Christian anarchism

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Part of a series of articles on Christianity
Social Christianity
Major figures
Francis of Assisi Antoninus of Florence Wilhelm E.F. von Ketteler Pope Leo XIII Adolph Kolping Edward Bellamy Margaret Wedgwood Benn Phillip Berryman James Hal Cone Dorothy Day Toni Negri Leo Tolstoy Óscar Romero Gustavo Gutiérrez Abraham Kuyper Daniel Berrigan Philip Berrigan Martin Luther King, Jr. Walter Rauschenbusch Desmond Tutu Tommy Douglas Joseph Smith, Jr.
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Key documents
Rerum Novarum (1891) Princeton Stone Lectures (1898) Populorum Progressio (1967) Centesimus Annus (1991) Caritas in Veritate (2009)
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Christian anarchism is a movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels.^[1][2] It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable, the authority of God as embodied in the teachings of Jesus, and thus rejects the idea that human governments have ultimate authority over human societies. Christian anarchists denounce the state as they claim it is violent, deceitful and, when glorified, idolatrous.^[3][4]

More than any other Bible source, the Sermon on the Mount is used as the basis for Christian anarchism.^[5] Most Christian anarchists are pacifists and reject the use of violence, such as war.^[3] Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You is often regarded as a key text for modern Christian anarchism.^[3][6]

Origins

Old Testament

Jacques Ellul notes that the final verse of the Book of Judges (Judges 21:25) states that there was no king in Israel and that "everyone did as they saw fit".^[7][8][9] Subsequently, as recorded in the first Book of Samuel (1 Samuel 8) the people of Israel wanted a king "so as to be like other nations".^[10][11] God declared that the people had rejected him as their king. He warned that a human king would lead to militarism, conscription and taxation, and that their pleas for mercy from the king's demands would go unanswered. Samuel passed on God's warning to the Israelites but they still demanded a king, and Saul became their ruler.^[12][13] Much of the subsequent Old Testament chronicles the Israelites trying to live with this decision.^[14]

New Testament

Carl Heinrich Bloch's depiction of the Sermon on the Mount

More than any other Bible source, the love our enemies.^[5]

The gospels tell of Jesus' temptation in the desert. For the final temptation, Jesus is taken up to a high mountain by Satan and told that if he bows down to Satan he will give him all the kingdoms of the world.^[15] Christian anarchists use this as evidence that all Earthly kingdoms and governments are ruled by Satan, otherwise they would not be Satan's to give.^[16] Jesus refuses the temptation, choosing to serve God instead, implying that Jesus is aware of the corrupting nature of Earthly power.^[17]

Christian eschatology and various Christian anarchists, such as Jacques Ellul, have identified the state and political power as the Beast in the Book of Revelation.^[18][19]

Whether or not Christianity is compatible with anarchism is a point of contention, as some hold that one cannot consistently be a Christian and anarchist simultaneously. Critics include Christians and anarchists as well as those who reject both categories. For example, anarchists often cite the phrase "no gods, no masters" and Christians often cite Romans 13 (see State authority below). Others, such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Frank Seaver Billings, criticize Christianity and anarchism by arguing that they are the same thing.^[20][21]

Early Church

Several of the Church Fathers' writings suggest anarchism as God's ideal.^[22] The first Christians opposed the primacy of the State: "We must obey God as ruler rather than men" (Acts 4:19, 5:29, 1 Corinthians 6:1-6); "Stripping the governments and the authorities bare, he exhibited them in open public as conquered, leading them in a triumphal procession by means of it." (Colossians 2:15). Also some early Christian communities appear to have practised anarchist communism, such as the Jerusalem group described in Acts, who shared their money and labor equally and fairly among the members.^[23] Christian anarchists, such as Keven Craig, insist that these communities were centred on true love and care for one another rather than liturgy. They also allege that the reason the early Christians were persecuted was not because they worshipped Jesus Christ, but because they refused to worship human idols claiming divine status (see Imperial cult). Given that they refused to worship the Roman Emperor they refused to swear any oath of allegiance to the Empire.^[22]

Thomas Merton in his introduction to a translation of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers describes the early monastics as "Truly in certain sense 'anarchists,' and it will do no harm to think of them as such."^[24]

