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The Unkingdom of God: Embracing the Subversive Power of Repentance
Christianity is carrying a lot of baggage. Two thousand years of well-intended (and sometimes not so well-intended) attempts to carry forward the good news of God with us have resulted in some murky understandings of the teachings of Jesus and the culture of God’s kingdom. To embrace Christianity, sometimes we have to repent of what we’ve made of it. In The Unkingdom of God Mark Van Steenwyk explores the various ways we have failed our mission by embracing the ways of the world and advancing our own agendas. He shows us that the starting place of authentic Christian witness is repentance, and that while Jesus' kingdom is not of this world, it remains the only hope of the world.
189 pages, Paperback
First published May 20, 2013
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March 1, 2016
Summary: The author advocates a kind of “Christian anarchism” consisting in a repentance from the ways Christianity has been entangled with worldly “empire”.
Mark Van Steenwyk is an anarchist. Not the violent, bomb-throwing type, but an anarchist nonetheless. In this book, he argues that Christians have, from pre-Constantinian days down to the present in “USAmerica” been entangled in systems of destructive domination.
His solution is not revolution but radical repentance, whether from plastic-consumeristic Jesus or the use of evangelism to subjugate people to “empire” as was the case in his home of Minnesota with Native Americans. He goes so far is to advocate repentance from “Christianity” to pursue the love of God and neighbor in the way of Jesus. The call is to form local communities that seek to live out the radical teaching of the gospels without rationalizing them and without the alliances with government, politics, media, and other institutions of society that again and again compromise the counter-cultural message of Jesus.
In the latter part of the book, he calls for living out the compassion of Christ in our local settings, paying attention to what is in front of us, discerning the subversive Spirit in our worship as we recognize the injustices the impinge on the lives of those around us, practicing a kind of communal Jubilee where there are no needy among us, and where all are welcome to the table.
One is tempted to write this off as “emergent extremism”. Two things give me pause in doing so. One is that the author is seeking to live it, not always successfully (and he admits it) in the Mennonite Worker intentional community. The other thing is that he strikes me as “the canary in the coal mine” whose cri de coeur is indeed a prophetic word to a church that after decades of broken promises still looks every presidential cycle to an election to provide a savior, that is as caught up in the frantic materialism, and news-cycle-fed trumped up rage, and a moral therapeutic deism that covers secular psychology with a veneer of Christian lingo. The disenchantment of so many with all the traditional forms of Christianity makes me wonder if the author is on to something.
This is not a feel good book. It probably will make you angry at points, in the kinds of ways my parents generation got angry with “hippies.” It makes me wonder if I’ve become them and made my peace in too many ways with the gods of this world. It reminds me that repentance is not a “one and done” kind of thing accomplished in a moment, but to be true to Christ is to embrace repentance as a way of life and to continually question all the rationalizations we erect around the radical call of Jesus to “follow me”. It convicts me of all the ways we attempt to tame the One Steenwyk calls “the feral God.” And the hope in all this is that we meet the one we call “Lord” again for the first time.
Mark Van Steenwyk is an anarchist. Not the violent, bomb-throwing type, but an anarchist nonetheless. In this book, he argues that Christians have, from pre-Constantinian days down to the present in “USAmerica” been entangled in systems of destructive domination.
His solution is not revolution but radical repentance, whether from plastic-consumeristic Jesus or the use of evangelism to subjugate people to “empire” as was the case in his home of Minnesota with Native Americans. He goes so far is to advocate repentance from “Christianity” to pursue the love of God and neighbor in the way of Jesus. The call is to form local communities that seek to live out the radical teaching of the gospels without rationalizing them and without the alliances with government, politics, media, and other institutions of society that again and again compromise the counter-cultural message of Jesus.
In the latter part of the book, he calls for living out the compassion of Christ in our local settings, paying attention to what is in front of us, discerning the subversive Spirit in our worship as we recognize the injustices the impinge on the lives of those around us, practicing a kind of communal Jubilee where there are no needy among us, and where all are welcome to the table.
