tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post3141977090346645335..comments2024-03-28T12:34:14.649-07:00Comments on dangerous idea: God's plan for economics?Victor Repperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962948073162156902noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-20346455319119579482009-07-17T10:36:58.796-07:002009-07-17T10:36:58.796-07:00Charity is not charity when it is coerced; and fre...Charity is not charity when it is coerced; and freedom cannot exist when “charity” is coerced.<br /><br />When the primary message of Christianity -- deliverance and freedom, in Christ, from sin -- works as a leaven in a society, that society will have freedom and justice and mercy (and a workable balance between mercy and justice, for mercy is the negation of justice) . And, when a society has freedom and justice, if cannot but have “free market capitalism.”<br /><br />However, let the people of a society take their eyes off freedom-in-Christ, say to elevate “mercy” or “social justice” as the Highest Good, and they will lose freedom and justice … and, ultimately, mercy.Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-9221204640729905922009-07-17T04:44:54.957-07:002009-07-17T04:44:54.957-07:00I can't help concluding that, if we followed J...I can't help concluding that, if we followed Jesus and the NT, we'd be free like capitalists but would voluntarily behave like socialists. Everybody's happy! : )unkleEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12207729664951716799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-42963109214538900502009-07-17T03:06:56.924-07:002009-07-17T03:06:56.924-07:00Government-involved or no it seems like the most i...Government-involved or no it seems like the most important message here is a very very strong obligation that those who have need do not go without. This doesn't necessarily mean government redistribution of wealth, but it definitely doesn't constitute a wholehearted endorsement of free-market capitalism in the early Church.<br /><br />In other words, I'm kind of with Bert Power and llion (comment #1 re: Ananias/Sapphira's real sin), but I'd put a strong emphasis on the practice of Christian alms, because it does seem quite to be...there.Dan Lowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13013884098326991088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-17868986545014765572009-07-16T18:41:45.704-07:002009-07-16T18:41:45.704-07:00Only those in the grip of the heresy which leftism...Only those in the grip of the heresy which leftism is will fail to understand that "Biblical economics" is indeed "free market capitalism."<br /><br />When a society has and recognizes and protects:<br />1) personal stewardship, under God's ownership, of one's own self (or, to put it into truncated secular terms, self-ownership);<br />2) personal stewardship, under God's ownership, of one's own time and labor;<br />3) personal stewardship, under God's ownership, of the result of one's own labor;<br />then that society will *naturally* have a free market economy.<br /><br />When the people are free, their economy must be free. When the people are not free, their economy cannot be free.<br />===<br />This post underwritten by "mentor."Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-76902981530800455382009-07-16T18:28:07.119-07:002009-07-16T18:28:07.119-07:00Gary North makes the case for "Biblical econo...Gary North makes the case for "Biblical economics" being capitalistic: <a href="http://www.garynorth.com/public/department57.cfm" rel="nofollow">The Bible mandates free market capitalism</a>.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09991410496107221875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-35556976657072031982009-07-16T16:45:18.093-07:002009-07-16T16:45:18.093-07:00edit:
And, their sin was further the intention to...edit: <br />And, their sin was further the intention to dishonestly live off the common charity of the Fellowship.Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-38639639565477396172009-07-16T16:43:47.156-07:002009-07-16T16:43:47.156-07:00VR: "What does God think of keeping what you ...<b>VR:</b> "<i>What does God think of keeping what you earn? Read what happened to Ananias and Sapphira.</i>"<br /><br />Oh, do you mean something like the following --<br /><b>Peter:</b> "<i>Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land [while claiming to have donated the whole proceeds to the Fellowship]? <b>Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, was not the money at your disposal?</b> ...</i>"<br /><br />Clearly, the sin was not of "greed" (as that word is misused by you "liberals"), but rather of hypocritical "charity" ... of making a great, yet false, show of their "compassion" for the poor.<br /> <br />Hmmm. Ananias and Sapphira sound much like modern American "liberals."<br /><br /><br />And, oddly enough, I distinctly recall you bitching because *you yourself* have to pay "too much" in taxes ... even as you support the confiscation of others' earnings asnd wealth. How like a "liberal."<br /><br />But, hey! I'm just pulling your leg! Sort of.Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-67961499742916650982009-07-16T16:21:50.562-07:002009-07-16T16:21:50.562-07:00Can't you both think that you should give all ...Can't you both think that you should give all your money to the church and also not think that the government should force you to give X-amount to it?<br /><br />I don't see the connection between Christian alms and government redistribution. They seem to be completely different moral things.Latenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18028986769458356612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-8480489887574485262009-07-16T16:09:59.087-07:002009-07-16T16:09:59.087-07:00This sounds like Acts Church economics.This sounds like Acts Church economics.normajeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06612628618334389249noreply@blogger.com