Conversion of the Roman Empire

For Christian anarchists the moment which epitomises the Constantinian shift", in which Christianity gradually came to be identified with the will of the ruling elite, becoming the State church of the Roman Empire, and in some cases (such as the Crusades, Inquisition and Wars of Religion) a religious justification for violence.^[25]

Middle Ages

Following Constantine's conversion, Alexandre Christoyannopoulos recounts that Christian pacifism and anarchism were submerged for nearly a millennium until the emergence of thinkers such as Francis of Assisi and Petr Chelčický.^[26] Francis of Assisi (c.1181–1226) was an ascetic preacher, pacifist and nature lover. As the son of a wealthy family cloth merchant he led a privileged life and fought as a soldier, but radically changed his beliefs and practices after a spiritual awakening. Francis became a pacifist and eschewed material goods, attempting to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.^[27] Peter Maurin, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, was heavily influenced by Francis of Assisi.^[28] Petr Chelčický's (c.1390–c.1460) work, specifically The Net of Faith, influenced Leo Tolstoy and is referenced in his book The Kingdom of God Is Within You.^[29]

Peasant revolts in the post-reformation era

Woodcut from a Diggers document by William Everard.

Various libertarian socialist authors have identified the written work of English Protestant social reformer (Pierre Joseph) Proudhon was the first writer to call himself an anarchist, at least two predecessors outlined systems that contain all the basic elements of anarchism. The first was Gerrard Winstanley (1609-c. 1660), a linen draper who led the small movement of the Diggers during the Commonwealth. Winstanley and his followers protested in the name of a radical Christianity against the economic distress that followed the Civil War and against the inequality that the grandees of the New Model Army seemed intent on preserving.

In 1649–1650 the Diggers squatted on stretches of common land in southern England and attempted to set up communities based on work on the land and the sharing of goods. The communities failed, but a series of pamphlets by Winstanley survived, of which The New Law of Righteousness (1649) was the most important. Advocating a rational Christianity, Winstanley equated Christ with “the universal liberty” and declared the universally corrupting nature of authority. He saw “an equal privilege to share in the blessing of liberty” and detected an intimate link between the institution of property and the lack of freedom."^[32] For Murray Bookchin "In the modern world, anarchism first appeared as a movement of the peasantry and yeomanry against declining feudal institutions. In Germany its foremost spokesman during the Peasant Wars was Thomas Müntzer; in England, Gerrard Winstanley, a leading participant in the Digger movement. The concepts held by Müntzer and Winstanley were superbly attuned to the needs of their time — a historical period when the majority of the population lived in the countryside and when the most militant revolutionary forces came from an agrarian world. It would be painfully academic to argue whether Müntzer and Winstanley could have achieved their ideals. What is of real importance is that they spoke to their time; their anarchist concepts followed naturally from the rural society that furnished the bands of the peasant armies in Germany and the New Model in England."^[33]

Modern era

Adin Ballou

Adin Ballou (1803–1890) was founder of the Hopedale Community in Massachusetts, and a prominent 19th century exponent of pacifism, socialism and abolitionism. Through his long career as a Universalist (and then Unitarian) minister, he tirelessly sought social reform through his radical Christian and socialist views. Although he rejected anarchism both as a label and as a theory, he was extremely critical of "human government".^[34] Tolstoy was heavily influenced by his writings.

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an American author, pacifist, nature lover, tax resister and individualist anarchist. He was an advocate of civil disobedience and a lifelong abolitionist. Though not commonly regarded as a Christian anarchist, his essay Civil Disobedience does include many of the Christian anarchist ideals.

William B. Greene

William B. Greene (1819–1878), an individualist anarchist based in the United States, was a Unitarian minister, and the originator of a Christian Mutualism, which he considered a new dispensation, beyond God’s covenant with Abraham. His 1850 Mutual Banking begins with a discussion (drawn from the work of Pierre Leroux) of the Christian rite of communion as a model for a society based in equality, and ends with a prophetic invocation of the new Mutualist dispensation. His better-known scheme for mutual banking, and his criticisms of usury should be understood in this specifically religious context. Unlike his contemporaries among the nonresistants, Greene was not a pacifist, and served as a Union Army colonel in the American Civil War.

