Sunday, December 22, 2019

Rendering Unto Caesar: Was Jesus a Socialist?

A perfect read for the Christmas season.

From the blurb:
Rendering Unto Caesar: Was Jesus a Socialist? tackles head-on a persistent myth that has stymied individual freedom in many parts of the world. That myth takes many forms, but reduces to this: “You can’t be for capitalism or free markets and be a follower of Jesus at the same time.” 

For the first time in a short and readable form, Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) president Lawrence W. Reed debunks these misconceptions in powerful, convincing ways. Though he frequently references Scripture, Reed makes it plain at the start that one doesn’t have to be a Christian to understand the importance of proper interpretation of Scripture, as well as history and economics. People who simply want sound analysis or good history will appreciate it. 

By examining the words of Jesus in the context of their time and place, Reed shows Jesus never called for the political process to rearrange wealth. He denounced envy. He stressed choice, accountability and private property. He endorsed keeping one’s word and honoring contracts. He emphasized principles of personal character and the Golden Rule. These things are all difficult to reconcile with political force. 

Now, when anyone suggests that the teachings of Jesus are in any way incompatible with free markets or capitalism, defenders of free markets can provide concise and conclusive responses. There is no other publication that does the job as fully or is as accessible as Rendering Unto Caesar.
Available as a pamphlet or Kindle ebook.




2 comments:

  1. The title to the book should have been broader, namely replacing "Socialist" with "Statist." The bigger problem in society is not Christian socialists (are there any?), but folks on the right who claim to be in favor of free markets, and yet who also say that the state is a divine institution which must be obeyed. I fear that they will not read this book because they already believe that Jesus was not a socialist.

    ReplyDelete
  2. And the biggest problem with the so called statist “Christians” and I say so called cause Christ said man can’t serve 2 masters, is they LOVE war. I have heard people say Jesus was a socialist, but more so, as NAPster says, they say the Bible commands us to obey the worlds governments. The world finally put away the belief in the divine right of Kings, and has replaced it with the divine right of democracy, which is much worse.

    ReplyDelete