Some Christians say that the Bible teaches socialism. They invariably appeal to the passage in Acts 4 and 5 dealing with Barnabas and Ananias. Barnabas sold a piece of land and brought the money and gave it to the apostles. Ananias and his wife sold a piece of land but kept back a part of the price. They brought only a portion of it to the apostles and lied about it.

The basic concept of socialism is that the state either owns or controls property or the means of production. One of the early French socialists of the 19th century, Proudhon, famously declared that “property is theft.” Marx and Engels and all the rest inveighed mightily against the concept of private ownership or control of the means of production.

What does the Bible say? In the Ten Commandments, we have the repudiation of this. The commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” as virtually every theologian for twenty centuries has declared, is a divine guarantee of private property. I cannot steal something from you if you do not own it. Furthermore, in the Decalogue we also have the command, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, . . . nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” Again, here is a clear teaching of private property.

In Acts, chapter 5, is private property repudiated or is it taught? First, notice what Peter said to Ananias: “While it remained unsold, was it not your own?” It is difficult to imagine any clearer statement of the ownership of property than that! While it remained unsold . . . Was it not your own? . . . Could you not do with it whatever you will? Even after you sold it, was not the money your own? Peter was showing Ananias he even had the control of that which he had received in the sale. The Bible clearly teaches the right of private property. God has given the whole world unto mankind as a stewardship to use and for which he is responsible to God.

Secondly, we note that this action was voluntary. They did not have to sell their property. There was no commandment to sell it.

Thirdly, consider the disposition of the money. They sold the property and brought the money and laid it . . . at the feet of Pontius Pilate? . . . at the feet of Caesar? They brought it to the local tax collector? No! The Bible says they “placed it at the apostles’ feet.” I can think of nothing more perfectly designed to give Karl Marx apoplexy than the idea that people should sell all their property and give the money to the church. If there is anything antithetical to the whole spirit of modern socialism, it is precisely that. And yet, people have the incredible temerity to say that this passage in Acts teaches modern state socialism. Nothing, indeed, can be farther from the truth.