Leo Tolstoy wrote extensively about Christian pacifism and anarchism.

Leo Tolstoy

Resurrection.

David Lipscomb

David Lipscomb (1831–1917) was a minister, author and member in the American Restoration Movement. He wrote a strong condemnation of civil authority called Civil Government: Its Origin, Mission, and Destiny, and the Christian's Relation to It (1889) and co-founded Lipscomb University.

Charles Erskine Scott Wood

Charles Erskine Scott Wood (1852–1944) was the author of a satirical bestseller, Heavenly Discourse, which portrayed God and Jesus as anarchists opposed to churches, governments, war, and capitalism.

Thomas J. Hagerty

Tolstoyan tradition but rather an anarcho-syndicalist. Christian anarchists like Dorothy Day and Ammon Hennacy have been members of the Industrial Workers of the World and found common cause with the axiom "an injury to one is an injury to all."

Nikolai Berdyaev

Nikolai Berdyaev (1874–1948), the Orthodox Christian philosopher has been called the philosopher of freedom and is known as a Christian existentialist. Known for writing "the Kingdom of God is anarchy" he believed that freedom ultimately comes from God, in direct opposition to atheist anarchists such as Mikhail Bakunin, who saw God as the (symbolic) enslaver of humanity.

Peter Maurin

Peter Maurin (1877–1949) was a French social activist and co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. Maurin's vision to transform the social order consisted of establishing urban houses of hospitality to care for the destitute; rural farming communities to teach city dwellers agrarianism and encourage a movement back-to-the-land; and roundtable discussions in community centres to clarify thought and initiate action.^[38]

Léonce Crenier

Léonce Crenier (1888–1963) first rejected religion, becoming an anarcho-communist when he moved to Paris from rural France in 1911. In 1913 he visited his sister in Portugal where he stayed for several years. During this period he suffered a debilitating and agonising illness. Receiving the attentions of a particularly caring nurse, he survived, despite the gloomy predictions of the doctors. Converting to Catholicism, he became a monk. He is particularly known for his concept of Precarity, and was influential on Dorothy Day.

Cartoon by Art Young, first published in The Masses in 1917 and later reprinted in Ammon Hennacy's autobiography.^[39]

Ammon Hennacy

Ammon Hennacy (1893–1970) wrote extensively on his work with the Catholic Workers, the IWW, and at the Joe Hill House of Hospitality. He was an Irish American Christian anarchist, draft dodger, vegetarian, and tax resister. He also tried to reduce his tax liability by taking up a lifestyle of simple living. His autobiography The Book of Ammon originally released as The Autobiography of a Catholic Anarchist, describes his work in nonviolent, anarchist, social action, and provides insight into the lives of Christian anarchists in the United States of the 20th century. His other book is The One-Man Revolution in America.

Dorothy Day

Dorothy Day (1897–1980) was a journalist turned social activist. She was a member of the IWW and devout member of the Roman Catholic Church. She became known for her social justice campaigns in defense of the poor, forsaken, hungry and homeless. Alongside Peter Maurin, she founded the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933, espousing nonviolence, and hospitality for the impoverished and downtrodden. Dorothy Day was declared Servant of God when a cause for sainthood was opened for her by Pope John Paul II. Among books she authored was her autobiography The Long Loneliness.

Jacques Ellul

Jacques Ellul (1912–1994) was a French thinker, sociologist, theologian and Christian anarchist. He wrote several books against the "technological society", and some about Christianity and politics, like Anarchy and Christianity. Similar to the theology of one of his main influences, Karl Barth, Ellul's works and ideas are considered dialectic.^[40]

Philip Berrigan

Philip Berrigan (1923–2002) was an internationally renowned peace activist and Roman Catholic priest. He and his brother Daniel Berrigan were on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for illegal nonviolent actions against war.

