"There are three conversations we must have with God. The first is of the heart; the second of the mind; and the third is of the purse." (Martin Luther - 16th century) "Men hang on to property like caterpillars to a cabbage leaf. Self-will and selfishness stand in the way." (Andreas Ehrenpreis 17th century) "When one comes in touch with money, one loses contact with God." (Mother Teresa - 20th century) "There are plenty to follow our Lord half-way, but not the other half. They will give up possessions, friends and honours, but it touches them too closely to disown themselves." (G.D.Watson -19th century) "If we look forward to the day when Jesus will be the only King, when competition and striving will end, when the rich will not oppress the poor, because there will be no rich, and people will love each other and share all they have, then why not begin to live that way?" (Art Gish - 20th century)

"Communal life with its white-hot love began. In its heat, property was melted away to the very foundations. All ownership feeds on stifling self-interest. When deadly selfishness is killed by love, and only then, ownership comes to an end. Yet it was so in the early church." (Eberhard Arnold 20th century) "Christians despise all possessions and share them mutually." (Lucian - 2nd century, pagan author) "Whoever is bound by covetousness and lust for wealth is fettered with a thousand chains about his neck...and he is also made to love those chains." (Peter Walpot - 16th century Hutterite) "'Riches would only have hemmed Christ in from the human race and made Him a private citizen, instead of being the universal man" (G.D.Watson -19th century) "I want to impress on you that truly blessed poverty of spirit is to be found more in humility of heart than in merely going without everyday possessions and consists more in the renunciation of pride than the mere contempt of property." (Guerric, 12th century monk) "Conformity to the world's pattern and mindset is the deadly enemy of the church....The church must again become pilgrim and prophetic - a community in the process of continual disentanglement from the values that dominate the age." (Jim Wallis - 20th century)

Have your say! Leave your comments and join in the discussion on this article on the Jesus Army Forum.