Were early Christians communists?

Well, yes and no. It all depends on how you define the term.

In a purely broad economic sense, the early church did embrace a communist structure. As Merriam Webster defines it, communism is “a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed.”

In Acts 2:42-47, Luke describes the early church.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

But can we conclude based on this scripture that Christians should or must embrace a communist or socialist political structure?

No.

There exists an important distinction between economic communism practiced by the early church and a statist communist political system. The actions of the early Christians were all voluntary.

Nobody was obligated to join the church. Believers made a personal decision whether to enter into the fellowship or not. Once they became part of the church, nobody forced them to stay. Early Christians could leave the fellowship and abandon its economic communism whenever they chose. Nobody with swords threatened to lock them in a cage if they didn’t give everything to church leadership. There was no tithe collector compelling contribution to the church offering plate. The actions of the early believers were all voluntary and consensual.

This stands in stark contrast to a communist political system – or any statist political system for that matter. The state demands “citizenship” if you live within its geographical area. It compels people to contribute the fruits of their labor to state coffers so its bureaucratic minions can redistribute the money as they see fit. It uses the threat of violence to force people into desired modes of behavior.  Interactions between the state and the citizen are coerced, not voluntary. The entire statist system rests on intimidation, forced compliance and violence.

The statism that many Christians embrace based on the description of life in the early church  stands diametrically opposed to Christian virtue and ethics. You simply cannot reconcile “love your neighbor as yourself” and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” with forcing your neighbor to do your bidding at gunpoint.

So voluntary communism is a scriptural option for a Christian community.  Statism, communist or otherwise, is not.