and overcome him, 
 he taketh from him all his armor wherein he 
 trusted, and divideth the spoils." And then, 
 as if contemplating the universality of the 
 conflict on both sides, He adds, "He that is not 
 with me is against me; and he that gathereth 
 not with me scattereth. " He appeared to think 
 that the whole world was to be involved in a con- 
 
42 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 flict, as the Parisian socialists think with regard 
 to their city issues, and that none were to be 
 excluded from one side, except to be on the 
 other. 
 
 The preparations for this war seem to have 
 been carried on in the dark, and the signals 
 and countersigns of the conspiracy to have 
 been made "in an unknown tongue." They 
 were to keep counsel, and watch for an oppor- 
 tunity. The kingdom of Heaven was to come 
 "like a thief in the night." Speaking to His 
 followers, Jesus said, "Blessed are those servants 
 whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find 
 watching ; and if He shall come in the second 
 watch, or come in the third watch, and find them 
 so, blessed are those servants; for know this, 
 that if the good man of the house had known what 
 hour the thief would come, he would have 
 watched, and not have suffered, his house to be 
 broken through. Be ye, therefore, ready also, for 
 the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye 
 think not." 
 
 He also advises prudent calculation, and a 
 considerate weighing of their means, lest the 
 project fail in a foolhardy enterprise. "For 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 43 
 
 which of you," He asked, "intending to build a 
 tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the 
 cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? or 
 what king going to make war against another 
 king sitteth not down and consulteth whether 
 he be able with ten thousand to meet him that 
 cometh against him with twenty thousand; or 
 else sends an embassador for peace?" 
 
 He further encouraged them to patience and 
 the preservation of discipline. "Who, then," 
 He asked, "is that faithful and wise steward, 
 whom his lord shall make ruler over his 
 household, to give them their portion of meat 
 in due season? Blessed is that servant whom 
 his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. 
 Of a truth I say unto you he will make him 
 ruler over all that he hath. But if that servant 
 say in his heart, 'My lord delayeth his com- 
 ing/ and shall begin to beat the men servants 
 and maidens, and to eat, and drink, and to be 
 drunken, the lord of that servant will come in 
 a day when he looketh not for him, and at an 
 hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in 
 sunder, and will appoint him his portion with 
 the unbelievers. And that servant which knew 
 
44 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 his lord's will and prepared not himself, neither 
 did according to his will, shall be beaten with 
 many stripes, (military discipline) ; but he that 
 knew not, and did commit things worthy of 
 stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For 
 unto whomsoever much is given, much shall be 
 required ; and to whom men have committed 
 much, of him they will ask the more. I am 
 come to send fire upon the earth, and what 
 will I if it be already kindled? But I have a 
 baptism to be baptized with, and how am I 
 straightened till it be accomplished." 
 
 All this was said by Jesus to His disciples, and 
 said in private. Then going to the people He 
 addressed them on the same subject, but with 
 more caution, and in enigmas. "When ye see 
 a cloud rise up out of the west, straightway ye 
 say there cometh a shower; and so it is. 
 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, 
 there will be heat; and it cometh to pass. Ye 
 hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, 
 and of the earth, but how is it that ye do not 
 discern the signs of the times?" 
 
 In short, He let it be understood that there 
 was to be a bloody conflict, which should go to 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 45 
 
 the heart of society, tearing asunder the 
 family ties, and in which the closest alliances, 
 whether of love or interest, should be disrupted. 
 We have seen that father and son, and mother- 
 in-law and daughter-in-law, were to be set at 
 variance, as is always the case in civil war. 
 "But it needs must be, " He said ; and the better 
 to prepare the people for this unnatural warfare, 
 He taught them to lift His cause above all other 
 interests, and not to be diverted by any ex- 
 tremes of personal sacrifice to which it might 
 lead. "If any man come to me, and hate not 
 his father, mother, wife, and children, and 
 brothers and sisters, he cannot be my disciple. " 
 He even required them to set it above life 
 itself. "Whosoever shall save his life (in this 
 cause) shall lose it ; and whosoever shall lose 
 his life for my sake shall save it." 
 
 In view of this red revolution, violence was, 
 
 ~> 
 
 therefore, evidently anticipated, and such ex- 
 tremes of violence as characterized the French 
 Revolution and the late Commune of Paris. 
 Socialists have always resorted to extremes in 
 measures, just as they have to extremes in 
 theories and general aims. Their unbridled 
 
4 e SOCIALISM o CHRIST 
 
 thought and passion, their consciousness of 
 wrongs suffered, and their inexperience in 
 government and practical management, naturally 
 lead them to this. 
 
 We accordingly find the early Christians pre- 
 paring for a reign of terror; one which was 
 subsequently realized in the triumph of Christi- 
 anity, and the consequent wars of the Roman 
 Empire, as well as in the dark ages which 
 followed. Bloodshed, demolition of property, 
 iconoclasm, and an unsparing overthrow of 
 institutions was general in their program. The 
 utterance of Christ, "the kingdom of Heaven 
 suffereth violence," was enough to authorize 
 such excesses in the public mind. War on 
 synagogues, temples, statues and palaces was 
 declared, like that of the Paris Commune 
 against churches and royal residences. "Destroy 
 this temple," says Christ, "and in three days I 
 will build it ;" conveying a threat which was 
 understood literally, and was alleged against Him 
 at His trial ; though His followers tried in vain 
 to explain it as symbolical, and as referring to 
 the destruction and resurrection of His body ; in 
 vain, I say, for on another occasion, when 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 47 
 
 taken specially to see the temple, He said, 
 "Verily I say unto you there shall not be left 
 here one stone upon another that shall not be 
 thrown down." Regicides and pontificides, in 
 their warfare against the nobility and priests, 
 have usually insisted that you must destroy the 
 nests or the birds will come back again. Nero 
 perhaps had some reason to charge the early 
 Christians with the burning of Rome, although 
 they have denied it, just as the Commune have 
 denied the burning of Paris; for the latter say 
 that the government did it, and charged it to the 
 Commune to make the latter odious, and to 
 give the authorities a pretext to punish them. 
 The witnesses against one of Christ's disciples 
 who was arrested, said, "We have heard him 
 say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy 
 this place." Christ's own words, too, gave 
 color to such charges. "With what measure 
 ye mete, " He said, in sending out His disciples 
 on what promised to be an errand of destruc- 
 tion, "it shall be measured to you again." 
 
 The work was decreed to be radical, and they 
 were to spare nothing. "Do men, " asks Christ, 
 "put new wine into old bottles, or sew new 
 
48 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 cloth on an old garment?" Instead of this, He 
 says, "The axe is laid at the root of the tree;" 
 and nothing of the old regime is to be left 
 standing. In sending out His adherents, He 
 further said that to those who should not receive 
 them they should shake off the dust from their 
 feet, and threaten that it shall be more tolerable 
 in the day of judgment a future reckoning day 
 on earth, as they then understood for Sodom 
 and Gomorrah than for them. "Woe unto thee, 
 Chorazin ! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! " He 
 saTd, "And thou Capernaum, which art exalted 
 to Heaven, shalt be cast down to hell; for if 
 the mighty works which have been done in 
 thee had been done in Sodom, it would have 
 remained until this day!" 
 
 We have seen that Christ threatened to send 
 fire upon the earth, and that after all these 
 violent threats, which were generally made to 
 the disciples only or else in parables to the 
 public, "to whom it was not given to know the 
 things of the kingdom of God, " He found it 
 necessary to tell them not to tell the people. 
 On one occasion, when He had neglected this 
 precaution, Peter expressly asked Him, "Lord, 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 49 
 
 speakest thou these things to us, or even to 
 all?" in other words: Can we repeat these 
 things ; or are they among the secret or hidden 
 things of the kingdom of God, which policy 
 requires us to keep to ourselves? 
 
 The general destruction of life and property 
 contemplated in the prosecution of their designs 
 seemed to be ever present to the mind of Christ, 
 and to trouble Him. When told of some Gali- 
 leans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the 
 sacrifices, and of the eighteen on whom the 
 tower of Siloam fell, He said, "Unless ye repent, 
 ye shall all likewise perish." The sufferings of 
 the people under the old regime, and the turn- 
 ing of the scales and consequent suffering of 
 their oppressors, is further set forth in the 
 parable of the unjust judge and the widow. 
 "And shall not God avenge His own elect, who 
 cry day and night unto Him? Verily I say unto 
 you, He will avenge them speedily." Destruc- 
 tion was certain, terrible and immediately 
 before His eyes. 
 
 On approaching Jerusalem He wept in view 
 of its coming desolation, and said, "O Jerusa- 
 em ! Jerusalem ! thou that killest the prophets, 
 
 Socialism of Christ 4 
 
50 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 and stonest them that are sent unto theel how 
 often would I have gathered thy children 
 together as a hen gathereth her chickens under 
 her wings, and ye would not ! Behold your 
 house is left unto you desolate." Referring to 
 the same calamity, He says : "As for these things 
 which ye behold, the days will come in which 
 there shall not be left one stone upon another that 
 shall not be thrown down;" or, according to 
 another gospel, "If thou hadst known, even 
 thou, in this thy day, the things which belong 
 to thy peace, but now they are hid from thine 
 eyes. For the days shall come upon thee that 
 thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, 
 and compass thee around, and keep thee in on 
 every side, and shall lay thee even with the 
 ground, and thy children within thee ; and they 
 shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, 
 because thou knowest not the day of thy 
 visitation. " 
 
 And when they asked Him saying, "Master, 
 when shall these things be?" He answered, "Be 
 not deceived * * The time draweth near. 
 But when ye shall "hear of wars and enmities, 
 be not deceived, for these things must first 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 51 
 
 come to pass, but the end is not by and by. 
 
 * * Nation shall rise against nation, and 
 kingdom against kingdom. And great earth- 
 quakes shall be in divers places, and famines, 
 and pestilences, and fearful sights and great 
 signs shall there be from Heaven. * * In 
 patience possess ye your souls. And when ye 
 shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then 
 know that the desolation thereof is nigh." 
 
 And then follows a scene which would ade- 
 quately describe the reign of the Paris Com- 
 mune : "Then let those which are in Judea 
 flee to the mountains, and let them which are 
 in the midst of it depart out, and let not them 
 which are in the countries enter thereunto. 
 For these be the days of vengeance, that all 
 things which are written may be fulfilled. " "But 
 woe unto those that are with child, and to them 
 that give suck in those days, for there shall be 
 great distress in the land and wrath upon the 
 people. And they shall fall by the edge of the 
 sword, and shall be led away captive into all 
 nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down 
 of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles 
 be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the 
 
52 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and 
 upon the earth distress of nations with perplex- 
 ity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts 
 failing them for fear, and for looking after the 
 things which are coming upon the earth ; for 
 the powers of Heaven shall be shaken, and then 
 shall they see the Son of Man coming in a 
 p*oud (or army), with power and great glory. 
 A id when these things begin to come to pass, 
 then look up, for your redemption draweth 
 nigh. " 
 
 And when the women who followed Him up 
 Calvaiy to the crucifixion bewailed Him, He said, 
 "Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me, but 
 weep for yourselves and for your children. 
 For behold the days are coming in the which 
 they shall cry, 'Blessed are the barren and the 
 wombs that never bare, and the paps which 
 never gave suck.' Then shall they begin to say 
 to the mountains, Fall on us !' and to the hills, 
 'Cover us !"' 
 
 Such was the reign of terror which the early 
 Christian movement threatened as the probable 
 result of the struggle between the antagonistic 
 powers for the supremacy. 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 53 
 
 This anticipated violence and lawlessness on 
 the part of the new sect or party naturally 
 attracted the attention of the rulers, and called 
 out their interposition; which fact itself the 
 interposition of the state against the early 
 Christians is further evidence that the conduct 
 and schemes of the latter were regarded as 
 insurrectionary and as civil offences. 
 
 Christ Himself expected this interposition, and 
 prophesied to His followers, "Ye shall be 
 brought before governors and kings," and "Ye 
 shall all be hated for my name's sake. " And 
 He advised them, under such circumstances, 
 ''When persecuted in one city to flee to another," 
 and M when brought unto the synagogues and 
 unto magistrates and powers to take no thought 
 what to say," knowing that socialists and 
 reformers never lack for words in defence of 
 their course- 
 
 It is recorded of Christ, that "He was num- 
 bered among the transgressors," He was par- 
 ticularly charged as being an insurrectionist. 
 "He stirreth up the people." Pilate says of Him 
 at His trial, "Ye have brought this man unto 
 me as one that perverteth the people/' or, as 
 
54 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 elsewhere related, His accusers say : "We have 
 found this man perverting the nation, and for- 
 bidding to give tribute to Caesar" a charge not 
 unlike that preferred against Socrates, that "he 
 corrupted the youth and made the worse appear 
 the better reason." And when one Jason was 
 arraigned for having entertained the apostles, and 
 was brought with them before the rulers, it 
 was said : "Those that have turned the world 
 upside down have come hither also, whom Jason 
 hath received ; and these all do contrary to the 
 decrees of Caesar, (the emperor himself it seems 
 had taken alarm and interdicted the movement 
 by decree) saying that there is another King, 
 one Jesus. And they troubled the people and 
 rulers of the city when they heard these 
 things. " 
 
 The Jews recognizing the insurrectionary char- 
 acter of the Christian movement, urged before 
 Pilate, "If thou let this man go, thou art not 
 Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself a 
 king speaketh against Caesar." And more than 
 once Christ Himself was asked, "By what author- 
 ity doest thou these things." The Romans 
 arrested His disciples for teaching, as they 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 55 
 
 expressed it, what is "not lawful for us to 
 receive, neither to observe, " and gave it as their 
 experience of them that "These men do exceed- 
 ingly trouble our city. " In fact everything tends 
 to show that Christ was understood at the time 
 as instigating a lawless movement, having for 
 its object a civil revolution. 
 
 As might be expected in view of such contem- 
 plated violence and general clash of author- 
 ities, the rulers were strongly arrayed against 
 the early Christians. Officials interested in 
 preserving the peace and stability of society, 
 have always been the opponents and persecu- 
 tors of socialism and socialists. Kings and 
 aristocrats, especially, knowing that if the 
 socialists should gain their ends they would be 
 the first to fall, have always been intolerant of 
 their radicalism. The recent legislation in 
 France, Germany, Russia and other countries 
 against the internationalists, socialists, nihilists 
 and similar classes is an illustration of this. So 
 Christ and the apostles were resisted by the 
 united authorities of their time. "The kings of 
 the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered 
 together against the Lord and against His 
 
56 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 Christ. For of a truth, against the holy child 
 Jesus whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and 
 Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people 
 of Israel were gathered together; and now, 
 Lord, behold their threatenings. " "The chief 
 priests, scribes, and chiefs of the people," it is 
 elsewhere related, "sought to kill Him;" and 
 the arrests both of Himself, and of His followers, 
 and the prohibition of their preaching are among 
 the most common narrations of the Gospels 
 and Acts of the Apostles. 
 
 Jesus had all this in contemplation, and taught 
 His followers to expect it as they propagated 
 His cause. "I send you," He said, "as lambs 
 among wolves/' "Ye shall be brought before 
 rulers and kings for my sake. " Like Rochefort, 
 Louis Blanc, Raspail, Most, and every other 
 socialistic leader, "He was numbered among 
 the transgressors." When certain of the com- 
 mon people, supposed to have good sense, and 
 to be of a law-abiding disposition, espoused 
 His cause, the Pharisees, in trying to dissuade 
 them, said: "Are ye also deceived? Have 
 any of the rulers believed on Him?" showing 
 that it was a popular but not a loyal movement. 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 57 
 
 As indicating how they stood at the court, 
 Herod's step-daughter, instructed by her mother, 
 asked for the head of John the Baptist in a 
 charger, a request not unlike some made by 
 Eugenie and other favorites at the French court 
 under the late empire requests, for example, 
 that some friend should challenge and kill in 
 duel the most dangerous of the opposition. 
 The example of Herodias will ever remain as 
 an illustration of court refinement, which in 
 several other respects has its counterpart in 
 the modern persecutions of radicals. While 
 the job was put up in Herod's own house, he pro- 
 cured it to be published abroad that he was 
 sorry, and that he had been personally opposed 
 to it, but reluctantly yielded because he had made 
 a promise, or was caught by a sort of "phila- 
 poena" or pledge. And here we may observe, 
 too, that it incidentally leaks out that John 
 the Baptist had taken up the popular scandal 
 against royalty, and was making capital out of 
 it for his cause, just as the communists and 
 opposition in all royal countries do to-day; 
 for they hold up ad nauseam the corruption and 
 illicit amours of men and women at court in 
 
s& SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 order to create popular indignation against 
 them. La vertu c'est plutot dans la chaumierre 
 que dans le palais. If, therefore, Herodias adop- 
 ted the measures of Eugenie, Isabella, or the 
 Prince of Wales, she had the same provocation 
 as these, namely, the exposing of her 
 unchastity by a political opponent. 
 
 The opposition of the rulers, however, went 
 farther than this indirect opposition. They 
 crucified Christ Himself, as they subsequently 
 did many of His followers. And, not satisfied 
 with killing Him, they added indignity to death, 
 as in the case of Cromwell and Robespierre, in 
 order to destroy the effect of His example. A 
 crown of thorns was put upon His head, in 
 satiric recognition of His royalty, and over Him 
 was written in all the languages that His follow- 
 ers could read, "This is the King of the Jews." 
 And, hooting Him to His death in the same 
 vein of mock allegiance, they cried, "Hail King 
 of the Jews!" Vive le roi\ the undercurrent of 
 all which was Sic semper aemulis. 
 
 There was a similar opposition on the part 
 of the priests to the Christian movement, just 
 as there was on the part of the Christians to 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST J$ 
 
 the priests. The clergy and the church have 
 always opposed socialistic movements, being 
 even to-day the most violent and bitter antag- 
 onists of the communists of France, Russia and 
 other countries. 
 
 For, next to the governmental officials, the 
 clergy would lose most by the realization of 
 the commune, being destined in such event to 
 be swept away, like the nobility, supported as 
 they are by the government, and living, like 
 parasites, off the people. Feeling, furthermore, 
 that to them are committed the interests of the 
 existing society, they recognize all such agita- 
 tors as their especial enemies. If Christ should 
 come to the earth to-day in the same capacity 
 as before, He would in all probability be taken 
 by the priests and treated as He was then, so 
 far have His "representatives" drifted away from 
 their master. 
 
 At all events we are told that while the people 
 generally accepted Christ, "the Pharisees and 
 lawyers rejected His views." In prophesying 
 concerning His future, Jesus said that He "must 
 be rejected of elders and chief priests and 
 scribes ;" and, as we have already seen, the 
 
60 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 priests in dissuading the people against Him, 
 asked, "Are ye also deceived? Have any of 
 the rulers or Pharisees believed on Him?" It 
 is elsewhere related that "the high priests laid 
 hold on the apostles, and put them in the com- 
 mon prison." And as Jesus went about doing 
 good, and was favorably received by the people, 
 it is said "that the priests were angry" at His 
 success. When a conspiracy was raised against 
 Him, it was not only participated in by the 
 priests, but instigated in the metropolitan 
 residence : "They went to the palace of the 
 high priest and consulted to kill Him." They 
 would have killed Him earlier than they did 
 were it not for the people who threatened resist- 
 ance. "They were afraid to kill Him on the 
 feast day, lest the people should make an uproar. " 
 Instead, therefore, of choosing a public holiday, 
 when the people, being at leisure and crowding 
 the streets, would have defeated their purpose, 
 they got Judas to betray Him privately, that, like 
 the Prince of Orange, He might be despatched 
 with certainty and yet with safety to them- 
 selves. It was the priests who accused Him, and 
 insisted on His death; for the reproach can 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 61 
 
 never be laid to the charge of the people that 
 they killed their God of their own accord ; but 
 they were led on by the priests, as when they 
 recently killed a missionary in Mexico, and as 
 has always been done when the mob has hunted 
 down heretics. 
 
 There was a like opposition to the Christian 
 movement on the part of the lawyers, who are 
 generally conservative, non-progressive, and 
 opposed to innovations and agitations. They 
 opposed Christ not so much from hostility to His 
 religion, as from lack of sympathy with it, and 
 from fear of the probable unsettling of property 
 titles and money interests, which His cause 
 threatened. For, just as the priests have always 
 thought that to them is committed the security 
 of religion, the lawyers have thought that in 
 their hands is placed the security of property. 
 Among the reforms proposed by the modern 
 socialists, and in particular by the communists, 
 is, as we have seen, one to do away with law- 
 yers as the next worst class after the nobility 
 and the priests. 
 