One is tempted to write this off as “emergent extremism”. Two things give me pause in doing so. One is that the author is seeking to live it, not always successfully (and he admits it) in the Mennonite Worker intentional community. The other thing is that he strikes me as “the canary in the coal mine” whose cri de coeur is indeed a prophetic word to a church that after decades of broken promises still looks every presidential cycle to an election to provide a savior, that is as caught up in the frantic materialism, and news-cycle-fed trumped up rage, and a moral therapeutic deism that covers secular psychology with a veneer of Christian lingo. The disenchantment of so many with all the traditional forms of Christianity makes me wonder if the author is on to something.
This is not a feel good book. It probably will make you angry at points, in the kinds of ways my parents generation got angry with “hippies.” It makes me wonder if I’ve become them and made my peace in too many ways with the gods of this world. It reminds me that repentance is not a “one and done” kind of thing accomplished in a moment, but to be true to Christ is to embrace repentance as a way of life and to continually question all the rationalizations we erect around the radical call of Jesus to “follow me”. It convicts me of all the ways we attempt to tame the One Steenwyk calls “the feral God.” And the hope in all this is that we meet the one we call “Lord” again for the first time.
October 22, 2013
Western Christianity has been hijacked, and not by one particular group or another. There are a lot of agendas competing for the claim of "The Christian Way" when it comes to the Way of Jesus in the United States. Political groups, culture wars, economic systems, etc., all are making claims that they are "the Way" of being like Christ in our society and, in doing so, make the claim that they should be in charge and run the show.
Enter into this mix someone like Mark Van Steenwyk. From a position of anarchy, Mark, in his book dismantles all the assumptions of USAmerican Christianity and lays it all bare. From the commercialistic Christianity selling the "Plastic Jesus" to the Religious Right or Christian Left attempting to claim the power of the political authority of government, Mark points out the very un-Christian way that these all assume a position of power, of coercion, of effectively taking a hierarchical position over people and declaring ourselves better somehow and "in charge".
Mark points out that Jesus was not a King like the kings of this world but was an unKing, someone who chose, as a King, to submit himself as a servant of the world, to step down off the thrown of "knowing it all" and spend time with the down and out people on the margins of society. Rather than someone who could fix the world by doing things "for their own good", he instead touched lepers, hung out with tax collectors, and treated prostitutes as human beings worth the attention of the son of God.
For Christians to truly say we are followers of Jesus, we need to repent of the things that have laid claim to Christianity, even to go so far as repenting of Christianity itself, or at least any part of Christianity that makes the claim of being about personal wealth, prosperity, and position while trampling and ignoring the "least of these" among us. Repenting of a Christianity of Empire and claiming a Christianity that is subversive and a revolutionary counter culture.
One thing gave me pause in reading this book. While I agree with almost everything Mark explains, especially on the lines of eschewing taking on any semblance of positions of power or coercion in our culture, I was a little bothered with his call to repent of evangelism. It seemed Mark was taking it a step too far, indicating that we should not even attempt to bring people into a declaration for the unKing. At least, that's how I read it. But perhaps it was less about not calling people into the Kingdom but more about the way we do it.
At least in the last 50 years or so in USAmerica, "converting" people to Christianity meant arguing them into a logical corner and then effectively forcing them to "make a decision for Christ". Perhaps this is what Mark meant of repenting of evangelism, that evangelistic tactic that relies on coercion and not service to bring people in touch with the Kingdom.
Or perhaps it is the type of evangelism that we're doing in that we are bringing people into contact with with a Christianity of empire, of control, of being in power over, and even more so, of being of a Christianity that is distinctly American complete with the American culture of getting more stuff, being comfortable, and fitting in with the systems of power within our culture. If we are evangelizing people into that kind of Christianity, I agree with Mark that this is not what we should be doing.
The last few chapters of the book, Mark spends time talking about some very practical ways of encountering and engaging this UNKingdom of God.
We can encounter a more feral, untamed God by experimenting with new ways of encountering God, embracing our creatureliness, and spending more time in silence and seeking God in the still, small voice.
We walk with the compassionate Christ by spending more time engaged in our local stories and expressions, by noticing the world right around us and what's happening before our very eyes, and by breaking bread and experiencing life in the margins of society.
We discern a more subversive spirit by setting aside worship that is run by folks "in charge" and experiencing open worship, by naming and resisting the oppressive and unjust systems around us, and by recognizing the things about Jesus that bother us and argue with them.
