Kingdom Christianity, an Anarchist Movement

 Anarchism – Secular and Christian

Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority. True anarchism is the alternative to governmental authority, and advocates for the replacement of the state with stateless societies and voluntary free associations. As a historically left-wing movement, anarchism is placed on the farthest left of the political spectrum, usually described as the libertarian wing of the socialist movement (libertarian socialism).

While secular anarchists reject belief in any authority including God, “Christian anarchists” claim anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels, particularly the Sermon on the Mount. Whereas some Kingdom Christians are overtly committed to “Christian anarchism,” others are influenced, perhaps unknowingly, by anarchist thinkers and cite them in their works. In any case, Kingdom Christian interpretations of Christ's teachings mirror the Anarchist ideology. Like Christian Anarchists, Kingdom Christians are generally against war, participation in government (i.e., serving as magistrates, policemen, or soldiers, and voting), and the use of violence (“non-resistance”). 

This article will demonstrate how Kingdom Christianity is influenced by anarchists like Dave Andrews (b. 1951), Adin Ballou (1803-1890), Vernard Eller (1927-2007), Jacques Ellul (1912-1944), William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879), Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921), Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865), Lysander Spooner (1808-1887), and, most importantly, Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910).

By referencing New Testament and early Church examples, Kingdom Christians impose an anarchist reading upon the biblical and patristic sources. Because Romans 13:1-7 in the New Testament prescribes submission to the government, Christian anarchists devote much commentary to reconcile the passage with “Christian anarchy.” It becomes important for them to answer objections to nonresistance like: What about Adolf Hitler? What if an intruder breaks into your home to harm your wife and children? What about the conversions of soldiers in the New Testament like Cornelius? (For example, see David Bercot, The Kingdom That Turned the World Upside Down [Amberson, PA: Scroll Publishing Company, 2003], 70-83; Dean Taylor, A Change of Allegiance [Ephrata, PA: Radical Reformation Books, 2009], 100-113; Finny Kuruvilla, King Jesus Claims His Church [Cambridge, MA: Anchor-Cross Publishing, 2013], 161-164.)

Historical Background

Kingdom Christianity is a cross-denominational philosophy and movement, particularly among neo-Anabaptists. When approaching the subject of “Christian anarchism” within Kingdom Christianity, a few comments should initially be made at the outset about anarchism among the early Anabaptists, the “Radical Reformers,” beginning with the Protestant doctrines of the two kingdoms and the separation of church and state.

In the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther (1483-1546) articulated the doctrine of the two kingdoms, which is also embraced Anabaptism and Kingdom Christianity. According to James Madison (1751-1836), who was one of the most important modern proponents of the separation of church and state, Luther's doctrine of the two kingdoms marked the beginning of the modern conception of separation of church and state (James Madison. Madison to Schaeffer [J.B. Lippincott & Company, 1821] 242–243).

When religious freedom and separation from the state was introduced by the Anabaptists in the 15^th and 16^th centuries, the concept was unthinkable to both clerical and governmental leaders. Religious liberty was equated with anarchy. Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (1842-1921), a Russian anarchist and proponent of anarchist communism, traces the birth of anarchist thought in Europe to early Anabaptist communities (“Anarchism” [1911]. In Hugh Chisholm [ed.], Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 [Cambridge University Press, 11 ed.], 914–919). 

Likewise, in a featured article on The Anarchist Library, the author observes early Anabaptism as a proto-Anarchist movement with its skepticism for all justifications of authority:

The Reformation had several strands, including the “Radical Reformation,” which refers to all individuals and groups who rejected both the Roman Catholic tradition and the mainstream Protestant alternatives. Many radicals and their leaders, mostly literate ex-clergy, rejected any connection with the state and any state church. They appealed to the same audience and used some of the same anti-Roman or anti-clerical arguments as did the preachers of the mainstream Reformation, but they had a more popular social base. Often called Anabaptists, or “rebaptizers” by their contemporary Catholic and Protestant enemies, they advocated adult rather than infant baptism and saw the church as a body of saints in which membership was voluntary, and the most severe form of discipline was banning or shunning. In their separation from the temporal domain, many Anabaptist groups refused to serve the state as magistrates or soldiers, and some even refused to pay war taxes. (Soma Marik, “Anabaptist Movement,” The Anarchist Library)

