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Radical on the Bookshelf--My Piece in Geez Magazine

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The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!

 Not really, but I am in print!

 I may have mentioned that I was putting together a bibliography of sorts for Geez Magazine's "Worship and Anarchy" issue. My piece isn't available online, so I'll post it here. But if you want a hard copy--and you really should, it's a great issue!--you can order one HERE.

These are books I'd recommend if you are interested in learning more about Christian anarchism. Any of them would be a great starting place if you're just looking into it, or a place to dig a bit deeper.

Let me know what you think. Have you read these? What would you add to the list?



The Kingdom of God is Within You (1894)
by Leo Tolstoy
This classic has influenced anarchists and nonviolent resisters from Ammon Hennacy to Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., and is an enduring cornerstone of the anarchist canon.

*Available for free online – Google Books, Kindle

Anarchy and Christianity (1988)
by Jacques Ellul
A short, accessible argument for Christian anarchism, directed at both anarchist and Christian skeptics. Ellul challenges the involvement of the church in the politics of the nation-state and encourages the reader to imagine a more Christ-like alternative.

Also recommended: Violence and The Subversion of Christianity
Anarchism and Other Essays (1910)
by Emma Goldman
Reading Goldman, a committed atheist who sometimes supported violence, is important for giving shape to an anarchistic worldview. Plus, she’s a formidable early anarcha-feminist you want to know about.

*Available for free online – Google Books, Kindle

The Long Loneliness (1952)
by Dorothy Day
This autobiography gives us a glimpse into what a life shaped by Christian anarchism looks like. Day, who created the Catholic Worker anarchist newspaper and founded Hospitality Houses that fed and clothed the poor, had a passion for “making the world a place where people can be better human beings.”

The Politics of Jesus (1972)
by John Howard Yoder
Yoder, an anabaptist theologian who has been influential for Christian anarchists, takes Jesus as a “model of radical political action.” He shows how the Jesus of Christendom hardly resembles the Jesus of the gospels. Truly following Jesus should change our social ethic to the countercultural ethic of the Beatitudes and Jubilee.

Living on Hope While Living in Babylon (2009)
by Tripp York

In York’s analysis, the Christian anarchist politic is apocalyptic rather than apolitical. He shows how it has been lived out by well-known anarchists like Dorothy Day and Clarence Jordan. The tone is hopeful: York presents a Christian anarchist way of life as not only viable but even fruitful.

The Myth of a Christian Nation (2007)
by Gregory Boyd
Boyd tackles the creeping problem of Christian patriotism in the United States and challenges believers to rethink the way they engage in politics instead of buying into the evangelical myth of the religious right.

Resident Aliens (1989)
 by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon

This book isn’t explicitly anarchist, but it challenges Christians to think critically about our cultural contexts and how to live as a colony of believers – in the world and yet not of the world.

Waging Nonviolent Struggle (2005) 
by Gene Sharp
Sharp is neither overtly anarchist nor Christian, but he offers a “social view of power” – that power comes from the people and is dependent on their cooperation. He advocates for nonviolence as an effective means for oppressed people to create change and lists 198 different methods of nonviolent action.

That Holy Anarchist (2012)
Mark Van Steenwyk
A quick read that covers the basics of Christian anarchism as well as its most common challenges. Van Steenwyk provides a very accessible and informative primer on the anarchistic leanings of Jesus.

Jesus For President (2008)
Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw
Designed in full colour with a DIY aesthetic, this book uses the stories of ancient Israel and the early church to frame the way Christians may think about government and rulers today.


Oppression and Liberty (1955)
by Simone Weil
Simone Weil was an anarchist-turned-Catholic mystic. A well-educated early-twentieth-century woman, she offers a unique, thorough and philosophical perspective on power and politics, and a particularly apt criticism of Marx.

Christian Anarchy (1987)
by Vernard Eller
In a scholarly yet informal style, Eller provides many “whys” of Christian anarchy, explaining how kingdom of God “arky” is so different from wordly “arkys” and therefore how Christians should think and live differently.

*Available for free online HERE
Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel (2010) byAlexandre Christoyannopoulos


 With accessible academic style, Christoyannopoulos presents an extensively researched and thorough study of Christian anarchism that includes its origins and history, prominent leaders and influencers, and biblical and theological supporting theories.


Theologian Thursday: St. Nicholas of Myra (270-343)


Since today is the feast day of Saint Nicholas, and his name is often invoked this time of year, I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate today's post to him.

As you might imagine, the larger-than-life legendary quality of Saint Nicholas far exceeds his actual story.

I mean, he was certainly a generous man, a pious bishop, and holy enough to become a saint. But honestly, how a modest and charitable person can become the well-known (yet not really known at all), commercialized caricature that we think of Saint Nicholas astounds me.

Anyway, the best known story of Saint Nicholas is that he caught wind of a man who had three daughters whom he could not marry off because he had not enough money for a dowry, so he was going to send them off to be prostitutes. Saint Nicholas, being well-off due to the inheritance of his parents, wanted to help. And so, under cover of darkness (for he was a humble man), he tossed bags of money through the windows of the man's home, resulting in the oldest daughter's marriage. He did the same for the other two daughters in subsequent years.