This book is not a book for the faint of heart. For Christians who have known nothing but the Christianity of USAmerican empire, a Christianity shaped by centuries of Christendom domination, this book will scare us and bother us and challenge us. It will make us think, think twice, and think a third time about what it is we're really supposed to be about and whether or not the Christianity we thought we knew was the Christianity that we were meant to know.
There were times when I loved this book and there were times when I seriously disliked what I read. It took me a while to read the book, not because I'm a slow reader, but because I needed to chew over it. In the end, I'm changed because of what I read. I'm with Mark in that there are things about my Christian walk I need to repent of, ways that I've done Christianity that don't reflect the character of Jesus. I'm still Christian, but I repent of my Christianity and see to follow Jesus. I may not do so in the way Mark does in his life, but I seek, as Mark did and as he calls all his readers to do, to examine the Christianity we were raised with and question, not whether or not Jesus is the one we are to follow and emulate, but whether or not we were sold a plastic Jesus or the living, breathing UNKing.
I received a copy of this book for free from Intervarsity Press in order to provide a review of the book. My receipt of the book was not under any condition to give a favorable review and the review I've given is my uncoerced opinion.
Enter into this mix someone like Mark Van Steenwyk. From a position of anarchy, Mark, in his book dismantles all the assumptions of USAmerican Christianity and lays it all bare. From the commercialistic Christianity selling the "Plastic Jesus" to the Religious Right or Christian Left attempting to claim the power of the political authority of government, Mark points out the very un-Christian way that these all assume a position of power, of coercion, of effectively taking a hierarchical position over people and declaring ourselves better somehow and "in charge".
Mark points out that Jesus was not a King like the kings of this world but was an unKing, someone who chose, as a King, to submit himself as a servant of the world, to step down off the thrown of "knowing it all" and spend time with the down and out people on the margins of society. Rather than someone who could fix the world by doing things "for their own good", he instead touched lepers, hung out with tax collectors, and treated prostitutes as human beings worth the attention of the son of God.
For Christians to truly say we are followers of Jesus, we need to repent of the things that have laid claim to Christianity, even to go so far as repenting of Christianity itself, or at least any part of Christianity that makes the claim of being about personal wealth, prosperity, and position while trampling and ignoring the "least of these" among us. Repenting of a Christianity of Empire and claiming a Christianity that is subversive and a revolutionary counter culture.
One thing gave me pause in reading this book. While I agree with almost everything Mark explains, especially on the lines of eschewing taking on any semblance of positions of power or coercion in our culture, I was a little bothered with his call to repent of evangelism. It seemed Mark was taking it a step too far, indicating that we should not even attempt to bring people into a declaration for the unKing. At least, that's how I read it. But perhaps it was less about not calling people into the Kingdom but more about the way we do it.
At least in the last 50 years or so in USAmerica, "converting" people to Christianity meant arguing them into a logical corner and then effectively forcing them to "make a decision for Christ". Perhaps this is what Mark meant of repenting of evangelism, that evangelistic tactic that relies on coercion and not service to bring people in touch with the Kingdom.
Or perhaps it is the type of evangelism that we're doing in that we are bringing people into contact with with a Christianity of empire, of control, of being in power over, and even more so, of being of a Christianity that is distinctly American complete with the American culture of getting more stuff, being comfortable, and fitting in with the systems of power within our culture. If we are evangelizing people into that kind of Christianity, I agree with Mark that this is not what we should be doing.
The last few chapters of the book, Mark spends time talking about some very practical ways of encountering and engaging this UNKingdom of God.
We can encounter a more feral, untamed God by experimenting with new ways of encountering God, embracing our creatureliness, and spending more time in silence and seeking God in the still, small voice.
We walk with the compassionate Christ by spending more time engaged in our local stories and expressions, by noticing the world right around us and what's happening before our very eyes, and by breaking bread and experiencing life in the margins of society.
We discern a more subversive spirit by setting aside worship that is run by folks "in charge" and experiencing open worship, by naming and resisting the oppressive and unjust systems around us, and by recognizing the things about Jesus that bother us and argue with them.
This book is not a book for the faint of heart. For Christians who have known nothing but the Christianity of USAmerican empire, a Christianity shaped by centuries of Christendom domination, this book will scare us and bother us and challenge us. It will make us think, think twice, and think a third time about what it is we're really supposed to be about and whether or not the Christianity we thought we knew was the Christianity that we were meant to know.
