http://www.plough.com/ebooks/whycommunity.html
Everyone’s talking about "community" these days, but in this classic manifesto, Arnold (a founder of the Bruderhof Communities) argues that it can be lived. Discussing the pillars of real community--self-sacrificial love, honest relationships, and the joy and unity that arises from both--he does not prescribe step-by-step solutions or offer easy "answers." But he does describe the great "adventure of faith" shared by those who are willing to trade isolation for companionship, and he will further inspire those who are already traveling the road of community.
Henri J. M. Nouwen: One of the most challenging statements on community that I have ever read. Its radical God-centeredness makes it not only very demanding, but also very inviting, comforting, and reassuring.
I think I may read this soon. :)
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review of the book: http://thesidos.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-review-why-we-live-in-community.html
“Eberhard Arnold realized that living in the sort of community that the Bruderhof communities do is not necessarily the calling of all Christians nor do I agree with all of his points (although the ones I do have issues with are more pragmatic than Scriptural) but it does raise for me some troubling questions. Most importantly, why don’t we live in community? Could it be that we love our autonomy, our freedom, our wealth and possessions more than each other? Is the idea of that sort of closeness and openness in this life scary to people who affirm in theory that sort of relationship in eternity? Perhaps most troubling, could it be that we fear living community in whatever shape it takes because we don’t really believe what we read in the Bible, just as we don’t seem to believe so much of what Jesus taught or how He lived or what He commanded? Is it just easier to live lives of religious observance and to find ways to nitpick and divide from one another so that we can justify our disunity? These are troubling questions but they are hammering me.”
