Christi-Anarchy: Discovering a Radical Spirituality of Compassion

by Dave Andrews, Tim Costello (Introduction)

An analysis of much of the evil and injustice perpetrated throughout the last 2000 years that reveals that Christians and Christianity is at its heart. Faced with this, how can anyone with integrity follow the example of Christ himself? This exploration of what Christ said, and how he behaved, reveals a model for a radical community lifestyle which embodies his Spirit. The author argues that this must be inclusive, based on an individual's orientation to Christ, not on whether they subscribe to a set of dogmas about him. He cites practical examples of followers of Christ who have drawn others to him through their determination to live out Christ's example.

Genres: Politics, Religion, Theology, Nonfiction, Christian

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 23, 1999

About the author

David Frank Andrews is an Australian Christian anarchist author, speaker, social activist, community worker, and a key figure in the Waiter's Union, an inner city Christian community network working with Aboriginals, refugees and people with disabilities in Brisbane, Australia.

Reviews

[Bernise Laurent · Rating 2 out of 5]

TLDR: If you want to read a book on Christian Anarchism, don't read this one.

There is one passage in which I feel like makes the most clear the issues that I find with this book:

The anarchistic communities Jesus developed never smashed political economy to which their society was captive. They never totally reconstructed the political economy in terms of the liberation they prayed for. But they did smash some of the mechanisms of control to which they were captive... and liberating, alternative political and economic reality that their experience has served as an example of love and true justice ever since.

pp. 112-113

There's a critique of Christian anarchism as being toothless and basically being a non-voting bloc of liberal Christians with pacifistic intentions. I think this doesn't explain all of Christian Anarchism, nor Anarchist praxis, but I do feel like this critique is especially poignant for this text. Given this, I will analyze it best I can with the knowledge that I have, but I may be addressing it too harshly.

First, there are four major sections of the book: A historical account of the issues of formal Christian religion, an attempt to dissect the source of these issues, a consideration of the difference between closed-set and centered-set Christian theology, shifting to finally a discussion on the framework of Christi-Anarchism as applied. For the first two, I feel both accounts are vague... but they do get the point across. Basically, organized Christian religion has had a hand in a lot of bad things, from early Christian repression of knowledge, colonialism, the holocaust, etc. The author argues that the internal logic of this oppression comes from a lot of different perspectives, whether it is from the rigid logic of spiritual good vs. spiritual evil, personality issues and the rise of authoritarian personalities, or some other issues. Either way, organized Christian religion is bad.

To this point, he offers a separate framework to offer: Christ-centered morality vs. a closed-set morality, with the idea that opposed to trying to decide what is "Christian" or not, it is better to understand things more loosely and trying to seek after the good without trying to categorize labels. To this point, the goal then is to follow Jesus' lead: seek spiritual goods in the context of a harsh world, having peaceful radical stand for justice in the world and strong, inclusive, reconciliatory Christian community.

There are five things that bother me:
1) I am not a writer, but I don't think the book is very well written. Details are vague or left out, while also going into way more detail trying to explain a concept. To this point, it feels simultaneously fluffy or boring.
2) The book detaches itself from already existing Christian Anarchist frameworks. Was there a long section on understanding Tolstoy? Lipscomb? Ellul? Even going back further, it mentions the Quakers but it has no real discussion of Anarchist practices in the Radical Reformation including Anabaptist, Utopian Socialist communities, Catholic Workers... Not to mention, it detaches itself from Anarchist tendencies overall. Not even a discussion on Left Evangelicalism and the role of social justice in a liberal context. In this context, it is baseless and detached from reality.
3) Partially due to the above issues, it contains more of a pondering on the spiritual condition than trying to understand the spiritual of political economic struggle. Say what you will, but it kind of is the exact opposite of what Liberation Theology represents. Liberation Theology is actively seeking how spirituality and political economy intersect and how real witness will involve structurally challenging acts, highlighting Christ's own actions.
4)It has no analysis really to speak of, except for highlighting some issues. Jacques Ellul was interesting in how political structures and techne intersect with oppression, Tolstoy the questions of how mututalist-anarchist policy can bring about economic liberty. It touches on a broad theological discussion with some considerations from psychology, but that is it.
5) It's entirely impractical. A core part of legitimate anarchist praxis is practicing radical thinking in the day-to-day, and lifetime-to-lifetime. Trying to understand Jesus and how he interacted with this sort of Anarchist thinking is interesting, and pondering on how the Jerusalem church framed it's early more communitarian practices is an interesting task, but there wasn't anything that could be drawn from it. This risks at best turning into what Murray Bookchin critiqued as "lifestyle Anarchism" of taking on radical tendencies without serious political reflection.

All in all, it's not the worst book I've ever read but I would avoid suggesting anyone read it. If it can convince a very Conservative Christian that maybe they need to be a little more critical of their beliefs, that may be fine... but for the general public of Christians, and especially those Christians who have a heart of justice... read Gutiérrez or Cone on liberation theology. Or Jacques Ellul. Or read Graeber and try to figure out how faith and social Anarchism should coincide.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dave Andrews confronts an issue that few Christian leaders want to acknowledge. The problem he pinpoints is that most Christians in history have looked and acted quite similar to the non-Christians around them. Christian institutions have behaved like institutions with far less lofty ideals. And in many cases, the Church and institutions representing the Church have callously hurt people worse than they’ve ever been hurt by anyone.

Andrews roots the issue in the power structure of organized Christianity. Organizations want power, and in order to hold onto power they form “closed” communities with “in” groups and “out” groups, label those who defy the status quo as “heretics”, and use intimidation to keep everyone else in line. It is a pattern that has repeated itself over and over again.

His solution to this travesty is to move towards a centered-set view of Christianity. Rather than the closed-set view that defines who is “in” and “out”, Andrews wants everyone to be seen in terms of the direction of their journey towards Christ. The question is no longer whether you have been baptized, prayed a certain prayer, or become a member of a specific church/institution, but just whether you are trying to move closer toward Christ. With this view, one’s membership in a particular sect is no longer a dividing line, and even an atheist or a non-Christian who desires to be more like Christ can be included as much as any self-defined “Christian”.

The rest of the book looks at aspects of the attributes that describe Christ – compassion, love, passion for justice, patience in struggle and suffering, and ultimately hope. The book is filled with anecdotes from his own experience and the stories of many others.

Dave Andrews is very blunt and informal. He sometimes is guilty of stereotyping/labeling those he disagrees with. But his passion for Christ is clear, and I think his central message – that we must focus more on our relationship to Christ and in relating others to him than on group membership or organizational power – is one a lot of us need to hear.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title on this one might be a bit confusing for some. This is not a discussion of political theology as one might expect, at least not the theory. Rather, the author presents a number of stories and some data illustrating that Christianity as it is commonly known in the West is a long way from the 1st century Jesus movement detailed in the Bible.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Why good religions go bad'. Accessible look at some of the reasons why spiritual movements based on Jesus so often end up acting the opposite way - becoming institutions with boundaries & exclusion, and brim full of judgementalism.

[Raborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just spent some time with Dave Andrews at the Wild Goose Festival and now I love this book even more! His presentation of closed-set Christianity versus center-set Christianity is great! Dave seems to really practice what he preaches.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a long time ago, but it has coloured my relationship with christianity ever since