There were times when I loved this book and there were times when I seriously disliked what I read. It took me a while to read the book, not because I'm a slow reader, but because I needed to chew over it. In the end, I'm changed because of what I read. I'm with Mark in that there are things about my Christian walk I need to repent of, ways that I've done Christianity that don't reflect the character of Jesus. I'm still Christian, but I repent of my Christianity and see to follow Jesus. I may not do so in the way Mark does in his life, but I seek, as Mark did and as he calls all his readers to do, to examine the Christianity we were raised with and question, not whether or not Jesus is the one we are to follow and emulate, but whether or not we were sold a plastic Jesus or the living, breathing UNKing.
I received a copy of this book for free from Intervarsity Press in order to provide a review of the book. My receipt of the book was not under any condition to give a favorable review and the review I've given is my uncoerced opinion.
March 2, 2015
This is the third book i've read by this author. The first a book of prayers. The second an interesting book on Christian anarchism. In my brief review of that book, about two years back, I stated that I would like to understand better what the out-workings of Christian anarchism might look like. This book seems to be that to some extent. In the "Unkingdom of God," Van Steenwyk shares of his own awakening out of the deep sleep of the American dream and into the life of God's now and coming Kingdom. In telling his story Van Steenwyk observes that there is "something inherently anarchist about the primary claim of Christianity: that "Jesus is Lord."" I agree. The anarchism of which he writes is not the stuff of chaos and bomb throwing but it is none the less deeply subversive to the mind-numbing routine of life and the powers that be in the American empire. To sustain this unKingdom life requires an ongoing posture of repentance (change of mind and life direction). Van Steenwyk shares how this is actually worked out in his life and in the community (Mennonite Worker Community) he of which he is a part in Minneapolis. I think what I appreciate most about this book is the tender and searching heart it reveals its author to have.
October 4, 2017
I read this book after That Holy Anarchist: Reflections on Christianity & Anarchism and was hoping for more of the same, but also trying not to have too high expectations. I think this book might actually be more accessible to Christians with a more mainstream background and little understanding of anarchism. It doesn't delve too deeply into the history of anarchism, but does apply the principles to the Christian faith. The book does mostly focus on American colonialism and ideas of empire, which was reflective of the author's personal experiences, but I could see this potentially being a bit off-putting to those with other experiences of imperialism.
This book did have some wonderfully challenging and convicting ideas about how to truly follow Jesus, how to challenge systems of oppression rather than merely participating in acts of charity, and how to continually develop an evolving faith and authentic, inclusive community. But it is mainly about ideas, about making you rethink what you believe, why you believe it, and how you're going to live out that belief, rather than outlining bullet points on How To Do Radical Faith. I appreciated that the author didn't try to act like he had all the answers and admitted that he frequently screwed up and was still growing.
I didn't always agree with the author, but I respected his opinions and how he'd come to them. He doesn't seem to have published any non-fiction since this book, but I'd definitely be interested in reading more of his thoughts on Christian Anarchism and intentional communities. It's refreshing to read something from someone with a similar perspective.
Slight warning/disclaimer: the chapter on Jesus and the Unkingdom is almost entirely taken from That Holy Anarchist. The rest of the book seems to be new material, but it's worth noting that this section might seem repetitive if you've recently read That Holy Anarchist.
This book did have some wonderfully challenging and convicting ideas about how to truly follow Jesus, how to challenge systems of oppression rather than merely participating in acts of charity, and how to continually develop an evolving faith and authentic, inclusive community. But it is mainly about ideas, about making you rethink what you believe, why you believe it, and how you're going to live out that belief, rather than outlining bullet points on How To Do Radical Faith. I appreciated that the author didn't try to act like he had all the answers and admitted that he frequently screwed up and was still growing.
I didn't always agree with the author, but I respected his opinions and how he'd come to them. He doesn't seem to have published any non-fiction since this book, but I'd definitely be interested in reading more of his thoughts on Christian Anarchism and intentional communities. It's refreshing to read something from someone with a similar perspective.
Slight warning/disclaimer: the chapter on Jesus and the Unkingdom is almost entirely taken from That Holy Anarchist. The rest of the book seems to be new material, but it's worth noting that this section might seem repetitive if you've recently read That Holy Anarchist.
