A concise introduction to the thought and vision of Eberhard Arnold, the founder of the Bruderhof community.

Eberhard Arnold was one of the most remarkable Christian figures of the twentieth century. In the years after World War I he abandoned his career ambitions to live by the radical teachings of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. With his family and a small circle of friends he founded the Bruderhof, an international pacifist community rooted in the Anabaptist tradition, which soon brought him into conflict with the Nazi state.

Whether you've never read Eberhard Arnold before, or have already been profoundly affected by one of his books, this introductory selection from many of his important works will give insight into of his thought on a wide range of topics, including justice, peacemaking, work, economic sharing, communal living, human nature, family, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and the church. A biographical introduction by his grandson Johann Christoph Arnold puts the selections in context.

A concise introduction to the thought and vision of Eberhard Arnold, the founder of the Bruderhof community.

About the Author
Eberhard Arnold (1883-1935) studied theology, philosophy, and education at Breslau, Halle, and Erlangen, where he received his doctorate in 1909. He became a sought-after writer, lecturer, and speaker in his native Germany. Arnold was active in the student revival movement sweeping the country and became secretary of the German Christian Student Union. In 1916 he became literary director of the Furche Publishing House in Berlin and editor of its monthly periodical. Like thousands of young Europeans, Eberhard Arnold and his wife Emmy were disillusioned by the failure of the establishment - especially the churches - to provide answers to the problems facing society in the turbulent years following World War I. In 1920, out of a desire to put into practice the teachings of Jesus, the Arnolds and their five young children turned their backs on the privileges of middle-class life in Berlin and moved to the small German village of Sannerz. There, with a handful of like-minded seekers who drew inspiration from the Youth Movement, the sixteenth-century Anabaptists, and the early Christians, they founded an intentional community on the basis of the Sermon on the Mount. The community, which supported itself by agriculture and a small but vibrant publishing house, attracted thousands of visitors and eventually grew into the international communal movement known as the Bruderhof.

Reviews

"Arnold's writings has all the simple, luminous, direct vision into things that I have come to associate with his name. It has the authentic ring of a truly evangelical Christianity and moves me deeply. It stirs to repentance and renewal. I am deeply grateful for it." -Thomas Merton

"Arnold's life is a testimony that in community the Spirit, which can be found in all traditions, can reveal to us the real causes of social injustice." -Thich Nhat Hanh
"The witness of Eberhard Arnold is a much needed corrective to an American church that has lost the vital, biblical connection between belief and obedience." -Jim Wallis
"Key selections from a prophetic voice - the contemporary church needs to wrestle with Eberhard Arnold." -Ronald J. Sider



Book Information
ISBN 9781636080925
Author Eberhard Arnold
Format Paperback
Page Count 193
Imprint Plough Publishing House
Publisher Plough Publishing House