Kingdom Christians and Anabaptists are generally known for their belief in non-resistance or pacifism, but there are also examples in early Anabaptism of violent manifestations of their anarchic ideology. For instance, the Batenburgers were a radical Anabaptist sect led by Jan van Batenburg (b. 1495), that flourished briefly in the 1530's in the Netherlands. They were called Zwaardgeesten (sword-minded) by the nonviolent mainstream Anabaptists. Prior to the Batenburgers was the Münster Rebellion, an attempt by radical Anabaptists to establish a communal sectarian government in the German city of Münster. As the Anarchist Library explains: 

Another major Anabaptist movement developed in Münster through the influence of Melchior Hofmann, who died after ten years’ imprisonment in Strasbourg. Two lines developed to continue and transform his legacy. Soon after learning about Hofmann’s arrest, the Haarlem baker Jan Matthys, in the presence of Low Country Melchiorites, professed to be driven by the Spirit, and claimed to be the second witness of the apocalypse. Meanwhile, in the city of Münster in Westphalia, Bernhard Rothmann, influenced by the Melchiorites, moved to a more radical position, and his followers won the town council, declaring property communal and adopting such biblical practices as polygamy. Adopting a strongly patriarchal line, Rothmann demanded complete obedience of the wife to the husband. All Lutherans and Catholics who refused to join the movement were expelled by early March 1534, but eventually the bishop of Münster, aided by both Catholic and Protestant rulers, captured the city on June 25, 1535. Many of the inhabitants negotiated surrender, only to be executed after they had laid down their weapons. 

The survival of Anabaptism after the suppression of the Münster Rebellion was largely the work of Menno Simons, who from 1536 to 1543 worked first in the Netherlands and then in North Germany to reorganize and consolidate the scattered Anabaptist communities. Due to his role in creating a structured network, many Anabaptists came to be called Mennonites. (Soma Marik, “Anabaptist Movement,” The Anarchist Library.)

The anarchic ideology of Anabaptism, whether violent or nonresistant, is at the heart of their rejection of participation in the State, and their rejection of any kind of clergy or religious authority. Casting aside the Church's hierarchical structure of ordained bishops, priests, and deacons, Christian anarchy leaves a power vacuum of religious authority and results in the continual disorder and constant divisions of their groups. For the Anabaptists, consider the numerous splits of Amish, Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren, Hutterites, Mennonites, Apostolic Christian Church, and Bruderhof. 

Anarchist Influences in Kingdom Christianity

The Kingdom Christian movement's anarchist tendencies can be demonstrated by checking the bibliographic sources in their published literature and presentations. Among the secondary sources within the bibliography of his book, The Kingdom That Turned the World Upside Down (2003), David Bercot cites Christian Anarchy (1987) by Vernard Eller (1927-2007), also the author of The Mad Morality and Christian Anarchy: Jesus' Primacy Over the Powers (2007). Another secondary source for Bercot's book is The Subversion of Christianity (1986) by noted anarchist Jacques Ellul (1912-1944). In chapters 8 and 9 of The Kingdom..., Bercot cites the Universalist and Unitarian minister Adin Ballou (1803-1890), an American proponent of anarchism and socialism. Adin Ballou and another 19^th century abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, heavily influenced Leo Tolstoy.

John Howard Yoder (1927-1997) never called himself an anarchist, but he was positively disposed toward the Catholic Worker movement with its strong tendencies toward anarchism. In his article “Christian Theology: Postanarchism, Theology, and John Howard Yoder,” Ted Troxell sees Yoder as “contributing significantly” to anarchism (Journal for the Study of Radicalism 7.1 [2013], 56). Similarly, Ted Grimsrud, in “John Howard Yoder and Anarchism” states that “Yoder is an important resource for many Christian anarchists” (Thinking Pacifism, July 10, 2013). The influence of Yoder upon Kingdom Christian leaders such as David Bercot, Dr. Finny Kuruvilla, Dean Taylor, and others is prominent. In the “It's Just War Debate” (moderated by Dr. Kurvilla), both Bercot and Taylor spoke against Christians in war. Alongside resources published by the three of them, John Howard Yoder is given as “recommended follow-up reading” (Followers of the Way [FOTW], March 28, 2014). Dr. Kuruvilla's book King Jesus Claims His Church (chapter 17) and Taylor's book Change of Allegiance (chapter 8), also cite Yoder's works, just to name a couple.