Ivan Illich

Ivan Illich (1926–2002) was a libertarian-socialist social thinker, with roots in the Catholic Church, who wrote critiques of technology, energy use and compulsory education. In 1961 Illich founded the Centro Intercultural de Documentación (CIDOC) at Cuernavaca in Mexico, in order to "counterfoil" the Vatican's participation in the "modern development" of the so-called Third World. Illich's books Energy and Equity and Tools for Conviviality are considered classics for social ecologists interested in appropriate technology, while his book Deschooling Society is still revered by activists seeking alternatives to compulsory schooling. Ivan's views on Jesus as an anarchist are highlighted in a speech he made at a chapel in Chicago.^[41]

Vernard Eller

Vernard Eller (1927–2007) was a minister in the Church of the Brethren and author of Christian Anarchy: Jesus' Primacy Over the Powers.^[42]

Anarchist biblical views and practices

Church authority

With some notable exceptions, such as the Catholic Worker Movement, many Christian anarchists are critical of Church dogma and rituals. Christian anarchists tend to wish that Christians were less preoccupied with performing rituals and preaching dogmatic theology, and more with following Jesus' teaching and practices.^[43] Jacques Ellul and Dave Andrews claim that Jesus did not intend to be the founder of an institutional religion, whilst Michael Elliot believes one of Jesus' intentions was to bypass human intermediaries and do away with priests.^[44][45][46]

Pacifism and nonviolence

The Deserter (1916) by Boardman Robinson.

Christian anarchists, such as Leo Tolstoy, Ammon Hennacy, Jacques Ellul, and Dave Andrews, follow Jesus' call to not resist evil but turn the other cheek. They argue that this teaching can only imply a condemnation of the state, as the police and army hold a monopoly over the legitimate use of force.^[3] They believe freedom will only be guided by the grace of God if they show compassion to others and turn the other cheek when confronted with violence. Christian anarchists believe violence begets violence and the ends never justify the means.^[47]

Many Christian anarchists practice the principles of nonviolence, nonresistance and turning the other cheek. To illustrate how nonresistance works in practice, Alexandre Christoyannopoulos offers the following Christian anarchist response to terrorism:

The path shown by Jesus is a difficult one that can only be trod by true martyrs. A "war on terror."^[48]

Simple living

Christian anarchists, such as Ammon Hennacy, Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day, often advocate voluntary poverty. This can be for a variety of reasons, such as withdrawing support for government by reducing taxable income or following Jesus' teachings.^[49] Jesus appears to teach voluntary poverty when he told his disciples, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:25) and "You cannot serve both God and Mammon" (Luke 16:13).^[50]

State authority

The most common challenge for anarchist theologians is interpreting Paul's Epistle to the Romans 13:1–7, in which Paul demanded obedience to governing authorities and described them as God's servants exacting punishment on wrongdoers.^[51][52] Romans 13:1–7 holds the most explicit reference to the state in the New Testament but other parallel texts include Titus 3:1, Hebrews 13:17 and 1 Peter 2:13-17.^{[53][54][55][56]}

Blessed are the Peacemakers (1917) by George Bellows

Established theologians, such as C.E.B. Cranfield, have interpreted Romans 13:1–7 to mean the Church should support the state, as God has sanctified the state to be his main tool to preserve social order.^[57][58] In the case of the state being involved in a "just war", theologians also argue that it's permissible for Christians to serve the state and wield the sword.^[51][59] Christian anarchists do not share this interpretation of Romans 13 but still recognize it as "a very embarrassing passage."^[60][61]

Christian anarchists and pacifists, such as

Anti-war movement and peace Opposition to wars or aspects of war Afghan War Iraq War Landmines Military action in Iran Military intervention in Libya Military taxation Nuclear armament War on Terror Sri Lankan Civil War Vietnam War World War I World War II Second Boer War American Civil War War of 1812 Agents of opposition Anti-war organizations Anti-nuclear organizations Anti-war movement Bed-In Central Park be-ins Conscientious objectors Counterculture Draft evasion Human Be-In List of peace activists Peace movement Peace commission Peace churches Peace and conflict studies Peace camp Peace education Teach-in War resisters War tax resisters Related ideologies Ahimsa Anarcho-pacifism Anarcho-punks Anti-imperialism Antimilitarism Anti-nuclear movement Appeasement Christian anarchism Direct action Hippie Isolationism Non-interventionism Nonviolence Nonkilling Pacificism Pacifism Satyagraha Simple living Socialism Soviet influence on the peace movement Media and cultural Books Films International Day of Non-Violence International Day of Peace Monuments and memorials Plays Songs Symbols Peace News (UK) Countries Canada Germany Israel Netherlands Spain United Kingdom United States

