Simple answer: Sure they were communist, but they certainly weren't Communists.

Jews have been noted to be communal in their living arrangements in modern times as well, take a look at the kibbutzim in Israel. But they would not be called Communists.

Any discussion on Marx to answer a question like this is actually hilarious. Keep up the insanely good work! I look forward to the next entry with great anticipation.

"Far be it from me to get back on topic but ‘were the Apostle’s communists?’ was the question - a simple yes or no could be at least part of the answer, couldnt it?"

'Yep' but with shades of 'no', and quite possibly 'never', though if interpreted in a manner that is pro-socialism, then 'of course', but then again, many free market individuals would say 'not likely,' while the majority agree it's a 'quite possibly I guess though it was a long time ago.'

In other words, the usual babble that accompanies religion and politics, which increases exponentially when you put them together.

Rob... given that 'communist' has a historical point in time definition, associated with Marx and Engles... it is impossible that the Apostles could be 'communists' in that sense.

They were definitely 'communal-ists' to a point. Though Paul was financially independant on his journeys, working as a tentmaker either as a self employed person, or.. hiring himself (and his tentmaking skills) out to others.

So, that dispenses with the question.

Now..back to Tao :) and your own observation about Nike etc.

In my 2 point summary I should have added "except where labor supply is very strong' for the 'quality of work will suffer if treatment is poor".

This also raises another side of the bigger issue. "Labor Supply"
That again comes back to the values and ethics of a government.
Do they deliberately seek to have an oversupply of workers so they can keep wage rates and conditions down ?

They could. But would they ? Maybe for a while, until the revolution :) Smart governments also know that existing grievances are where radical/extremist/revolutionary groups gain support and thrive.

So, for my 2 point explanation there, lets add a framework.

1/ In a developed nation like Australia, the 2 points will by and large stand valid. (High employment)
2/ In a developing country like Indonesia, there is a bigger possibility of unfair exploitation. But remember, that a government can legislate to prevent unfair exploitation.

Will it ? hmmm graft and corruption come to mind.
Are capitalist societies alone prone to such ? Nah.. look at China.

The problem with all that is the human condition, SIN in short. Solve that, and you solve the rest.
This is why I say it does not matter which 'system' is in place so much, but the ethics/values and vision of those IN the system.
Are they Redeemed, renewed and ready to build a just society ? In Christ they have a good chance of being so.

BOAZ,

Unfortunately Christians arent perfect. "They are just forgiven."
So, if Christians remain sinful, then clearly Christianity is NOT the solution you claim it to be.
If you need historical OR contemporary examples of corrupt Christian churches I will happily oblige but Im sure you are familiar with them.

tao: Once again, four whole posts (and presumably very close to 1,400 words) and you still didn't answer the question. You're not doing a Ph.D. in something like cultural studies are you?

I was actually aware that the Apostles predated Marx by a considerable margin and hence my presentation was ‘communists’ in inverted commas.

I highlighted this point because while Communism is anti-religion and so its policy with respect of religion is understandably rejected by religious people, the baby should not be cast out with the bathwater, and the economic model of communism is actually v close to what the apostle’s practiced and advocated.

And I have grave reservations about Paul’s claim to represent the teaching of Jesus anyway – his remark about forgiving the sins of the unrepentant so as ‘to heap more coals upon their heads’ seems to me to be the exact opposite of the wish of Jesus