Love and Marriage

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Our inner fire, yes, even our enthusiasm, our inspiration, and soul, and Eros—everything that is fire and love—must flow together with the one great light, with the holy Agape, with the heart of God, with Jesus Christ; and being born out of Him, it must gain new life in purity and power. It is quite clear that this means that everything which is greed, desire for possession, despotism, the demand of the individual, is consumed and completely spent in this sun fire. The one—the old world with its greed for possession—perishes, and the other—the new creation with its divine life that dedicates, embraces, and pours itself out in joy—is born.

- Eberhard Arnold

Marriage, this is what I call the resolve of two to create a unity which is more than those who created it. I call marriage reverence for one another and for the fulfillment of such a resolve. You should love this land of children, and may this love be your nobility. Faith as the power of truth which clarifies and frees from confusion, is the character of true marriage. Freedom does not demand intoxication or blindness, but power and clarity. Love opens up paradise.

- Eberhard Arnold

True community of marriage can move only from unity of spirit through the emotional into the physical. It can live, therefore, only in faithfulness, only and solely in steadfast, everlasting unity. This is possible only under the rulership of the Spirit. Only out of this can physical purity be desired. Only when the emotions are ruled by the Spirit can freeing and purification become reality.

- Eberhard Arnold

Additional Reading for Love and Marriage

Love Letters
These inspiring letters interweave a profound love for Jesus Christ with a deep love between two young people, as well as an utterly transparent search to do God’s will.
Poems and Rhymed Prayers
Poems and prayers that open a window on one man’s inmost thoughts, and show him at his most essential and Christ-centered. Each one can be a centering point for meditation and contemplation.
Eberhard Arnold: Writings Selected
Whether you’ve never read Eberhard Arnold before, or have already been profoundly affected by one of his books, this introductory selection from many of his important works will surprise and challenge you.
The Early Christians
What did Christianity look like before it became an institution? This collection of firsthand accounts of the early church includes excerpts from Origen, Tertullian, Polycarp, Clement of Alexandria, Justin, Irenaeus, and others — and equally revealing material from their critics, detractors and persecutors.