And now I must tell you about the sun. The sun shines. He sends forth his beams and gives warmth. He awakens and strengthens life. Should he disappear, everything would suddenly be dead, really dead! But it is not one and the same thing whether the sun shines on a rock or on a flower. Certainly the sun has also awakened life from rocks. In hearts of stone that will not be called to life, the light of God works in a different way than in a heart that receives the light.
- Eberhard Arnold
September 06,2026
- Eberhard ArnoldWe testify to the church of Christ as an embassy of God’s future state. Therefore the church of Christ should represent today what God’s kingdom will be. The Apostle Paul says, “The kingdom of God is today, here and now, and it is justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is the element of the great future. For this reason the church receives the Holy Spirit, not in order to figure out for itself a timetable for God’s kingdom, but in order to let life be directed by the Spirit, through perfect love.
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Jesus paves the new way for God to enter the world. This new way seeks out darkness but does not fall prey to it. Not until now can God, in the outpouring of his Spirit, unfold his heart to humankind in full forgiveness and reconciliation.
- Eberhard Arnold, December 1890
There is a certainty in which we accept—really take—that for which we have asked. But this is possible only when the Spirit himself can fully speak within us. God speaks when we are silent. His will becomes powerful when our self-will becomes quiet. His power is evident when our weakness no longer is “strength”.
- Eberhard Arnold