Tehon
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- Jun 19, 2015
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43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. 35 They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.Thank you, so they were socialist.
No, Jesus and his apostles were not socialists.
What on Earth make these crazy libs think Jesus was a socialist?
Bible Gateway passage: Acts 4:32-35 - New Revised Standard Version
that was a specific situation, and doesn't require all Christians to give everything they own away; as it says, there was not a needy person among them. They were giving the proceeds to the Apostles, not a poor relief fund; they were helping finance the ministries of the apostles and the church in preparation for the coming purges and persecutions , which is why Acts 4:32-37 are referred to as 'The Provision", the previous set of verses were known as 'The Prayer", the next sections deal with the 'Purging Within" and and so on.
Also, 4:36 and :37:" Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called 'Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 37) and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet."
So, those verses don't mean what you want them to mean.
For the Peanut Gallery, the last two also seems to present a dispute among scholars, since the Levites were not given any land in Israel, and some think they weren't allowed to own any land on their own there, so the land Barnabas sold must have been in Cyprus. I personally don't know if they were allowed to buy their own property in Israel or not, nor do I care a lot about that, just a mention. In any case, it's clear that this donating took place over time and not at some spontaneous gathering, since it would be pretty hard to sell in land in just a few minutes, much less land overseas, in a street meeting. this is an allegorical story, so face value means nothing.
These verses are related to many others; I'm not going to type them all out, so get yourself a decent study bible and concordance if you want to run around citing verses without looking like an ignorant troll; it's one of the most printed books in world history, after all, a major influence on western history, so why not just read it, if only in outline form, and be a real scholar for once.
Bible Gateway passage: Acts 2 - New Revised Standard Version