The Inner Life
Inner Land--A Guide into the Heart of the Gospel, Volume 1
by Eberhard Arnold
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Pub Date Jul 16 2019 | Archive Date Jan 07 2020
Plough Publishing | Plough Publishing House
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Description
It is hard to exaggerate the significance of Innerland, either for Eberhard Arnold or his readers. It absorbed his energies off and on for most of his adult life--from World War I, when he published the first chapter under the title War: A Call to Inwardness, to 1935, the last year of his life.
Packed in metal boxes and buried at night for safekeeping from the Nazis, who raided the author’s study a year before his death (and again a year after it), Innerland was not openly critical of Hitler’s regime. Nevertheless, it attacked the spirits that animated German society: its murderous strains of racism and bigotry, its heady nationalistic fervor, its mindless mass hysteria, and its vulgar materialism. In this sense Innerland stands as starkly opposed to the zeitgeist of our own day as to that of the author’s.
At a glance, the focus of Innerland seems to be the cultivation of the spiritual life as an end in itself. Nothing could be more misleading. In fact, to Eberhard Arnold the very thought of encouraging the sort of selfish solitude whereby people seek their own private peace by shutting out the noise and rush of public life around them is anathema. He writes in The Inner Life:
Advance Praise
Arnold’s writing has all the simple, luminous, direct vision into things that I have come to associate with his name. It has the authentic ring of a truly evangelical Christianity and moves me deeply. It stirs to repentance and renewal. –Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain
Innerland calls men and women to a life of such trust in God that their attitudes toward his kingdom, other people, material wealth, and earthly power are transformed. –Christianity Today
Arnold’s writings are a light of hope in an age which seems very dark. May they no longer remain hidden under a bushel, but shine out to be heeded by many. –Jürgen Moltmann
Innerland is a bold and challenging invitation to the path of discipleship that speaks to both the terrors and the hopes of our time. Along with the likes of John Woolman, Thomas Kelly, and Dorothy Day, Eberhard Arnold is one of the great secrets of radical Christianity. The reprinting of this masterpiece is truly a gift. –Chris Faatz, Powell’s Books
The witness of Eberhard Arnold is a much needed corrective to an American church that has lost the vital, biblical connection between belief and obedience. –Jim Wallis, Sojourners
The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of persons with Christ as its prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant. Arnold’s vision incarnates just such a community. -Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
The undeniable power of Arnold’s writing owes to the fact that there is no difference between what he professed to believe and the way he lived. It gives his words a resonance and depth, a right to be heard. --Juli Loesch Wiley, New Oxford Review
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780874861679 |
| PRICE | $20.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 112 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 406321
Helps the reader to examine the inner life as it leads to an action. Very detailed and serious, causing the reader to thoroughly consider his own life.
Kimberly P, Reviewer
When I think of people like Eberhard Arnold and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I wonder if I would have been brave enough to speak out against the Nazis or if I simply would have run away to somewhere less hostile and turbulent?
Eberhard Arnold was a German Christian who lived through World War I and saw the gradual influence for evil that Nazism brought on society. He also saw the German church give in, rather than resist, the pressure from the Nazis to conform and be led by them rather than to resist and be led by Christ.
Inner Life is a helpful book for a seeker or believer: someone who wants to understand what it is that Christians believe and how to live as one. It is about living from a place of sincerity in one's heart before acting outwardly in a Christian way. By making the book about the inner life, a place of reflection, prayer, and quiet devotion, Arnold dealt with hypocrisy that is often found among religious people who want to look good to others, but have no sense of faith. "Whitewashed tombs" is one of the names Jesus gave to this sort of religious person.
This book isn't about retreating into a place of philosophy and merely thinking spiritual thoughts, however. It emphasizes having inner spiritual strength and substance in order to be a believer who lives and serves with integrity and character. Arnold wrote about standing against the Third Reich or other ungodly world orders that were in direct opposition to Christian teaching and beliefs. Filled with Scriptures to support his writing, Inner Life shares the principles of brave Christian living in a simple way that is accessible to everyone.
I think this book is important as a historical record of brave Christian writing during times of turbulence and hostility to people of faith. It would also be a good gift for a new believer because it covers many foundational beliefs and teachings and includes many Scriptural references.
Ranger H, Educator
I did receive a free ARC from NETGALLEY my digital SOURCE for all things reading.
When I think of people like Eberhard Arnold and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the same sentence you are reaching the stratosphere of Christianity. We all wonder if we would have been brave enough to speak out against the Nazis but in this time of #everything we sadly already know the answer don't we?
Arnold seems to be the WW1 equivalent to the man we know as Bonhoeffer in WW2. He too watched the German church give in, rather than resist, the pressure from the Nazis and the similarities of what we see today are amazing. No, there are no Nazi's but the pressure to conform is still as strong.
Inner Life is a helpful book for anyone who seeks to make their "lips match their life". This is not the pop and fable words of today so at first you may struggle but the scripture referencing and the beliefs you will find in here are both rewarding and self evident.
Connie R, Educator
3.5 stars. Eberhard Arnold's "The inner life" is a Christian classic, but it is best read slowly and savored. There is much to appreciate here, teachings on the "divisive callousness of pride," and the importance of spending time in prayer so we may cultivate an inner life that prepares us to live an outer life of love and non-violence. Written following the First World War yet while anticipating the Second (Arnold sent a copy to Hitler), the book is eerily relevant to current world affairs. The style of writing is dense and abstract, however, with few analogies, metaphors, or stories to illustrate Arnold's ideas. Still, this is a book that rewards patient readers with fresh insights.
Rebecca H, Reviewer
This was a really good book! I enjoyed the insight from the author. As one who teaches history, this was an interesting read - given the timeframe in which it was written, and the lengths that the author went to keep it protected against those who would have destroyed it.
This is a must read!
Liliyana S, Reviewer
OK I admit - I read this out of pure curiosity. I am not Christian by any stretch of the imagination, but this sounded so different from what I usually see in Christian non-fiction/spirituality books that I had to try. This. Was. Brilliant! A call for Christians to rise up against hatred is exactly what many Christians need to hear today. Even if you aren't Christian, you can't help but be impressed by Arnold and what he was writing, and urging others to do. A must-read,
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