 Christ was, accordingly, severe on the lawyers, 
 and the lawyers on him. When He was once 
 
62 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 denouncing in general terms all classes of His 
 opponents, the evangelist relates, "Then said 
 one of the lawyers to Him, 'Master, thus speak- 
 ing, thou reproachest us also.' And He said, 
 'Woe unto you also, ye lawyers, for ye laden 
 men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye 
 yourselves touch not the burden with one of 
 your fingers/" And, again, He said, "Woe unto 
 you lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of 
 knowledge; ye entered not in yourselves, and 
 them that were entering in ye hindered;" 
 referring evidently to the common recognition 
 by the lawyers of the falsity and rottenness of 
 the existing religion and society, and their 
 unwillingness nevertheless to do or favor any- 
 thing looking toward the needed social revolu- 
 tion. It is elsewhere said that "the Pharisees 
 and lawyers rejected His views." 
 
 In the characteristic speech of Gamaliel, we 
 have the representative lawyer, sitting on the 
 fence, trying to be non-committal, and giving 
 conservative advice to both sides. It was when 
 the apostles, who had just escaped from prison, 
 were arrested again, and the priests were coun- 
 selling what to do with them. "Ye men oi 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 63 
 
 Israel," said Gamaliel, "take heed to yourselves 
 what ye intend to do touching the.se men;" 
 and then, bringing up his precedents, he con- 
 tinues, citing first the case of one "Theudas, 
 boasting himself to be somebody, to whom a 
 number of men, about four hundred, joined 
 themselves ; who was slain, and all, as many as 
 obeyed him, were scattered and brought to 
 nought. And after this rose up Judas of 
 Galilee, in the days of the taxing, and drew 
 away much people after him ; he also perished, 
 and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dis- 
 persed. And now I say unto you, refrain from 
 these men, and let them alone : for if this 
 counsel, or this work, be of men, it will come 
 to nought, but if it be of God, ye cannot 
 overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to 
 fight against God." 
 
 Paul, too, though converted to Christianity, 
 still retained the conservatism which character- 
 ized him as a lawyer (and disciple of Gamaliel) j 
 and to him, as we shall presently show, is due 
 a great change in the political character of 
 Christianity ; counselling, as he did, submission 
 to the powers that be, and a recognition of the 
 
64 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 existing state of society, even to its aristocracy 
 and slavery. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 POLITICAL PROPAGATION 
 
 I have thus far shown that early Christianity 
 was a revolutionary movement, undertaken in 
 the interest of the people, and have indicated 
 how it was received by the different classes of 
 society. I shall speak next of the propagation 
 for this revolution, and for the new kingdom 
 which was to follow. 
 
 It was along dreary outlook to the disciples, 
 to expect with a handful of forces, to subject 
 the world to their idea and their practical system. 
 Yet nothing less than this was their aim. We 
 accordingly find Christ repeatedly encouraging 
 them with assurances that the kingdom will 
 ultimately come. Though its beginning is 
 small, He tells them that it will increase. He 
 
 Socialism ot Christ 5 65 
 
66 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 compares it to a grain of a mustard seed, which 
 will grow to great proportions in time, and to 
 leaven hid in meal, which however insigni- 
 ficant, will yet leaven the whole lump of 
 society. It may not be this month, or this 
 year, or this generation, but it will be. "One 
 soweth and another reapeth, " He says ; and He 
 promises that there shall be a harvest, and a 
 harvest home. 
 
 He asks them, accordingly, like all idealists, 
 to look to the future for its realization, and in the 
 mean time to labor and wait for it. Like the 
 communists of to-day, few and persecuted, poor 
 and powerless, who to a man believe that in 
 time their system will prevail in all the world, 
 this hope sustained the early Christians. For 
 it is not, in either case, the existing state of the 
 cause that retains them in such enterprises. 
 Something more and different was to follow. 
 1 Fear not, little flock, " says Christ, "for it is 
 your Father's good pleasure to give you the 
 kingdom." "All things are delivered unto me 
 by my Father, " He continues, and assures them, 
 like Paul, that all things are theirs, and they 
 are Christ's, Though Christ is "to be rejected 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 67 
 
 of men, and of the high priests and powers," 
 He promises that "the rejected stone is to 
 become the chief of the corner," and that the 
 stone cut without hands in the mountains is 
 to grow until it covers the whole earth. 
 
 And not only is every assurance given that 
 this kingdom will certainly come, but that it 
 will come soon. There is abundant evidence in 
 the Gospels that it was expected at once. The 
 apostles and some others had already begun to 
 ask for the offices and good places for them- 
 selves and their friends. The mother of 
 Zebedee's children came with her two sons, and 
 wanted to bespeak for each a position near 
 Christ in power one to sit on the right, and 
 the other on the left of His throne. In sending 
 out His agents to work, Jesus assures them that, 
 though they "shall be brought before governors 
 and kings for His sake, " and shall be punished, 
 they shall immediately after be compensated 
 with places of power. Advising them "when 
 persecuted in one city to go to another," He 
 assures them that "the Son of God will come 
 before they get round the cities of Israel." 
 'There be some standing here," He says, 
 
68 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 "which shall not taste death till they see the 
 Son of Man coming in His kingdom." 
 
 He thinks He foresees the near triumph of His 
 cause foreshadowed in the state of society which 
 had already begun to be produced, and asks 
 His hearers in astonishment if they "cannot dis- 
 cern the signs of the times." "Say not there 
 are yet four months, and then cometh the 
 harvest. Behold I say unto you, lift up your 
 eyes and look on the fields, for they are white 
 already to harvest. " "The kingdom of Heaven 
 is at hand, " He says, and He orders them to be 
 ready for action at any time. They know not 
 how soon He may call upon them to execute His 
 designs. The exact hour is, indeed, not made 
 known, which would only defeat the outbreak; 
 but the fact of its near approach is declared. 
 "It is not for you to know," He says, "the times 
 nor the seasons that the Father has put in His 
 power," The kingdom of Heaven is to come 
 "like a thief in the night." Counsel must, 
 accordingly, be kept secret, as in all similar 
 cases. "The kingdom of Heaven," He says, 
 "cometh not with observation." "Be ye there- 
 fore ready," He adds, "for the Son of Man 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 69 
 
 cometh at an hour when ye think not," and 
 "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, 
 when He cometh shall find watching." 
 
 Every means was used to induce men to enter 
 this cause, and to commit themselves openly 
 and unreservedly to its advancement. Promises, 
 threats, and perhaps, even force were employed. 
 "Whoso," says Christ, "confesseth me before 
 men, him will I confess before my Father." 
 In other words, patronage in the future king- 
 dom is offered for present work for it , just as 
 it is offered in France and Spain to-day where 
 the Bonapartists and Carlists make all kinds 
 of promises about what they will do when their 
 cause is enthroned. "Enter in," says Christ, 
 "at the strait gate, " while the company is small, 
 and the way comparatively difficult, for when 
 the cause becomes popular, your services will 
 not be so sorely needed, and you will not be 
 rewarded to so great an extent. "Many shall 
 come hereafter," He says, when the offices are 
 all given out, "and shall not be able to enter, 1 ' 
 He required everybody to work for Him, and 
 would take no excuse, not even a delay to bury 
 pne's father, support his wife, improve his land, 
 
70 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 or train his oxen. His command to all was, "Take 
 , up your cross and follow me. " 
 
 The propagation was to be on an elaborate and 
 all-comprehensive plan. Not satisfied with the 
 acquisition of a few cities, He says : "I must 
 preach the Gospel to other cities also;" and 
 He advises His followers, as we have seen, when 
 persecuted in one city to go to another. 
 Ultimately it was, He said, to be preached to 
 all the world. 
 
 It was also to be cautious and prudent. As 
 His disciples proceeded in their work He cau- 
 tioned them to study well their men and means, 
 to observe the signs of the times, and to take 
 the current at its flood. Now He charged them 
 to proclaim His kingdom openly and to all, 
 and now He told them to tell no man that He 
 was the Christ. That is, they were to some- 
 times conceal His designs, and sometimes 
 make a bare breast of them. Frequently His 
 disciples, on learning His purposes, had to ask 
 whether they were to be kept secret or made 
 known. "Lord," said Peter on one such occa- 
 sion, "speakest thou this parable unto us, or 
 even to all?" He generally spoke plainly to 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 71 
 
 His disciples, but in parables to the public; 
 though some things He dared not let even His 
 disciples know. "It is not for you to know the 
 times nor the seasons which the Father hath put 
 in His power." Comparing the ushering in 
 of His kingdom to the coming of a thief in 
 the night, He thinks it is not safe to let too 
 much be known ; for, says He, "This know, that 
 if the good man of the house had known what 
 hour the thief would come, he would have 
 watched, and not have suffered his house to be 
 broken through. " 
 
 Knowing what Christ's ambition was, and 
 believing that all means open and secret, and 
 good and bad, were being used to attain it, 
 the devil, (we will not say what power is 
 intended by this representation,) offered to 
 secure for Him His object, including the Subjec- 
 tion of the whole world to Him for a kingdom, 
 if He would enter into an alliance with him, and 
 fall down and worship him, that is, if Christ 
 would acknowledge him as his superior, and 
 take Himself a second place under him ; a propo- 
 sition which Christ rejected with scorn, and 
 insisted that the devil should stand after Him : 
 
72 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 "Get thee behind me, Satan j" God only will 
 I serve as a superior. To one not believing in 
 the divine purity of Christ, this interview with 
 the devil will appear like a consultation with 
 evil spirits with a view to help Him to get the 
 kingdom. He went up into a mountain for the 
 'purpose, and went expressly "to be tempted of 
 the devil," much as Saul went 'to the witch of 
 Endor, and as ambitious and anxious men and 
 women often go now to witches and clairvoyants 
 to get the aid of the unseen world for their pro- 
 jects. Christ's open means seem all justifiable, 
 but His secret means have never been made 
 known, so that a sceptic may naturally doubt 
 their legitimacy. * 
 
 In the parable of the unjust steward we have 
 a similar hint that He conciliated all parties, 
 and made use of all means, just and unjust, to 
 promote His cause. This parable pictures the 
 steward of a great man, who, being about to 
 be dismissed, went to his master's debtors and 
 settled their accounts at a loss to the master, 
 his object being to put the debtors under 
 obligation to himself. He offered to scale their 
 debts forty and fifty per cent, for cash, Allowing 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 73 
 
 one, for example, who owed his master one 
 hundred measures of oil to make it fifty, and 
 one who owed him fifty measures of wheat to 
 make it thirty, (pocketing no doubt part of the 
 difference). He thought to thus make friends 
 enough among his master's debtors to support 
 him when out of employment. Jesus cites this 
 example with apparent approval, and advises 
 His disciples to do likewise. "Make ye to 
 yourselves friends of the mammon of unrigh- 
 teousness, " He says, "that when ye fail they may 
 receive you into everlasting habitations. " This, 
 doubtless, meant to His hearers that, in propagat- 
 ing His cause, they should not only make use of 
 dishonest means, as well as of honest, but also 
 enter into compacts with all parties, even their 
 opponents, so that if they should fail they might 
 not be left without support or position under the 
 adverse regime ; in other words that they should 
 be ready to compromise, if compelled thereto 
 as a last resort ; as much as to say : if you 
 cannot carry the cause of Christ, be on good 
 terms with Caesar, so that when you must give 
 up you can get a second best place under him 
 for selling out. It is like Napoleon the Third's 
 
74 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 policy, who, though he had every interest in 
 the empire, still laid up in the Bank of England 
 a few millions on which to retire in case of 
 failure. Use all means, says Christ, in effect, 
 and in the meanwhile keep a way of retreat 
 open for the contingency of non-success. For 
 "if ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous 
 mammon, who will commit to your trust the 
 true riches?" It is a kind of Jesuitism,, or 
 making of one's self all things to all men, on 
 the ground that the end justifies the means. I 
 do not think that this was Christ's settled policy, 
 or that He wholly justified such proceedings ; 
 but His followers evidently understood Him in 
 this sense, as have some of His followers since, 
 and as they do even to-day. 
 
 But not only were promises and trickery to 
 be used in the propagation of Christ's enter- 
 prise, but also threats, and perhaps even force. 
 "To those who do not receive you," He says, 
 "shake the dust off your feet, and say to them 
 that it will be more tolerable for Sodom and 
 Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for 
 them. " "Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! Woe unto 
 thee, Bethsaida ! for if the mighty works which 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 75 
 
 are done in you were done in Sodom and 
 Gomorrah, they would have repented long 
 ago in sack-cloth and ashes." "And thou, 
 Capernaum, which art exalted to Heaven, shalt 
 be cast down to hell." In inviting all into the 
 movement they are to excuse none. We have 
 seen in the parable of the great supper that 
 neither the man who had a father to bury, nor 
 he who had just married a wife, nor he who 
 had bought land or cattle, had sufficient 
 excuse to stay away. The disciples were 
 ordered to go out into the highways and hedges, 
 and to compel them to come in. The one 
 alternative is to take up this cause or be 
 damned. "Go and proclaim my system to all 
 the world," is the substance of His recruiting 
 commission; "and he that accepteth it, and 
 taketh the badge of baptism, (the sign of enroll- 
 ment or entrance into His cause) shall be saved, 
 and he that does not shall be ruined in the 
 convulsion that is to follow." 
 
 No matter what stood in the way, the people 
 were to give up all for His cause. When Peter 
 said, "Lo, we have left all and followed thee," 
 Jesus answered, "Verily, I say unto you there 
 
76 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 is no man that hath left house, or parents, or 
 brethren, or wife, or children for the kingdom 
 of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold 
 more in this present time, and the world to come 
 life everlasting. " He says that those who think 
 more of their parents or property than of His 
 movement are not worthy of Him. They must 
 not even count their lives dear in His cause. 
 "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall 
 lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall 
 preserve it." 
 
 He warns them, in this propagation, not to 
 be turned back by the terrors that will follow, 
 of which I have already spoken ; "for these 
 things must needs come," they being the means, 
 or, at least, the regular attendants, of all revo- 
 lutions. "When nation shall rise against nation, 
 and kingdom against kingdom, when earth- 
 quakes and famines and troubles shall come; 
 when ye shall be delivered up to counsels, and 
 be beaten in the synagogues, and shall be 
 brought before rulers and kings for my sake, 
 then be ye not troubled. For the Gospel must 
 first be published among all nations." He 
 predicts even that "the brother shall betray 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 77 
 
 the brother to death, and the father the son; 
 and the children shall rise up against their 
 parents, and shall cause them to be put to death." 
 And He adds, "Ye shall be hated of all men for 
 my name's sake (very likely), but he that shall 
 endure to the end, the same shall be saved." 
 
 The desolation spoken of by Daniel, He 
 says, will come in the wake of this movement, 
 when those that are in Judea, as we have 
 already quoted, may well flee to the mountains ; 
 when those that are on the house-top shall not 
 come down ; when those that are with child and 
 give suck shall sorrow; when they may well 
 pray that their flight be not in the winter ; when 
 "there shall be affliction such as was not from 
 the beginning of the creation which God created, 
 unto this time, nor ever shall be ; when unless the 
 Lord should shorten the days, no flesh should 
 be saved ; when the sun shall be darkened, and 
 the moon not give her light ; when the stars ot 
 Heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in 
 Heaven shall be shaken." 
 
 They are, however, to hold on their way amid 
 all this warring of the social elements and 
 apparent chaos of the new birth of empires. 
 
78 SOCIALISM OF CHRISf 
 
 "For as the lightning that lighteneth out of 
 the one part under the Heaven, shineth unto the 
 other part under Heaven, so shall also the Son 
 of Man be in His day. " Having put their hands 
 to the plow, they are not to turn back for any- 
 thing, but are to remember Lot's wife, and 
 continue in their onward course, face forward, 
 though cities be burning behind them and whole 
 peoples perishing in their wake. 
 
 In the midst of such measures of propagation 
 it is not remarkable that the cause spread. 
 Meetings were held almost daily, sometimes in 
 private houses and secret places for consulta- 
 tion, and sometimes in the synagogues and 
 open air for popular agitation. The day of 
 Pentecost was a field day, when a great mass 
 meeting was held not unlike those of the cru- 
 saders at Ratisbon and Clermont, for canvassing 
 and enrolling recruits. Five thousand people 
 are said to have joined them on that one day, 
 making a day like that in France when, in the 
 first revolution, the Marsellaise hymn was first 
 sung, which is said to have gained one hundred 
 thousand people to the republican cause. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 SOCIALISTIC IDEALS 
 
 The object of this movement, as we have 
 seen, was the elevating of the lower classes, and 
 since this was to be done by purely social means 
 the consequent bringing down of the higher; 
 the bettering of the condition of the poor and 
 miserable, and since there was to be no new 
 production for this, but only a rearrangement of 
 the social relations the consequent despoiling 
 of the rich and great. The principles underly- 
 ing the movement were, as in all socialistic 
 movements, equality, fraternity and community. 
 I shall, therefore, set forth these principles in 
 turn, as embodied in Christ's cause, whether 
 contemplated by Him in all their fullness or not. 
 
 Nothing was more plainly taught by Jesus than 
 
 79 
 
8o SOCIALISM OF CHRIST . 
 
 the equality of all men. In His system there 
 were to be no high, no low; no rich, no poor; 
 no Jew, no Greek ; no distinctions of race or 
 blood ; no differences of prospect or condition. 
 His Gospel was the same for all, His moral pre- 
 cepts were for all, His promises and threats were 
 for all. With the same regularity that death 
 came to all, came the duties and obligations of 
 Christianty to all. Christ was a thorough repub- 
 lican in principle, and an uncompromising friend 
 of equality in its remotest consequences. 
 
 After condemning the Pharisees who liked 
 "the chief places and greetings in public, and 
 to be called Rabbi," (master), He said, "Be ye 
 not called Rabbi, for one is your master, even 
 Christ, and all ye are brethren. Neither be ye 
 called master, for one is your master, even 
 Christ." Herein was the chief difference 
 between His proposed social system and that 
 of the existing governments and their aristoc- 
 ratic upholders. "Ye know, " He said, "that the 
 princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over 
 them, and they that are great exercise authority 
 upon them. But it shall not be so among you. 
 But whosoever shall be great among you, let him 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 81 
 
 be your minister, and whosoever will be chief 
 among you, let him be your servant." The 
 leaders of the people in Christ's cause are not 
 called "princes," "generals," "masters," or 
 "priests, " nor are they dignified by any aristoc- 
 ratic or official titles whatever, but simply called 
 "ministers," or "servants, '' suggesting the 
 leveling title of the French revolutionists 
 citizen and showing that in Christ's opinion 
 supremacy is not in the rulers, but in the people. 
 "If any man desires to be first," says Christ, "the 
 same shall be least ot all, and the servant of all. " 
 Speaking of Himself, who was expected to 
 come in great splendor, He said, "What went ye 
 out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? 
 Behold they which are gorgeously appareled 
 and live delicately are in king's courts, " that is, 
 belong to a monarchical regime, altogether in- 
 consistent with republican simplicity. He dis- 
 couraged the putting on of gold and costly 
 ornaments and apparel, as being too aristocratic. 
 John the Baptist, His ambassador, who sounded 
 the key-note of his master's policy, came 
 clothed in camel's hair and leather; and Christ 
 Himself, when He made His only entry of state, 
 
 Socialism of Christ 6 
 
82 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 came riding on a jackass, with the simplicity 
 of Jefferson at his inauguration, or of Franklin 
 at the French court. 
 
 According to Christ, God is no respecter of 
 persons, and no difference should be allowed 
 in His government. None are to be high, none 
 low ', none foreign, none native ; none Jew, 
 none Greek ; none master, none servant ; but 
 the equality of mankind is to be universal and 
 cosmopolitan. "He hath made of one blood all 
 nations for to dwell on the face of the earth;" 
 and His disciples are asked to call no man 
 "common" or "unclean. " 
 
 He even puts Himself in the category of 
 
 common citizenship, and declares His equality 
 
 
 with all men. He approves the affirmative 
 
 answer of His disciples made to the inquiry, 
 "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I drink, 
 and to be baptized with the baptism that 
 I am baptized with?" saying in addition, "Ye 
 shall, indeed, drink of the cup that I shall 
 drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I 
 am baptized with." 
 