Another leader with Dr. Kuruvilla in the FOTW Boston community, Matthew Milioni, is a self-proclaimed “Christian anarchist.” In a podcast entitled, “The Fourth Way: Christian Anarchism's Practical Implications” (Aug 13, 2022), Mr. Milioni is interviewed by Derek Kreider. He discusses his anarchist views concerning government, voting, police, and going to court. While Milioni is a “Christian anarchist” he also thinks anarchy is not “a good way to run the world” (18:00). For him, anarchism involves, “Christian non-participation in civil structures” (5:00). Around the 11-minute mark, Milioni explains how his thoughts were shaped by the “early anarchist” Lysander Spooner (1808-1887), and recommends his book The Constitution of No Authority (1870).

There are other Kingdom Christian ministries or online outreaches where anarchist themes are prominent. Let us consider just a few more examples. For instance, the “Dank Kingdom Podcast” is hosted by Matthew Milioni, Titus Kuepfer, David Eicher and J. Anthony Hertzler. One episode is called “Obey the Government (even if you are an anarchist)”, J. Anthony Hertzler notes that “Christian Anarchist” is “an identity that all of [them] would share” (1:00).

Secondly, on the “Kingdom Outpost” YouTube channel is an interview called “Christian Anarchism: Off-Script with Dr. Alexandre Christoyannopoulos” featuring Derek Kreider (of the “Fourth Way Podcast” noted above). Dr. Christoyannopoulos is the author of Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel (2013), a doctoral study synthesizing works by anarchist authors including Leo Tolstoy, Jacques Ellul, Dave Andrews and Vernard Eller, all of whom (except Andrews) are cited sources in Bercot's The Kingdom book.

A third example is Peter Rollo, founder of the website and blog project “Rival Nations”, who interprets the New Testament through an anarchist lens, “anarchism” also being among the post tags. Articles include: “The Issue of Romans 13”, “Voting is Violence”, “Taxation is slavery”, and “Paul the Cop: He Was Just Enforcing the Law.” In their article, “Christians Can't Be in Government,” the author quotes Leo Tolstoy:

Government is violence, but Christianity is meekness, non-resistance, and love. Therefore, government cannot be Christian, and a man who wishes to be a Christian must not serve government. The sanctification of political power by Christianity is blasphemy; it is the negation of Christianity. 

Leo Tolstoy

Perhaps the most significant anarchist influence upon Kingdom Christianity is Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). In the late 1870's, Tolstoy underwent a profound spiritual crisis and emerged as a Christian anarchist, committed to nonviolent resistance as he interpreted the Sermon on the Mount. Despite Tolstoy's heretical and anarchist views, he is found lurking within the Kingdom Christian movement.

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Sold on Mr. Bercot's Scroll Publishing website is the audio CD “The War Prayer and The Kingdom of God Is Within You” by Leo Tolstoy. The Kingdom of God is Within You (1927) is a key Christian anarchist text. According to Scroll's description:

This CD ... includes the best passages from Leo Tolstoy’s important work, The Kingdom of God Is Within. This book, by one of the world’s greatest authors, explains why nonresistance is the only way of life open to Christians. It reflects Tolstoy’s piercing insights on war and the unholy compromises made by most institutional churches.

Also sold on Scroll are other works by Tolstoy such as “Where Love is, God is” and “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” In the bibliography of his book The Kingdom..., Bercot cites Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You. In chapter 26, Bercot relies upon Tolstoy for his critique of Russian government mandates.

Yet another item sold on Scroll is The Russian Secret (2014) by Peter Hoover. The book spends a great deal of time on the Tolstoyan movement, based on the anarchist and extreme pacifist views of the novelist. The author notes that Tolstoy was a harsh critic of the Russian Orthodox Church, leading to his excommunication in 1901.

In the video, “Coronavirus: How we should be thinking and responding as Christians,” Dr. Finny Kuruvilla, founder of Sattler College, says Leo Tolstoy was “a devout [Christian]” and “very committed to peace.” According to Dr. Kuruvilla, Tolstoy “would have fit in at Sattler well. He would have been a faculty member at Sattler” (17:00). 