That's it, people. That's why Santa Claus delivers presents at night. And it's completely possible that this story is made up.

The funnier thing about this story is that it's the reason that, in paintings, Saint Nicholas is often portrayed with three moneybags, which somewhere along the line someone thought were the heads of three children. Thus leading to a legend about his resurrection and healing of three children who had been beheaded AND PICKLED by an evil innkeeper. For real. Who comes up with this stuff?

Saint Nicholas's main miracle was that he appeared in a dream to the emperor Constantine and his aide, telling them to release three innocent prisoners, who had prayed in Nicholas's name to be saved. The next morning, Constantine let them go free, instructing them to go to Bishop Nicholas and tell him to stay out of his dreams.

Nicholas may or may not have been present at the Council of Nicaea in 325, but one account that says he was indeed there includes that he slapped Arius across the face. Which I'm sure most people there wish they could have done.

A 2005 forensic investigation of Saint Nicholas's bones, which were quite well-preserved in his crypt in Bari, Italy, revealed that he was only about five feet tall. Which gives new meaning to the song "Little Saint Nick."


Happy New Year!


Today is the first day of Advent, which means it is the first day of the Christian calendar.

Happy New Year!

I am looking forward to this season of anticipation and meditation on the incarnation, and I hope you are too!

This evening I'll be participating in an advent dinner at my church, so I hope to write a bit more about that and how it goes this week. I think it will be a very special time. There is so much about this season that is contrary to the busy-ness and harried-ness of this time of year, and it's fascinating to try and hold the patience and waiting in tension with the go-go, gimme-gimme tendencies we all experience.
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November Highlights

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As much as I'm glad that November, and therefore the the election, is over, I am thankful for the fact that it served as impetus to post some of my thoughts about voting and Christian anarchism.

Here are the highlights, in case you missed them:

In Defense of Christian Anarchism
No matter who is elected, I will continue to live my life in the way of Jesus. I will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and love my enemies, regardless of who is in office, and were they to make doing such things illegal, I would continue to do them. The authority to which I submit is not the state, but the Church--the people to whom I am inexorably linked in the body and blood of Eucharist. And I'd rather spend my time and energy participating in the Table than in the voting booth. 
Christian Anarchism and Denominational Identity 
I was, in some ways, accidentally born here. Accidentally embraced by and wrapped up in these people whom I just happened to have class with, be taught by, and live down the street from. And although there are many parts of the Church of the Nazarene that I don't necessarily agree with (and sometimes downright refuse to live by), these people are my family, and I just don't feel like I am able to choose a different one. Even one that might better fit my theological and political beliefs.
Book Review: Electing Not to Vote 
We often are told that voting is how we make our voice heard and "have our say" in government, but this is just not true. My voice and my opinion are far more nuanced than checking "Yes" or "No," and my beliefs never, ever line up exactly with any candidate. And there's no reason for me to restrict it to these methods simply because that is what is offered me by the state.

I'm excited to welcome December and see what the season of Advent has to offer!

Theologian Thursday: Saint John of Damascus


It's no secret that I love the Greek Fathers. I think it has to do with some kind of rebellion against my thoroughly western upbringing. Anyway, John Damascene is one of my favorites.

 Not much is known about his life, mostly because of the existence of only a single biographical source and an abundance of legends.

 John studied music, mathematics, and geometry, as well as theology--both Christian and Muslim. He was well-versed in the Qur'an (due to his submersion in an Arab culture), mostly so he could criticize it. He also wrote many hymns that are still in use today.

 John of Damascus is most well-known for his defense of the icon. His life coincided with the rise of iconoclasm--the destruction of icons and images in the church because of the fear of idolatry. Leo the Isaurian of the Eastern Church first issued a decree against the veneration of images, and then one against their display entirely. Because of the Church's long tradition of venerating icons, John fought back, defending the importance of the icon in worship. He explained that it's not the icon itself that is worshiped, but that God can be more fully worshiped through the viewing of the icon:
"I do not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. I will not cease from honoring that matter which works for my salvation. I venerate it, though not as God."
John's theology of the icon has many implications for incarnational theology. God created matter; God became matter in Jesus Christ, therefore matter is not itself evil, and can actually be used to reveal God.

 What you should read:

Ratings:
(To read more about my rating system, click HERE.)
Gender Equality: 
While I certainly wouldn't call John of Damascus egalitarian, he did hold Mary in high regard and important in the salvation story. So that's something.
Environmental Sensibility: 
I think that Damascene's appreciation for matter, that is--the physical world, as a result of God's creation is worth noting here. His veneration for icons I think could be carried over to a love for general revelation in nature, and therefore a certain care for the environment.
Heretical Tendencies: 
It's hard to say on this one. While John was often accused of being a worshiper of images and an idolater, he also fought against the Nestorian heresy and other unorthodoxy. But his trinitarian understanding was lacking.  Also his eucharistic doctrine is a little wonky. He toes that heresy line pretty well.
General Badassery: 
Polymaths always get stars for badassery! Plus, the Byzantine emperor forged a letter in his name, saying that he was part of a plot against Damascus, and so the caliph cut off his hand! AND THEN BY A MIRACLE OF THE VIRGIN MARY IT GREW BACK! OK, that's probably just a legend but still.