The Labor enquirer., 1884-05-10

grounds on which the hostility of Chris
tians to Socialism may by justified, nor
do we here condemn that hostility as
unreasonable. Socialism, beyond dis
pute, is dangerous to the existence of
society as at present constituted. It
threatens the interests of vast numbers
Of, people. But the feeling in regard to
it none the less indicates wide depart
ure from the Christianity of primitive
times, and is inconsistent with any in.
telligent acceptance of the recorded
teachings of Christ.
It is impossible to read the Gospels
without being impressed with the fact
that, in the opinion of the Founder of
our religion, abundant worldly posses
sessions were drawback to spiritual
prosperity, and that the only way to.
escape the curse which they entailed
was to divide them with the poor. In
The Sermon on the Mount we are COM
manded "Give to him that asketh of
thee, and from him that would borrow
of thee turn not thou away" The young
man who was perfect in everything else
was told: $50 and sell all that thou hast
and give to the poor" The beggar
Lazarus, in the parable, went to rest in
Abraham's bosom, while the rich man
awoke in hell. The apostles were sent.
forth without purse or scrip, and ordered
to beg for their rsupport. In the parable
of the sheep and the goats the givers OF
aims are saved and those who neglected
the practice are condemned. Every
where the poor are praised and the rich
spoken of, and the Saviour
himself claims credit for his mission by
asserting that he had not where to lay
his head.
The history of the primitive church
also attests the currency of this doctrine,
and, what is more important, the actual
practice of that very Communism which
is so distasteful to our Chris
tians. The believers at Jerusalem had
all things IN common, and when their
own resources failed, collections were
taken up for their benefit in other places.
Paul was so poor that in the interval of
his preaching tours he worked at tent
making, and Peter had neither silver
nor gold. Wherever a church was
planted, the first thing attended to was
the organization of system of relief
for the poor, and contributions to the
fund for that purpose were insisted on as
a test of believership. James writes:
"If brother or sister be naked or desti-
tute of daily food, and one of you say
unto them: Depart in peace. be ye
warmed and filled Notwithstanding ye
give them not those things which are
ineedful to the body, what doth it profit"
SO general was the support of the poor
by the rich that at one time in the
church at Antioch, out of 100000 mem
bers, 5000 lived on the offerings of the
rest. The church became the refuge of
the widows and orphans, of the blind
and the crippled, and of all who were
unable to gain livelihood by their own
efforts. Indeed, down to the time of
IL D.o4o14oo+ roforpootiop tho mODos-
teries which dotted the whole civilized
world, and we're so many agencies for
collecting money from the rich and dis
tributing it among the poor, furnished
the most enduring testimony to the
prevalence of the idea that nothing was
so pleasing to God as the Communism of
earlier times.
When, therefore, Christians denounce
Socialism and Socialist doctrines, they
unwittingly assail the foundations of
their own religion. If it be crime to
insist that rich and poor shall alike share
in the gifts of Providence that no one
SIdll I6NSl Ill dUuAudLSO W IlllC q lSA1O"
human being suffers from cold and
hunger; that the same legislation which
protects the luxury of the rich shall
also provide the comforts of life for the
poor; and that society shall be organized
as family Of brethren and not as a
crowd of struggling enemies, then the
Gospel was a blunder and Jesus Christ
only self-deceived enthusiast. And
we do not hesitate to say that so long as
the New Testament is circulated and its
doctrines faithfully preached, the only
result of Christians denouncing Social
ism will be to show in startling contrast
the difference between modern Christi
anity and that of Jesus Christ.-NeW
York Sun.
Cannot Remain Indifferent.
| rTbo ct,,1,, 81 ,o,;ol Co;apna-coci Ol0py