 In choosing His apostles, or chief counselmen 
 and ministers, He took them not from the great 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 83 
 
 or titled, but from laboring men, fishermen and 
 tax-collectors. He moved in the society of 
 Mary, Martha, Lazarus and the poor of the 
 little towns and villages of Judea, instead of the 
 rich of the metropolis. He went among publi- 
 cans and sinners, and if occasionally He was 
 found among Pharisees and wealthy profes- 
 sionals, it was with perfect indifference to their 
 rank. 
 
 He makes it the reproach of the Pharisees, as 
 we have seen, that they assume a superiority 
 over others, that "they love the uppermost 
 rooms at feasts, and chief places and to be 
 called master;" that they impose heavy duties 
 on others, and, instead of submitting to the 
 same themselves, in the spirit of equality, do 
 not do so much as touch them with one of their 
 fingers 
 
 So radical was Christ's view of equality under- 
 stood to be, that when the centurian came to 
 have his servant healed, and Christ proposed to 
 go to his house and heal him the centurian 
 declined, saying, "I am not worthy that you 
 should come into my house, for I am one 
 under authority, having soldiers under me, (a 
 
84 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 man of rank), and say to one man, Go, and he 
 goeth, and to another, Do this, and he doeth 
 it," and so am not republican enough for you. 
 
 In sending His disciples out He tells them to 
 salute no man by the way ; as if in Quaker-like 
 simplicity He would not have them so much as 
 take off their hats to a fellow man, but show all 
 the same simple respect ; or, with the prejudice 
 of the French socialists, would not so much as 
 have them say, "Mr." or "Sir," but simply 
 "yea," "yea," and "nay," "nay;" or "citizen," 
 and "friend." 
 
 He taught the doctrine of equality and of 
 equal deserts notwithstanding all differences in 
 character and service. In the parable of the 
 laborers in the vineyard He enforces the princi- 
 ple that whether you have upon you the deserts 
 of the third, the sixth, the ninth, or the elev- 
 enth hour, you should yet receive your meed of 
 equality, honor and respect in the kingdom of 
 Christ. 
 
 Jesus took special pains also to condemn all 
 actual inequalities then existing, even to the 
 remotest consequences of His doctrine. No 
 socialist could go farther in pointing out trivial 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 85 
 
 inconsistencies in those who pretended to prac- 
 tice equality, or who thought they were already 
 acting fully up to the doctrine. As long as you 
 make your servant inferior to yourself, say they, 
 or debar him from your table or family, you 
 are no true republican ; and Jesus says, reprov- 
 ing a similar lack of republicanism among the 
 socialists : "But which of you having a servant 
 plowing or feeding cattle will say unto him, 
 by and by, when he is come from the field, 
 'Go and sit down to meat ;' and will not rather 
 say to him, 'Make ready wherewith I may sup, 
 and gird tlryself and serve me, until I have 
 eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt 
 eat and drink;" in opposition to all of which 
 He further says in illustration of the proper 
 doctrine of equality, that He Himself will 
 make them sit down at meat, while He, the 
 master, will gird Himself and serve them. 
 
 And elsewhere it is related : "And there was 
 a strife among them which of them should be 
 accounted the greatest. And He said unto them, 
 The kings of the earth exercise lordship over 
 them, and they that exercise authority upon 
 them are called benefactors. But ye shall not 
 
86 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 be so; but he that is greatest among you shall 
 be as the younger; and he that is chief as he 
 that doth serve. For whether is greater, he 
 that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? Is not 
 he that sitteth at meat? But I am among you 
 as he that serveth." 
 
 He made himself an illustrious example of 
 this principle of equality, as of all His teachings, 
 an example which only a prominent man can 
 give, "The Son of Man," He said, "came not to 
 be ministered unto, but to minister. He taught 
 not only the equality of all men, but the theory 
 that the rulers and chiefs are the servants of 
 those whom they rule, (or serve, rather), public 
 servants, not kings, lord's or masters, and He 
 gave the name of ministers, and not rulers, to 
 those whom He appointed to the more responsi- 
 ble positions in His work. 
 
 He explicitly taught that all government is 
 for the ruled; that the ruler, instead of aggran- 
 dizing himself by his position, should sacrifice 
 himself for the people ; in all of which He was 
 also an example. He lived and died for the 
 people, like Codrus, Curtius and Winkelried. 
 
 When His disciples, anxious about preferment, 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 87 
 
 asked who should be greatest in the kingdom 
 of Heaven, He took a child, and placed it in 
 their midst, and said, "Whoso shall humble 
 himself as this little child, the same shall be the 
 greatest;" and the tender words, ''Suffer little 
 children to come unto me and forbid them not, 
 for of such is the kingdom of Heaven," struck 
 a blow at the pretensions of governmental 
 superiority; maintaining, as they did, that the 
 requisite qualifications of citizenship in the 
 new kingdom of righteousness, should be unpre- 
 tentious, child-like equality. "Unless ye become 
 as this little child, " He says elsewhere, "ye can- 
 not enter the kingdom of Heaven." Ambition 
 in this kingdom will always overleap itself, and 
 fall into the opposite degradation. "Every 
 one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and 
 he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." 
 
 Christ did not even approve of His disciples 
 calling Him "good master. " "There is one good" 
 (master), He says, "and that is God." Nor 
 would He, in turn, recognize any one else as 
 master, or show homage except as to an equal. 
 When the devil tried to induce Him to bow 
 down and worship him, that is, to show him 
 
88 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 deference as a superior, He declined to do so, 
 though all the kingdoms of the world were of- 
 fered to Him for such subjection. For it was 
 then that He uttered the general republican sen- 
 timent, "Thou shalt worship (or show homage 
 to) the Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou 
 serve, " not kings, nobles, potentates, or men in 
 any capacity. 
 
 He guarded at the same time against the 
 reductio ad absurdum of this principle. The 
 advocates of equality often carry their doctrine 
 to the extent of raising the lower classes so high 
 as to place them above the upper classes, 
 putting these latter under as lower classes; 
 just as the advocates of liberty sometimes claim 
 liberty even to enslave others, (as in the 
 southern states before our war), or claim the 
 right to take away others' rights. It was thus 
 that the French revolutionists tore off the disa- 
 bilities of the people to impose them on their 
 opponents, exchanging the reign of Louis XVI 
 for the reign of terror. It was thus that the 
 Roundheads resisted the despotism of the mon- 
 archy of Charles I to adopt that of Cromwell ; 
 and it was thus that the Puritans resisted 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 89 
 
 religious persecution to the extent of persecu- 
 ting their persecutors. 
 
 It is somewhat the tendency of all socialistic 
 sympathizers to think that the laboring man, the 
 poor, the "strikers" the common people, in 
 short, should rule, even to the exclusion of the 
 equal rights of capitalists and others. An Irish 
 man once expressed his idea of equality thus : 
 "One man is as good as another and sometimes 
 better." Christ says, in restraint of such 
 extremes of application, and at the same time 
 as recognizing the principle of equality above 
 laid down, "The disciple is not above his 
 master, nor the servant above his lord. It is 
 enough for the disciple to be as his master, and 
 the servant that he be as his lord," or as it is 
 elsewhere expressed, "The disciple is not above 
 his master, but every one that is perfect (in 
 his social relations) shall be as his master." 
 
 Fraternity is another doctrine dearly held by 
 all socialists, and which also appears prominent 
 in the Christian cause. Socialists have much 
 to say about the brotherhood of man, the univer- 
 sality of love, the cosmopolitan character of duty. 
 Their schemes have always been for great 
 
96 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 ameliorations of the whole race for universal 
 republics, international compacts and arbitra- 
 tion, the equality of all nations and races, as 
 well as of all men, for equal national as well as 
 equal individual rights. This is the object of 
 the internationalists of to-day, who seek to 
 bring about ultimately the United States of 
 Europe and a general community of all the 
 world. 
 
 Christ fully appreciated this sentiment of fra- 
 ternity, and inculcated it on every available 
 occasion, as did His adherents also for Him ; 
 and they did it in face of the prejudices of the 
 Jews among whom they lived. "For God hath 
 made of one blood," it was said, "all nations for 
 to dwell on the face of the earth." God is 
 represented as no respecter of persons. "There 
 is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, but 
 one in Christ." The parable of the good 
 Samaritan was given by Jesus to specially 
 illustrate and enforce this doctrine; showing 
 that a man belonging to a race most hated by 
 the Jews, but good and kind to a Jew, was 
 better than the priest and the Levite the most 
 sacred class of the Jews who passed him by ; 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRISt $i 
 
 that the Samaritan, the stranger, and the for- 
 eigner are all neighbors, and that this extent of 
 application must be given to the term "neigh- 
 bor" in the command, "Love thy neighbor as 
 thyself;" that man is a citizen of the world, and 
 should have sympathy for all peoples, no matter 
 what their race, nationality, or creed. 
 
 He broke down the barriers of the old relig- 
 ion, by which it had been confined as the relig- 
 ion of the Jews. His religion was for the 
 Gentiles also. He expounded it Himself to the 
 Samaritan woman, notwithstanding His Jewish 
 followers ''wondered that He spake to her. " His 
 chief minister, Paul, was sent out as par excel- 
 lence the apostle of the Gentiles. Peter was 
 instructed against his prejudices by a "sheet 
 let down from Heaven," and made to learn that 
 foreign people, like forbidden beasts and birds, 
 were not "common" or "unclean." Christ 
 mingled and ate with publicans and sinners. 
 Some of His apostles were aliens, being 
 chosen promiscuously from several nationalities. 
 Medes, Parthians, Romans, all races were 
 admitted to the church on the day of Pentecost ; 
 and by the "tongues of fire" His disciples were 
 
92 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 empowered to preach His cause in all languages 
 to all peoples. The announcement to the 
 shepherds at His first coming was a proclama- 
 tion of this idea : "Fear not, for behold I bring 
 you good tidings of great joy which shall be 
 to all people." 
 
 One of the loveliest things ever said is the 
 approval by Christ of those who pity and 
 befriend man in any capacity, or in any place : 
 "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the 
 least of these my brethren, ye have done it 
 unto me. " It is Christ's note of introduction, 
 put into the hand of every member of humanity, 
 introducing him to every Christian he may 
 meet ; and containing the sentiment that the 
 favor shown to such person, stranger or unfor- 
 tunate though he be, will be taken as a 
 personal favor to Christ the ordinary sentiment 
 conveyed in our polite forms of introduction 
 to-day. 
 
 Concerning the other socialistic ideal, "com- 
 munity," I shall speak specially in the next 
 chapter. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 PRACTICAL COMMUNISM 
 
 i. COMMUNITY OF GOODS The principal idea, 
 however, contained in socialism is that of com- 
 munity a community of goods and enterprises. 
 The socialists of all ages have aimed to so 
 organize men that there should be no rich, and 
 no poor; that none should have anything, and 
 none want anything ; but that all should labor 
 and produce, and all be satisfied and happy ; a 
 state where the title to everything should be in 
 the whole, and every one should be an equal 
 part of the whole ; where all should labor for 
 each, and each for all ; each contributing accord- 
 ing to his capacity, and receiving according to his 
 wants. They would make the state a family work- 
 shop, and the whole world a^fijaiedgation of 
 
04 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 communes, in which none should labor, as now, 
 for the benefit of rich capitalists, but all work 
 for themselves and for all others at the same 
 time. 
 
 There is much in the words of Jesus, and 
 still more in those of His disciples, to indicate 
 that this ideal was contemplated, and its reali- 
 zation attempted as the object of the promised 
 kingdom of Christ. I shall, accordingly, for the 
 balance of this essay present what seems to be 
 a strong case for the communism of Christ, 
 which, however, can be maintained with consis- 
 tency only on the theory of a gradual modifica- 
 tion and subsequent reaction such as are com- 
 mon to all similar movements. 
 
 Something like a complete communistic idea, 
 I say, was entertained, if not by Christ at least 
 by His followers. The utterances of Jesus were 
 communistic on their face, and, when pushed 
 to their farthest consequences, as they evi- 
 dently were by His followers, they ended in 
 something like modern Icarian communism. 
 Let us see how naturally this was done. 
 
 The four leading principles in this idea of 
 socialism, (the Icarian) are : i. that there shall 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 95 
 
 be no property; 2. that all men shall be pro- 
 vided for ; 3. that each shall, for this purpose, 
 contribute according to his ability and receive 
 according to his wants ; and, 4. that all shall 
 labor and all serve in equal honor. 
 
 All these ideas were more or less clearly set 
 forth by Jesus, or at least by His immediate fol- 
 lowers; and an effort was made to carry them 
 into practical realization as the outcome of His 
 system. 
 
 The chief and the most difficult object to be 
 obtained was the abolition of wealth. The 
 principal opposition to communism has always 
 come from the rich, and because of their riches. 
 The poor have generally been ready to abandon 
 their little, especially when there has been a pros- 
 pect of getting more. Jesus had no difficulty in 
 persuading fishermen and tax-gatherers to sur- 
 render their petty possessions; but when He 
 came to the wealthy He met insuperable 
 obstacles. 
 
 He accordingly directed His efforts against 
 wealth ; condemning it as an evil and teaching 
 men to fear it as a danger, alleging, as His 
 experience proved, that it is easier to get a 
 
g6 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 camel through the eye of a needle than a rich 
 man into the kingdom of God. To the rich 
 young man who applied for admission to His 
 cause, and who had already proved his good 
 moral character, He said, "Yet lackest thou 
 one thing : Sell what thou hast and distribute 
 to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in 
 Heaven, and come follow me." This, if it meant 
 anything to His contemporaries, was a blow at 
 individual possessions. This young man was 
 in no way different from other wealthy men, as 
 far as the account shows, except that he was 
 perfectly moral with all his wealth, so that the 
 sacrifice of his wealth was not required for his 
 morals, as commentators say. It was merely 
 because he had wealth that Jesus wanted him 
 to give it up, as if he disapproved of wealth 
 as wealth, which is inconsistent with a com- 
 munity of goods. For Jesus said : "Yet lackest 
 thou one thing only one Sell and distribute. " 
 A redistribution was wanted ; and the "money 
 bags" were required, as on all such occasions, 
 to disgorge. So strongly did Jesus insist on 
 this condition, that the young man, who was so 
 good that Christ "loved him, " was not admitted 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 97 
 
 to membership at all j but "went away sorrowful 
 because he was very rich. " ' How hardly, " 
 thereupon says Christ, "shall they which have 
 riches enter into the kingdom of God;'' and 
 then He utters the camel comparison again. 
 Nobody could be admitted into such a commu- 
 nity as His "kingdom" was at one time expected 
 to be, except on the equal terms of surrender- 
 ing his property for the benefit of all. This the 
 rich would not do, and never will do ; so that it 
 is true, as He said, that "it is easier for a camel to 
 go through the eye of a needle than for a rich 
 man to enter the kingdom of God." 
 
 The disciples on hearing this utterance 
 naturally asked, "How then can any be saved?" 
 or how can a community succeed at all? when 
 Jesus answered that "things impossible with 
 men are possible with God;" conveying the 
 impression that a forced community might be 
 adopted, (effected, of course, in the name of 
 God, as all great enterprises whether good or 
 bad are). Then Peter put in his boast, "Lo ! 
 we have left all and followed thee;" where- 
 upon followed still more strongly Christ's enun- 
 ciation of the communistic idea : "Verily, 
 
 Socialism of Christ 7 
 
98 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 I say unto you, there is no man that hath left 
 houses, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or 
 children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who 
 shall not receive manifold more in this present 
 time, and in the world to come life everlasting ;" 
 an utterance containing two things; one the 
 approval by Christ of those who give up their 
 individual possessions, and the other His prom- 
 ise that they shall, by this sacrifice, get more 
 in the end, and live happier for it. "There is 
 no man that hath left houses, etc., * * that 
 shall not receive manifold more in this present 
 time, " more houses and lands according to the 
 Gospel the same promise that is made to-day 
 by every communist, namely, that in an organ- 
 ized community all kinds of business and means 
 of happiness will be better conducted than 
 by individual enterprise j including railroad and 
 steamship lines, manufactures, farming, and 
 every other branch of industry, as well as all 
 kinds of entertainments and amusements, as set 
 forth comprehensively in Cabet's "Icaria, " and 
 Bellamy's "Looking Backward." 
 
 In fact, nothing has been too much to promise 
 by these idealists in their schemes of perfec- 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 99 
 
 tibility. The name of Thomas More's ideal 
 community has furnished the strongest word in 
 our language for exaggerated expectations 
 Utopian and that of Cabet a similar word in 
 the French language Icarian. Plato's republic, 
 which was also to be a community, gave similar 
 promises; and the kingdom of Christ, so much 
 like Plato's republic, and still more like 
 Thomas More's Utopia, and most of all like M. 
 Cabet's Icaria, is more prophetic and hopeful 
 than any of them. 
 
 Accordingly, Jesus sought by various argu- 
 ments and promises to induce men to surrender 
 their wealth, or else to think more lightly of it, 
 with the view of arriving at some kind of a 
 community. He particularly distinguished 
 between giving it and lending it. He did not 
 want to borrow of the disciples or of others, 
 but desired to get their money absolutely, and 
 to get them with it. "And if you lend to them 
 of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have 
 ye? for sinners also lend to sinners to receive 
 as much again. But lend hoping for nothing 
 and your reward shall be great," etc. 
 
 It has been the uniform experience of com- 
 
loo SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 munists that persons of wealth desiring to unite 
 with them, have been reluctant to part with 
 their property absolutely. In most cases they 
 have wanted only to invest it as in a stock 
 company, or lend it temporarily to the com- 
 munity as an experiment, to be withdrawn if 
 the scheme should fail. Jesus disapproved of 
 this spirit when He said, "Lend hoping for 
 nothing again." He wanted men to embark 
 unreservedly, and put in their means as a final 
 surrender. 
 
 He wanted them, moreover, to give all they 
 had. For there have always been some who 
 have been willing to put in a part, and hold 
 back the rest as a reserve, in case of failure. 
 "He that forsaketh not all," is the substance of 
 His remarks, "cannot be my disciple." The 
 disciples visited terrible infliction on Ananias 
 and Saphira for their sequestration of a part. 
 Christ ostensibly condemned all individual 
 possessions. We have seen how He inclined to 
 loosen the property bonds and contrivances for 
 security, commending the man who forgave his 
 debtors when they could not pay, and the 
 steward who compounded with his master's 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 101 
 
 debtors by taking a part; how also He con- 
 demned the wealthy and exigent, and approved 
 the lenient and benevolent. What the practice 
 of His followers was, or what He taught them 
 to practice, we may infer from the petition in 
 the Lord's Prayer, as reported by Luke, "For- 
 give us our sins^ for we also forgive evtry one 
 that is indebted to us. " In short He advised 
 men to get rid of their property, as the disci- 
 ples had done, and to get no return for it. 
 "Sell that ye have and give alms." "Whoso- 
 ever he be of you that forsaketh not all, he 
 cannot be my disciple." "If any man will come 
 after me, let him deny himself," self-denial (of 
 property, houses, lands, etc. ) being a condition 
 precedent "and let him take up his cross and 
 follow me," the cross being the red flag of that 
 commune, which, though despised in compar- 
 ison with the Roman "S. P. Q. R.," was yet 
 to rise in honor, as the red flag of France 
 rose to surpass in glory the white lily in the 
 revolution. 
 
 When a wronged heir came to Him, mistak- 
 ing His doctrine of redistribution, -and asked, 
 "Speak to my brother that he divide with me," 
 
io2 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 Christ said, contemptuously, "Who made me a 
 judge or divider over you? Take heed and 
 beware of covetousness ; for a man's life con- 
 sisteth not in the abundance of the things that 
 he possesseth;" and then He related the parable 
 of the foolish rich man, which is a further exposi- 
 tion of the emptiness of wealth, and of the 
 character of the commune without it. " The 
 ground of a certain rich man," He says, "brought 
 forth plentifully, and he thought within himself, 
 What shall I do? Because I have no room 
 where to bestow my fruits. And he said, I will 
 pull down my barns and build greater, and there 
 I will bestow all my fruits and my goods. And 
 I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods 
 laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, 
 and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou 
 fool! This night thy soul shall be required of 
 thee; then whose shall those things be which 
 thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up 
 treasure for himself," etc. 
 