• Works on Christian anarchism at Internet Archive
• Books on Christian anarchism at the Open Library
• "Union Square Speech", Dorothy Day, November 6, 1965
• Commentary: John 18:33-38, Ollie Harrison, Third Way Magazine, February 1996
• Christian Anarchism: A Revolutionary Reading of the Bible, Alexandre Christoyannopoulos, World International Studies Conference (WISC), July 23–26, 2008
• Jesus Is an Anarchist, James Redford, Social Science Research Network (SSRN), October 17, 2009
• Was Jesus an anarchist? - interview with Alexandre Christoyannopoulos by William Crawley, BBC Northern Ireland, May 2011
• Jesus Radicals - A webzine exploring Christianity and anarchism
• Compassionistas - A resource for Spiritual Activism with some Christian Anarchist material
• Christianarchism - An interpretation of Christian Anarchism
• Christocrate.ch - A Christian Anarchist website (French)

External links

• Frederick G. Boehrer (2001) Christian Anarchism and the Catholic Worker Movement: Roman Catholic Authority and Identity in the United States.
• Jonathan Bartley (2006) Faith and Politics After Christendom: The Church as a Movement for Anarchy. ISBN 978-1842273487
• Ted Lewis ed. (2008) Electing Not to Vote: Christian Reflections on Reasons for Not Voting ISBN 978-1556352270
• Shane Claiborne (2008) Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals. ISBN 978-0310278429
• Tripp York (2009) Living on Hope While Living in Babylon: The Christian Anarchists of the 20th Century. ISBN 978-1556356858
• David Alan Black (2009) Christian Archy. ISBN 978-1893729773
• Alexandre Christoyannopoulos (2010) Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel. ISBN 978-1845402471
• Ronald E. Osborn (2010) Anarchy and Apocalypse: Essays on Faith, Violence, and Theodicy. ISBN 978-1606089620
• Keith Hebden (2011–13) Dalit Theology and Christian Anarchism. ISBN 978-1409424390 and Seeking Justice: The Radical Compassion of Jesus. ISBN 978-1-78099-688-2
• Tom O'Golo (2011) Christ? No! Jesus? Yes!: A Radical Reappraisal of a Very Important Life. ISBN 978-0953252008
• Jacques de Guillebon and Falk van Gaver (2012) L'anarchisme chrétien (translated as Christian anarchism). ISBN 978-2356310613
• Mark Van Steenwyk (2012–13) That Holy Anarchist: Reflections on Christianity & Anarchism. ISBN 978-0615659817 and The unKingdom of God: Embracing the Subversive Power of Repentance. ISBN 978-0830836550
• Noel Moules (2012) Fingerprints of Fire, Footprints of Peace: A Spiritual Manifesto from a Jesus Perspective. ISBN 978-1-84694-612-7

21st century

• Elbert Hubbard (1910) Jesus Was An Anarchist (originally titled The Better Part).
• Ammon Hennacy (1954) The Autobiography of a Catholic Anarchist (reprinted in 1965 as The Book of Ammon). ISBN 978-1608990535
• Archie Penner (1959) The Christian, The State, and the New Testament (reprinted in 2000 as The New Testament, the Christian, and the State).
• Ruth Gilmore (1970) The Christian Anarchists: Ruskin and Tolstoy, and a Consideration of Their Influence on Gandhi.
• Niels Kjaer (1972) Kristendom og Anarkisme (translated as Christianity and Anarchism).
• Mary Segers (1977) Equality and Christian Anarchism: The Political and Social Ideas of the Catholic Worker Movement.
• Vernard Eller (1987) Christian Anarchy: Jesus' Primacy Over the Powers. ISBN 978-1579102227
• Linda H. Damico (1987) The Anarchist Dimension of Liberation Theology. ISBN 978-1620323441
• Jacques Ellul (1988) Anarchy and Christianity. ISBN 978-1606089712
• Patrick Coy, et al. (1988) A Revolution of the Heart: Essays on the Catholic Worker. ISBN 978-0865712621
• Michael C. Elliott (1990) Freedom, Justice and Christian Counter-Culture. ISBN 978-1620328576
• George Tarleton (1993) Birth of a Christian Anarchist.
• Dave Andrews (1999) Christi-Anarchy: Discovering a Radical Spirituality of Compassion. ISBN 978-1610978521

