Eberhard Arnold’s path to community of goods began with his concern for the poor. As a teenager he was impressed by his uncle Ernst Ferdinand Klein’s intervention on behalf of oppressed Silesian weavers and the poverty he encountered in his own work with the Salvation Army. In 1910 Eberhard read Zürich pastor Hermann Kutter’s book They Must, which pushed him toward religious socialism.

Over the next ten years, the Sermon on the Mount came to dominate Eberhard’s thinking, both in public and in private: How could the Christian life it described be applied practically? In 1920 this culminated in his decision to move to the village of Sannerz with his wife Emmy, sister-in-law Else, and a few other likeminded believers to form a Christian community.

Eberhard and Emmy’s concern for social justice and love to the poor led them to open their house to anyone who came. Emmy wrote, “Simplicity, poverty for the sake of Christ, was like an article of faith with us. How could we, who wanted to share the suffering of the masses in those post-war years, keep anything for ourselves?^[1]

In this community all possessions were shared, emulating the first Christians as described in Acts. Eberhard wrote, “It became clear to me that the first Christian community in Jerusalem was more than a historical happening; rather, it was here that the Sermon on the Mount came to life.”^[2] Eberhard felt Jesus’ call to a new life went far beyond what “duty” required. Faithfulness to this vision required total dedication, both materially and spiritually. It was a radical, narrow way of complete selflessness where all became brothers, where there was neither rich nor poor.

Still, for those living at Sannerz, the issue of community of goods was far more than a question of sharing resources. Having all things in common was a matter of giving concrete expression to a life lived entirely for God’s kingdom. As such, it was not primarily an economic arrangement, nor did Eberhard see it as a Christian “requirement.” Rather, he saw community of goods as a natural consequence of being gripped by God’s will for justice and peace: “The genuine love, the new justice that is for all – this is the truth of God’s kingdom.…Love men as you love yourselves; love them because you love God and because you have experienced that God loves all men. You accept that you are cared for in body and soul and spirit; therefore you must make the same possible for all men.”^[3]