“St. Francis in Knickerbockers”: The Christian Pacifism of Eberhard Arnold as Material Witness to the Common Life 1

Abstract

Eberhard Arnold, a passionate and innovative theological thinker from the first half of the twentieth century, was compared to St. Francis more than once in his lifetime for the seriousness with which he took his faith and his commitments to poverty and living in the community. This article explores his theological development through early Christian and anarchist texts of his time, the central role of the Sermon on the Mount in his thought, and his commitment to pacifism that stemmed from these. A concluding section compares Arnold's radical and uncompromising pacifism with “legal pacifism,” the latter which is committed to the pursuit of peace without rejecting the possibility of Christians participating in certain spheres such as the military or police. Using Jesus’ images of salt and light, it is argued that the world needs both types of pacifism and that the two can exist side by side in an ecumenical context.