During the last 20 years of his life, Tolstoy articulated the anarchist critique of the state. While rejecting anarchism's espousal of violent revolution, Tolstoy continued to recommend to his readers books by anarchist thinkers like Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921), a Russian proponent of anarchist communism, and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865), who is considered by many to be the “father of anarchism.” Tolstoy's anarchist and pacifist ideology was quite revolutionary. Prior to the Russian Revolution, Tolstoy writes the following in his text On Anarchy (1900):

The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order, and in the assertion that, without Authority, there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that Anarchy can be instituted by a revolution. “To establish Anarchy.” “Anarchy will be instituted.” But it will be instituted only by there being more and more people who do not require the protection of the governmental power, and by there being more and more people who will be ashamed of applying this power. . . . 

To use violence is impossible; it would only cause reaction. To join the ranks of the Government is also impossible–one would only become its instrument. One course therefore remains–to fight the Government by means of thought, speech, actions, life, neither yielding to Government nor joining its ranks and thereby increasing its power. 

This alone is needed, will certainly be successful. 

And this is the will of God, the teaching of Christ. 

Tragically, Tolstoy denied the resurrection and deity of our Lord and God Jesus Christ. In 1881, Tolstoy produced his own translation of the Gospels wherein he, like the American Thomas Jefferson, eliminated Christ's miracles. So how can Kingdom Christians support his heretical work? For good reason, St. John of Kronstadt (1829-1909) of the Russian Orthodox Church denounced Leo Tolstoy as “the worst heretic of our evil days, and surpassing in intellectual pride all former heretics.” In 1901, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Russian Church. 

The New York Times, April 5, 1903

An Orthodox Perspective

Within Orthodox Christianity, anarchy is an impossible philosophy. According to Romans 13:1-7, the rule of law is established by God as an alternative to anarchy. God rules and restrains evil through human government, however flawed that government may be. That being said, the Orthodox Church does not have dogmatic doctrinal positions on Christian involvement in war, participation in government, the lawful use of violence, and pacifism.

In the Gospels, we do not find Christ or John the Baptist or the Apostles commanding the soldiers which they met to cease being soldiers. Even early Christians bore the arms of the pagan Roman state for the welfare of the Empire. In the New Testament alone, we read about the conversions of people who held an office with the state, such as Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-10), Sergius Paulus the Proconsul of Cyprus (Acts 13:7), the Philippian jailor (Acts 1:6), the Ethiopian eunuch and treasurer of Candace the Queen of the Ethiopians (Acts 8), and Erastus, the chamberlain of the city of Corinth (Romans 16:23, Acts 19:22, 2 Timothy 4:20). These examples don't even include the early Christian sources.

Nonetheless, the Church forbids the bearing of arms to its clergy and does not allow a man to continue in the ministry who has shed blood. If an Orthodox Christian will be perfect and give his life as a monastic, he will of necessity renounce military service, political service, and all of his possessions in order to follow Christ in everything. As the Orthodox Church of America (OCA) explains in the article “War and Non-Violence”:

Total pacifism is not only possible, it is the sign of greatest perfection, the perfection of the Kingdom of God. According to the Orthodox understanding, however, pacifism can never be a social or political philosophy for this world; although once again, a non-violent means to an end is always to be preferred in every case to a violent means. 

When violence must be used as a lesser evil to prevent greater evils, it can never be blessed as such, it must always be repented of, and it must never be identified with perfect Christian morality. 

Also, one final point of great importance is that Christians who are involved in the relativistic life of this world must resist military conscription when the state is evil. But when doing so they must not yield to anarchy, but must submit to whatever punishment is given so that their witness will be fruitful (emphasis added).

What about Orthodox church-state relations? Symphonia, the theory that the church and state are complementary and exhibit mutual respect, has generally been characteristic of Orthodox thinking about the state. But Symphonia would obviously preclude the theory of “Christian anarchism.” Other categories of church-state relations include Papocaesarism (theocracy), wherein the church is the government, or Caesaropapism, in which the church is governed by the state.

For Christian anarchists, the moment that epitomized the degeneration of Christianity was the beginning of Christian monarchy and the conversion of Emperor Saint Constantine after his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312. To Christian anarchists, the “Constantinian shift” signified when Christianity became legalized under the Edict of Milan in 313, which hastened the Church's transformation from a humble and persecuted Church to an authoritarian top-down institution.

