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, 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.
Get Daily Inspiration straight to your Inbox
More Inspiration
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