 He then continues His exposition, in answer, 
 I fancy, to the questions of the people as to how 
 they could live without money or other individ- 
 ual means, or without providing for the future 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 103 
 
 by some kind of accumulations, saying that they 
 shall be provided for like the lily and the ravens 
 by their Heavenly Father in the new kingdom, 
 all in a manner that we shall hereafter explain. 
 But He uncompromisingly keeps to the point, 
 " Sell that ye have, and provide yourselves bags 
 which wax not old, a treasure that fadeth not," 
 etc.; alleging, like the Icarians, that they cannot 
 be genuine communists if they have individual 
 possessions j " for where your treasure is there 
 will your heart be also." And subsequently, 
 when His disciples entered on this common life, 
 which we shall presently describe, they acted out 
 the directions of Jesus in the smallest particulars. 
 For, it is related that, "the multitude of them that 
 believed were of one heart and one mind; neither 
 said any of them that aught of the things which 
 he possessed was his own, but they held all 
 things common;" that is, they had no individual 
 possessions. Thus did Jesus and His apostles, 
 by precept and by example, appear to wage con- 
 tinual war against property and its rights, as the 
 first prerequisite of communism. 
 
 The next requisite of a community is that all 
 shall be provided for. Though no one is to pos- 
 
io 4 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 sess anything, all are to have the whole; and 
 none are to lack anything which the whole can 
 furnish. This idea is specially set forth by 
 Jesus. He tells His followers, in view of His ex- 
 pected community, or "kingdom", that they 
 need not be concerned, or even take thought, 
 about their food, drink, or clothing, these being 
 all provided for out of the general fund; but like 
 the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, they 
 may be thoughtless, careless, and doless, except 
 as to the work assigned them in the kingdom. 
 All the wants of men are to be provided for by 
 system, and the individual is to care only to fill 
 his place in that system. 
 
 The boasted advantage of the community is 
 that it is to rid the individual of his temporal and 
 physical anxieties, which now render so many 
 unhappy; and to keep him free for the higher 
 intellectual and moral considerations. For, as 
 Christ pertinently asks, " Is not the life more 
 than meat, and the body than raiment ? " 
 
 And for the future, as well as the present, He 
 gives the same advice; inasmuch as next to the 
 Actual wants of the present the apprehended ones 
 *tf the future give most trouble. " Take, 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 105 
 
 therefore," He says, "no thought for the mor- 
 row, for the morrow shall take thought for the 
 things of itself;" that is, the community will pro- 
 vide for the future as well as the present. "Take 
 no thought for your life," His words are, "what 
 ye shall eat, neither for your body, what ye shall 
 put on * * Consider the ravens; for they 
 neither sow nor reap, which neither have store- 
 house nor barn, and God feedeth them; how 
 much more are ye better than the fowls ? Con- 
 sider the lilies how they grow; they toil not, they 
 spin not; and yet I say unto you that Solomon 
 in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 
 If, then, God so clothe the grass, which is to-day 
 in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, 
 how much more will He clothe you, O ye of lit- 
 tle faith ? And seek ye not what ye shall eat, or 
 what ye shall drink, neither be of doubtful mind;" 
 as much as to say, these things will be provided 
 in the community, where the people will not feel 
 the lack of them in their individual capacity. 
 "For all these things," He continues, "do the 
 nations of the world seek after," or those who 
 have not entered into a community; "and your 
 Father knoweth that ye have nee.d of these 
 
106 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 things," so that .they will not be neglected. 
 "But rather seek ye the kingdom of God/' He 
 adds, " and all these things shall be added to you. " 
 In other words He advises them to enter into the 
 proposed kingdom, and promises that whatever 
 they shall actually need, they shall have from 
 the very fact that they need it. "Ask and it 
 shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock 
 and it shall be opened unto you; for every one 
 that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, 
 and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." 
 Nor need it be feared, as is sometimes done, 
 that the authorities, or majority in the commun- 
 ity, will not judge properly for the individual, 
 and so refuse him what he may really need, or 
 apportion him an unsuitable work or allotment. 
 "For," says Christ, comparing the Divine Leader 
 and Author of the commune with an individual 
 father, "What man is there of you whom, if his 
 son ask bread, will give him a stone, or if he ask 
 a fish will he give him a serpent ? If ye, then, 
 being evil, know how to give good gifts to your 
 children, how much more shall your Father 
 which is in Heaven give good things to them 
 that ask Him." All that is required, He assures 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 107 
 
 them, is for all to observe the following rule 
 the sina qua non of communism "All things 
 whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, 
 do ye even so to them; " in other words, let every 
 one do his duty and all will have their rights 
 accorded to them. 
 
 And also, in view of the near approach of this 
 kingdom or community, Christ advised His dis- 
 ciples that in the meanwhile, until the actual 
 community should be established, they should 
 carry out their communistic principles as far as 
 this was possible in their individual manner of 
 life. 
 
 On sending His apostles out on the work of 
 propagation, He said to them, "Provide neither 
 gold, nor silver nor brass in your purse, nor 
 scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor staves 
 nor shoes. And in the same house remain eating 
 and drinking such things as they give. " In other 
 words, they are to live off the people. If any- 
 body should want an explanation of their con- 
 duct, He advises them to give this reason: "Say 
 to the people, the kingdom of God is come nigh 
 to you; " that is, tell them that this conduct is 
 
io8 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 preparatory to what will be done more fully in 
 the new kingdom. 
 
 At all events He assures them that in the new 
 kingdom all things will be provided, and that in 
 the meanwhile it is preparation time; that dwell- 
 ings, numerous and palatial, food and raiment 
 in abundance and at seasonable times, and all else 
 that is needed will be ever at hand. "In my 
 Father's house" He says, "are many mansions: if 
 it were not so I would have told you. I go to pre- 
 pare a place for you. " There will be, He tells them, 
 "a faithful and wise steward whom his Lord 
 shall make ruler over His household, to give 
 them their portion of meat in due season," and 
 the " Lord Himself when He cometh, shall gird 
 Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, 
 and will come forth and serve them." No won- 
 der that under such representations, one of the 
 poor, hungry miserable*, such as it was the object 
 of this community to relieve, cried out, "Blessed 
 is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." 
 "And I appoint unto you," says Christ, "a king- 
 dom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, 
 that ye may eat and drink at my table in my 
 kingdom; " and, as showing the special advan- 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 109 
 
 tage of this kingdom or community, to them, 
 most of whom are poor and can bring nothing to 
 the common fund, as is the case with nearly all 
 who are ready to enter a community, He says, 
 "I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed 
 no labor; other men labored and ye are entered 
 into their labors; " so that it is true, in the 
 beginning of the community at least, that "One 
 man soweth and another reapeth." 
 
 And, farther on, when the community was 
 fully established and in operation, we are told, 
 " Neither was there any among them that lacked; 
 for as many as were possessors of lands or houses 
 sold them, and brought the prices of the things 
 that were sold and laid them at the apostles' 
 feet, and distribution was made to every man ac- 
 cording as he had need." The community of 
 the early Christians was carried on in nearly every 
 respect like that of the Icarians in Adams County, 
 Iowa, where the process corresponds closely 
 with what is here described. All the members 
 give up their property of whatever kind, and 
 have a common fund and common officials 
 stewards, heads of industry, agriculture, etc., 
 from which all are supplied alike with what they 
 
no SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 need., according as they may all, in council as- 
 sembled, determine, or, in minor matters, as 
 their officers may determine for them. 
 
 This community ol the early Christians is also, 
 in most respects, like that of the Herrnhueters, 
 or Moravians, of Germany, and of the Ebenezers, 
 near Iowa City, Iowa, where the same principles 
 are put in practice, these last two communities 
 being professedly formed on the model of the com- 
 munity of the apostles. It is also, in many re- 
 spects, like that of the Fouriers, formerly estab- 
 lished in New Jersey, and like the various other 
 communities that have been established in modern 
 times. Whatever, in short, may be the varieties of 
 communism whether Icarian, Fourier, St. Si- 
 monian, Blanquist, or co-operative the people 
 are all provided for, as to their actual wants, from 
 a common fund, which all the property and all the 
 labor of all the members go to supply. 
 
 In the apostolic community just as in the 
 present, or recently existing, communities of this 
 country, there was a common treasurer to receive 
 the proceeds and make the expenditures. Judas, 
 we are told, "had the bag to buy those things of 
 which the disciples had need;" and, as in some 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST HI 
 
 modern cases, the treasurer was not the most 
 honest person among them, the temptation of his 
 office being then,' as now, too much for his princi- 
 ples. "He was a thief/' we are told, " and held 
 the bag." 
 
 In the temptation in the wilderness the devil, 
 knowing that Christ purposed to establish a com- 
 munity, and impliedly to raise the means there- 
 for, thought to attack Him on this as His weak- 
 est point, and so in his first temptation, tried 
 to induce Him to make bread. "If thou be the 
 Son of God," he said, "command that these 
 scones be made bread," as much as to say, Furn- 
 ish bread to the people and they will follow you; 
 or, show them that you can do it, and it will have 
 the same effect. For the devil said this in con- 
 templation ot Christ's mission. For when Jesus 
 refused to comply, he offered to give Him the 
 kingdoms of the world by another process, and 
 for another service, namely, if He would bow 
 down to him, as explained before, 
 
 That Christ actually did furnish bread to the 
 people, is evident from several incidents of the 
 Gospels. He fed five thousand at once, and at 
 another time an indefinitely large number. The 
 
H2 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 writers say He did it by miracle; but those who 
 doubt the miraculous part of the account may yet 
 believe that He furnished them food; which if He 
 did, and did not do by miracle, He could have 
 done only out of contributions made to a com- 
 mon fund; for He, Himself, had nothing. That 
 He was accustomed to provide His followers 
 with food, through their co-contribution, or 
 otherwise, we further learn from the fact that, as 
 the Gospel represents, many people followed 
 Him merely for the loaves and fishes, that is for 
 their support, when they had, perhaps, no sym - 
 pathy with the principles underlying His com 
 munity; just as many now enter the socialistic 
 communities for selfish ends. 
 
 Another idea of the community is that the 
 supply just spoken of shall be strictly according 
 to the wants of the individual, just as the contri- 
 butions made shall be according to the ability of 
 the respective parties, or, as expressed in the 
 formula of the Icarians, "From each according 
 to his ability; to each according to his wants. " 
 
 That is, there is to be a mutuality of duty and 
 privilege; not a living by the idle off the indus- 
 trious, nor an indulgence by anybody in useless 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 113 
 
 and ruinous luxuries. Ask, seek, knock, says 
 Christ, and you will get what is wanted; not a 
 stone when you need bread, nor a serpent when 
 you need fish, nor in any respect one thing when 
 you need another. "Your Heavenly Father 
 knoweth how to give good gifts to them that ask 
 Him. " ' 'Therefore, "He says, in contemplation of 
 this mutual duty, "all things that ye would that 
 men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 
 In other words, ask and require of others only 
 those things that you need, and would grant to 
 them, and likewise, conversely, grant to them 
 what you would like to have yourselves. 
 
 This strict distribution according to the wants 
 of the individual, and not according to his earn- 
 ings, or his deserts, is taught in the parable of 
 the laborers in the vineyard. The master, whom 
 He likens to the head, or executive officer of the 
 community, went out at the third, sixth, ninth, 
 and eleventh hour respectively, and each time 
 sent laborers into his vineyard, and yet, though 
 some worked nine, and others six, and others 
 three, and others only one hour, he gave to all 
 alike, showing that their equality is to be re- 
 spected notwithstanding their difference of 
 
 Socilism of Christ 8 
 
ii4 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 service. He taught simply that every man has 
 a right to what he needs., and can of right claim 
 no more. He has a right to this wherever he 
 can get it, and against whoever may keep it 
 from him; and whoever has more than this has it 
 by unlawful appropriation. "La propriete c'est 
 le vol." 
 
 His disciples, on going through the fields, 
 plucked the ears and ate, no matter to whom the 
 corn belonged, proceeding on the principle, 
 apparently, that the world owes them a living, 
 and that if it does not give it to them they may 
 take it. And when the people found fault with 
 this, He justified it, and even approved the ex- 
 treme example of David, who, when hungry, ate 
 the shew bread of the temple, which it was not 
 only not lawful, but sacrilege to eat; teaching 
 the people that both property and sanctity must 
 give way before human want. 
 
 Likewise, when He was once coming near 
 Bethpage, He sent His disciples before Him to the 
 village with instructions to take anybody's jack- 
 ass that they should find^ and if questioned as to 
 the right or propriety of so doing, to simply say 
 that "the Master hath need of him." 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 115 
 
 Having overturned the maxim that force 
 makes right, Christ now establishes the better 
 maxim, that want makes right, in all of which 
 however, He preserves the right and the duty as 
 mutual. "For," He says, as His universal rule, 
 "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, 
 do ye even so to them;" so that while you can de- 
 mand and take what you need, you must give up 
 what you do not need, to others who do need it. 
 " He that hath two coats, let him impart to him 
 that hath none j 'and he that hath meat, let him 
 do likewise." 
 
 We must, He says, be like God in this respect, 
 "who sendeth His rain upon the. just and the 
 unjust ; " that is, on every one who needs it, 
 and not on those only who have deserved it. 
 Need being set in contradistinction to merit, 
 God favors the needy rather than the good. 
 " God is no respecter of persons," and we should 
 not be. His grace, or favor, is free ; and His 
 impartations are to be understood as pure gifts, 
 and in no respect deserved by us. Free and un- 
 merited rewards and goods are to be the order 
 of the new kingdom ; where the needy, the hun- 
 gry, the thirsty, the naked may come ; and 
 
n6 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 where we, unless we in turn minister to these, 
 cannot fulfill the requirements of God's king- 
 dom. 
 
 We have this lesson beautifully taught in the 
 parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the 
 lost son. When a sheep is lost from the flock 
 more attention is bestowed upon it by the shep- 
 herd, until it is restored, than upon the ninety 
 and nine which went not astray ; because these 
 last do not need the attention. When a piece of 
 money is lost, it is hunted, and, when found, is 
 rejoiced over more than all the rest of the pile 
 that did not require such solicitude. And when 
 the prodigal son, who had already got and spent 
 all that was his own, (and that too in riotous 
 living and among harlots,) was in want, he was 
 received back and provided for as if he had not 
 forfeited his claim to his father's remaining es- 
 tate. 
 
 Wherever there is a want, there is a supply ; 
 so that when, on the one hand, you feel that 
 want, you may demand the supply; and when, 
 on the other, you see it in another, you should 
 furnish the supply. No matter how the want be 
 deserved; or the supply be earned, whoever 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 117 
 
 has either has the right or the duty of the satis- 
 faction. The sullen brother of the prodigal, who 
 objected because the undeserving spendthrift 
 is resupplied as to his wants, is reproved by the 
 father with the suggestion, "All I have is thine;" 
 as indeed is all the property of a family or 
 community the possession of every member of it. 
 Strict desert must never be made the meas- 
 ure of supplying wants, although it should be 
 made the lowest limit aspired to in bestowing 
 labor. Aim always to do your duty at least ; 
 but do not restrict your awards within the meas- 
 ure of the faithfulness of others. In the com- 
 munity, as we have seen, it often occurs, and 
 necessarily so, that "one soweth and another 
 reapeth ; " many a one " reaping where he has 
 not sown and gathering where he has not 
 strewed." Sow where you can; reap where you 
 must. Induce others also to sow all they can ; 
 but never restrain them from reaping what they 
 need. The individual cannot in a community 
 get his own results pro tanto. As each labors 
 for all, his results are lost in the whole ; and as 
 all labor for each, each gets the advantage, not 
 of his individual production only, but of the CQ- 
 
u8 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 operation of all. Therefore, says Christ, "I 
 sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no 
 labor ; other men labored and ye are entered into 
 their labors." 
 
 And, as we have already explained, when the 
 
 
 
 community was subsequently attempted, and got 
 in practical operation, this principle was still kept 
 steadily in view. For, as we have seen, " All 
 that believed were together, and had all things 
 common, and sold their possessions and goods, 
 and parted them to all men as every man had 
 need. Neither was there any among them that 
 lacked; for as many as were possessors of lands 
 or houses sold them, and brought the price of 
 the things that were sold, and laid them at the 
 apostles' feet; and distribution was made to every 
 man according as he had need." 
 
 And then the writer enumerates some of the 
 incidents of the working of this enterprise; how 
 they came, one after another to give up their 
 goods and unite with the community; some act- 
 ing in good faith and others trying to deceive, 
 or keep back part of their property; and 'the disap- 
 proval of this latter conduct by the communistic 
 managers who insisted on conformity to their prin- 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 119 
 
 ciple throughout, and the summary punishment of 
 the delinquents. "Andjoses * * having land 
 sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the 
 apostles' feet. But a certain man, named Ana- 
 nias, with Saphira his wife, sold a possession, 
 and kept back part of the price, his wife also 
 being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and 
 laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, 
 ' Why has Satan, (the prince, as he explains, of 
 the powers of this world,) filled thine heart to lie 
 to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the 
 land. While it remained was it not thine own ? 
 And after it was sold was it not in thine own 
 power ? Why hast thou conceived this thing in 
 thine own heart ? Thou hast not lied unto men, 
 but unto God." 
 
 And then follows the sudden death and seques- 
 tration of Ananias for this offence. Then his 
 wife came in, and Peter said unto her, < Tell me 
 whether ye sold the land for so much, ' and she 
 said, 'Yea, for so much.' Then Peter said unto 
 her, ' How is it that ye have agreed together to 
 tempt the spirit of the Lord," etc; when her 
 death and removal likewise follow by the same 
 hands as her husband's. "And great fear, "we 
 
120 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 are told, "came upon all the church, and upon 
 as many as heard these things. * * And of 
 the rest durst no man join himself unto them; 
 but the people magnified them, and believers 
 were the more added, * * multitudes both 
 of men and women. * * And the multitude 
 of them that believed were of one heart and 
 one soul; neither said any of them that aught 
 of the things which he possessed was his 
 own, but they had all things common." 
 
 We learn, too, from the same account, that 
 the apostles carried this work beyond the local 
 community actually established at Jerusalem, 
 and applied the principle to dealings with their 
 brethren in other parts of the world; that is, 
 there was a partial application of the commun- 
 istic principle to localities where the community 
 was not yet established, though doubtless in 
 contemplation of the complete establishment of 
 the community everywhere. It is related that 
 "the disciples, every one according to his ability, 
 determined to send relief unto the brethren 
 which dwell in Judea; which also they did, and 
 sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas 
 and Saul;" showing, at least, that the disciples 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 121 
 
 were united in their money interests, as well as 
 in their political and religious faith. 
 
 We find, subsequently, when it was thought 
 that the principle was not faithfully carried out, 
 that a trouble arose, as there always will among 
 communists who in their ultra radicalness and 
 independent individuality of thought can never 
 largely or long agree, but will have each his 
 irreconcilable views and system to tenaciously 
 maintain. Some of the Greek widows, it seems, 
 complained because of partiality shown, so that 
 the work had to be further subdivided, as is 
 always necessary with an increase of dimensions 
 and complications in a community. Elders were 
 accordingly appointed and installed to look more 
 particularly after such matters; for, the apos- 
 tles said, "It is not meet that we should leave 
 the Word of God and serve tables." In fact the 
 Acts of the Apostles shows that about all the 
 difficulties, and measures to meet the difficulties, 
 took place, that ordinarily do in a modern social- 
 istic community; although all things as far as 
 possible were regulated on the principle above 
 stated. 
 
 The next idea of a community is so to organ- 
 
122 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 ize the people therein, that the requisite equality 
 of all shall be secured, and at the same time 
 that all the people shall work at some useful 
 occupation, according to their capacity and 
 qualifications, all serving and all getting served, 
 without any menial degradation on the part of 
 any. 
 
 In all the communities hitherto attempted, the 
 work has, with this view, been so apportioned 
 that each could pursue such occupation as suited 
 him; one agriculture, another gardening, another 
 medicine; some being chosen to official positions 
 for a limited term, such as president, treasurer 
 or head of a department, and yet all be eligible 
 to all places as the majority should appoint, 
 without any rank, title or exclusive privilege for 
 any, and without compelling, more than is nec- 
 essary, any one to pursue an occupation for 
 which he has no liking, but dividing up the 
 undesirable work among all equally. 
 
 We say something like this has always been 
 attempted, and this was attempted in the com- 
 munity of the early Christians. The general 
 principle is clearly set forth in the utterances of 
 Jesus already quoted; where, when there was a 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 123 
 
 strife among them which should be the greatest 
 in this new kingdom, He said: "The kings of 
 the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and 
 they that exercise authority over them are called 
 benefactors. But ye shall not be so, but he that 
 is greatest among you let him be as the younger, 
 and he that is chief as he that doth serve. For 
 whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat or he 
 that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at meat? 
 But I the principal, the Cabet, the Pythagoras, 
 the Zinzendorf am among you as one that 
 serveth.'* And elsewhere He says, "He that 
 would be greatest among you let him be the 
 servant of all. " 
 
 Though their tasks and positions may be 
 different, and those ot some be more desirable 
 than those of others, He said to them, "Ye are 
 all brethren." "One soweth and another reap- 
 eth;" one does one work, and another another, 
 but still they are all children of the same social 
 family; sons, not servants; members of the same 
 household, heirs and joint heirs with Christ to 
 the whole kingdom, rulers, kings, priests any- 
 thing whatever with promises of crowns and 
 thrones and starred diadems, but still workers, 
 
124 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 ministers, laborers in His vineyard, stewards of 
 His household, and all "workmen that need not 
 be ashamed." 
 
