There
is actually an implicit politics. It isn’t like Christian Marxism
where you are marrying two ideologies. Implicit in Christian
discipleship is an anarchist orientation towards power.
-Ciaron
O’Reilly.1
Towards
a Definition
Christian Anarchism is a broad tradition. Its variations are almost as many as the famously multitudinous strands of secular anarchism. Indeed, there are as many versions of Christian Anarchism as there are Christian Anarchist writers. There is disagreement over voting and paying taxes, for example, and over the place of political protest and civil disobedience2. Some Christian Anarchists emphasise the rights of the individual, others are more communitarian. Different approaches to government are taken including active opposition, withdrawing participation or speaking prophetically into the mechanisms of government. Theologically, Christian Anarchists tend to maintain the core beliefs of the orthodox denominations from which they are drawn. Issues such as the divinity of Christ or belief in the miraculous are rarely discussed, as focus is on the practical outworking of faith. Christian Anarchist activity can take the form of direct action, such as the Ploughshares movement who disarm nuclear-capable submarines, or forming small communitarian expressions of church3 while focussing on non-governmental solutions to local problems. Where there is agreement and, therefore, means by which we can offer some definition, is that all Christian Anarchists assert that the teachings of Jesus in some way advocate a ruler-less existence.
Christian Anarchism is a broad tradition. Its variations are almost as many as the famously multitudinous strands of secular anarchism. Indeed, there are as many versions of Christian Anarchism as there are Christian Anarchist writers. There is disagreement over voting and paying taxes, for example, and over the place of political protest and civil disobedience2. Some Christian Anarchists emphasise the rights of the individual, others are more communitarian. Different approaches to government are taken including active opposition, withdrawing participation or speaking prophetically into the mechanisms of government. Theologically, Christian Anarchists tend to maintain the core beliefs of the orthodox denominations from which they are drawn. Issues such as the divinity of Christ or belief in the miraculous are rarely discussed, as focus is on the practical outworking of faith. Christian Anarchist activity can take the form of direct action, such as the Ploughshares movement who disarm nuclear-capable submarines, or forming small communitarian expressions of church3 while focussing on non-governmental solutions to local problems. Where there is agreement and, therefore, means by which we can offer some definition, is that all Christian Anarchists assert that the teachings of Jesus in some way advocate a ruler-less existence.
The
most common route into Christian Anarchism begins with a belief in
Christian non-violence inspired by the Sermon on the Mount and the
injunction “do not resist an evil person”4.
Anarchism then follows with refusal to support or participate in
government which gains its authority ultimately from violence or
threat of violence. Activist Ciaron O’Reilly5
states: “Anyone who arrives at a pacifist position... has to become
an anarchist, because you observe that all governments are based on
violence. They are all based on cops and prisons and military and the
ability to take life.”6
The
Christian Anarchists
Christian
Anarchism cannot properly be called a school of thought. The various
proponents rarely have direct contact, and it is difficult to draw a
direct line of descent or chart the development of the ideas clearly.
It is best thought of as a tradition, or a stream of thought – a
set of ideas which have been picked up by various writers and
practitioners over the centuries. It is equally difficult to
differentiate which thinkers count as Christian Anarchist and which
do not. Many significant contributors have not owned the term
‘anarchist’, and yet must be included in any true representation
of the development of Christian Anarchism. There is a temptation,
though, to name all righteous law-breakers ‘anarchists’ from
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego7
and the Egyptian midwives to Martin Luther King Jr.
We
might trace the origins of Christian Anarchism to the very early
church. A key argument of Christian Anarchists is that Jesus’ first
followers understood the political dimensions of his teachings and
practised a form of anarchism, creating a ruler-less society in the
midst of the empire. We might equally claim it originates with the
Waldensians in 1177, who aimed to reform the church to voluntary
poverty and acts of justice, taught freedom from political and
ecclesiastical authority, and taught that the true message of Christ
had been corrupted in the era of Constantine8.
The
first writer who could properly be claimed as a
proto-Christian-Anarchist is Peter Chelčický, born 1390. Himself a
Waldensian, he wrote against the use of force, advocated communal
living, and taught that Christians should not be subject to any
earthly power. These teachings were also central to many of the
groups that emerged from the radical reformation over the next two
hundred years. Although the existing traditions today may not
comfortably own the name ‘anarchist’, the teachings and practices
of the Anabaptists loom large throughout the development of Christian
Anarchism. Current writers often appeal to Mennonite theology in
particular, thanks to the writings of John Howard Yoder and the
renewal of Radical Christian Discipleship within Mennonite
communities throughout the last generation.
