Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Socialism vs Private Property 1

So much has been said about socialism by economists, philosophers, and political scientists, but let me add two cents.

Abraham was very rich, and what he had was given to him by God. Genesis 13:2. "And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:" Genesis 14:22-3. Abram was addressing Chedorlaomer after retrieving the property and people of Sodom from the raiders who had attacked Sodom. Chedorlaomer was the king of Sodom and represented what civil government could give to Abram.

If the sovereign God is the one who gives to men what they have, then how can the civil government take their property from them or give it to someone else without defying the God who determines who receives what? God rewards His own, so how can the organized society of those whom God has not blessed force God's blessed to give to those not blessed? This is the philosophy of the pagan - all must share and share alike.

When the son of the king of a city in Canaan wanted to marry the daughter of Jacob, who was as rich or richer than his grandfather Abraham, he went to the people of their city with this message: "And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, 'These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.'" Genesis 34:20-23.

In other words, socialism is not new.

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