🕊️ Interesting historical perspective on “community of goods”.

Of course, there is a variety of interpretations today, too, especially with Bruderhof entering the mix. #Anabaptism500

"In Switzerland, the practice of community of goods meant primarily a common treasury or a sharing between individual families to help needy members in a congregation, and also a refusal to take money from interest or rent. Community of goods meant something different for Hutterites in Moravia, where it eventually came to involve a congregation living together as a household. The practice of community of goods was short-lived among Swiss Anabaptists. When they came under increasing suspicion and pressure from civil authorities, they made clarifications that they had not advocated confiscating property from wealthy people but only wished to implement apostolic practice in the church. Community of goods became a rule against exploitation and about sharing in the congregation." (J Denny Weaver, Becoming Anabaptist)

Merry twelfth day of Christmas 🕊️

🕊️ cool: intro to Matthew in the Anabaptist Commmunity Bible was written by my New Testament in Context seminary professor: Dorothy Jean Weaver.

🕊️ New Anabaptist Community Bibles are like…really tall and thin. Bold format choice.

🕊️ Taking our godson to Episcopal advent service, so I’m dressed like a prep instead of a Mennonite hiker.

🕊️🏴 A friend and Richard Beck (Experimental Theology) both pointed me to this Paul Kingsnorth lecture, so, despite being mildly allergic to talk of “the West”1, I watched and enjoyed it.

  1. See the first essay in Graeber’s newest posthumous book, also archived here: There Never Was a West ↩︎

🕊️🗳️ The thing I keep thinking about:

As the behavior and rhetoric worsened, more and more people chose villainy.

Fear is what makes villainy “acceptable.”

One can’t reason with fear. Fear is deeper.

Virtue and hope must be cultivated in advance, to undermine fear’s ability to take root.

🕊️ Coates on the Klein podcast

🕊️ “Christian Nationalism is bad for the nation and it is bad for the church.”

Amen, pastor Richard

🕊️ “Fasnachts not Fascists” is a slogan I can get behind. (comic)