December 16, 2013
A brief intro to Christian anarchism based around the idea of repentance. "Repentance is not an event or an emotion, it is an ongoing invitation to engage the world differently - to see the world the way God does and act accordingly. Repenting of Christianity mean adopting a posture of honest confession as we seek a better way." The book is not an apologetic that will convince the skeptic (meaning much of evangelicalism), but it is a winsomely challenging depiction of another way of living after Jesus and his unkingdom and against the American empire. I could have used even more stories, though I know better than to expect a program (having read enough Ellul). "Charity is the sharing of resources. Compassion is the sharing of life and the suffering we experience in life." So good questions and sharp answers.
September 24, 2014
This is one of those disturbing books written by someone who is a much better Christian than I am about the very good reasons why I should be a better Christian. In this case, a better Christian means a more anarchistic one, among other things. Read it to be challenged, but relatively gently. Then decide whether you can continue living in the world as it is without resisting.
July 1, 2019
This whole book is meta. All the reasons I have stayed Mennonite put to words. I had never pondered anarchy as beholding my values but turns out it does! Highly recommend.
February 14, 2015
Whatever we say about the Kingdom of God it is not like any other kingdom we've seen. To say Jesus is Lord is to declare Caesar is not and to sound the death knells on empires everywhere. In The Unkingdom of God: Embracing the Subversive Power of Repentance author Mark Van Steenwyk examines how the gospel is about far more than personal transformation. It exposes the lies of consumerism, the dehumanizing effects of the powers on communal life, and the myraid ways that 'empire' or 'Christendom' poison the well. The good news is that real freedom from powers and structures is possible According to Van Steenwyk, Christ's kingdom is an unkingdom where Jesus is unking (96). In Christ it is possible to live with a group of people (church) without being ruled.
If you haven't guessed from the above description, Van Steenwyk is a part of two maligned and poorly understood groups: he is a Mennonite and an anarchist. As a Mennonite and therefore stands within a tradition which strives to be a faithful witness to Christ while looking suspiciously at the Constantinian drift in the wider culture. He is also an anarchist challenging the dehumanizing structures and powers at in our society. These converge in his vocation as pastor of the Mennonite Worker in Minneapolis, his work as an editor for Jesusradicals.com and as host of the Iconoclast podcast. The themes of this book were also addressed in an earlier book, The Holy Anarchist, though this volume is better executed and crafted.
Van Steenwyk has some challenging stuff to say and he says it well, but the thing that makes this book a compelling read is how he weaves his theological and sociological reflections together with his personal narrative. He tells of his early camp conversion and the radical streak he had which was effectively exorcised by the charismatic church he grew up in.. As a young teen he was a patriotic, cowboy hat wearing Garth Brook's fan brought to tears singing 'I'm proud to be an American." Yet as his faith matured, Van Steenwyk began to question the evangelism-as-conquest approach of his Evangelical upbringing, and the highly individualistic gospel he had proclaimed. This set him on a journey to a more communal and political witness (or apolitical, though not in the apathetic, disengaged sense).
Van Steenwyk is astute at naming the insidious nature of structures and powers, controlling-myths that blind us, the false promises of consumerism, and the ways that religion, even Christianity, can be a enslaving power, rather than a wellspring of freedom in Christ. In the latter part of the book he invites us into practices which help us enter more fully into the Unkingdom of God: He invites us to encounter the feral God through experimenting with God, embracing our creaturleliness,and practicing silence (121-6); he summoned us to walk with Christ with a localized imagination, paying attention to what is in front of us, and learning from the margins (133-8). He calls us to discern the subversive spirit through open worship and consensus decision-making, the practice of naming powers and resisting, and 'arguing with Jesus' through engaging both scripture and what is rising in us in opposition as we read (145-9).
It is a testament to how good a book is, when upon finishing it, I have no desire to place it on the shelf--marked off as done and collecting dust. I've thumbed back through the pages several times already, re-reading passages I had underlined. There is so much here that causes me to examine again the way racism, unjustice to Native-Americans, the marginalization of children, the bankruptcy of political discourse on the right and left are the effects of empire and institutionalized structures. I also love how vulnerably Van Steenwyk tells his own story. Sometimes anarchists/anabaptists are dismissed as idealists who don't live in the real world. Van Steenwyk shares the ways he has struggled to move from patterns that are selfish and accommodating to the dominant culture to a lifestyle that is more communal, more radical and ultimately more faithful to the gospel.