The correlation between the fall of Christian monarchy and the rise of modern anarchy is noteworthy. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians concerning the man of lawlessness, or antichrist, saying, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7). St. Paul says that while the mystery of lawlessness is active, the antichrist himself has not been revealed because of a “restrainer.” One Orthodox interpretation is that the “restrainer” is associated with Christian monarchy which lasted from Saint Constantine to the last of the Russian Tsars. Commenting on 2 Thessalonians 2:7, Fr. Stephen De Young writes:

It is a commonplace not only in the fathers but in Orthodox tradition to this day to associate the restrainer with the Christian monarchy from St. Constantine to the last of the Russian Tsars. . . . As people who have come of age with a concept of the separation of church and state, we often fail to realize the religious role of the emperor. Kings in the ancient world were also priests and the primary celebrants of the cult. This included the Roman emperors who bore the title 'pontifex maximus.'. One primary evidence of the fullness of St. Constantine’s conversion was his disavowal of sacerdotal duties. He did not make himself a Patriarch or high priest within Christianity breaking with all previous Roman tradition. Not only this, but he defunded the public sacrifices to the pagan gods and removed the sacrifices to those gods before going into battle, replacing them with the celebration of the Eucharist by Christian priests and the building of churches throughout the empire precisely for the protection of that empire through spiritual warfare. The Christian monarch, therefore, was the figure who protected and maintained the celebration of the Eucharist in every place which in turn protects and sustains the entire world. His removal has therefore been taken as a sign of the end by Orthodox faithful precisely because it jeopardizes the perpetual celebration of the Eucharist and the offering of Christian prayer. (“The Antichrist, the Lawless One,” The Whole Counsel of God, An Introduction to Your Bible, July 17, 2020).

The right-believing Emperor Saint Nicholas II (1868-1918) was the last reigning emperor (tsar) of Russia at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution. In February 1917, during the February Revolution, Nicholas reluctantly abdicated the throne, hoping that doing so might save the nation some violence. After the revolution, Tsar-Martyr Nicholas and his family were exiled to Siberia, where they were detained under house-arrest. On July 16, 1918, the family was lined up in the basement and shot. The Royal Family is recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church as Passion-bearers, and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) officially recognizes them as Martyrs.

Royal Passion-Bearers Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II and His Family

During the chaotic period of the Russian Revolution, there were frequent mutinies, protests and strikes. Many socialist and other leftist political organizations were struggling for influence within the Provisional Government and the Soviets. Notable factions included the Social-Democrats or Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries, and Anarchists, as well as the Bolsheviks, the far-left party led by Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924). Lenin, the Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist, wrote several essays about Tolstoy. Although Lenin thought Tolstoy's concept of non-resistance to evil hindered the success of the Russian Revolution, he also concluded that Tolstoy's hatred for feudalism and capitalism marked the prelude to proletarian socialism. So it is no accident that the leader of the Bolsheviks valued Tolstoy's beliefs, and called the anarchist writer “the mirror of the Russian revolution” (V. I. Lenin, “Leo Tolstoy as the Mirror of the Russian Revolution,” Proletary 35, September 11/24, 1908).

Conclusion

In summary, Orthodox Christianity and Kingdom Christianity have opposing worldviews concerning church and state, law and order. To Kingdom Christians, the anarchist Leo Tolstoy is celebrated as a “devout Christian,” but Orthodox Christians consider him a heretic. Within the Kingdom Christian movement, “Christian” anarchists are celebrated and anarchy is viewed as inherent in the Gospels, particularly the Sermon on the Mount. In Orthodoxy, anarchy is associated with the antichrist, and the removal of Christian monarchy, which has historically protected the Church from the time of Emperor Saint Constantine the Great to Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II. Could it be that the anarchic ideology of Kingdom Christianity, their rejection of participation in the State and religious authority, is also at the heart of  their rejection of the Orthodox Church with its hierarchical structure of ordained clergy and concept of Symphonia for church-state relations? Similar to Anabaptism, Kingdom Christianity creates an anarchic power vacuum of religious authority, resulting in the continual splitting of their groups. A case in point is the recent division and turmoil among key Kingdom Christian leaders at the Sattler College founded (and funded) by Dr. Finny Kuruvilla, that is, the resignation of almost the entire college board (David Bercot, Charles Pike, Eva Adams...), plus the President Dean Taylor, Provost Mike Miller, and numerous other faculty members leaving the college (“Sattler College Turmoil,” MennoNet.com, June 22, 2022). 

Updated: May 15, 2024

See Also: The Russians' Secret - Book Review (Part 6 of 6): Leo Tolstoy - More to the Story