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God with boldness . And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul , neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed teas his own , but they had all things common . And with
great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus ; and great gTace was upon them all . Neither was there any among them that lacked ; for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them ,
and brought the prices of the things that were sold , and laid them down at the apostles' feet ; and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need . " * Though , therefore , it be now the practice altogether to pass over in silence this part of the Christian institute , without condescending
even to comment upon it , or to attempt explaining it away , or only to make it the subject of a jest , the authority for it seems to be as clear as that of any of those institutions , or supposed institutions , of Christianity which are the subject of so much discussion .
The account given in the 6 th chapter of the Acts of the first appointment of Deacons , plainly shews us that the plan of a Community of Goods had been continued in the Church of Jerusalem for seven years , ( according to the chronology of some interpreters , ) and was then matured and confirmed by the
election of SteDhen and six others , bv election of Stephen and six others , by the general body , at the instance of the twelve apostles , for the express purpose of having the care of the common stock . This was recommended because some complained , ( ver . 1 , ) that they " were overlooked in the daily ministration ; " " alms" adds the
Improved Version , but surely without any sanction of the original or of the context . The ministration was not of alms , but of the common goods , as Tyndall justly remarks in his note on the passage , ** that is , not indifferently loked upon in the dayly distrybutyng of the commune goodes . " " Then the twelve called the multitude of the
disciples together and said , It is not meet that we should leave the word of God and serve at the tables : wherefore , brethren , look ye out among you seven men which we may appoint to this needful business . " Newcome renders
* Acts iv . M— 35 .
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the passage , minister to the tables of the poor , " but the words ih Italic are also interpolated Without authority , and , like the others , are inconsistent with the narrative , and calculated to mislead , by preventing the reader from perceiving in this passage an important incident in the history of the apostolic community of goods , of which the office of deacon , * however it is now
changed from its original design , stand ' s as a memorial . In contending that the subsequent relapse of the professors of Christianity into the system of Private Property ought not to afford any presumption of mistake with regard to this subject on the part of its first teachers , I do not at all mean to admit that this
apostolic institution of a community of goods and the renunciation of riches , were early or suddenly lost sight of in the church ; the history of its continuance and gradual perversion and decay , is probably to be traced in the history of those Religious Orders and communities whose members alone were
considered as living in complete conformity with Christian principles , and which were established upon the plan of having all things in common , t
* St . Paul , in his Epistle to the Romans , ( xii . 7 ' , ) probably refers to the duties of deacons iu the management of the common property of churches : erre ^ locAoviav , iv ty ) " biGLKoviqc—also ver . 8 , o fjL £ . Ta ^ jibovq \ v ccTcXoTyjTt . —See Taylor and Schleusner .
-f * In the middle of the fourth century St . Anthony permitted a numerous body of men to live in a community with him , and lead under his direction a life of piety and manual labour . —Butler ' s Memoirs respecting the English Catholics * Anthony had given up a large estate on his conversion , in obedience to the precept of Christ , " Go , sell that thou hast , and give to the poor . "
St . Jerome ( On the Christian Ecclesiastical Writers , verb . Philo ) says of Philo , " He hath praised the Christians , reporting them to be not only there ( in Alexandria ) but in many countries , and calling their dwelling-places monasteries . Whereby it is apparent that the church of believers in Christ at the first was
such as monks endeavour to be now , thaf nothing in property is any man ' s own , none is rich among them , none poor , their patrimony is distributed to the needy , " &c .
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Ttie Nonconformist . No . XX . 91
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1821, page 91, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2497/page/27/
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