I need books like this. There are a lot of ways where I would be out of step with Van Steenwyk. I am challenged by and enlivened by the writings of Anabaptists and Christian anarachy. The former because it is part of my heritage, the latter because I have been a part of churches with an unhealthy authority structure, and in my own role as pastor have sought to lead in ways that were non-manipulative. Still I sit somewhat outside of both camps. Van Steenwyk call is to a faithfulness to the gospel and resistance to the powers. I can get behind both objections even if I demur from his conclusions at various points (i.e. consensus leadership, his handling of Romans 13, etc). I still happily give this book 5 stars and recommend it for anyone who would like an accessible and thoughtful take on the life of radical discipleship. ★★★★★
Thank you to SpeakEasy for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
If you haven't guessed from the above description, Van Steenwyk is a part of two maligned and poorly understood groups: he is a Mennonite and an anarchist. As a Mennonite and therefore stands within a tradition which strives to be a faithful witness to Christ while looking suspiciously at the Constantinian drift in the wider culture. He is also an anarchist challenging the dehumanizing structures and powers at in our society. These converge in his vocation as pastor of the Mennonite Worker in Minneapolis, his work as an editor for Jesusradicals.com and as host of the Iconoclast podcast. The themes of this book were also addressed in an earlier book, The Holy Anarchist, though this volume is better executed and crafted.
Van Steenwyk has some challenging stuff to say and he says it well, but the thing that makes this book a compelling read is how he weaves his theological and sociological reflections together with his personal narrative. He tells of his early camp conversion and the radical streak he had which was effectively exorcised by the charismatic church he grew up in.. As a young teen he was a patriotic, cowboy hat wearing Garth Brook's fan brought to tears singing 'I'm proud to be an American." Yet as his faith matured, Van Steenwyk began to question the evangelism-as-conquest approach of his Evangelical upbringing, and the highly individualistic gospel he had proclaimed. This set him on a journey to a more communal and political witness (or apolitical, though not in the apathetic, disengaged sense).
Van Steenwyk is astute at naming the insidious nature of structures and powers, controlling-myths that blind us, the false promises of consumerism, and the ways that religion, even Christianity, can be a enslaving power, rather than a wellspring of freedom in Christ. In the latter part of the book he invites us into practices which help us enter more fully into the Unkingdom of God: He invites us to encounter the feral God through experimenting with God, embracing our creaturleliness,and practicing silence (121-6); he summoned us to walk with Christ with a localized imagination, paying attention to what is in front of us, and learning from the margins (133-8). He calls us to discern the subversive spirit through open worship and consensus decision-making, the practice of naming powers and resisting, and 'arguing with Jesus' through engaging both scripture and what is rising in us in opposition as we read (145-9).
It is a testament to how good a book is, when upon finishing it, I have no desire to place it on the shelf--marked off as done and collecting dust. I've thumbed back through the pages several times already, re-reading passages I had underlined. There is so much here that causes me to examine again the way racism, unjustice to Native-Americans, the marginalization of children, the bankruptcy of political discourse on the right and left are the effects of empire and institutionalized structures. I also love how vulnerably Van Steenwyk tells his own story. Sometimes anarchists/anabaptists are dismissed as idealists who don't live in the real world. Van Steenwyk shares the ways he has struggled to move from patterns that are selfish and accommodating to the dominant culture to a lifestyle that is more communal, more radical and ultimately more faithful to the gospel.
I need books like this. There are a lot of ways where I would be out of step with Van Steenwyk. I am challenged by and enlivened by the writings of Anabaptists and Christian anarachy. The former because it is part of my heritage, the latter because I have been a part of churches with an unhealthy authority structure, and in my own role as pastor have sought to lead in ways that were non-manipulative. Still I sit somewhat outside of both camps. Van Steenwyk call is to a faithfulness to the gospel and resistance to the powers. I can get behind both objections even if I demur from his conclusions at various points (i.e. consensus leadership, his handling of Romans 13, etc). I still happily give this book 5 stars and recommend it for anyone who would like an accessible and thoughtful take on the life of radical discipleship. ★★★★★
Thank you to SpeakEasy for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
May 11, 2015
This book claimed to give a new, fresh look at Christianity, to change one's viewpoint forever, to disturb and to shock. I am sory to say that this book achieved none of those things.
