
- Editorial:
- INVISIBLES
- Año de edición:
- 2020
- Materia:
- Religioso cristiano en inglés
- ISBN:
- 978-1-61017-160-1
- Páginas:
- 160
- Encuadernación:
- Tapa blanda
WAS JESUS A SOCIALIST?
WHY THIS QUESTION IS BEING ASKED AGAIN, AND WHY THE ANSWER IS ALMOST ALWAYS WRONG
LAWRENCE W. REED
"If anyone was ever a socialist, it was Jesus."Kelley Rose, Democratic Socialists of America
Economist and historian Lawrence W. Reed has been hearing people say "Jesus was a socialist" for fifty years. And it has always bothered him. Now he is doing something about it. His new book demolishes the claim that Jesus was a socialist.
Jesus called on earthly governments to redistribute wealth? Or centrally plan the economy? Or even impose a welfare state? Hardly. Point by point, Reed answers the claims of socialists and progressives who try to enlist Jesus in their causes. As he reveals, nothing in the New Testament supports their contentions.
Was Jesus a Socialist? could not be more timely. Socialism has made a shocking comeback in America. Poll after poll shows that young Americans have a positive image of socialism. In fact, more than half say they would rather live in a socialist country than in a capitalist one. And as socialism has come back into vogue, more and more of its advocates have tried to convince us that Jesus was a socialist. This rhetoric has had an impact.
According to a 2016 poll by the Barna Group, Americans think socialism aligns better with Jesus's teachings than capitalism does. When respondents were asked which of that year's presidential candidates aligned closest to Jesus's teachings, a self-proclaimed "democratic socialist" came out on top. Sure enough, the same candidate earned more primary votes from under-thirty voters than did the eventual Democratic and Republican nominees combined. And in a 2019 survey, more than 70 percent of millennials said they were likely to vote for a socialist.