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Reprint of: Discipleship: living for Christ in the daily grind / J. Heinrich Arnold. Rifton, NY: Plough Pub. House, c2011.
List of contents
Foreword
Introduction
The Disciple
The Inner Life
Repentance
Conversion
Faith
Dogmatism
Commitment
The Lower Nature
Purity
Trust
Reverence
Surrender
Sincerity
The Church
Church Community
Leadership
Gifts
Forgiveness
Unity
Church Discipline
Baptism
The Lord’s Supper
Love and Marriage
Family Life
Illness and Death
Evil and Darkness
The Fight
World Suffering
Mission
The Kingdom of God
Jesus
The Living Word
The Cross
Salvation
The Holy Spirit
The Kingdom of God
Index of Bible References
About the author
J. Heinrich Arnold (1913–1982) is best known for his books Discipleship and Freedom from Sinful Thoughts, which have helped thousands to follow Christ in their daily lives, and for his pastoral care as elder of the Bruderhof communities. When Arnold was seven, his parents founded the Bruderhof, a Christian community based on Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. As a young man, he refused to serve in Hitler's armed forces and was forced to flee Germany. He studied agriculture in Zurich, Switzerland, and in 1936 married Annemarie Wächter, a kindergarten teacher and fellow Bruderhof member. In 1938 they moved to England, where Heinrich managed the community’s farm. (The community had been expelled from Nazi Germany.) In 1941 the community was forced to emigrate to South America. In 1954, Heinrich Arnold and his family moved to the Woodcrest Community in Rifton, New York, the first of many Bruderhof communities in North America. From 1962 until his death, he served as elder and pastor of the growing movement. More details about Arnold's life can be found in his biography, Homage to a Broken Man, by Peter Mommsen.
Summary
Sometimes provocative but always encouraging, a pastor offers sage advice for leading Christ-like lives amid the stresses of modern life.
Perhaps the hardest thing about following Christ is translating our good intentions into deeds. Christ calls us, and we want to answer him, but time and again we lose resolve. Many of the selections in this book offer answers to specific problems. Others grapple with broader themes such as world suffering, salvation, and the coming of the kingdom of God. All of them pulsate with conviction and compassion, giving fresh hope to those who find themselves lonely or disheartened in the daily effort to follow Christ. Discipleship contains writings, letters, and talks from J. Heinrich Arnold’s forty years of service as a pastor in the Bruderhof Communities. In the tradition of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship and C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, Arnold makes the challenges and rewards of the Christian life accessible to people regardless of their religious background.
Foreword
- Feature in Plough Quarterly, circulation 16,000
- Featured on Plough’s website, 500,000 monthly visitors