Of course, I can only cangratulate the author on taking up the courage to question his beliefs. It's always a hard thing to do for really religious persons. Breaking away from the beliefs of the group somehow is similar to braking away from the parents. For a child this usually means death. In early civilizations the one who resisted to believe in what his group believed was cast out in the same manner. People just didn't do it. This is the reason, why the impulse to believe what one's friends and family believes is so strong. And as we - human beings - are social animals, leaving our pack and risking solitude is really brave thing to do.
Other than that the book is boring, controversial and chaotic and it really is written by white American male. At the beginning I was grinning but at the end it became even sad.
In first chapters the author rumbles about evil empire, Christendom and how wrong it is to want everyone to became like you. It is wrong through and through. I mean come on - if the author didn't want everyone to think like him, he wouldn't have written the book at the first place. When you teach someone beliefs, you want them to ally with you. Again - we are social beings - it is a natural instinct to form groups. It is not bad, it is not wrong. It's just nutural. But to condemn something at the same time doing the very same thing is just ridiculous.
UnKingdom means that we have to share everything, no private property allowed. Rich has to give all they have to poor people. No nationalities, no borders needed. Everyone lives like big happy family. Pardon me but only wealthy white American can talk like this.
Here in Eastern Europe we have experienced that kind of equality and justice in practice. We called it communism. And I'm sorry if I don't want to go back there. Not for a minute.
If the author have lived just one winter where temperetures falls under -25 Celsius without central heating and hot shower, he would aknowledge the comfort of "comercial world". If the author was given certain amount of tokens to buy bread, sugar and potatos not being allowed to buy a single one more (and I'm not dreaming about gummy bears and cinema here), then may be he would understand the value of ownership. If he would have seen his neighbours taken to Siberia for having two cows instead of one as allowed to be equal, he probably would vote for "capitalism". If he wouldn't be a wealthy American whose idea of mercy is giving up his sacred gummy bears, but instead a representative of the small Nation whose language and culture are threatened and destroyed in the name of equality and creating one big Nation, if he would risk being shot just because of the singing "wrong" songs, may be he would understand that the cultural identity is the only thing that gives you hope and helps you to stay alive. I have doubts that in the name of proclaimed equality he would be willing to start speaking Romanian or Timbuktu language.
I would suggest the author to go to North Corea where Communism is still alive and then reread his book. Twice.
I received a copy of this book for free from goodreads.com giveaway.
Of course, I can only cangratulate the author on taking up the courage to question his beliefs. It's always a hard thing to do for really religious persons. Breaking away from the beliefs of the group somehow is similar to braking away from the parents. For a child this usually means death. In early civilizations the one who resisted to believe in what his group believed was cast out in the same manner. People just didn't do it. This is the reason, why the impulse to believe what one's friends and family believes is so strong. And as we - human beings - are social animals, leaving our pack and risking solitude is really brave thing to do.
Other than that the book is boring, controversial and chaotic and it really is written by white American male. At the beginning I was grinning but at the end it became even sad.
In first chapters the author rumbles about evil empire, Christendom and how wrong it is to want everyone to became like you. It is wrong through and through. I mean come on - if the author didn't want everyone to think like him, he wouldn't have written the book at the first place. When you teach someone beliefs, you want them to ally with you. Again - we are social beings - it is a natural instinct to form groups. It is not bad, it is not wrong. It's just nutural. But to condemn something at the same time doing the very same thing is just ridiculous.
UnKingdom means that we have to share everything, no private property allowed. Rich has to give all they have to poor people. No nationalities, no borders needed. Everyone lives like big happy family. Pardon me but only wealthy white American can talk like this.
Here in Eastern Europe we have experienced that kind of equality and justice in practice. We called it communism. And I'm sorry if I don't want to go back there. Not for a minute.
