Sunday, March 17, 2024

On Church and State - a Timeline


Alexandre Christoyannopoulos published his doctoral thesis that anarchism is inherent in Christianity in bookform in 2011 as Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel. It was an attempt to paint a coherent picture of Christian anarchism by bringing together in one place the writings of multiple writers.


Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910) who became well known for his opposition to both the church and the state was the most prolific of these anarchist writers. In 1886 he published an article titled Church and State. In his main non-literary work, The Kingdom of God is Within You, he refers to Petr Chelcicky.


Petr Chelcicky published his main work, The Net of Faith, in 1443, almost a hundred years before the Reformation. He uses the image of two whales (church and state) thrashing around in the net cast by fishers of men to the point of breaking it so all the fish spill out.


Jesus of Nazareth did not write anything himself, but the gospel writers, Matthew (4:19) and Mark (1:17), both quote him for appointing disciples as fishers of men. Jesus is well known for opposition to not only the oppressive Roman occupation but also to the heavy handed rule of their own religious leaders, but most of all for his radical and revolutionary approach of non-resistance.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Origin of the Bible

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay The invention of writing provided a reliable way to transfer religious practices from one generation to ...