Changes

Immediately following, we are told that Ananias and his wife cheated: they "sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet." When caught by Peter, Ananias "fell down, and gave up the ghost."

Immediately following, we are told that Ananias and his wife cheated: they "sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet." When caught by Peter, Ananias "fell down, and gave up the ghost."

This voluntary communal sharing among the early Christians is sometimes called "communism" and meets some definitions of the word; but this use of the word is probably best avoided because of its many political overtones which do not apply to the early Christians.

This voluntary communal sharing among the early Christians has been described by marxists as "communism"; Arnold Toynbee has pointed out,

 

:The passage in the Acts represents the philanthropy of the primitive Christian Society as flowing from a God-given grace which was the fruit of a belief in the divinity of Jesus. In other words, the charity which is here depicted as moving the primitive Christians to go—in their mutual concern for one another's welfare—to the extreme length of sharing all their worldly goods is not a mere love of Man for Man (which is the limited literal meaning of the word ‘philanthropy’), but is a spiritual relation to which God is a party as well as His human creatures. In fact, this Christian Socialism is a practical application, on the economic surface of life, of the fundamental religious truth that the brotherhood of Man is a consequence of the fatherhood of God - a truth which is driven home with special force by a religion which teaches that God is not only the father and creator of Man, but also his saviour who has been incarnate in human shape and has suffered, and triumphed over, Death.<ref>Arnold Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', Annex II to Vol. V, Part C (i) (c) 2, p. 585, ''Marxism, Socialism, and Christianity''.</ref>

Some small Utopian experiments and intentional communities, notably the Shakers.<ref>officially: United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing</ref> have successfully practiced similar kinds of sharing, but rarely for long.

Some small Utopian experiments and intentional communities, notably the Shakers.<ref>officially: United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing</ref> have successfully practiced similar kinds of sharing, but rarely for long.