I have not wrote an entry for my blog for some time now, as I have been a little disheartened by my wife's unhappiness with the title Christian Anarchism. I have been explaining to her that I do not claim to be a Christian Anarchist, anymore than I would claim to be a Seventh Day Adventist, a Baptist, a Methodist, whatever, if I attended or even became a member (heaven forbid!) of one of their Churches. The words 'anarchy' and 'anarchists' are used pejoratively by the politicians, the media, and the general population to promote the support of state governments, equating anarchy with chaos, and lack of law and order. Even with the most elementary knowledge of anarchism as a legitimate political ideology (it is an optional module in some higher education political science courses) we know that this is not the case.
The Wiki entry for Christian Anarchism suggests that the term was first used in writing and published works in some reviews of Leo Tolstoy's book "The Kingdom of God is Within You". The entry is very comprehensive and anyone interested is well advised to read it. Apparently Tolstoy himself does not use the term at all in his book. In my earlier entries here I have already suggested that I should not be using the term, or if I do not to capitalize it. I have also referred to Dorothy Day who was quite comfortable in calling herself a Christian Anarchist, even though she did not relinquish her involvement with Roman Catholicism. In the meantime my entry here is to consider whether or not Christian Anarchists should continue to describe themselves as such, and attach the label to themselves.
As a member of the universal church of Christ, a phrase I picked up from the Seventh Day Adventist Quarterly entitled "Oneness In Christ" which described what they thought that was and categorically stated that they were not the universal church of Christ, I think that this is what I am interested in. Unfortunately 'Universalism' is already in use and therefore Christian Anarchists cannot use that term. I have to continue to use the term, because apart from Wiki there is a vast amount of literature available, written by Christian Anarchists, and all of these works need to become part of the attention we give to its tenets. Primarily, of course, as Christians we need to refer to the Bible, and there are many Scriptures which indicate that Christianity, in its wholesome form, is anarchistic. But perhaps we must drop the use of the term, if we want to carry out God's wishes to promote our return to Him as our Lord and Savior, and relinquish our dependence on authoritarianism in all of its forms, in government, in the established Churches, in schools, in hospitals, in our love of money (economics), materialism, and any other '-ism' we might care to cite, including Christian Anarchism.
I cannot persuade my wife to accept the term, and I do not think we can promote our view that God is our supreme authority with the general population if we continue to use the term. I pray to God to ask Him to give us direction in this matter. God bless.
The Wiki entry for Christian Anarchism suggests that the term was first used in writing and published works in some reviews of Leo Tolstoy's book "The Kingdom of God is Within You". The entry is very comprehensive and anyone interested is well advised to read it. Apparently Tolstoy himself does not use the term at all in his book. In my earlier entries here I have already suggested that I should not be using the term, or if I do not to capitalize it. I have also referred to Dorothy Day who was quite comfortable in calling herself a Christian Anarchist, even though she did not relinquish her involvement with Roman Catholicism. In the meantime my entry here is to consider whether or not Christian Anarchists should continue to describe themselves as such, and attach the label to themselves.
As a member of the universal church of Christ, a phrase I picked up from the Seventh Day Adventist Quarterly entitled "Oneness In Christ" which described what they thought that was and categorically stated that they were not the universal church of Christ, I think that this is what I am interested in. Unfortunately 'Universalism' is already in use and therefore Christian Anarchists cannot use that term. I have to continue to use the term, because apart from Wiki there is a vast amount of literature available, written by Christian Anarchists, and all of these works need to become part of the attention we give to its tenets. Primarily, of course, as Christians we need to refer to the Bible, and there are many Scriptures which indicate that Christianity, in its wholesome form, is anarchistic. But perhaps we must drop the use of the term, if we want to carry out God's wishes to promote our return to Him as our Lord and Savior, and relinquish our dependence on authoritarianism in all of its forms, in government, in the established Churches, in schools, in hospitals, in our love of money (economics), materialism, and any other '-ism' we might care to cite, including Christian Anarchism.
I cannot persuade my wife to accept the term, and I do not think we can promote our view that God is our supreme authority with the general population if we continue to use the term. I pray to God to ask Him to give us direction in this matter. God bless.
