Jesus Christ never draws near in the course of a fleeting, passing impression. Either He brings God’s whole kingdom forever, or He gives nothing. Only those who want to receive Him completely and forever can experience Him. To Him it is given to know the secret of God’s kingdom. Wherever there is life that comes from God, life takes on that form which corresponds to the complete image of Jesus Christ, and therefore to the kingdom of God.
- Eberhard Arnold
- Eberhard Arnold, November 1918 From an EssayWhen poets describe their experience of the powers that move in their inmost hearts, then they speak about longing. If we allow only a few rays of hope from the poets to work upon us, we will be deeply moved by the indissoluble connection between mankind and longing. Even the smallest selection of the poetic outpouring of human longing will confront us with their deepest content: the longing for God and for unity with God. At the deepest level, they have recognized that the essence of all longing is the cry of the soul to God.
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Only if we accept the whole Christ, for the whole of life, can everything be changed and renewed. It is a lie and a delusion to think that Jesus can be accepted in part, for only part of life. The spirit of life tolerates no choosing of guiding principles or elements of faith, no selecting from God’s truth, by a self-willed spirit. Truth is indivisible.
- Eberhard Arnold
There is no other life of faith than that of the unity and community in which Christ lives. Faith lives in Christ. The deepest relationship of unity is the necessary condition for the restoration and renewal of life. The believer is in Christ and Christ is in him; this is the power that transforms from within all relationships of life.
- Eberhard Arnold