20th century

• Ernest Renan (1863) The Life of Jesus.
• David Lipscomb (1866–7) Civil Government: Its Origin, Mission and Destiny, and the Christian's Relation to It (reprinted in 2006 as On Civil Government). ISBN 978-1610978736
• Leo Tolstoy (1886–94) What I Believe; and The Kingdom of God Is Within You.

19th century

Further reading

References

See also

Critics of Christian anarchism include both Christians and anarchists. Christians often cite Romans 13 as evidence that the State should be obeyed,^[96] while secular anarchists do not believe in any authority including God as per the slogan "no gods, no masters".^[97] Christian anarchists often believe Romans 13 is taken out of context,^[98] emphasizing that Revelation 13 and Isaiah 13, among other passages, are needed to fully understand Romans 13 text.^[99]

Criticism

^[95][87] in 2008.Alexandre Christoyannopoulos (ASIRA) founded by Academics and Students Interested in Religious Anarchism ^[94][93][87], anarchism and pacifism;Mormonism, a blog and newspaper, founded in 2007 by William Van Wagenen to promote The Mormon Worker ^[92][87] created by Jason Barr in 2006;Christian Anarchists ^[91][87] created by Adam Clark in 2005;Lost Religion of Jesus ^[90][87] Numerous Christian anarchist

Online communities

Maurin and Day were both baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church and believed in the institution, thus showing it is possible to be a Christian anarchist and still choose to remain within a church. After her death, Day was proposed for sainthood by the Claretian Missionaries in 1983. Pope John Paul II granted the Archdiocese of New York permission to open Day's cause for sainthood in March 2000, calling her a Servant of God.

Christian Anarchism is based upon the answer of Jesus to the Pharisees when Jesus said that he without sin should be the first to cast the stone, and upon the Sermon on the Mount which advises the return of good for evil and the turning of the other cheek. Therefore, when we take any part in government by voting for legislative, judicial, and executive officials, we make these men our arm by which we cast a stone and deny the Sermon on the Mount. The dictionary definition of a Christian is one who follows Christ; kind, kindly, Christ-like. Anarchism is voluntary cooperation for good, with the right of secession. A Christian anarchist is therefore one who turns the other cheek, overturns the tables of the moneychangers, and does not need a cop to tell him how to behave. A Christian anarchist does not depend upon bullets or ballots to achieve his ideal; he achieves that ideal daily by the One-Man Revolution with which he faces a decadent, confused, and dying world.^[86]

The Catholic Worker Movement has consistently protested against war and violence for over seven decades. Many of the leading figures in the movement have been both anarchists and pacifists, as Ammon Hennacy explains:

The Catholic Worker considered itself a Christian anarchist movement. All authority came from God; and the state, having by choice distanced itself from Christian perfectionism, forfeited its ultimate authority over the citizen...Catholic Worker anarchism followed Christ as a model of nonviolent revolutionary behavior...He respected individual conscience. But he also preached a prophetic message, difficult for many of his contemporaries to embrace.^[85]

Anne Klejment, professor of history at University of St. Thomas, wrote of the Catholic Worker Movement:

Established by Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day in the early 1930s, the Catholic Worker Movement is a Christian movement dedicated to nonviolence, personalism and voluntary poverty.^[83] Over 130 Catholic Worker communities exist in the United States where "houses of hospitality" care for the homeless. The Joe Hill House of hospitality (which closed in 1968) in Salt Lake City, Utah featured an enormous twelve feet by fifteen foot mural of Jesus Christ and Joe Hill. Present-day Catholic Workers include Ciaron O'Reilly, an Irish-Australian civil rights and anti-war activist.^[84]

Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Workers.

