Was Jesus a Socialist? (part 5)

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In this episode of Truthspresso Express I chat about Jesus and socialism while driving to work.

A coworker recently made the claim to me that Jesus was a socialist. I have certainly heard this claim before, but I figured I would address it.

In part 5 I look at another of the socialist’s prooftexts: the account of Zacchaeus. An article I read from a progressive Christian claims that Zacchaeus “got woke.” Does Zacchaeus’ salvation teach “woke” socialism?

I also observe four points from this story:

  1. Zacchaeus was a tax collector for a wicked government. His profiteering wasn’t free market capitalism.
  2. Zacchaeus’ conversion was different from what Jesus instructed for the rich young ruler.
  3. Zacchaeus didn’t give away all his wealth or abandon his house.
  4. Jesus immediately taught the anti-socialistic parable of the nobleman’s pounds to this same audience.

Sources Consulted:

Chuck McKnight, “Jesus Was a Socialist,” Patheos, March 11, 2019.

Herb Montgomery, “Zacchaeus and Christian Support of Destructive Administrations,” Patheos, February 14, 2020.

V.R. Marianne Zahn, “Zacchaeus: The Rich Man Gets Woke,” Huffington Post, December 12, 2016.

Scriptures Cited:

Luke 19:1-10, 16

Luke 16:10

Proverbs 10:4; 21:5-6

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