Gerrard
Winstanley’s ‘True Levellers’ are often viewed as key
antecedents even within secular anarchism. Based on the behaviour of
the church in Acts, the True Levellers practised Christian Communism
in the south of England in the 17th
Century, cultivating vacant land in order to distribute the produce
free of charge. Gerrard Winstanley preached the abolition of wages,
property and aristocracy, and held particular contempt for the
concept of rulers.
In the
19th
Century anarchist theory was consolidated in the writings of
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Likewise, Christian Anarchism crystallised in
Leo Tolstoy’s 1893 The
Kingdom of God is Within You9.
Tolstoy drew from many sources to present a thorough exploration of
‘non-resistance to evil by force’ based on the Sermon on the
Mount, leading to a removal from all systems of government held up by
violence. His major influences are the ‘Practical Christianity’
of Unitarian minister Adin Ballou and the pacifism of the Quakers and
the Doukhobors. Kierkegaard’s criticism of church-state relations
is present too, along with fellow-existentialist Nikolai Berdyaev,
the civil disobedience of Henry David Thoreau, and the writings of
Hugh O. Pentecost. Though Tolstoy wanders further from core Christian
belief than most10,
The
Kingdom of God is Within You
is still considered the key work of Christian Anarchist literature.
It was in review of this book that the term ‘Christian Anarchism’
was first used.
In
1933 Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day formed the Catholic Worker Movement
based on the three practices of hospitality houses for the poor,
farming communities and round-table discussions for immediate action.
Ammon Hennacy was the loudest anarchist voice from within the
movement, and a strong advocate of tax resistance. He summed up his
position:
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.11
Daniel
and Philip Berrigan, both catholic priests, followed in this
tradition. They gained public attention for their civil disobedience
protests against the Vietnam war. They also began the Ploughshares
movement – a loose network of groups taking direct action against
nuclear armament.
In
1988, philosopher and theologian Jacques Ellul published Anarchy
and Christianity12.
This
work is unusual in that it is not written to Christians. Instead, it
is
Ellul’s
apologia
to anarchists, explaining not only the compatibility of Christian
faith with anarchism, but also that Christian faith can be the source
of anarchist politics.
Today
The
late 20th
and early 21st
Centuries saw Christian Anarchist ideas became far more prevalent and
far more accessible than ever before. More books on the subject have
been published between 1980 and 2012 than in the two thousand years
prior to that. The most significant shift is that, while previously
Christian Anarchist writings reached only academics or those already
involved in protest movements, Christian Anarchist ideas have begun
to appear in popular Christian writing.
Vernard
Eller’s 1987 Christian
Anarchy13
begins
this trend, introducing Christian readers to the anarchist ideas
found in the New Testament, Barth, Bonhoeffer and Ellul. Eller
differs from the majority of Christian Anarchists on a number of
points. Firstly, he states that “Christian Anarchists have no
opinions as to whether secular society would be better off with
anarchy.”14
This is clearly not the case for Tolstoy or even the Catholic Worker
movement. Secondly, he criticises the idea that political power is
‘of the devil’ - a central point for some Christian Anarchists,
arguing from Luke 4:6.15
Most unusually of all, he rejects active resistance, particularly the
kind of ‘secular’ political protest that many within ‘Radical
Christian Discipleship’ had aligned themselves to.16
Eller calls these efforts ‘arky faith’ - “That enthusiastic
self-confidence that Christian piety can generate the holy causes,
programs, and ideologies that will effect the social reformation of
society.”17
In this he distances himself, not only from some Christian
Anarchists, but from many kinds of Christian praxis that hope for
global transformation through the activity of the church. Eller’s
Christian Anarchism is ultimately about the primacy of God. His work
is significant for introducing readers to the idea that Christian
discipleship means an anarchist alignment towards politics.
Dave
Andrews presents a similar case in his 1999 Christi-Anarchy18,
promoting a move away from large-programme church efforts and focus
on a ‘spirituality of compassion’ which is personal. Where he
differs from Eller is that he includes in his definition of
‘Christi-Anarchy’ “intentional community groups and
organizations.”19
Andrews is note-worthy for introducing a Christian Anarchist reading
of church history into the popular sphere. In the first section of
his book, he tells the story of the church’s relationship with
power from Constantine to the genocide in Rwanda.
