5 Bible Passages That Prove Christians Must Embrace Socialism

Scripture is unambiguous.

Let's be clear: You cannot serve both God and money. Jesus said this explicitly.¹ Yet somehow, many Christians today have convinced themselves that unfettered capitalism—a system built entirely on the pursuit of profit—is compatible with following Christ. It's not.

That’s because the Bible is unambiguous about economics. Scripture repeatedly and explicitly condemns the accumulation of private wealth while others suffer. It calls for a society based on meeting human needs rather than maximizing profit. And the earliest Christian community showed us exactly what this looks like in practice.

Here are five passages that show it impossible to reconcile genuine Christian faith with capitalism:

1. Acts 4:32-35 - The Early Christian Community

“Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common… There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”

This isn't just a nice story about sharing—it’s how the first Christians organized their economic life. They abolished private property. They shared everything in common. They distributed resources based on need rather than wealth. If this sounds like socialism, that's because it is. The first Christians were practicing socialism long before Marx was born.²

2. Luke 18:18-25 - Jesus's Challenge

“A certain ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him… ‘Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But when he heard this, he became sad, for he was very rich. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

This is one Bible passage very few take seriously—especially those who claim to be Biblical “literalists.” But Jesus doesn't mince words here. He doesn't say “give 10%” or “be more charitable.” He demands complete divestment of private wealth. When the rich man refuses, Jesus declares that it's essentially impossible for the wealthy to enter God's kingdom. Yet somehow most Christians have convinced themselves that amassing private wealth while others starve is perfectly fine with Jesus. Nothing could be further from the truth.

3. Amos 5:11-12 - God's Own Condemnation

“Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them… For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins—you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe and push aside the needy in the gate.”

The prophet Amos, whose message from God was directed at 8th century BCE Israelites, could just as well be talking to us and describing our modern capitalist system. Then as now, the wealthy extract profit from workers' labor while manipulating the legal system to maintain their power. God's response? Absolute condemnation. There's no way to read this passage and conclude that the God of the Bible approves our current economic arrangement.

4. James 5:1-6 - A Warning for the Wealthy

“Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you… You have laid up treasure during the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.”

James isn't just criticizing individual greed here—he's condemning the entire system of wealthy owners profiting from workers' labor while paying them less than the value they create. That's literally the definition of capitalism. James says this exploitation causes the workers' wages to "cry out" to God. How can Christians participate in such a system? The truth is: we can’t.

5. Isaiah 58:6-7 - True Religious Practice

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”

According to Isaiah, true religious devotion isn't about personal piety—it's about dismantling unjust systems and ensuring everyone's basic needs are met. You cannot claim to follow God while supporting an economic system that creates billionaires and homeless people simultaneously.

The Inescapable Conclusion

The evidence is overwhelming. The Bible doesn't just suggest that Christians should oppose capitalism—it demands it. The earliest Christians showed us what an alternative looks like: collective ownership, shared resources, distribution based on human needs rather than profit.

You might argue that voluntary Christian socialism is different from state socialism. That's a fair point. But you cannot argue that Christianity is compatible with capitalism's core principles: private property, profit maximization, market competition, and wage labor. The Bible explicitly condemns all of these.

If we take Scripture seriously, we must work to replace capitalism with an economic system focused on meeting human needs and fostering genuine community. Anything less is a betrayal of our faith. The choice is clear: We can follow Christ, or we can support capitalism. We cannot do both.

1. “You cannot serve both God and money” is a direct quotation from Jesus, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew: "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth" (Mt 6:24, NRSV).

2. Socialism as a concept and practice predates Karl Marx, encompassing various communal and egalitarian traditions, including the economic sharing seen in early Christian communities as described in Acts. For an in-depth exploration of these pre-Marxist roots of socialism, particularly in a biblical context, see José Miranda's Communism in the Bible (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1982), which argues that early Christian communal practices embody a form of socialism rooted in the teachings of Jesus.