Quote:
Originally posted by nota
sorry but wrong
read acts about the man and wife who withheld
some of their cash from the sale of their property
voluntarily it was not the church expected and demanded all they had
so much so that a man, Ananias along with his wife, who withheld some of the money he gained from selling a material possession is condemned by Peter, Acts Acts 5:3-4:
“But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou has not lied unto men, but unto God.”
The failure to give all to the Commune was a lie, not to men but to God. Ananias’ reaction was to fall dead on the spot!
|
Reading the whole story (starting with 4:32 and continuing through 5:11) suggests a more nuanced interpretation.
1) None of the believers was required to sell their property and donate it for the common good. There is no suggestion of coercion or of the members being obligated to stay in the group. The donations were free-will.
2) Acts 4:32 specifically says "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had".
3) Now we come to Ananias and Sapphira who apparently counted themselves among the believers. Verse 2 says: "With his (Ananias's) wifes full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brough the rest and put it at the apostles' feet". So they counted themselves among the believers, and outwardly acted as if they were fully and willfully donating their possessions as the others had -- when in fact they were doing otherwise.
4) Peter sums up their sins this way: "Didn't it belong to you before it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing?
You have not lied to men, but to God." So the sin was not the fact that he kept back his possession. Peter clearly points out that they were his possessions - "At (Ananias's) disposal" and there was no sin in that. But rather that he made a display of donating his goods as the rest had, when in fact they had done less. Their sin was the lie, not the failure to donate.