 And though to one he gave ten talents, and to 
 another five, and to another two and to another 
 one, and although consequently one did ten times, 
 and another five times, and another two times 
 as much work, according to their respective 
 capacities, physical and intellectual, yet all are 
 to have the same social position and rights. If 
 some are given more responsible work than 
 others to do, it is only because they are deemed 
 more capable of doing it; each one working 
 according to his ability, and receiving according 
 to his wants, in which the great worker may be 
 the little wanter, and in which all reap where 
 they bestowed no labor; the great and the strong 
 thus taking care of the weak, rather than making 
 the weak take care of them, as in the individual 
 system. 
 
 Responsible and able men are to be put in the 
 chief places, but only as servants and stewards 
 for the benefit of the rest. "Who, then," says 
 Christ, "is that faithful and wise steward whom 
 his lord shall make ruler over his household to 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 125 
 
 give them their portion of meat in due season? 
 Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he 
 cometh, shall find so doing. Of a truth I say 
 unto you he will make him ruler over all that he 
 hath. * * For unto whomsoever much is 
 given much will be required, and to whom men 
 have committed much they will ask more." 
 
 And when they have done all, He says, they 
 deserve no special gratitude, and will get no 
 special reward, for they have only done their 
 duty, it being their duty from the very fact that 
 they could do it, or, as He elsewhere puts it: 
 "Doth he" the master "thank that servant 
 because he did the things that were commanded 
 him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye 
 have done all those things which are commanded 
 you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have 
 done that which was our duty to do." 
 
 The great will therefore be the servants of the 
 least; and the chief of all, the Master Himself, 
 "will gird Himself, and make them sit down to 
 meat and will come forth and serve them." 
 
 We have already quoted Christ's character- 
 ization of the inequality practiced in the outside 
 world, which He places in contrast with the equal- 
 
126 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 ity that is to be practiced in His kingdom. 
 "But which of you," He asks, referring to the 
 manner of life outside of the community, "hav- 
 ing a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say 
 unto him, by and by, when he is come from the 
 field, Go and sit down to meat; and will not 
 rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I 
 may sup, and gird thyself and serve me till I 
 have eaten and drunken, and afterwards thou 
 shalt eat and drink ? " But in the new kingdom, 
 on the other hand, there is to be no such priority. 
 Though the work of both classes is to be done, it 
 will be done by all without any distinction be- 
 tween the high and the low. Instead of the pre- 
 vious disparity between the server and the 
 served, "the Master Himself," He says, "will 
 gird Himself and make them sit down to meat, 
 and will come forth and serve them." In other 
 words, according to Christ, the old method will 
 be reversed. The servants will be the served, 
 and the Master will be their waiter. 
 
 St. James, in speaking of this equality, says, 
 touching the new state of things, " My brethren, 
 have not the faith * * * with respect of 
 persons. For if there come unto your assem- 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 127 
 
 bly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, 
 and there come in also a poor man in vile rai- 
 ment, and ye have respect to him that weareth 
 the gay clothes, and say unto him, Sit down 
 there in a good place, and say to the poor, Stand 
 thou there, or, Sit here under my foot-stool, are 
 ye not then partial in yourselves, and are be- 
 come judges of evil thoughts?" And He further 
 adds, condemning the former ascendancy of the 
 rich, which is now to be changed. "Hearken, my 
 beloved brethren. Hath not God chosen the 
 poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the 
 kingdom which He hath promised to them that 
 love Him ? But ye have despised the poor Do 
 not rich men oppress you and draw you before the 
 judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that 
 worthy name by which ye are called ? If ye ful- 
 fill the royal law according to the scripture, 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do 
 well. But if ye have respect to persons ye com- 
 mit sin and are convinced of the law as trans- 
 gressors." 
 
 2. DUTIES AND RESTRAINTS Such are, in 
 general, the principles of communism, arid such 
 were the utterances and acts of Christ and His 
 
128 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 followers calculated to inculcate these principles 
 and render them intelligible in their fullness of 
 meaning. It was not enough, however, to adopt 
 such principles and cause them to be adopted by 
 His followers. It was necessary to translate them 
 into fact, actualizing the idea in the de facto com- 
 munity. Christ, accordingly r gave practical ad- 
 vice and direction for work, as well as theories and 
 promises for belief. He encouraged diligence, 
 responsibility, prudence and whatever else was 
 required in the task of establishing or success- 
 fully carrying out these ideals. After inculca- 
 ting, therefore, the doctrines mentioned and urg- 
 ing their acceptance in all their implications, 
 He distinguished between the theory and the ser- 
 vice to be rendered, a difference which was 
 subsequently transformed into that of the theo- 
 logical distinction between faith and works. 
 
 First, then, He calls on His followers, like 
 Baboeuf and Cabet, to work and not profess 
 only; to show their love for the community by 
 laboring for it and in it and not merely by talk- 
 ing about it. "Not every one," He says, "that 
 saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
 kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 129 
 
 of my Father which is in Heaven." It was the 
 tendency of communists, then as now, to loudly 
 profess and admire the community, but not to 
 be willing to work hard to bring it about or to 
 make it successful when in it. "If any man," 
 says Christ, "will come after me, let him deny 
 himself and take up his cross," showing his faith 
 by his works, and his sincerity by his fruits. 
 
 He wants no drones in His cause or in His 
 community; none who seek a subsistence while 
 shirking their duty the common bane of modern 
 communities. He cursed the barren fig tree as 
 a type of the fate of all such parasites, who 
 enter merely for the loaves and fishes, and are a 
 dead weight on the industrious. "Every branch 
 that bringeth not forth good fruit He taketh 
 away." The unprofitable servant He orders to 
 be cast into outer darkness. 
 
 He distinguishes between the hearers and the 
 doers of the Word. They that only hear and 
 accept His sayings and system are compared in 
 their efforts to construct a community, to a fool- 
 ish man who built his house upon the sand. 
 "And the rain descended and the floods came, 
 and the winds blew and beat upon that house, 
 
 Socialism of Christ 9 
 
i 3 o SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 and it fell; and great was the fall of it." But 
 those who both accept and carry out His princi- 
 ples, are compared to a wise man who built his 
 house upon a rock. " And the rain descended, 
 and the floods came, and the winds blew and 
 beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was 
 founded upon a rock." 
 
 He likewise compares those who receive His 
 Word, or system, to seed sown; those who 
 accept it in time of peace and ease, and give it 
 up in trouble and work, to seed that falls among 
 thorns, which the thorns soon choke; and those 
 that accept it without thought, and carry it no 
 further than the mere acceptance, to seed that falls 
 where there is no depth of earth, and so springs 
 up, or is adopted, merely because there is no 
 depth of earth (as most communists now accept 
 their system, who adopt it simply because it 
 requires nothing but a little thought to do so,) 
 but wither away when the heat and scorching 
 sun of labor and trial come. 
 
 Christ wants all to work, because on work 
 depends the mutual support of all, and the suc- 
 cess of the community. He recalls His disciples 
 constantly to the fundamental principle of the 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 131 
 
 community, that one soweth and another reapeth; 
 and reminds them that they themselves have 
 been the recipients of the work of others. "I 
 sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no 
 labor; other men labored, and ye are entered 
 into their labors. Ye ought, therefore, to work 
 and not to faint." "Work," He again says, 
 "while it is called day; for the night cometh 
 when no man can work; " in other words, work 
 while you can, and let others do so; for the time 
 will come to all when, in sickness or old age, 
 they must be maintained as a burden by the work 
 of others. Earn therefore your place, and "let 
 every man bear his own burden," and so, on the 
 whole, "bear ye one another's burdens." 
 
 As another inducement to diligence a reward 
 is held out to be given according to the work 
 done. This is the promise always made to revo- 
 lutionists, whether in the interest of a kingdom, 
 a republic, or a community. The pretender 
 promises titles, rank, ministerial offices, gener- 
 alships, spoils, and other preferments, according 
 to the bravery and successful work of his fol- 
 lowers. So we are informed by Christ that "the 
 
132 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 Son of Man shall come and reward every one 
 according to his works." 
 
 In a community where all ranks and distinc- 
 tions are to be abolished, the rewards offered 
 are, of course, to be only such as are possible 
 under such circumstances, namely, the honora- 
 ble and responsible positions in the administra- 
 tion of the community to rule over ten cities, 
 or five cities, or two cities, according to the as- 
 pirant's ability, such ability (as in St, Simon's 
 community) to be estimated according to his 
 works. For in all communities it is proposed, 
 while keeping all persons equal, to yet reward 
 merit. Cabet, in his Icarian system, provided 
 prizes for discoveries, inventions, and other great 
 services; while the rest insist that their fellow citi- 
 zens will naturally reward all worthy persons by 
 elevation to the highest offices and most desirable 
 places; so that men of talent and attainments will 
 fill the presidency, the secretaryship, and the place 
 of teacher, while the less ambitious and less ser- 
 viceable will occupy the common laborer's place. 
 "For unto every one that hath, to him shall be 
 given and he shall have more abundantly, and 
 from him that hath not shall be taken away even 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 133 
 
 that he hath. " And "With what measure ye mete 
 it shall be meted to you again." 
 
 Christ illustrates His idea on this subject by the 
 parable of "a certain nobleman who went into 
 a far country to receive for himself a kingdom; " 
 or, as it is elsewhere related, "The kingdom of 
 Heaven is as a man traveling into a far country 
 who called his own servants and delivered unto 
 them his goods. And unto one he gave five tal- 
 ents, to another two, and to another one, to 
 every man according to his several ability, say- 
 ing, Occupy till I come. * * And it came to 
 pass that when he was returned, having received 
 the kingdom, then he commanded these servants 
 to be called to him, * * when he that had 
 received five talents came and brought five other 
 talents, and he that had received two talents 
 came and brought two other talents," and each 
 received the approbation of his lord: "Well 
 done good and faithful servant ; thou hast 
 been faithful over a few things, I will make thee 
 ruler over many things ; enter thou into the joy 
 of thy lord. " And so one was made ruler over 
 ten cities, and the other over five cities, accord- 
 ing to their respective ability and work. And 
 
134 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 the man who did not improve his talent, lost it, 
 and lost also his future opportunity, his talent 
 passing to him that had ten talents. And when 
 he justified himself on the ground that in the 
 community one takes up where he laid not down, 
 and reaps where he did not sow, the answer is, 
 "Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knew- 
 est that I reap where I sowed not, and gather 
 where I have not strewed ; " and an order is 
 given to "cast the unprofitable servant out," to 
 take his chances in individualism. 
 
 Christ further enforces the idea that one in po- 
 sition, as well as one out of it, if he does well, 
 shall be promoted and go up higher, and if he 
 does badly, shall be put down; thus "setting up 
 one and putting down another." " Who then," 
 He asks, in speaking on this subject, "is that 
 faithful and wise servant whom his lord hath 
 made ruler over his household to give them 
 meat in due season? Blessed is that servant 
 whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so 
 doing. Verily, I say unto you, he shall make him 
 ruler over all his goods." And, in contrast with 
 this, He says, "But, and if that evil servant 
 
 * * shall begin to smite his fellow-servants. 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 135 
 
 and to eat and drink with the drunken, the 
 lord of that servant shall come * * and ap- 
 point him his portion with the hypocrites." 
 
 And thus, in general, Christ, after He had suf- 
 ficiently aroused His people, and instructed them 
 on the necessity and advantages of a commu- 
 nity, called their attention to its practical work. 
 He reminded them in particular of the fact that 
 the work of destruction and radicalism was but 
 temporary, and would soon be over, and that the 
 work of founding and building up the new system 
 would principally engage their attention. He 
 came, He said, not to destroy but to fulfill the 
 law, and intended, in the end, to "restore all 
 things." 
 
 He therefore wanted in His followers not only 
 braves and warriors, but workmen and laborers, 
 men not only to fight and propagate, but to toil 
 and produce; somebody to sweat as well as to 
 bleed. He made a special call for laborers in 
 His vineyard, men for the plentiful harvest which 
 was ripe for the sickle. The social temple 
 thrown down was to be rebuilt, the earth which 
 was to pass away was to be followed by a new 
 one, the titled and the dignitaries the aristoc- 
 
136 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 racy and the officers which were to disappear, 
 were to be replaced by an equally diligent 
 company of new and faithful men in every 
 department of life. 
 
 Thus, therefore, in various ways, was the idea 
 of communism and its duties developed by 
 Christ and His followers, until every important 
 phase of the subject was illustrated and enforced. 
 
 Thus far, however, all was positive. The 
 projected community was, as yet, only theoreti- 
 cal, and while it remained unrealized the expec- 
 tations were great, the schemes unlimited, and 
 the principles and measures extreme. As is 
 always the case with the positive part of such a 
 work with the instilling of the idea and the 
 propagation much is said and done that runs 
 into the ridiculous and impractical. The people 
 being called to a radical and revolutionary work, 
 and encouraged by extravagant promises, are 
 necessarily carried to extremes. 
 
 Accordingly the next work of Christ and of 
 the leaders of this communism, is to recall the 
 people to the practical to moderate their wishes 
 and expectations, and to restrain themselves 
 within the bounds of common prudence and com- 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 137 
 
 mon sense. Communism has always gone first 
 to extremes in projecting the unabridged ideal 
 and desire, and then been restrained within the 
 possible in order to get itself into practical 
 operation. Accordingly we find a gradually 
 developed series of checks to radicalism and a 
 subsequent letting down of the high ideal to a 
 more practical level, with the consequent disap- 
 pointment of the more radical and sanguine. 
 
 First, after having given the impression, 
 whether intentional or not, that there would be 
 no marriage in the new community or king- 
 dom, but that the people would live in a sort of 
 concubinage, or free love, Christ indicates that 
 the existing social relations will not be disturbed, 
 and in particular that marriage will be kept in- 
 tact. For He had at first told His hearers that in 
 the new kingdom the people would neither marry 
 nor be given in marriage, which was construed 
 to point to a state like that of Plato's community 
 of women, or like the similar system proposed by 
 St. Simon and some other modern socialists, 
 which has been put in actual operation in the 
 Oneida community and, to a small extent, among 
 certain spiritualists. The women, it was thought, 
 
138 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 were all to belong to all men, which would be the 
 solution of the sex problem in Christ's community. 
 For, as every system of socialism has had to 
 deal with this subject, that of Christ could not es- 
 cape its consideration. As therefore Plato pro- 
 posed a community of women, Mohammet a limi- 
 ted plurality of wives, the Essenes and modern 
 Shakers an abolition of marriage and of all substi- 
 tutes for it, the French communists their various 
 systems of libertinism, and the Mormons their 
 unlimited extension of the marriage relation, 
 Christ appeared to fall in with the general enthusi- 
 asm on the subject, and to adopt something 
 
 t , 
 
 like Platonic love. 
 
 I say He at first appeared to do so. His rela- 
 tions with the family were certainly not of the 
 ordinary kind. He acknowledged no paternal 
 ancestors or authority. He was deemed by many 
 a bastard, ' ' one born out of due time, " a Melchiza- 
 dek ' ' without father. " He did not call His mother 
 mother, or recognize His brothers and sisters as 
 having the usual family claims upon Him, but 
 He said instead, ' 'Whosoever doeth the will of my 
 Father which is in Heaven, the same is my mother, 
 my sister and my brother/' He called Himself the 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 139 
 
 Son of Man, not of any particular man, but of man 
 in general. As He knew no lines of nations or 
 tribes, He appeared to know none of family. 
 He never spoke of family or home affec- 
 tions, or mentioned any of His relatives; 
 He never gave commands to love parents, 
 children, brothers or sisters; but, on the other 
 hand, He says, "If any man come to me and 
 hate not his father, mother, wife, and chil- 
 dren and brothers and sisters, he cannot be my 
 disciple." He did not Himself appear to have 
 any special tenderness for His parents, or to care 
 for their concern about Him; but told them that 
 they ought to know that He must be about His 
 Father's business. Though He often spoke of His 
 father, He never meant by that term Joseph, but 
 one who was the father of all the race. He appeared 
 to teachHis disciples to turn away from their earth- 
 ly parents, as from kings, and to say " Our Father 
 which art in Heaven. " And in speaking to others 
 He often mentioned their Heavenly Father, 
 but never their earthly fathers. He had, in 
 short, no antecedents and no history that 
 showed Him specially in sympathy with the 
 marriage system; and hence He not unnaturally 
 
140 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 was taken to be in favor of a new social order in 
 this respect. 
 
 But though Jesus had apparently held out 
 this idea of the abolition of marriage, and of exist- 
 ing institutions in general, it was more apparent 
 than real, and He subsequently returned to a more 
 conservative position, resolving, like many 
 of the later and more moderate communists such 
 as Cabet and Louis Blanc to preserve the mar- 
 riage relation. In restraint of their radicalism, 
 He accordingly tells His followers that in the new 
 kingdom the old state will, in this respect, be main- 
 tained;that when that time and that state come, the 
 people will be eating, and drinking, and marry- 
 ing, and giving in marriage, as in Noah's time; 
 that women will be at their work in the house 
 and on the house-top, and that they will not be 
 disturbed; that they will be grinding at the mill 
 and performing other suitable duties, like the 
 men, and not be called on to leave them. 
 
 And not only so, but He would make the bonds 
 of matrimony even tighter. He did not approve 
 of the easy divorce laws of the Romans, or 
 even of the more stringent ones of the Jews. 
 Stick to your wife, He said, and, if you leave her, 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 141 
 
 keep away from other women as your punishment. 
 He had always been extreme in requiring chast- 
 ity, giving no countenance to adultery, fornica- 
 tion or even impure thoughts; whether from a 
 Shaker opposition to all associations with women, 
 or from a desire to keep one to one. But now He 
 clearly showed Himself to be most conservative 
 on the marriage relation. His reproof of the 
 woman of Samaria who had had seven husbands 
 is evidence of this, as He did not regard her 
 present husband as any husband at all. This 
 monogamic opinion of Christ was, no doubt, His 
 permanent conviction, as it was expressed early 
 and late in His ministry;and the fact of an apparent 
 vacillation or inconsistency on the subject, was 
 due rather to the variety of views among com- 
 munists, and to the speculations of His followers 
 in particular, than to any lack of conviction or 
 decisive preference on His part. 
 
 For many of these issues and aims of Christ 
 are due rather to the pressure of the subject 
 in which He embarked, than to His own individ- 
 ual thoughts. He was, in the course of His work, 
 called onto consider many subjects which always 
 accompany such enterprises in which he had no 
 
142 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 special interest, but which, since He could not 
 avoid them, He had to dispose of. They may, 
 nevertheless, be carefully separated from His 
 main purpose and principles. Christ was on all 
 subjects prudent and moderate. If the traditions 
 of His cause, and the impetuosity of His disciples 
 carried His work into uncongenial connections 
 and apparent contradictions, He always brought 
 it back in time, and corrected, as far as was 
 possible, the false impressions. 
 
 Another subject on which Jesus found it 
 necessary to give His followers conservative 
 advice, was their internal divisions. Here, as in 
 all socialistic and communistic movements, the 
 apostles and Christians became too independent 
 and individualistic for the realization of their own 
 schemes. Communists have never been practical, 
 and therefore the proposed communities have 
 never succeeded. Nearly everybody has wanted 
 to have his own way, even to the minutest par- 
 ticulars, and most would prefer to fail in all rather 
 than yield a part. There has generally been, 
 among a hundred communists, a hundred systems 
 of communism as many ideals as there have been 
 idealists. Communism being a theory drawn 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 143 
 
 from the imaginati on, and not from experience 
 a protest against existing states aud institutions 
 in favor of untried ones it could not be otherwise 
 than tentative, and as self-conflicting as the differ- 
 ent thoughts of which it is the product. 
 
