Status
Available
Collection
Description
A far-ranging study of the Christian relationship to the state and all wordly powers, this book is as provocative as its unusual title. Christian Anarchy says Vernard Eller, is the faith in God's primacy as sovereign Lord and orderer of history which is given such weight that all the big claims of self-confident human scheming and power-play become sheer distraction.
Publication
Eerdmans Pub Co (1987), 267 pages
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LibraryThing member shannonkearns
i am very disappointed in this book. i had been told it was THE book to read about christian anarchy. normally i find quirky writing styles endearing (especially in more academic books) but in this book i found it to be distracting and off-putting. it was clear throughout the book that eller has
i find his theology to be somewhat shallow which made his theory unworkable. this idea that someday God is just going to step in and fix things is something that just doesn't work for me. he did raise some really interesting things about the nature of civil disobedience and about the separation of politics and theology that i really liked and benefited from.
i also felt that the book could have been at least 50 pages shorter as he repeated himself quite a bit. also, the section on karl barth was just too damn long.
the other frustrating thing about the book is that it is clear that eller is a person of privilege; a white, well-employed man. some of his disdain for people who want to be a part of revolutions is distasteful as clearly he is someone who benefits from things the way they are.
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some serious issues with women. he would throw in barbs where it was completely unnecessary. i find his theology to be somewhat shallow which made his theory unworkable. this idea that someday God is just going to step in and fix things is something that just doesn't work for me. he did raise some really interesting things about the nature of civil disobedience and about the separation of politics and theology that i really liked and benefited from.
i also felt that the book could have been at least 50 pages shorter as he repeated himself quite a bit. also, the section on karl barth was just too damn long.
the other frustrating thing about the book is that it is clear that eller is a person of privilege; a white, well-employed man. some of his disdain for people who want to be a part of revolutions is distasteful as clearly he is someone who benefits from things the way they are.
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