Lecture Outline

Anarcho-Christianity

Anarchism – A political philosophy that rejects compulsory government and the institutions of the state, and believes that all forms of rulership should be abolished.

Christian Anarchism combines this political viewpoint with the teachings of the Bible, and provides its own perspective and interpretation on the Bible, the life of Jesus, and Church history

In his life he responded to the hierarchy and exclusivity of the Jewish establishment as well as the oppression of the Roman “state” or empire.

Judaism imagined a Messiah who would lead a sort of revolution to free the Jews from their oppressors. Zealots wanted to rebel violently against Roman rule.
Jesus, however, rejected violence and argued for a peaceful form of rebellion on an individual and spiritual level

Jesus associated with the poor, weak, simple workers, women, social outcasts, etc

The early Christian church was an egalitarian community that existed without much structure or hierarchy

The reign of Constantine and his association with Christianity marked a fundamental shift in the way the Christian church was organized. It changed Christianity from a grass roots, egalitarian, communal association to an arm of the state.
Anarcho-Christians view this as an unholy alliance that resulted in the over-institutionalization of the Church. Religion gradually merged with the will of the ruling elite to the detriment of the basic ideas of Christianity.

One of the foundational texts of modern Anarcho-Christianity. In this book Tolstoy called for a society based on Christian love, Christian nonviolence, and freedom, rather than the rule of governing bodies.

God is the one and only authority to which they can submit, and that submission to the will of the state an affront to God.
Radical pacifism – philosophy of non-violence in both one’s personal life and international affairs.

“They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. — Isaiah 2:4

Anti-capitalism, anti-consumerist - imitation of the life of Christ who lived, worked, and preached amongst the poor.
Egalitarian, communal living – in imitation of Anarcho-Christian views of the early church

Currently, the largest network of Christian anarchism in the United States is found in The Catholic Worker Movement.
Founded in the 1930’s by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, it is a movement dedicated to nonviolence and simple living.
There are almost 200 Catholic worker houses of hospitality in the US, and some more internationally. Each of these houses is inhabited by a population of “Catholic workers” who open it to the homeless or anyone who would want to stay there.
Ammon Hennacy

An American pacifist, Christian anarchist, vegetarian, social activist, member of the Catholic Worker Movement and a Wobbly (member of the IWW), and was known for establishing the "Joe Hill House of Hospitality" in Salt Lake City, Utah and never paying taxes. One of the most famous figures in the Catholic Worker/ Anarcho-Christian community.

Terms:

Anarcho-Christianity

Constantinian Shift

“The Kingdom of God is Within You”

Catholic Worker