 The socialists have always been the irrecon- 
 cilables in the state, the opposition in politics, 
 and the "outs" in government. They have 
 learned how to fight, but not to do much else; 
 to tear down, but not to build up; to overturn 
 (whether systems, dynasties or institutions,) but 
 not to establish anything instead. An example 
 of this we have in the burning of churches, pala- 
 ces and cities in the French revolution, and in 
 the general destruction wrought by the late Com- 
 mune of Paris. As soon as one had a system, 
 even of communism, the others, seeing its defects, 
 began to fight it and pull it down. Trained by 
 long practice to hunting out and magnifying the 
 defects of the old systems, they could not be 
 expected to overlook or excuse those (often of a 
 like kind) that attached to their own ideal as soon 
 as brought out into clearness by attempts at 
 actual construction. 
 
 Accordingly, among the early Christians, as 
 
144 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 among all subsequent and preceding commun- 
 ists, there was a severer and more constant con- 
 flict between themselves than against their 
 enemies. The early Christians were divided 
 into many sects and parties, and their divisions 
 have always been found irreconcilable. They 
 disputed sometimes on doctrines and sometimes 
 on policies. Their principal differences regarded 
 the Church or Community, just as now there is a 
 conflict among Christians over "the Church," 
 although they give a different meaning to the 
 word " Church." 
 
 For the early church or " communion of saints" 
 " the ekklessia" or organization of the faith- 
 ful was, at first, nothing but a socialistic 
 organization ^society or community of believers 
 the "household of faith," "the congregation" 
 or "general assembly" in short, a democratic 
 gathering of the whole. We have already seen 
 that they had at first their goods in common, 
 and various other features of an organized 
 socialistic and political body. 
 
 This organization or union of Christians, or 
 church, has been, I say, a fruitful source of con- 
 flict, just as all schemes for the realization of a 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 145 
 
 community have been. Every few years, and 
 often many times in the same year, parties 
 became dissatisfied and broke off, forming in 
 each case an organization or church more to 
 their liking, with a new theory and new policy 
 of a church, or, in theological parlance, with a 
 new creed and new polity. And the impulse, I 
 may add, which the spirit of communism gave 
 to the early Christians, has continued till now, 
 even when the old causes for it no longer exist; 
 for among modern Christians there are as many 
 sects as among modern socialists; and most of 
 the differences, as I have said, have arisen on 
 the question of the Church what it is, what is 
 its form of organization, its terms of membership, 
 its officers, its procedures, etc.; one church 
 accusing, excluding and condemning the others, 
 and fighting more against other branches than 
 againt the common enemy, or non-Christian 
 world. For churchmen have always fought 
 more, and done more harm to, each other, than 
 to the world; always fighting among themselves, 
 and, until lately, persecuting and even destroy- 
 ing one another. 
 Seeing this disposition manifesting itself early 
 
 Socialism of Christ 10 
 
146 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 In the Christian community, Jesus directed His 
 conservative wisdom against it. He tried to 
 make His followers live together in peace not- 
 withstanding their differences; to harmonize their 
 actions by not insisting unduly on their indi- 
 vidual peculiarities; to cultivate brotherly love 
 and forbearance, instead of uncompromising in- 
 dividualism. 
 
 This is one of the requisites of positive and 
 constructive work, as against radical demolition. 
 " Every kingdom," He says, "divided against 
 itself is brought to destruction, and a house di- 
 vided against itself falleth." Many, He pre- 
 dicts, will be offended; and, as if foreseeing the 
 difficulties of His own system, He says, "Ye 
 shall all be offended because of me." His ex- 
 perience was to be like that of M. Cabet, 
 against whom his followers revolted immediately 
 after establishing his community at Nauvoo; and 
 like that of Robespierre, Danton, Enfantin and 
 Baboeuf, who all received bad treatment from 
 their followers on commencing their constructive 
 work. " Republics," says an adage, "are un- 
 grateful;" and certainly every communistic leader 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 147 
 
 has met an inglorious defeat, if nothing worse, 
 at the hands of his followers. 
 
 Paul, who followed Christ, and did the construc- 
 tive work of Christianity, had to give constant ad- 
 vice on this subject, urging the early Christians to 
 forbearance and charity, asking them to prefer 
 one another and be reconciled, and especially to 
 submit their differences to the whole. Now 
 he reproved Peter, now Alexander the cop- 
 persmith, now some local church disturber, 
 and now the community in general. The peo- 
 ple, he thought, were too much broken up into 
 parties, and followed too readily favorite leaders 
 and systems. One, he complained, was for 
 Paul, another for Apollos, and another for Ce- 
 phas; one for a Jewish and another for a Gentile 
 community; one set for holding onto their money, 
 and another in dispute over general funds for 
 widows; so that much of his work was aimed at 
 getting the people to drop their individual pref- 
 erences and follow obediently the church, or ma- 
 jority of the brethren. 
 
 Another object of conservative advice much 
 needed by the communists, was in restraint of 
 violence. It has never been difficult to make 
 
148 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 the communists revolutionary enough, or to dis- 
 pose them to do the work of destruction; but it 
 has always been difficult to get them to stop 
 when they have done enough, and to observe 
 moderation in their course of ruin. The burning 
 of cities, palaces and religious buildings, the 
 destruction of people and of private property 
 iconoclasm, regicide and similar devastation 
 has been the work which has always marked 
 their reign of terror. The consciousness of their 
 former wrongs, their inexperience in practical 
 management, their untutored and unrefined char- 
 acter as laboring men and poor miscreants, nat- 
 urally led them to this. 
 
 Christ, accordingly, like every other leader of 
 such bodies, was compelled to recall them fre- 
 quently to proper bounds in their wrath. I have 
 already cited several examples of their violence 
 or contemplated violence ; "examples not unlike 
 those of the recent French Commune. We have 
 no instance of Christ' s approval of this, although 
 recognizing and prophesying concerning it as an 
 unavoidable accompaniment of His work. But 
 we have many instances of His reproving and 
 restraining it. When the apostles James and 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 149 
 
 John, for example, asked that He destroy certain 
 Samaritans who would not receive them favora- 
 bly, He answered, "Ye know not what spirit ye 
 are of. The Son of Man is come not to destroy 
 men's lives, but to save them." So also He com- 
 manded Peter, when he wanted to fight, to put 
 up his sword, saying, " They that take the 
 sword shall perish with the sword. " He told the 
 soldiers to -''do violence to no man.'* He so 
 restrained the wonted violence of the communists, 
 in short, that His followers, thinking He was not 
 in sympathy with their cause as a leader, asked 
 whether He was the anointed or not. 
 
 And thus in various ways, not only in inciting 
 the people to their duty as socialists, but also 
 in putting on them the necessary restraints of 
 practical wisdom, did Jesus show Himself the 
 great popular leader, His cause the social cause, 
 and His followers the ordinary socialistic ele- 
 ments. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 MONARCHICAL REACTION 
 
 We come next to the monarchical element in 
 the early Christian cause. For, in every great 
 political movement, whether in the interest of 
 the people or of the rulers, and whether in that 
 of the poor or of the rich, there is a monarchical 
 faction or tendency. A revolution, though in 
 general a socialistic, democratic or republican 
 one, is always somewhat affected by the very 
 principles or prejudices which it antagonizes. 
 This is due partly to the fact that men are hardly 
 ever pure examples of either one or the other 
 party into which the people are divided on such 
 occasions; so that no matter which side of a 
 question they espouse, they still have lingering 
 
 relics of sympathy for the other side; partly to 
 150 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 151 
 
 the fact that in a contest of opinions they are 
 somewhat convinced or modified by the argu- 
 ments and general force of their opponents; 
 partly to the fact that some get by force of cir- 
 cumstances on the side on which, constitutionally 
 or by education, they do not belong, and still 
 again partly to the fact that they espouse a cause 
 not fully, but only in general, going but part of 
 the length of their partisans. 
 
 I say that there is, accordingly, in every popu- 
 lar movement a monarchical element. Some of 
 the people believe like the Orleanists, that their 
 revolutionary interests will best be promoted 
 under a king and nobility; others have no politi 
 cal sentiments whatever, and conceive of nothing 
 but the old regime, others are only moderately 
 radical, and look for reform without revolution, 
 others are ambitious and treacherous and will 
 espouse any cause that promises to save their 
 selfish interests, and others again change in the 
 very course of the contest itself, whether from 
 ill success, or despair ot their ideal. 
 
 We thus find in the French Revolution an 
 event pregnant with all the phases of the popu- 
 lar revolutionary character that there were 
 
152 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 monarchists not only among the opponents of 
 the revolutionists, but among the revolutionists 
 themselves, so that their forces were divided, 
 and part of the conflict was waged against itself. 
 Persons entrusted with power in the interest of 
 the people used it for themselves; there grew up 
 an aristocracy of the revolutionary elements; the 
 leaders made themselves quasi princes. Robes- 
 pierre became dictator, Napoleon I, the repub- 
 lican leader, turned against his cause and made 
 himself emperor, as Cromwell did in the English 
 Revolution, and as Kossuth proposed to do in 
 that of Hungary. The same was done in the 
 revolution of 1830, when Louis Philippe 
 ascended the throne, and in that of 1848 when 
 the republican president installed himself in 
 imperial power as Napoleon III. 
 
 So it was in the early Christian movement. 
 Although the cause of Christ was that of the 
 people, in the interest of the people, and in favor 
 of popular sovereignty, there was yet a conserva- 
 tive element observable from the beginning, and 
 a retrograde movement developed with the pro- 
 gress of the cause. Some who espoused the 
 Christian interest gave only moderate adherence 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 153 
 
 to Christ's doctrines, others, though the move- 
 ment was social and republican, were sincerely 
 monarchical, and others still experienced a change 
 of opinion and policy with the progress of the* 
 cause, as I have just explained. 
 
 Jesus Himself was at first strongly demo- 
 cratic and republican, and this seemed to 
 be His sincere conviction throughout. But sub- 
 sequently, with the adulation of His followers and 
 His complete mastery over them, He appeared to 
 conceive ambitious projects, or at least to listen 
 to others who did so for Him. From having 
 been the champion and leader of the people He 
 came to be their master and ruler. To the 
 astonishment of the people He gradually com- 
 menced to speak "as one having authority," and 
 was at last led, it was supposed, to contemplate 
 a coup d'etat, or the making of Himself a king. 
 
 The throne of David had long been vacant, 
 the Jews with the memory of their ancient great- 
 ness, were discontented under their Roman sub- 
 jection; He could with a little straining prov2 
 Himself to be in the line of the kings of Israel, 
 in short, from the complete ascendancy He had 
 gained over the people, the way seemed clear to 
 
154 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 make Himself a king, and not only a king, but a 
 deliverer of the people; the one foretold in the 
 legends of His race, < 'the Christ, " < 'the Anointed, " 
 "the son of David," "the offspring of Jehovah." 
 
 I say this idea seems to have been gradually 
 developed in the mind of Christ as it was urged 
 upon Him by His followers. For still more 
 strongly than in Christ, do we see this idea 
 growing in the minds of the people, until at last 
 they conceive of Him as a king, or royal pre- 
 tender. Finally, He came out Himself openly as 
 a claimant for royal honors, pretending to be 
 the King ot the Jews and the successor of David, 
 and in this capacity, like Henri" of Bourbon in 
 France, He threw around Him His insignia of 
 authority, spoke of His kingdom, His laws, 
 His subjects and His future universal empire, 
 of which there should be no end. 
 
 I say it came to this at last. We find, how- 
 ever, as already intimated, that the seeds of 
 this were in His cause from the first; and that 
 all through His career they may be traced; 
 sometimes germinating and bearing promise, and 
 sometimes only coming feebly forth to be re- 
 pulsed by the general republican sympathy of 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 155 
 
 the movement. Often the monarchical cause 
 gained strength by a misinterpretation of the 
 words of Jesus, and often by an incorrect report 
 of His utterances. But whatever the cause, the 
 monarchical element, or the thought that was 
 fixed on Christ as a .monarch, was a power in the 
 early Christian movement, i shall, therefore, 
 next trace the main features of this element. 
 
 I observe, then, in the first place, that the 
 followers of Jesus were taught to expect a king- 
 dom, in which He would be the king. He speaks 
 of it as " my kingdom," " the kingdom which my 
 Father will give, " "the kingdom of God, " "the 
 kingdom of Israel, " "the kingdom restored > '' and 
 "the everlasting kingdom." All the prophecies 
 of the old testament concerning a kingdom for 
 the Jews He interprets, or His followers for Him, 
 as applying to this new kingdom, and all the 
 Jewish expectations of a kingdom were taken ad- 
 vantage of to persuade the people that the pop- 
 ular expectations were fulfilled in Him. 
 
 For it is well known that a kingdom was ex- 
 pected; whether actually anticipated before the 
 coming of Christ, or only an afterthought ante- 
 dated from the actual kingdom then advocated. 
 
156 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 A kingdom was expected at the time and ev- 
 erything that Christ did was interpreted in a sense 
 compatible therewith. Impatiently the disciples 
 asked: "Wilt thou again restore the kingdom," 
 or bring about a monarchy? "Wilt thou now 
 restore unto us the kingdom of Israel ? " He 
 taught His disciples, as part of their universal 
 prayer, to ask for this kingdom. " Thy kingdom 
 come;" and for this kingdom they understood 
 that they were to work. He taught them also 
 to say; " For thine is the kingdom, and the 
 power, and the glory/' in other words, to ac- 
 knowledge in Him all royal prerogative. And 
 to this prayer He taught them to say, as already 
 observed, Amen so let it be as an ejaculation 
 in favor of royalty. 
 
 For these prayers and these expectations, what- 
 ever significance they may have had in the mind 
 of Christ, or may have to Christians now, 
 meant to the people, or at least to the monar- 
 chists among them, a prayer for,, and expectation 
 of, an ordinary kingdom; a kingdom like that of 
 England or Russia, and not some ethereal or in- 
 definite thing in another world, of which in their 
 ignorance they could then have no conception. 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 157 
 
 There was a kingdom demanded, if not by Christ, 
 at least by some of His followers; demanded, no 
 doubt, partly in opposition to the provincial or 
 ducal government of the country under Rome, 
 and partly as a reaction against the republican 
 and revolutionary sentiment which aimed to 
 sweep away the old political order. 
 
 Accordingly, we find Christ, like all pretenders, \ 
 claiming the necessary attendants and insignia 
 of royalty. First of all He claimed for Himself 
 a royal birth; or rather, His disciples claimed it 
 for Him. For no sooner is it determined to 
 achieve for Him a crown, than He is set forth as 
 the legitimate heir of David, the head of the 
 house of Israel and of Judah, entitled by descent 
 to rule that country and people. In other words 
 He claimed by regular succession and divine 
 right, like the Count de Chamborde of France, 
 and like every thorough legitimist of modern 
 Europe. 
 
 As, therefore, the soldier Caesar, who, when 
 he once reached the throne, or felt he was destined 
 to rule, traced back his lineage to Aeneas the 
 King of Troy; and as the Corsican peasant 
 Napoleon, when he came to be emperor, did, 
 
158 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 for his better security, look beyond his humble 
 parentage, and trace his line to an ancient 
 Gallic king, so Jesus, a carpenter's and peasant's 
 boy, when He was seen to be destined for the 
 throne, had hunted up for Him a royal paren- 
 tage. 
 
 We, accordingly, find the evangelists tracing 
 back His line to David and the kings of the Old 
 Testament. And, to make assurances doubly 
 sure, one evangelist traces back His maternal and 
 the other His legal descent, so that He 
 shall be seen to have both .the blood 
 and the inheritance of David. Matthew, 
 therefore, for the Jews, gives His paternal line 
 and title, and Luke for the Gentiles His natural 
 one. For, having somewhat overshot their 
 mark in claiming for Him a divine birth, His 
 followers, (being estopped from claiming a 
 hereditary title on the father's side, and com- 
 pelled to content themselves with one on the 
 mother's side only), took advantage of Joseph's 
 marriage with His mother to allege a title by 
 adoption. 
 
 Paul in a speech to a body of Jews at Antioch, 
 traced, with special reference to Christ's title, the 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 159 
 
 history of the Jewish people, from the beginning 
 to that time, showing that Jesus was in the regu- 
 lar line of their kings, and the promised Savior, 
 who should be the deliverer and aggrandizer of 
 Israel. After reminding them that their fathers 
 had given the republic a long and fair trial, that 
 for four hundred and fifty years they had had 
 judges, and that they afterwards desired a king, 
 He says, "God gave unto them Saul * * a 
 man of the tribe of Benjamin; * * and when 
 He had removed him, He raised up unto them 
 David to be their king, to whom also He gave testi- 
 mony and said, I have found David, the Son of 
 Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall ful- 
 fill ail my will. Of this man's seed hath God, 
 according to His promise, raised unto Israel a 
 Savior, Jesus." 
 
 Christ was, accordingly, called the " Son of 
 David ; " a "prince of the House of David," 
 "the lion of the tribe of Judah;" and, like 
 the Count de Chamborde and Don Carlos of 
 to-day, He even assumed before His coronation 
 the title of "King of the Jews," and "King of 
 Israel." 
 
 We are told that in order that nothing might 
 
i6o SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 be wanting in His birth to insure His legitimacy 
 and entitle Him to the throne, His parents took 
 the precaution to have Him born in the place and 
 manner which were necessary to entitle Him to 
 the throne, whether it be that this precaution was 
 actually taken, or, like the prophecies of His ca- 
 reer, was an after story invented as a reflex of 
 the fact, to attest and explain the place of His 
 birth and the validity of His citizenship. 
 
 For, it is related that Joseph and Mary went, 
 at taxing time, out of the city of Nazareth, 
 (where He was in danger of being born), into 
 Judea into the city of David, which is called 
 Bethlehem, because He was of the house and 
 lineage of David; that is, that they went thither 
 in order that He might be born in His own coun- 
 try, and so be entitled to the throne, which He 
 could not be as an alien; all of which precaution 
 we might add was necessary, or at least some 
 account thereof was deemed necessary in order 
 to explain the place of His birth; because it was 
 generally known that "His parents lived at Naza- 
 reth, instead of in Judea, so that He might, prima 
 facie, be presumed to be a Nazarene. 
 
 Again, the monarchical element claimed for 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 161 
 
 Christ a divine birth, as well as a royal one; and 
 Christ Himself, when He came to see the feasi- 
 bility of the monarchical projects, appeared to ac- 
 cept the pretension. 
 
 This claim of a divine birth was formerly made 
 for all kings and royal pretenders, and if it is 
 not made to-day it is only because it is exchanged 
 for that of a divine right to rule. 
 
 As, therefore, Romulus was the son of Mars, 
 and Memnon, the son of Aurora, so Christ was 
 the Son of God. Like Castor and Pollux, who 
 were born of Jupiter and Leda, and like Teucer 
 who was born of Scamander and the nymph 
 Idaea, so Jesus was born of Jehovah and Mary. 
 The Holy Ghost was His father. Jehovah came 
 under that name to His mother in the shape of a 
 dove or angelic annunciation, as Jupiter came in 
 the shape of a swan, a cloud or a golden rain to 
 his several amantes. Christ was born of a virgin 
 without the destruction of her virginity; and, like 
 the Count de Chamborde, was proclaimed an 
 enfant du miracle. It is announced at His birth 
 that "He shall be called the Son of the High- 
 est," and He is named to this day "the Son of 
 
 God." God is represented as appearing repeat- 
 Socialism of Christ ii 
 
162 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 edly to testify to His parentage, and to author 
 ize His resulting claim to authority. At His 
 baptism, when His public name and character 
 are supposed to have been first proclaimed to 
 the world, God is represented as saying, "This 
 is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." 
 Not only "my Son" like many sons of earthly 
 kings, illegitimate and unacknowledged, but 
 "my Son in whom I am well pleased," and 
 whom, as He afterwards says, "I delight to 
 honor." At the transfiguration, which was a 
 sort of crowning scene, when a halo of golden 
 light as a royal diadem, encircled His brow, and 
 a supernatural coronation was enacted, God 
 appeared again, testifying both to His divine 
 birth, and the validity of His royal claim: "This 
 is my beloved Son; hear ye Him," or "This is 
 your legitimate King, be satisfied with His title, 
 and obey Him as your Leader. 7 ' 
 
 The people, too, when the royal propagation 
 began, and the masses commenced to accept Him 
 as their future king, recognized His kingship as 
 flowing from His divine birth, or, at least, as 
 connected therewith. For, "Nathaniel said unto 
 
 im ; Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 163 
 
 art the King of Israel;" this being, it seems the 
 common form of recognition by an adherent of 
 the legitimacy of a royal pretender. 
 
