Two Columns: Modern Manifesto Goals vs. Ancient Greek Scripture
Many people assume that opposition to land hoarding, usury, and wealth extraction began in the 19th century. In reality, the Septuagint (LXX) and the Greek New Testament established these protections nearly two millennia earlier.
| Core Principle |
Modern Manifesto Framing |
Ancient Biblical Baseline (LXX & Greek NT) |
| Distribution by Need |
“From each according to ability, to each according to need.” |
Πράξεις (Acts) 4:35: Distribution was made to each “καθότι ἄν τις χρείαν εἶχεν” (“according as anyone had need”), so that “οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐνδεής τις ὑπῆρχεν ἐν αὐτοῖς” (“neither was anyone among them lacking”). |
| Common Stewardship |
Abolition of private monopolies over essential survival resources. |
Πράξεις (Acts) 4:32: Not one claimed his possessions as ἴδιον (exclusively his own), “ἀλλ᾽ ἦν αὐτοῖς ἅπαντα κοινά” (“but all things were common to them”). |
| Land & Housing Rights |
Ending landlord speculation and permanent land accumulation. |
Λευιτικόν (Leviticus) 25:23 (LXX): “καὶ ἡ γῆ οὐ πραθήσεται εἰς βεβαίωσιν· ἐμὴ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ γῆ” (“And the land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is mine”). Every family holds an un-taxable inheritance (κληρονομία). |
| Debt Cancellation |
Canceling predatory debt bondage that traps working families. |
Λευιτικόν (Leviticus) 25:10 (LXX) & Δευτερονόμιον (Deuteronomy) 15:1–2 (LXX): Mandatory debt release (ἄφεσις) every 7th year and full land/liberty restoration every 50th year (Jubilee). |
| Anti-Usury & Wage Justice |
Stopping interest extraction and stolen labor value. |
Ἔξοδος (Exodus) 22:25 (LXX) & Ἰάκωβος (James) 5:4: Prohibits charging interest (τόκος) to the poor and condemns landowners who withhold the wages of workers who harvested their fields. |
| What Drives the System |
State enforcement, material dialectic, and centralized bureaucracy. |
Πράξεις (Acts) 5:4 & Ἰωάννης (John) 4:24: Strictly voluntary (“While it remained, did it not remain your own?”). Driven by internal repentance (μετάνοια) and faith (πίστις) in Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, not state force. |