Gregory
Boyd’s 2005 The
Myth of a Christian Nation20,
while not owning the name ‘anarchist’, is a treatise against
nationalism and begins with the assertion: “I believe a significant
segment of American evangelicalism is guilty of nationalistic and
political idolatry.”21
Boyd follows the Radical Christian Discipleship writers by drawing
heavily on Stanley Hauerwas, John Howard Yoder and Walter Wink, as
well as more strictly ‘anarchist’ writers Kierkegaard, Tolstoy
and Eller. The result is a call for a radical rejection of political
power and a refreshing of ‘kingdom perspectives’ within
evangelicalism. Boyd ends a 2008 article A
Call to Christian Anarchy advising
readership to “join the Christian Anarchistic movement.”22
His 2009 follow-up book The
Myth of a Christian Religion23,
also follows Christian Anarchist ideas by stating that the Historic
Christian Faith “was antithetical to what Jesus was about”24,
suggesting instead a position of revolt against the world’s status
quo,
including religion and nationalism.
By far
the most significant works for introducing Christian Anarchist ideas
to a wide readership are Shane Claiborne’s 2006 Irresistible
Revolution25
and 2008 Jesus
for President26,
written with Chris Haw. The first is a personal account, advocating a
lifestyle of Radical Christian Discipleship. We see an Amish
influence in the focus on simplicity, and Yoder and Hauerwas on
non-violence. There are a number of quotes and anecdotes from Dorothy
Day and Ammon Hennacy, and a chapter which explores the incongruities
inherent in patriotism and nationalism in churches. While Shane
Claiborne does not label himself a Christian Anarchist, The
Irresistible Revolution
advances a social ethics which is anti-military, anti-nationalist and
anti-capitalist, and illustrates political protest and
non-governmental solutions. Published through Zondervan, The
Irresistible Revolution represents
the first time such a wide readership was exposed to the key ideas of
Christian Anarchism.
Claiborne
and Haw’s Jesus
for President
is a more direct assault at the relationship between God and
political power in the mind of Christians in the USA. The book aims
to create dissonance between belief in Jesus and belief in America.
The opening words echo Adin Ballou’s treatise on allegiance27:
“We in the church are schizophrenic: we want to be good Christians,
but deep down we trust that only the power of the state and its
militaries and markets can really make a difference in
the
world.”28
Claiborne and Haw follow Crossan29
and Horsley30
in closely associating the United States of America with imperial
Rome to suggest that Christians should view it as a largely negative
force, rather than a positive one. A strong anti-military attitude
permeates the book, and the writers appeal to and echo the arguments
of the Early Fathers, asserting that Christianity is incompatible
with military service. The first two chapters give an anti-empire
reading of the scriptures, and the third presents the history of
Christian interaction with the state from the early church, through
Constantine, to the development of an expression of Christian faith
complicit in US hegemony. The final chapter offers practical
expressions of “the peculiar politics of Jesus”31
including political campaigning, tax resistance and non-violent
action.
While
the ideas found in Jesus
for President
are not new, they are for the first time drawn together into one
place and structured into a complete theology for praxis. The
accessibility of the material and the choice of a mainstream
Christian publisher like Zondervan makes Claiborne’s books the most
significant materials for disseminating Christian Anarchist ideas.
In his
online essay A
Primer in Christian Anarchism,
Mark van Steenwyk writes:
Many
Christian Anarchists in North America were first introduced to
anarchistic ideas in the writings of Shane Claiborne or Greg Boyd.
Others, perhaps with more intellectual leanings, found their way to
Christian Anarchism through reading John Howard Yoder or Stanley
Hauerwas or, perhaps, Jacques Ellul.32
It
is possible that popular attention for Christian Anarchism has
reached its height, and that writing on the subject will continue
only in specialist spheres. Or perhaps the popularity of Claiborne’s
writings will encourage publishers to produce more radical writing.
In either circumstance there is now a large group of people within
mainstream Christian churches that have been exposed to the ideas
that the church’s historical relationship with the state is one of
compromise and failure, and that Christian involvement in the
military, the legal system, or government is wrong.
1Ciaron
O’Reilly. Speaking at the London Catholic Worker Conference 2010.