 And when, on one occasion, He wished to 
 draw the people out to a recognition of His 
 divine birth, (they already believing in His royal 
 birth,) He asked, "What think ye of Christ? 
 Whose son is He?" And when they said, "the 
 son of David," He replied that that was not suffi- 
 cient, and asked them, "How then, doth David 
 in spirit call Him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said 
 unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I 
 make thine enemies thy footstool ?' If David 
 then call Him Lord, how is He his son?" The 
 only answer, of course, is that He is the Son of 
 God, and that He possesses whatever dignity and 
 authority that greater title implies. 
 
 The attendant circumstances of Christ's birth 
 also proclaimed Him a king. If the regal dis- 
 plays alleged, did actually accompany His birth, 
 even by a false report, they prove that He was 
 then considered a destined king; if they did not, 
 but were invented afterwards as probable circum- 
 stances of a preceding event, they prove at least, 
 that when He made His pretensions to royalty, 
 
164 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 His followers were anxious to get up for Him a 
 fitting birth. He is represented as being 
 announced with proclamations and rejoicings, 
 and as being testified to by such omens as com- 
 monly attend the birth of a prince. A Heavenly 
 messenger is sent to proclaim the good news, to 
 all people. A star appears in the east, announc- 
 ing His birth to the whole world. Celestial phe- 
 nomena and signs such as generally accompany 
 the birth of a royal personage sometimes a 
 comet, sometimes a meteor, and sometimes a 
 great wonder, but generally a star or light in the 
 heavens appear in this case. ^Wise men 
 come from the East to worship Him. Kings and 
 princes bring their gifts of gold, frankincense 
 and myrrh the usual offerings to a newborn 
 prince Herod himself, though in treachery, 
 offers to come and do reverence to the baby 
 king. 
 
 The words of the angelic ambassador and 
 others that prophesy concerning His mission are 
 also in keeping with the same idea. " Fear 
 not," says the angel of annunciation, " for behold 
 I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall 
 be to all people. For unto you is born this 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 165 
 
 day a Savior which is Christ the Lord, a light 
 to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of my peo- 
 ple Israel." " Behold this child is set for 
 the fall and rising again of many in 
 Israel." "He shall be great and called the 
 Son of the Highest; the Lord God shall give 
 unto Him the throne of His father David. He 
 shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and 
 of His kingdom there shall be no end;" In short, 
 the phenomena witnessed, the reverence shown, 
 and the promises and prophecies attending 
 Christ's birth are all such as attended the birth, 
 or as are alleged to attend the birth, of every one 
 destined to reign. 
 
 The names given to Christ have also all a sug- 
 gestion of royalty. The word '* Christ" itself 
 means "anointed," or "crowned;" anointing 
 being the ancient mode of crowning. His name, 
 therefore, implies a crowned head, or royal per- 
 sonage. He is sometimes called the "Lord's 
 Anointed," or the one elected or designed by 
 God to be king. Like the uncrowned pre 
 tenders of Europe to-day, who set themselves up 
 as kings by right, if not in fact, He, notwithstand 
 ing His temporary dethronement, felt, like the 
 
166 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 Count de Chamborde, that He was a king under 
 the favor and purpose of God. 
 
 He was called the "Son of David/' or suc- 
 cessor of the last king of Israel. Like William 
 of Prussia who took up the broken line of Bar- 
 barossa, He, the new Shiloh, was to take up that 
 of Judah. He is called "the Prince of the 
 House of David," "the lion of the tribe of 
 Judah/' "the Holy One of Israel," and other 
 names strongly regal and national. 
 
 His additional epithet of "Jesus," or "Sav- 
 ior/' like that of "the Conquerer, " or "the 
 Great," was a title intended to express His char- 
 acter as a prince. For while, like Alexander, 
 Charlemagne and William of Normandy, He was 
 to aggrandize His own name and people, and to 
 conquer others, He was principally to save them 
 from their miseries. While, therefore, He was 
 also to be "called Great and the Son of the 
 Highest," His common name was to be "Sav- 
 ior ;" "Ye shall call His name Jesus ; for He 
 shall save the people from their sins.'* 
 
 He was also called "the Son of God," since 
 divine birth, if not deity itself, is one of the at- 
 tributes of kings, as just explained. He wa^s 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 167 
 
 sometimes called "the King of the Jews; " but 
 He dared not openly assume this name ; partly 
 because many of the Jews did not accept Him as 
 their king, but protested, We will not have 
 this man to rule over us, " and partly because of 
 the air of treason to Rome, which gathered about 
 such a title. But that He aimed at royalty, or 
 that some of His followers did so for Him, there 
 can be no doubt, even if we consider His names 
 alone as evidence. 
 
 The reverence and allegiance shown Him as 
 king, also indicate that He was esteemed as 
 destined for royalty. He was called "Lord," 
 "Master," "Good Master," "Reverence, '' 
 "Worship," "My Lord and My God," etc. He 
 discountenanced the use of these terms at first, 
 and from time to time reproved His followers 
 for such un-republicanism ; but afterwards, 
 whether through a lapse from His republican 
 principles, or owing to ambitious designs, He al- 
 lowed them, if He did not actually encourage 
 them. 
 
 At the transfiguration, which was a sort of 
 secret crowning, or establishing of Christ in His 
 royal office^ His disciples fell on their faces with 
 
168 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 true eastern devotion, and swore everlasting 
 fealty to His cause. At His entry into Jerusa- 
 lem the people strewed garments and branches 
 of trees in His way, and cried, " Hozannah, 
 Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord." The centurian desiring to send for 
 Him hesitated, saying, "I am not worthy that 
 He should come unto me;" but observed that, 
 being a man of rank himself, and accustomed to 
 order others under him, he knew what was due 
 to superiors, and, like all proteges of royalty, was 
 interested in having rank etiquette maintained. 
 When John the Baptist was sent to prepare the 
 people for His accession, and was himself 
 taken for a superior or royal personage, he 
 said of Christ, " There cometh after me one 
 mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy 
 to loose," and added, " He must increase and 
 I must decrease.'' Wise men, rich men and 
 kings, as already observed, came at His birth 
 to do Him homage. He Himself refused, as 
 Lord over all, to reverence, or bow down to 
 Satan, or any one else than God. " Angels 
 came and ministered unto Him" as to a superior. 
 The people on one occasion sought to forcibly 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 169 
 
 take Him, and make Him king. The daughters 
 of Jerusalem at His crucifixion wept for Him 
 as for their dying monarch, and pledged them- 
 selves, like the Imperialists at the grave of Na- 
 poleon, to be faithful to His cause whoever 
 might be His successor. 
 
 The people believed Him as one who could 
 not err, and obeyed Him as one who could com- 
 mand no wrong. His ipse dixit was law ; and 
 they understood Him, when speaking, as "one 
 having authority, and not as the scribes." In 
 short, it is clear that all persons monarchically 
 inclined, regarded Christ as a king, and were in 
 favor of His elevation, like that of Napoleon, to 
 the throne, notwithstanding the republican and 
 socialistic movement in which His cause, like 
 Napoleon's, had its birth. 
 
 The monarchical character of His movement, 
 and His aspirations to royalty, may be further in 
 ferred from the opposition of rival kings to His 
 plan and work. Herod commenced this opposi- 
 tion at His birth, and Pilate ended it with His 
 death. Driven from Judea, driven from the 
 whole continent of Asia, and driven at last from 
 the world itself. Jesus was an almost perpetual 
 
i?o SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 refugee from the fury of the rulers. Exiled to 
 Africa, exiled to the grave, and exiled at last to 
 Heaven, His every flight was from persecution. 
 Felix and the Caesars continued the opposition 
 against His followers, until the blood of the 
 martyrs had been sown over the whole Roman 
 empire. Nor did the persecution cease until in 
 the harvest under Constantine the cause of 
 Christ like that of Louis Philippe, reached at last 
 the throne; whither it, like that of the Orleans 
 family, had been tending three hundred years. 
 
 It was the jealousy of the rulers that dictated 
 the whole policy and attitude of the state toward 
 the early Christians, feeling, as they did, that 
 with the Christian agitations none of the^xisting 
 thrones were safe. In the accusation brought 
 against Paul and his companions, are these words: 
 " These all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, 
 saying that there is another king, one Jesus/' 
 when it is said that ' they troubled the people 
 and the rulers of the city when they heard these 
 things." So also the Jews, in urging the death 
 of Christ before Pilate, did it on the political 
 ground of Christ's dangerous rivalry. " If thou 
 let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 171 
 
 Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh 
 against Caesar." Pilate himself asked Christ 
 before condemning Him: " Art thou a king 
 then ? " and at the same time he asked the Jews, 
 " Shall I crucify your king ? " to which the Jews, 
 in denying complicity with Christ's ambitious 
 project, answered, " We have no king but Cae- 
 sar." As in derision of His royal pretensions, 
 and to kill the effect of His agitation, the author- 
 ities placed on Him a crown of thorns and a pur- 
 ple robe; and cried, as they crucified Him in 
 imperial colors, '< Hail King of the Jews." They 
 put on His cross an inscription, written in the 
 three popular languages of the day. " This is the 
 King of the Jews." 
 
 The whole conduct of the rulers toward Christ 
 was, in short, that of opposition; so that the 
 sacred writer is justified in the sweeping assertion, 
 "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers 
 were gathered together against the Lord and 
 against His Christ. For of a truth against the 
 holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, 
 both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles 
 and people of Israel, were gathered together. 
 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings. " 
 
172 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 Again, the pretensions and authority manifested 
 by Christ Himself are suggestive of designs of 
 royalty While sympathizing with the common 
 people in their misery, and espousing their cause 
 in general, it was often as a superior or patron- 
 izing leader rather than as one out of their midst. 
 He represented Himself as a champion, em- 
 peror, or Caesar, who, like Napoleon, compre- 
 hended the situation, and meant to be their hero 
 of deliverance. Like many popular leaders, who 
 start out as one of the people, and subsequently 
 get above them, He came to love them as a 
 father or king, rather than as one of them. In 
 answering the mother of Zebedee's children, who, 
 with democratic familiarity, asked that her sons 
 might be allowed sit by Him on the same seat of 
 honor, one on His right side and the other on 
 His left, He recalled her to a recognition of His 
 rank and that of His peers. "Ye know not what 
 ye ask," said He; "Are ye able to drink of the 
 cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with 
 the baptism that I am baptized with?" 
 
 No sooner, in fact, does He arrive at a position of 
 acknowledged superiority over His followers, than 
 He assumes an air of authority, like one about 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 173 
 
 to make a coup d'etat. Not satisfied longer with 
 the adoption by the people of His political and 
 ethical sentiments, He wants them to think of 
 Him as a superior, and entrust Him with dicta- 
 tional power. More than once, like Caesar at 
 the first of the Lupercal, He tried the people 
 with a refusal of the crown, as if to test whether 
 they were ready for His accession. On one 
 occasion, after feeding the people with loaves and 
 fishes, which doubtless made a good impression, 
 He called His disciples aside, and asked, 
 "Whom say the people that I ami" What are 
 my prospects? Is my time yet come? "They 
 answering, said, John the Baptist, but some say 
 Elias; and others say that one of the old prophets 
 isrisen again;" at all of which Christ, like Caesar, 
 seems to be disappointed, and asks, "But whom 
 say ye that I am ?" Are you, my disciples, all 
 right and capable of being trusted ? Peter 
 answering said, "The Christ (anointed) of God;" 
 which answer was approved by Jesus, who 
 "straightway charged them and commanded 
 them to tell no man that thing, saying, the Son 
 of Man must first suffer many things and be 
 rejected." 
 
174 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 According to another Gospel, Christ was so 
 encouraged by Peter's recognition of His claims 
 that He then and there determined to found His 
 kingdom, and to reward with the first place the 
 man who had so boldly confessed His royalty 
 "Thou art Peter," He says, and upon this rock 
 (or according to the Catholic interpretation "Thou 
 art Peter, and with you as my chief minister,") 
 I will build my church (kingdom, ekklessia) and 
 the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
 
 He claimed that He had all power, and that 
 He would yet assume it; waiting only for His 
 time, like Henri of Bourbon, who said, "The 
 choice is with the French people, but the time is 
 with God." "All things," He said, "are deliv- 
 ered unto me by my Father/' after the manner 
 of the claims of the Bourbon right to rule. 
 
 That this project of assuming royal authority 
 was entertained, appears also from the tempta- 
 tion by Satan, who, shrewd old devil that he was 
 knew where to ply his inducements. As, there 
 fore, because Christ was hungry after a forty 
 days' fast, he tempted Him with bread; so, 
 because he supposed Him to be ambitious and 
 aspiring to a throne, he tempted Him with 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 175 
 
 crowns. He showed Him all the kingdoms of 
 the world, and said, " All this power will I give 
 thee, and the glory of them. If thou, therefore, 
 wilt worship me, all shall be thine." 
 
 Christ refuses this offer for the same reason, 
 among others, that Henri of Bourbon refused 
 the crown of France, namely, that He considered 
 that He possessed the original right to it, and 
 would not receive it from anybody, or be 
 accountable for it to any other power. Like 
 Henry V, He would bow to no one, since that 
 would be to acknowledge the supremacy of 
 another dynasty. "Thou shalt worship the 
 Lord God, and Him only shalt thou serve," 
 God only being above Christ and the Bourbon, 
 in their royal pretensions. He was not, like the 
 Orleanists, to be satisfied with a division of royal 
 honors, or a limited monarchy. He taught, con- 
 sistently with straight out Bourbonism, that 
 "Every kingdom divided against itself is 
 brought to destruction," and that "a house, 
 (dynasty) divided against itself falleth;" and 
 added as a bit of wisdom for His opponents: <( Ii 
 Satan also be divided against himself, how shall 
 his kingdom stand ? " 
 
176 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 He pretended to unlimited power and dignity, 
 speaking as one having authority, and not as the 
 scribes; laying down law as well as Gospel 
 (equity), and setting aside the Jewish statute 
 with a mere, "I say unto you." " Ye call me 
 Master and Lord,'* He said, "and ye say well; 
 for so I am " And what authority He did not 
 assume Himself, His disciples ascribe to Him, 
 or, at least, those monarchically inclined. "One 
 is your Master, even Christ;" and, ''All things 
 are yours, whether principalities or powers; and 
 ye are Christ's." 
 
 But not only did Jesus make pretensions to 
 authority, but also promises that His right to 
 rule would be enforced; much as the Pope makes 
 promises to-day with regard to his temporal 
 power, and as the Bourbons make promises of 
 their universal restoration. For never has a 
 prince pretended to the right to rule, who has 
 not hoped for the opportunity. Christ assures 
 His followers that His time will come, and that 
 speedily. The kingdom of Heaven, He tells 
 them, is near them; and "the people," we are 
 told, "thought that the kingdom of God should 
 immediately appear. " In answer to the oft- re- 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 177 
 
 peaied question, so longingly and impatiently put 
 by His disciples, "Lord, wilt thou at this time 
 restore again the kingdom of Judah?" He 
 replies, "There be many of you standing here 
 that shall not see death till ye see the Son of 
 Man coming in His glory;" that, "This genera- 
 tion shall not pass away till all these things be 
 fulfilled; " and that " Heaven and earth shall pass 
 away, but my Word shall not pass away. " < 'Fear 
 not little flock," He says encouragingly, "for it 
 is your Father's good pleasure to give you the 
 kingdom." "All things are delivered unto me 
 by my Father" not only promised but deliv- 
 ered, He having the possession as well as the 
 right. And in planning the administration of 
 tjiis kingdom, He says, "I appoint unto you a 
 kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; 
 that ye may eat and drink at my table, in my 
 kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel." 
 
 It is true, He admits, that for the present all 
 power and the goods of the world are at the dis- 
 position of others, and that "the Son of Man has 
 not where to lay His head;" but He assures them 
 that this is only temporary. "When a strong 
 
 Socialism of Christ 12 
 
178 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in 
 peace, " He says, " but when a stronger than he 
 shall come upon him, and overcome him, he 
 taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, 
 and divideth his spoils." 
 
 In view of the probable success of Jesus, and 
 of the advantage that in such event will attend 
 His partisans, He wants His disciples to commit 
 themselves unreservedly to Him, whatever He 
 may do, and, in particular, to not be offended at 
 His monarchical designs, He offers them the in 
 ducements of office in return for the sacrifice of 
 their republican principles, as if to buy them over 
 as Napoleon III bought over Ollivier and other 
 republicans. "Whosoever shall confess me be- 
 fore men," He says, "him will I confess before 
 my Father which is in Heaven ; " as much as to 
 say that whosoever acknowledges Christ in the 
 campaign shall be remembered by Him in the 
 kingdom; or, that commitment shall be rewarded 
 by patronage, and fidelity by office and rank. 
 
 He wanted them in particular, to commit 
 themselves to Him personally, rather than to 
 any principles or policy, His personnel, like that 
 of Napoleon and Cromwell, constituting the iden- 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 179 
 
 tity of His cause. Thrice He asked of Peter, 
 " Lovest thou me more than these ? " and ques- 
 tioned him so strongly upon the sinister signifi- 
 cance of His inquiry, that Peter became impa- 
 tient and said, "Though all men forsake thee, 
 yet will not I." 
 
 He wanted them also, in this commitment, to 
 work as well as to profess. "Let those who love 
 me," said Prim in the Spanish Cortes, "come 
 and stand by me." So Christ in a like crisis 
 said, "If ye love me keep my commandments." 
 "Not every one that saith unto me 'Lord, Lord,' 
 shall inherit the kingdom, but he that doeth the 
 will of my Father which is in Heaven." Work 
 and fighting are to precede possession, a mere 
 idle acknowledgment of his title not being 
 enough. "To him that overcometh will I give 
 a crown of life." 
 
 Prudent and cautious in advancing His claim, 
 His disciples are to be "wise as serpents and 
 harmless as doves." Now they are to "tell no 
 man that He is the Christ," or aspiring king, 
 and now to proclaim it "even to all." Never are 
 they to indiscriminately publish His utterances. 
 Some things He did not dare to mention to any- 
 
i8o SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 body, because nobody was yet ready for them. 
 "The time is not yet," he says. 
 
 One of His strokes of policy recalls that of 
 Henry of Navarre at the battle of Ivry. When 
 his forerunners went "to make ready for him," 
 and were not received, they asked that the 
 enemy be summarily destroyed : when Christ, 
 knowing that this would not be popular, said, 
 "Ye know not what spirit ye are of. The Son 
 of Man came not to destroy men's lives, but to 
 save them." Like the tender exclamation of 
 Henry in battle, "Save the French," this course 
 doubtless drew many to His standard. 
 
 There were also on the part of Christ and His 
 apostles manifest aspirations and adjustments as 
 for a kingdom. John the Baptist went pro- 
 fessedly in His interest to urge the people to get 
 ready for His reign: "Prepare ye," he cries, 
 "the way of the Lord; make His path straight." 
 His disciples are sent out to preach His kingdom 
 and enlist the people in His name. Feints were 
 made, as at the feast of the Lupercal, a kingly 
 crown being offered Him, which He, like Cae- 
 sar, did refuse. For, we are told, "When Jesus 
 perceived that they would come and take Him 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 181 
 
 by force to make Him a king, He departed 
 again into a mountain Himself alone." A 
 public entry was arranged for Him in Jerusa- 
 lem, and a proclamation made, "Zion thy King 
 cometh to thee." His partisans scattered gar- 
 ments in His way, crying Vive le Rot, "Hozan- 
 nah, Blessed is he that cometh in the name 
 of the Lord." His disciples began to 
 squabble for the first places and to ask 
 to whom they should be given; hoping 
 each, that he should get some ministership, 
 lordship; or other easy place. For, says the 
 evangelist, " There was a strife among them* 
 which of them should be accounted the greatest." 
 He, to satisfy them, encouraged them all with 
 the prospect of making them subordinate princes 
 or dukes. "Ye which have followed me," He 
 says, "in the regeneration, (or revolution), when 
 the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory 
 ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging 
 the twelve tribes of Israel." It was, it seems, to 
 have been a sort ot- Duodecemvir government 
 after the model of the ancient Roman common- 
 wealth. When the mother ol Zebedee's children 
 asked that her two sons might sit one on His. 
 
i8 2 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 right hand, and the other on His left in the king- 
 dom, He told her that these places were to be 
 given to those for whom they were prepared by 
 His father. And when, in answer to the ques- 
 tion, "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I 
 shall drink of, and to be baptized with 
 the baptism that I am baptized with?" they 
 said, Yes, "we are able," He answered, "Ye 
 shall indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized 
 with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to 
 sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine 
 to give," but intimated that those places were al- 
 ready given out. We are told, as may naturally 
 be supposed, that "when the ten heard it they 
 were moved with indignation against the two 
 brethren" for their ambition; for it was on their 
 part a demand for exclusive superiority which 
 had once been promised to them all equally. 
 
