hich unpleasantly
reminds one of the shouting butcher's insistent cry, "Buy, Buy, Buy!"
to be heard in crowded thoroughfares on Saturday nights.

The moderate Christian Socialists cannot help opposing the most
important item in the Socialist programme. For example, "The Christian
Social Union asserts that it has not the slightest sympathy with
confiscation." In fact, "the whole question of expropriation is
tacitly ignored in the literature of Christian Socialism."[1029] "The
Christian who believes in the words: 'Take heed, and keep yourselves
from all covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the
abundance of the things which he possesseth,' cannot easily be a
Socialist, and a Christian minister cannot easily approve of the
spoliation of the Church."[1030] Professor Flint stated quite
correctly: "What is called Christian Socialism will always be found to
be unchristian in so far as it is socialistic, or unsocialistic in so
far as it is truly and fully Christian."[1031]

Christian Socialist leaders urge Socialists to join the Christian
Socialist movement. "Every Socialist who understands how deeply
religion has been concerned in every movement that has ever won the
enthusiasm of men, every Socialist who realises how enormous is the
work before him, must welcome the assistance of this ancient and
imperishable organ of love and justice. And every Christian who
rejoices in the singular growth of religious zeal in recent years must
long to see all that huge force given to the service of the Humanity
which Jesus Christ has taken up into the Godhead. For the man that
loves much is a Socialist, and the man that loves most is a saint, and
every man that truly loves the brotherhood is in a state of
salvation."[1032] These words seem rather perfunctory and laboured.

By far the largest number of Socialists regard the Christian Socialist
movement with suspicion and dislike. The philosopher of British
Socialism, Mr. Bax, for instance, wrote contemptuously: "The leaders
of the Guild of St. Matthew wish to accomplish vast changes through 'a
clarified Christianity'?--a Christianity which shall consist
apparently of the skins of dead dogmas stuffed with adulterated
Socialist ethics." A leading Socialist weekly wrote of the early
Christian Socialists: "Whether their labours were largely beneficial
depends on the way one looks at these things. We have no doubt that
for the capitalist class these labours were eminently beneficial