The final kingdom is completely realized in the future and also in the present. Where there is true faith, there is the true work of his Spirit and his community. And therefore the future cannot be cut off from the present with a knife; rather, where the Holy Spirit is, there is the power of the future kingdom of peace, justice, love, and brotherliness. Thus we believe in the brotherhood of the church of Jesus Christ.
- Eberhard Arnold
- Eberhard Arnold, January 1920 From an EssayJustice and love demand that everyone take part in simple practical work with a spade, hatchet, or rake. Everyone should be ready to devote a few hours every day to this practical work; those who have done purely mental work till now will feel its humanizing effect especially. In this way it will be possible for each person’s unique gifts to be kindled. The light that flickers within each heart will then exhibit its once-hidden glow in scholarly research or in music, in expressive words, or in the craftsman’s art in wood, stone, or paint…such work will reveal the joy in life that is in each person. Only death knows idleness and tedium. Where there is life, the mind’s creative will remains alert and comes to expression in the service of the whole.
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Whether we eat, or drink, or work, or whatever we do, we want to turn from all unrighteousness and long with our whole hearts for righteousness and for the kingdom of God. We want to hate all unrighteousness just as God hates it, and we want to love all righteousness as God loves it.
- Eberhard Arnold
It is not the development of good men or of good settlements, not their evolution or unfolding that spreads the kingdom of God. In that case it would no longer be God’s kingdom, but the kingdom of men. Yet it is true that God is waiting for a faith that will accept him in such a way that he himself in his love can work through us and in the strength of his future can bring about justice and community among us.
- Eberhard Arnold