Foreword
Since the time of Jesus, small groups of earnest Christians have tried to
live by the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount. From St. Francis to the
Benedictines to the Anabaptists, living as disciples of Jesus in
community has been a sought-for ideal. While many Christians have viewed
these ethics as for a time yet to come, others have insisted that Jesus
meant for his followers to live them in the here and now. Here is the
account of one such Christian.
The aim of this book is not to exalt the man, Eberhard Arnold, or the
Bruderhof movement he helped to found. Rather, it is to witness to God’s
faithfulness and God’s intervention in human history. Yet it remains true
that God can only act in human history through people. Arnold’s
commitment to discipleship, community, nonviolence, and his faith in the
immediate reality of God’s kingdom continue to inspire and challenge all
who seek to follow Christ.
And it is also true that the Bruderhof movement is today a vibrant
community of faith from which we at Sojourners have received great
insight and strength over the years. Our 1984 visit to the Woodcrest
Bruderhof in upstate New York was one of the most profound community
exchanges I have ever experienced. There is a deep wisdom at the
Bruderhof about how Christians can live together. A strong presence of
love exists among them – not the sentimental kind that relies on
excessive words, but rather a mutual respect, a readiness to serve, and a
joy in one another that has been born of much faith and struggle.
Our life at Sojourners has been enriched and strengthened through sharing
with the Bruderhof the joys and struggles of our attempt to faithfully
live the kingdom of God in the world. Our shared belief that the gospel
calls us to live in relationship with the poor continues to shape our
vision and work at Sojourners.
The Bruderhof is continuing on a journey, one that in recent years has
led them into the pain, injustice, and suffering of the world. A new
movement of the Spirit has led them to minister in the prisons, to march
for peace, and to journey to far-off places of conflict. Their
involvement in the campaign against capital punishment has powerfully
demonstrated the truth of the gospel.
This active involvement remains grounded in the faithful witness of the
past, in the integrity and vitality of community life. It also raises a
challenge for the future: is this involvement in the world putting the
integral life of Christian community at risk? From our experience at
Sojourners, I can testify to the inevitable tensions that arise in the
efforts to maintain community while being involved with suffering
humanity. I pray that the Bruderhof will continue to follow the way of
Jesus in community and in the world.
And as I witness the rising involvement of the Bruderhof, I sometimes
wonder what Eberhard Arnold would be thinking. I suspect he would be
smiling.
Jim Wallis, Sojourners
March, 1998
Bruderhof wrote:
> Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof
> by Markus Baum
> http://www.bruderhof.com/e-books/AgainstTheWind.htm
>
> This is the story, told in full for the first time, of Eberhard Arnold
> (1883-1935). A man for today's seekers, he faced life's essential
> questions head on, and once he had struggled his way through to an
> answer, he tried to live it.
>
> "Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof" (originally
> pubished in German) explores the forces that shaped Arnold's life and
> his own influence on other spiritual leaders of his day - Karl Barth,
> Paul Tillich, and Martin Buber among them. It recounts his
> renunciation of private property and military service, and explains
> his abhorrence of conventional piety on the one hand, and his love for
> the early church fathers on the other.
>
> Most of all, "Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof"
> gives flesh, blood, and personality to a man whose unwavering
> convictions made him at once hated and admired, a man whom some called
> an enemy of the State and others a modern Saint Francis. Arnold walked
> resolutely against the prevailing winds, even as Nazism engulfed
> Germany. The Bruderhof movement, which carries on his commitment to
> integrate faith and social action, is a witness to his continuing
> legacy.
>
> The author, Markus Baum, is a popular German journalist and radio
> commentator.
>
> Download the free e-book of "Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the
> Bruderhof" at
> http://www.bruderhof.com/e-books/AgainstTheWind.htm
>
> For more on the early history of the Bruderhof Communities see "A
> Joyful Pilgrimage" also available free online:
> http://www.bruderhof.com/e-books/AJoyfulPilgrimage.htm
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