If the author have lived just one winter where temperetures falls under -25 Celsius without central heating and hot shower, he would aknowledge the comfort of "comercial world". If the author was given certain amount of tokens to buy bread, sugar and potatos not being allowed to buy a single one more (and I'm not dreaming about gummy bears and cinema here), then may be he would understand the value of ownership. If he would have seen his neighbours taken to Siberia for having two cows instead of one as allowed to be equal, he probably would vote for "capitalism". If he wouldn't be a wealthy American whose idea of mercy is giving up his sacred gummy bears, but instead a representative of the small Nation whose language and culture are threatened and destroyed in the name of equality and creating one big Nation, if he would risk being shot just because of the singing "wrong" songs, may be he would understand that the cultural identity is the only thing that gives you hope and helps you to stay alive. I have doubts that in the name of proclaimed equality he would be willing to start speaking Romanian or Timbuktu language.
I would suggest the author to go to North Corea where Communism is still alive and then reread his book. Twice.
I received a copy of this book for free from goodreads.com giveaway.
May 4, 2014
This was a very interesting book, which is concerned primarily with repentance in our social, cultural, and economic lives. Steenwyk is a Christian anarchist, though the book gives more space to personal reflction rather than explication of texts. I wanted more exegesis, but reading about his education-by-doing was always interesting. He started an intentional community where they live out the gospel in solidarity with the poor. Like with most of these New Monastic evangelicals, their lives and insights are always stark, and ever challenging. This is a book that wants to wrestle with your assumptions, and the result was healthy.
June 4, 2014
Probably one of the best books I've read exploring the links between anarchism and Christianity. This was something I already knew, as famous anarchist thinkers like Noam Chomsky alludes to the anarchist tendencies in Christianity when he refers to the prophets http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-... or the Gospels.
Van Steenwyk states the case powerfully and convincingly citing scripture and clearing up some of the passages thought to support authority. What makes this book quite the gem is that it articulates ways of putting anarchist philosophy into practice.
Van Steenwyk states the case powerfully and convincingly citing scripture and clearing up some of the passages thought to support authority. What makes this book quite the gem is that it articulates ways of putting anarchist philosophy into practice.
May 4, 2015
So far the book kind of rambles on some things. I like to read the authors experiences with religion and what he thinks about it. As a religious person I think that his beliefs are based on bad experiences with christianity. Although I do agree to some extent that Christianity is out to rule the world and that some Christians can be domineering over other people of different religions and faiths.
addition: I didnt actually finish this book because i kind of got bored with it. I think the main problem was it isnt my usual genre and i thought it was about something different when i first applied to win it. Maybe if i agreed with the author more then i would be more into the book.
addition: I didnt actually finish this book because i kind of got bored with it. I think the main problem was it isnt my usual genre and i thought it was about something different when i first applied to win it. Maybe if i agreed with the author more then i would be more into the book.
July 30, 2014
An easy-to-read introduction to the ways of Christian Anarchism. Using language that is approachable and understandable, Van Steenwyk flips the Christian religion on its head to reveal a spirituality that has the power to unmask power structures and guide people on the path to freedom. Mostly, this book just provided me with resources to explore further. Be careful, once you start on the path to mysticism/Christian anarchism, your world just keeps expanding!
January 14, 2014
Great book! Mark Van Steenwyk really sheds light on what it means to live in the unkingdom of God with Jesus as our "unking". This is a great stand-alone book, but also serves as a good follow-up to "That Holy Anarchist". Christian anarchy expounded and demonstrated through the pages of this book. Good stuff :)
June 4, 2015
Won this Through Goodreads First Read.
Interesting book. Easy to follow and well written. Has given me plenty to think about. Will be worth reading again.
Interesting book. Easy to follow and well written. Has given me plenty to think about. Will be worth reading again.
December 19, 2015
3.5 stars
April 20, 2017
This book forced me to rethink the foundation of some of my most basic beliefs. Mark is unafraid to ask tough questions of himself and the church. He calls us to reexamine the Kingdom of God- the way Jesus subverted both the political and spiritual climate when He walked this earth. When we follow the status quo, we're missing something important about who Jesus was and what His Kingdom is really about. Warning: Van Steenwyk isn't interested in your comfort- his call is for us to repent of those places where we've embraced less than God's heart and turn towards the radical (but truly free) way that Jesus intended. If you're not afraid of questions and letting God dig deep into your current social justice theology and rearrange some things, this is a valuable read.
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