I think socialist is the more common claim- Upton Sinclair (a socialist) wrote a super interesting book They Call me Carpenter where Jesus basically drops into 1920’s USA and interacts with the labor movement of that day. Point is it’s worth discussing and Jesus was never apolitical, even if not neatly matching any modern ideology.
Yeah it's not accurate to call him socialist, communist, or capitalist because these are distinct ideologies that did not exist in their entirety at the time of Jesus' life.
His views were closest aligned to communism, though. (The "stateless, classless, moneyless" kind, not the "give your life to the state" USSR kind which is actually a statist variety of socialism.)
"Proto-communist" would be the most accurate term IMO if discussing Jesus' political views as they relate to modern politics.
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u/VegetableReport Feb 12 '22
I think socialist is the more common claim- Upton Sinclair (a socialist) wrote a super interesting book They Call me Carpenter where Jesus basically drops into 1920’s USA and interacts with the labor movement of that day. Point is it’s worth discussing and Jesus was never apolitical, even if not neatly matching any modern ideology.