Catholic Worker Movement

The Brotherhood Church is a Christian anarchist and pacifist community. The Brotherhood Church can be traced back to 1887 when a Congregationalist minister called John Bruce Wallace started a magazine called "The Brotherhood" in Limavady, Northern Ireland. An intentional community with Quaker origins has been located at Stapleton, near Pontefract, Yorkshire, since 1921.^[81][82]

Brotherhood Church

Present-day Christian anarchist groups

Vegetarianism in the Christian tradition has a long history commencing in the first centuries of Church with the Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers who abandoned the "world of men" for intimacy with the God of Jesus Christ. Vegetarianism amongst hermits and Christian monastics in the Eastern Christian and Roman Catholic traditions remains common to this day as a means of simplifying one's life, and as a practice of asceticism. Leo Tolstoy, Ammon Hennacy and Théodore Monod extended their belief in nonviolence and compassion to all living beings through vegetarianism.^{[77][78][79][80]}

Vegetarianism

"Render unto Caesar..." in no way divides the exercise of authority into two realms....They were said in response to another matter: the payment of taxes, and the coin. The mark on the coin is that of Caesar; it is the mark of his property. Therefore give Caesar this money; it is his. It is not a question of legitimizing taxes! It means that Caesar, having created money, is its master. That's all. Let us not forget that money, for Jesus, is the domain of Mammon, a satanic domain!^[76]

Tax supporters cite "give to Caesar what is Caesar's" (Matthew 22:21) and Paul's letter to Roman Christians (Romans 13:6-7).^[74] However, Christian anarchists do not interpret Matthew 22:21 as advocating support for taxes but as further advice to free oneself from material attachment. For example, Dorothy Day said if we were to give everything to God there will be nothing left for Caesar,^[75] and Jacques Ellul believed the passage showed that Caesar may have rights over fiat money but not things that are made by God, as he explained:^[71]

Some Christian anarchists resist taxes in the belief that their government is engaged in immoral, unethical or destructive activities such as war, and paying taxes inevitably funds these activities, whilst others submit to taxation.^[71][72] Adin Ballou wrote that if the act of resisting taxes requires physical force to withhold what a government tries to take, then it is important to submit to taxation. Ammon Hennacy, who, like Ballou also believed in nonresistance, eased his conscience by simply living below the income tax threshold.^[73]

Tax

In the Sermon of the Mount (Matthew 5:33-37) Jesus tells his followers to not swear oaths in the name of God or Man. Tolstoy, Adin Ballou and Petr Chelčický understand this to mean that Christians should never bind themselves to any oath as they may not be able to fulfil the will of God if they are bound to the will of a fellow-man. Tolstoy takes the view that all oaths are evil, but especially an oath of allegiance.^[70]

Swearing of oaths

There are also Christians anarchists, such as Tolstoy and Hennacy, who do not see the need to integrate Paul's teachings into their subversive way of life. Tolstoy believed Paul was instrumental in the church's "deviation" from Jesus' teaching and practices, whilst Hennacy believed "Paul spoiled the message of Christ" (see Jesuism).^[67][68] Hennacy and Ciaron O'Reilly, in contrast to Eller, advocate nonviolent civil disobedience to confront state oppression.^[69]

Paul's letter to Roman Christians declares "For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong." However Christian anarchists point out an inconsistency if this text were to be taken literally and in isolation as Jesus and Paul were both executed by the governing authorities or "rulers" even though they did "right."^[58]

Christians who interpret Romans 13 as advocating support for governing authorities are left with the difficulty of how to act under tyrants or dictators.^[58] Ernst Käsemann, in his Commentary on Romans, challenged the mainstream Christian interpretation of the passage in light of German Lutheran Churches using this passage to justify the Holocaust.^[66]

Be clear, any of those human [authorities] are where they are only because God is allowing them to be there. They exist only at his sufferance. And if God is willing to put up with...the Roman Empire, you ought to be willing to put up with it, too. There is no indication God has called you to clear it out of the way or get it converted for him. You can't fight an Empire without becoming like the Roman Empire; so you had better leave such matters in God's hands where they belong.^[65]

Eller articulates this position by restating the passage this way: ^[64][60]