Uploaded by ‘BeyondTolstoy’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIIePdc9v7w (accessed 15/09/12)
2From
the Ploughshares movement, who disarm nuclear submarines in the name
of Christ, to Vernard Eller who almost suggests that any kind of
political action is a kind of ‘arky’. See Vernard
Eller. Christian
Anarchy: Jesus’ Primacy Over the Powers.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1987. Chapter 8.
3As
with other forms of Anarchism, Christian Anarchism embraces many
approaches to community from individualist anarcho-capitalists to
strict collectivists to libertarians. Published works tend towards
the communal lifestyle and collegial rule typified by the
Anabaptists.
4Matthew
5:39 (NIV)
5Of
the Catholic Worker movement and Ploughshares movement.
6Ciaron
O’Reilly. Speaking at the London Catholic Worker Conference 2010.
Uploaded by ‘BeyondTolstoy’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIIePdc9v7w (accessed 15/09/12)
7Tripp
York. Living
on Hope While Living in Babylon: The Christian Anarchists of the
20th
Century.
Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2009. Pg. xii
8The
vows of poverty under the Rule of St. Francis, as well as the
generally ‘outsider’ attitude the Franciscans took to clerical
power, can also be seen as an influence from this era.
9Leo
Tolstoy. The
Kingdom of God is Within You.
Translated by Constance Garnet. Kansas: Digireads, 2005.
10He
denied the miraculous as fanciful deceit, and his understanding of
Jesus as the son of God seems a mainly symbolic of Jesus’
importance.
11Ammon
Hennacy. The Book of Ammon.
Salt lake City, Utah: Ammon Hennacy Publications, 1965.
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/bright/hennacy/ammon49.pdf
(accessed 16/08/12)
(accessed 16/08/12)
12Jacques
Ellul. Anarchy
and Christianity.
Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988.
13Vernard
Eller. Christian
Anarchy: Jesus’ Primacy Over the Powers.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1987.
14Vernard
Eller. Christian
Anarchy: Jesus’ Primacy Over the Powers.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1987. Pg. 12
15Vernard
Eller. Christian
Anarchy: Jesus’ Primacy Over the Powers.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1987. Pg. 12
16Particularly,
see chapter 11.
17Vernard
Eller. Christian
Anarchy: Jesus’ Primacy Over the Powers.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1987. Pg. 26
18Dave
Andrews. Christi-Anarchy:
Discovering a Radical Spirituality of Compassion.
Oxford: Lion Publishing PLC, 1999.
19Dave
Andrews. Christi-Anarchy:
Discovering a Radical Spirituality of Compassion.
Oxford: Lion Publishing PLC, 1999. Pg. 215
22Greg
Boyd.
“A
Call to Christian Anarchy.” Random
Reflections.
11th
January 2008.
http://gregboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2008/01/call-to-christian-anarchy.html
(accessed 10/09/12)
25Shane
Claiborne. The
Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2006.
Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2008.
27Cited
in Leo Tolstoy.
The
Kingdom of God is Within You.
Translated by Constance Garnet. Kansas: Digireads, 2005. Pg. 10
Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2008. Pg. 20
29John
Dominic Crossan. God
and Empire: Jesus against Rome, Then and Now.
New York Harper Collins, 2007.
30Richard
A. Horsley. Jesus
and Empire: The Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder.
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003.
Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2008. Pg. 227
32Mark
van Steenwyk. “Anarchist Threads in Church History: a Primer on
Christian Anarchism, part 2.” Jesus
Radicals,
September 23, 2011.
http://www.jesusradicals.com/a-primer-on-christian-anarchism-pt-2/ (accessed 24/11/11)
http://www.jesusradicals.com/a-primer-on-christian-anarchism-pt-2/ (accessed 24/11/11)
3 comments:
I'm very interested in what you consider to be the relationship between Christian and secular Anarchism. Do you think that there is some level at which they can be said to be more or less the same thing, or is it more of an analogy to be drawn between ultimately quite separate phenomena?
I've read only three of these posts so far, and knowing it to be an elevated form of procrastination, I'm going to stop for now. Several questions arise, but, old prude that I am, I'll defer them for a nice, fireside conversation between you and me (and Chris, if he's interested) rather than between you me and Google :)
Hey Michael! I sent this on to a buddy of mine that does a lot of work with the anarchist tradition. If you get a bunch of comments, that's why :). Hope you're doing well!
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