Here I piggy-back on the immediately preceding blog post which was about Rodney Clapp’s chapter about Christian anarchism in his book Living Out of Control.
I have long been interested in Christian anarchy/anarchism which is one reason I chose to join a Mennonite church several years ago. Anabaptists have long adhered, more or less strictly, to Christian anarchism.
In the past and somewhat today, an “anarchist” is believed to be someone who is opposed to all government whatsoever. Actually, however, the label once meant a person who was opposed to monarchy. Being opposed to monarchy was considered anarchy/anarchism.
French Christian philosopher/ethicist/theologian Jacques Ellul wrote about Christian anarchy in a positive way. But the classic of Christian anarchy is by Brethren theologian Vernard Eller. Rodney quotes both of them in the chapter I reviewed and responded to.
What do I understand by “Christian anarchy/anarchism?” Simply a high level of discomfort with hierarchy and control—especially inside the church (including inside a denomination). Sure, there have two be leaders, but they should be daily accountable to those they lead. And those they lead should select them to lead. Decisions should be made by consensus as much as possible.
That has long been the standard procedure for operation within Quaker/Friends conferences and congregations and for Anabaptist ones (although in many conservative Anabaptist congregations such as some Amish there has been tight control by a small group of male leaders).
But what about outside the church? What is a Christian anarchist’s view of government and business? My preference is for every government entity and business to be led by people chosen by those who they lead and accountable to them. Someone might claim that is the case in any democracy, but I doubt it. However, a Christian anarchist will favor democracy over every other known type of government in the state. He or she will advocate for the democracy to be as close to the people governed as possible. A Christian anarchist will resist, nonviolently, of course, hierarchy even in the state and its government.
The one exception where hierarchy and control is necessary is the family. However, a Christian anarchist will minimize the need for control of parents over children and emphasize preparing children to make their own decisions. Control will gradually diminish. And “control” over children of any age will always involve as little coercion as possible (and no violence).
A Christian anarchist will want no church to dominate government. Domination itself is a bad thing according to Christian anarchism.
Theologian Juergen Moltmann gets very little attention as a Christian anarchist, but my reading and study of him leads me to believe he was one even though he was perhaps more realistic about the need for strong government than are many anarchists (Christian or secular). He taught me that hierarchy itself is evil as is domination. So did Walter Wink.
As a church historian I am convinced that the first century Christians did not live with ecclesiastical hierarchy. Sure, the Jerusalem Council guided the apostles, but Paul’s submission to them was purely voluntary. They did not dominate Christians. Some second century Christian leaders such as Clement of Rome departed from that first century pattern of independent apostles and congregations and began to insist on a dominating hierarchy with bishops to be obeyed even as Christ is to be obeyed. I see a major turning point, a “sea change,” in Clement’s attitude toward Christian leadership (in his Letter to the Corinthians). Other second century church fathers did the same (e.g., Ignatius of Antioch). But I do not see the first century Christian churches as falling into that trap of unaccountable leadership.
Anabaptists are noted as “restorationists,” Christians who want to recreate, as much as possible, the first century church of the New Testament.
To put it bluntly, I would not attend, let alone be a member of, any church where the pastor or elders are unaccountable decision-makers and not selected by the members to be their accountable leaders. That is my idea of Christian anarchy. And I prefer every government under which I live to be accountable to the citizenry. I am thinking, for example, of the famous model of New England town meetings. Government as close to the people as possible.
As far as businesses go, I prefer to do business with cooperatives,”co-ops,” of which there are many. Often, people don’t even know that the company they are buying from is a co-op. A co-op bank, for example, is a credit union. But there are many other types of co-op businesses owned by the customers and/or employees, not share-holders who have no direct connection with the business.
*Note: If you choose to comment, make sure your comment is relatively brief (no more than 100 words), on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful (not hostile or argumentative), and devoid of pictures or links.*
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In