 In general, therefore, it appears that there was 
 a strong monarchical element in the early Christ- 
 ian movement, that many persons expected and 
 some desired Christ to come out openly for roy- 
 alty, and to be crowned king; and that He Himself 
 at times entertained thoughts of this kind, 
 whether from personal ambition, or a belief that 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 183 
 
 it was for the best; so that, though the original 
 Christian movement was in general a democratic 
 and socialistic one, yet, like all revolutions, there 
 was in it a monarchical element which now and 
 then, partly through changes of opinion, and 
 partly through treacherous betrayal, came to be 
 uppermost and to give character to the cause. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 SPIRITUAL RECONCILIATION 
 
 I shall next consider the spirituality of Christ's 
 kingdom. For it cannot be denied that, whether 
 Christ contemplated a temporal kingdom or not, 
 He contemplated, at times at least, a moral 
 kingdom. It was His disciples principally, and 
 still more His untaught followers, who expected 
 the temporal kingdom. As a spiritual kingdom 
 was something new, it required much time in 
 which to get the idea and limits of it definitely 
 into the minds of the projectors themselves, and 
 much more in which to get it into those of the 
 people who had to be instructed step by step 
 in regard to It. 
 ' While, therefore, the early Christians did in 
 
 general expect a temporal kingdom and its 
 184 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 185 
 
 emoluments, a different kingdom was in contem- 
 plation, either as additional to the temporal or 
 instead of it. This new kind of kingdom, was 
 most likely the special idea of Jesus, notwith- 
 standing his apparent vacillation and the seem- 
 ing contradictions of the evangelists. Christ's 
 nature was essentially moral, and inclined to 
 moral thoughts and sympathies. He had per- 
 sonally no political instincts or aspirations. 
 What He assumed was forced upon Him by His 
 followers, and by the difficulty of separating the 
 secular from the moral in the idea of a kingdom. 
 He had no fellowship with practical politics, or 
 the tricks and methods of politicians, wire-pullers, 
 lobbies or courts. He could not appreciate the 
 Machiavellian spirit which prevails among such 
 classes, much less descend to their corruption. 
 He had rather the innocent ideas of clergymen,, 
 professors of learning, and speculative inquirers 
 after truth. He was theoretical rather than 
 practical, and benevolent rather than politic. 
 Though His precepts for practical virtue were 
 of the highest order, He was only theoretically 
 practical, and was practically theoretical. The 
 religious instincts and historic traditions of His 
 
i86 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 people were strongly implanted in His mind. 
 The governmental idea on which alone He could 
 enthuse was a religious rather than a political 
 one; a theocracy or sophocracy rather than a 
 military or civil organization a moral or intel- 
 lectual republic, like that of Pythagoras or Plato, 
 rather than anything like the empire of Pericles 
 or Alexander. He dreamed of something like 
 the Papacy, which, though no less extensive 
 than the most ambitious secular empire, should 
 have its sway in all kingdoms, and its canon law 
 prevailing in all courts, and yet not interfere 
 with them, but only reach, through them, the 
 people in moral matters. 
 
 Such was Christ's original idea of a kingdom, 
 and in this sense He wanted to be king, or, since 
 this was a sort ot theocracy, requiring a god, to 
 be god, Christ desired to build up the morals 
 of the race into an interest, so as to make them 
 an organized force, on a level with the wealth 
 and intellect of the world, and to make them 
 when thus organized, take the supremacy in the 
 world. 
 
 This idea was further forced upon Christ by 
 the course of events as the only kind of kingdom 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 187 
 
 for which there was room at the time, all the 
 thrones being filled and the ordinary political 
 issues exhausted. For it is a common shift 
 when a party starts out and fails in one under- 
 taking, to change the object and achieve a par- 
 tial success in a different line. Christ and His 
 apostles had sufficiently tested the impractica- 
 bility of bringing either their socialistic or mon- 
 archical ideas to the throne by a political revolu- 
 tion, and yet, unwilling to abandon their project 
 entirely, they turned their attention to the next 
 best thing; a kingdom which required no over- 
 turning of the other kingdoms, but which might 
 be successfully established without revolution; 
 a kingdom within a kingdom, which like the 
 present church, should permeate all kingdoms, 
 and wield its influence in them all without being 
 opposed by them, and which being independent 
 of them should be unaffected by their changes, 
 and even survive their dissolution; a kingdom, 
 in short, without end, whether in space or time. 
 Hence He began to distinguish between tem- 
 poral and spiritual, earthly and Heavenly, this 
 world and the world to come, and between the 
 powers of the two worlds. His kingdom was to 
 
r88 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 be of the other world, His reign of another realm, 
 His laws of another sphere of action, His sub- 
 jects of another citizenship. His kingdom was 
 to be on the earth, yet distinct from it, His fol 
 lowers were to be e 'm the world yet not of the 
 world:" the laws to be enforced were to prevail 
 here, but they were to be of another origin, and 
 of a Heavenly character and purpose. 
 
 With this idea, and with this aim, Christ 
 uttered His words on the subject; which were at 
 once in restraint of the prevailing expectation of 
 an earthly kingdom, and in explanation of the 
 real character of His kingdom. "My kingdom," 
 He says, toward the close of His life, "is not of 
 this world. If my kingdom were of this world 
 then would my servants fight that I should not 
 be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom 
 not from hence. " 
 
 When the casuists, in order to make Him talk 
 treason or nonsense, asked whether, as a pro- 
 fessed king, claiming the allegiance of the peo- 
 ple, He would advise them to give tribute to 
 Caesar, He answered, drawing this distinction 
 still more clearly, "Render to Caesar the 
 things that are Caesar's, and to God the 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 189 
 
 things that are God's." He wanted them 
 to give to Caesar the respect and obedience 
 due to a political kingdom, and to God, or Him- 
 self, that due to a moral kingdom. 
 
 The respective claims of the two kingdoms, He 
 thought, need not clash; and the duties of their 
 . common citizens may be compatible. When, 
 therefore, the wronged heir petitioned Him, say- 
 ing, "Master, speak to my brother, that he di- 
 vide with me," He recognized this request as 
 
 outside of His domain, and answered, "Who 
 made me a judge or a divider over you?" What 
 
 ; have I to do with temporal concerns? And 
 
 when again the people, according to their sev- 
 
 eral professions, were asking what they should 
 do in the new kingdom, each hoping to be ap- 
 pointed to some political place of preferment, He 
 made answers, which, while they did indeed ap- 
 point them tasks in the spiritual kingdom, in 
 formed them also that these tasks were to be done 
 while discharging the common duties of their pres- 
 ent situations, and under the present govern- 
 ments. 
 
 To the publicans, for example, who expected 
 to get something better than tax-gathering, He 
 
igo SOCIALISM OF CHRIS? 
 
 said merely, " Exact no more than what is ap- 
 pointed you," or, "Do honestly the duties re- 
 quired by your present masters." To the sol- 
 diers who, like all revolutionists in arms, expect- 
 ed spoils and promotion, He said, "Do violence 
 to no man, neither accuse any man falsely, and 
 be content with your wages." In short, He told 
 them all to keep at their secular employment and 
 in the usual way, the duties of the new kingdom 
 consisting in doing well the duties of the present 
 kingdom. 
 
 He confessed that the revolution, or kingdom, 
 which He was to usher in, was not as radical as 
 they had conceived, or as He and His disciples 
 had been contemplating. Instead of a new so- 
 cial order such as the communists wanted, there 
 was not to be even a republic, or new dynasty; 
 but only some moral changes. We are told, and 
 can readily believe, that the people were roused 
 on hearing this announcement, and naturally 
 asked whether He was the anointed or not. 
 They did not like His platform, and would not, 
 as socialists, follow so despairing and conserva- 
 tive a leader. This was not, in their opinion, 
 the language that became a king who professed 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 191 
 
 to cure their social ills, and establish, if not a 
 community in which they should do nothing dis- 
 agreeable, at least a kingdom which would give 
 them new appointments and work. 
 
 But Jesus resisted the pressure for a temporal 
 kingdom, and illustrated His position by acts as 
 well as words. When at the height of His popu- 
 larity it was proposed to crown Him, He refused 
 the honor, it being related that " when He per- 
 ceived that they would come and take Him by 
 force to make Him a king He departed again in- 
 to a mountain Himself alone." For, although, 
 as we have said, this conduct may have been a 
 mere feint to feel the way, when He was really 
 ambitious of monarchical honors, or else a genuine 
 expression of His republicanism, yet it may also 
 have been an anti-political demonstration, 
 in favor of a mere spiritual or moral kingdom. 
 At all events He indicated that He did not want 
 to be crowned a king; and His conduct was a 
 disappointment to the people, who expected in 
 Him a temporal ruler. 
 
 Several times He had to remind His disciples, 
 even the most spiritual among them, as John, of 
 the distinction which He would make; and yet 
 
192 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 He could not make it clear to their secular minds. 
 For John and James, after He had made a spec- 
 ial attempt to distinguish between a temporal 
 and a spiritual kingdom, came to Him and asked 
 that they might have the nearest places to Him 
 in the new kingdom, one to sit on His right hand 
 and the other on His left. ' ' Ye know not what ye 
 ask/' said Christ; and He then further explained 
 His kingdom to them. 
 
 And John the Baptist, when He was in prison, 
 and the temporal prospect looked dark, sent 
 messengers to Jesus to ask, "Art thou He that 
 should come, or look we for another ?" thinking, 
 no doubt, that it ill accorded with His kingly 
 pretensions, that His chief minister should lie 
 incarcerated in a dungeon, " Go tell John," said 
 Christ, recalling him from his political expecta- 
 tions to the deeds of mercy which constituted 
 the successful work of His kingdom, " Go tell 
 John what things ye see: the blind receive their 
 sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, 
 the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor 
 have the Gospel preached to them." 
 
 Christ further enforced His idea of a spiritual 
 kingdom by utterances and acts entirely incon- 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 193 
 
 sistent with the supposition of a political king- 
 dom. His officers were to be the least among 
 
 
 
 them, and His citizens were to be childlike. 
 "Suffer little children," He says, "to come 
 unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the 
 kingdom of Heaven." Instead of shrewd politi- 
 cians, strong statesmen, and bloodthirsty war- 
 riors, He meant to take the poor, the suffering 
 and the despised as His forces, and with them 
 the weak things of the earth to conquer and 
 rule society. 
 
 When a scene of triumph was prepared for 
 Him, and He was to ride into Jerusalem as king, 
 He chose to go in a way that was death to roy- 
 alty and its pretensions. Instead of royal pomp 
 and splendor, with a triumphant chariot and at- 
 tendants, He came "meek and lowly and on an 
 ass." It was perhaps intended by Him as a car- 
 icature of royalty; just as the purple robe and 
 the inscription on the cross were intended 
 as a caricature by His enemies. "Zion behold 
 thy king," is equal to "This is the King of the 
 Jews;" and Christ on an ass is equal to Christ 
 on the cross. As a type of a spiritual kingdom, 
 however, both are equally powerful; the one as 
 
 Socilism of Christ 13 
 
194 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 an example of unpretension, and the other as an 
 example of suffering. 
 
 When speaking of Himself in contrast with 
 the expectations of Him and of His appear- 
 ance, He said to those who misapprehended His 
 designs, "What went ye out to see? A man 
 clothed in soft raiment ? Behold they which are 
 gorgeously arrayed and live delicately are in 
 king's courts." He came, like His messenger 
 John, simple and unostentatious, and like him 
 moved about in a wilderness without property 
 or even a home; and yet, while having not 
 where to lay His head, He proclaimed Himself 
 the chief of a boundless empire. 
 
 In conclusion I will add, that to explain the 
 spiritual as well as the monarchical character of 
 Christ's kingdom, we must suppose, as on 
 inquiry we find to be the fact, that there was an 
 important change in the policy of the early 
 Christian movement, a change by which in 
 course of time the projectors came to abandon 
 their early cause, and to swerve around to a 
 directly opposite position. Starting out as 
 socialistic, the movement became religious; 
 starting out as purely republican, it became 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 195 
 
 monarchical and theocratic; starting out as polit- 
 ical, it became moral. In general it was a 
 change from radical to conservative; from a 
 contemplated revolution to a moderate reform. 
 
 This change, which we have already explained, 
 was due partly, as we have seen, to a difference 
 of opinion among the original propagators of 
 Christianity, by which in course of time the opin- 
 ions of a different set from those first controlling 
 it came to be uppermost in the counsels; partly 
 to the ill success of the movement, requiring a 
 change of object to avoid an utter failure; partly 
 to changes effected in the opinion of the leaders 
 by accumulations of experience; partly, perhaps, 
 to the temptations of a crown and of royal syne- 
 cures, and partly, no doubt, to the treachery of 
 false friends and of enemies who had entered the 
 cause. 
 
 But whatever the cause, there was a radical 
 change. Instead of that bold, revolutionary 
 position which they assumed at first, when they 
 expected to overturn all society and remedy all 
 ills by a new government, they are soon found 
 counselling submission to existing authorities, 
 and patient working under the old system the 
 
ig6 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 deadliest bane of socialism, which feeds mainly 
 on revolution. 
 
 For Christ, instead of longer encouraging, as 
 He had appeared to do, the publicans to get all 
 property in their hands for redistribution, now 
 tells them to u exact no more than what is 
 appointed them;" and instead of inciting, as 
 formerly, the soldiers, commune-like, to revel in 
 the blood of the citizens and the spoils of the 
 rich, He tells them to "do violence to no man, 
 neither accuse any falsely and be content with 
 their wages. " In short, He makes such a radical 
 departure from His old supposed position and 
 promises, that the people, on learning it, instinct- 
 ively ask "whether He is the Anointed or not." 
 
 Later on in their course, the apostles, after 
 they had tried the community and tested the 
 principles of absolute equality and universal 
 labor, became dissatisfied, and said, ".It is not 
 reason that we should leave the Word of God 
 and serve tables." Getting ecclesiastical, priestly 
 and pretentious, they wanted to raise themselves 
 above the people, as they have effectively done 
 in subsequent times. 
 
 Christ admits this change of policy Himself, 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 197 
 
 and expressly countermands some of His early 
 advice. After telling His disciples what He had 
 at first proposed, and what, in view of that, He 
 had urged them to do, He says, ''But it shall 
 not be so now." "When I sent you without 
 scrip, and purse and shoes, lacked ye anything ? 
 And they said nothing. Then said He unto 
 them But now he that hath a purse, let him 
 take it, and likewise his scrip," He renounced, 
 in short, His supposed early communism, and 
 advised a re-entrance upon independent and 
 individual life. 
 
 He renounced also the extreme democracy of 
 His associates, and so far departed from their 
 professions of equality as to advise a proper 
 observance and respect for rank. Instead of longer 
 encouraging a boorish familiarity, in which they 
 all boasted themselves to be as good as anybody, 
 and worthy of any place or honor, He says now, 
 "When thou art bidden of a man to a wed- 
 ding, sit not down in the highest room, lest a more 
 honorable man than thou be bidden of him; and 
 he that bade thee and him come and say to 
 thee, 'Give this man place/ and thou begin with 
 shame to take the lowest room. But when thou 
 
ig8 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; 
 that when he that bade thee cometh, he may 
 say unto thee, 'Friend, go^up higher/ then shalt 
 thou have worship in the presence of them that 
 sit at meat with thee," In other words Christ's 
 later advice is: Be content to take the lowest 
 rank, and fill your place well in it; and then, not- 
 withstanding the social distinctions, you will grad- 
 ually come to take a more honorable position, 
 and be yourselves the people of rank and fashion, 
 and the recipients of the worship of others. For 
 this advice, it will be remembered, was given 
 at a time when He "marked how they (the 
 common people at the feast of the Pharisee,) 
 chose out the chief rooms," in utter disregard of 
 the old etiquette of caste distinctions, though in 
 pursuance of Christ's own doctrine of equality 
 lately advanced. 
 
 The apostles, and especially Paul, changed 
 still more than did Christ the early policy of 
 Christianity; and the change went on so rapidly 
 after the death of Christ, that by the time of Cypri- 
 an they had entirely got rid of their communism. 
 For contrasting the Christianity of later times 
 with the purpose and practice of its founders, 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 199 
 
 Cyprian says : < 'Each one is desirous of increasing 
 his estate, and, forgetful of what believers had 
 either done in the times of the apostles, or 
 always ought to do, they, with insatiable ardor 
 and covetousness, devoted themselves to the in- 
 crease of their property." 
 
 But not to pass out of apostolic times, Paul 
 took special pains to contradict not only the 
 socialism, but all the revolutionary doctrines of 
 his predecessors. He advised the people to 
 recognize both the existing governments and the 
 principles on which they were founded, including 
 especially the class distinctions. "Let every 
 soul, " he says, ' 'be subject unto the higher powers. 
 * * The powers that be are ordained of God. 
 Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power 
 resisteth the ordinance. * * For rulers are 
 not a terror to good works (as the communists had 
 taught,) but to the evil. For he (the ruler) is a 
 minister of Godtotheefor good, * * a reven- 
 ger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 
 Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for 
 wrath, but also for conscience sake * * For 
 this cause pay ye tribute also, (a disputed point 
 among them,) * * ' 'Render therefore," he 
 
200 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 continues, "to all their dues, tribute to whom 
 tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to 
 whom fear; honor to whom honor;" and then with 
 decided anti-socialistic feeling, "Owe no man 
 anything." 
 
 Paul had no sympathy with the equality or 
 perfectibility scheme of the fishermen and men- 
 ial publicans; but, with the wonted conservatism 
 of his class, being a lawyer, he wanted the tra- 
 ditional institutions and distinctions, even to 
 those of slavery, to be kept up. "Masters,'* he 
 says, in acknowledgment of this relation, and in 
 restraint only of its abuse, "masters, give your 
 servants that which is just and equal, knowing 
 that ye also have a Master in Heaven." And 
 "Servants," (douloi, or slaves), he continues, in 
 discouragement of anything like insubordination 
 or insurrection, "be obedient to them that are 
 your masters according to the flesh. * * Let 
 as many servants as are under the yoke count 
 their own masters worthy of all honor that the 
 name of God and His doctrine be not blas- 
 phemed." 
 
 So anxious was Paul to preserve the institu- 
 tion of servitude or slavery, that, instead of hold- 
 
SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 2oi 
 
 ing out the deliverance which his predecessors 
 had promised under Christianity, he said, "Art 
 thou called being a servant, care not for it ; but 
 if thou mayest be made free, use it the rather." 
 In this spirit he even sent back into slavery the 
 fugitive Onesimus, who had run away from his 
 master to become a leader in the Christian move- 
 ment. He advised the slaves to look to their 
 masters' interests as their own, (as pro-slavery 
 people have always done) and to act out their 
 slavery as a merit to themselves, "not with eye 
 service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of 
 heart, fearing (not the master but) God;" and 
 in this service, he said, they should recognize 
 their traditional place, "not answering again (as 
 equals) but showing all good fidelity that they 
 may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior." 
 
 And Peter, who was always vacillating be- 
 tween extremes; now damning Ananias and 
 Sapphira because not communistic enough, and 
 now counselling the worst form of slavery, (just 
 as he at one time professed fidelity to his Master 
 above all others, and the next hour denied 
 Him;) Peter went so far in one of his epistles as 
 to counsel obedience and deference even to bad 
 
202 SOCIALISM OF CHRIST 
 
 masters. ' 'Servants," he said, "be subject to 
 your masters with all fear, not only to the good 
 and gentle, but also to the froward." 
 
 And so, in general, the later apostles, instead 
 of manifesting their former uncompromising 
 democracy, which only now and then still showed 
 itself in such general injunctions as "Be ye not 
 servants of men," retreated from the advanced 
 republicanism of Christ; and not only acquiesced 
 in, but upheld the social systems of the day, giv- 
 ing up their time entirely to the spiritual or 
 moral, to the neglect of one-half of the object of 
 early Christianity. 
 
 It is obvious, therefore, that there was a gen- 
 eral change in the policy of early Christianity; by 
 which in course of time, Christ, and still more 
 His apostles and subsequent followers, veered 
 from their original course, and in part made a 
 new system out of the movement. It is largely 
 due to this change that there seem to be so 
 many contradictions in the Gospels touching 
 political matters, and that it is so difficult to 
 gather a consistent general doctrine from the 
 utterances having a political bearing. 
 
"E SEVP'MT-Li 
 
 DAY 
 
 16 1944 
 
 AN 28 T r 47 
 

 YB U t 
 
 
 y