Bonhoeffer - Christianity

Question 1

Bonhoeffer early life

Answer 1

Born 1906. Educated at Tübingen uni, valuing academics highly.
Visited Rome on 18th Birthday - taking with St Peter’s Basilica and on Palm Sunday went to mass; he saw people of all races and ethnicities celebrating this Christian moment all together - the universal Church

Question 2

Deutschechristians

Answer 2

Nazi Christians who pushed for a Nazified version of the Church (Reichskirche), full of nationalist ideals

Draws attention to how tradition leads to absent minded following a halt in questioning

Question 3

‘The Church is the Church…’

Answer 3

… only when it exists for others’ - Bonhoeffer

Question 4

The Confessing Church

Answer 4

Founded by Bonhoeffer in response to Hitler’s founding of the German Evangelical Church in 1934

Hitler removed all non-aryan clergy

The Confessing Church made the Barmen declaration, mostly written by Barth, where they rejected governmental interference in the Church and affirmed the Bible as the source of revelation

Question 5

Finkenwalde

Answer 5

Where Bonhoeffer held an illegal secret seminary - a form of civil disobedience

He introduced seminarians to his method of daily meditating on the Bible - this shows the individuality of religion

Question 6

What music did Bonhoeffer introduce to his seminarians

Answer 6

The African American church music he had experience in NYC

Clifford Green remarked on the significance of this that young men trained in rigorous systematic theology ‘encountered for the first time the Social Gospel, the need for moral responsibility in the world’

Question 7

What did Solidarity mean for Bonhoeffer

Answer 7

It refers to the purpose of Christian life being about relationship to God by living with and for others - this is what convinced him to return to Germany and get involved in resistance, despite his escape to America.

He thought he would have ‘no right’ to help restore Christianity in Germany post-war unless he shared ‘the trials of this time with my people’

Question 8

What part of the Bible did the Reichskirche try to cut out

Answer 8

The Old Testament, to rid any Jewish remnants

Denying Christianity’s roots of persecution with Jesus himself being a Jew

Question 9

Religionless Christianity

Answer 9

‘No fluff’ to stop self from being a Christian; a separation from ideology - he thought the Church was an impediment to that

Religion implies we have different labels we apply to ourselves

Bonhoeffer wanted an emphasis on the individual Christian being Christian rather than just associated with the group

He was an inclusivist, but upholds the role of Jesus and doesn’t want to preclude other

Question 10

Inclusivist

Answer 10

No other religions are wrong, but they are just missing out on an important piece of information - Jesus

Question 11

Exclusivist

Answer 11

Only Christianity is right

Question 12

Costly Discipleship

Answer 12

‘Silence in the face of evil is evil… not to act is to act’ - Bonhoeffer

Asks the question ‘What does Christianity want from me?’ - links to LT; living like a Christian rather than just thinking like one

Bonhoeffer calls Christians who don’t go into harms way ‘self-deluding’ and ‘hypocritical’

Dichotomy between private righteousness versus responsible action

Question 13

Private righteousness

Answer 13

The Pharisees who do as they’re told and follow tradition to avoid punishment from God

Question 14

Responsible action

Answer 14

Where you out and go against tradition to make a change and a difference

Question 15

Biblical evidence of Costly Discipleship

Answer 15

Garden of Gestheminy, where Jesus asked God if there was any way to avoid the crucifixion, but realised it was his destiny

Analogous to Bonhoeffer, who was offered a chance to escape Nazi jail but declined it

Question 16

How did Finkenwalde ordinands demonstrate costly grace

Answer 16

They were required to meditate for hours

Question 17

Within Bonhoeffer’s Christocentrism, where did he focus most

Answer 17

The Sermon on the Mount

This preaches humility and sacrifice

His faith is in Jesus specifically

Putting himself in harms way, akin to Jesus, and dies for sacrifice

Question 18

What did Bonhoeffer call the religion of those who follow traditions blindly

Answer 18

‘Dead religion’

Reminiscent of Nietzsche?

Question 19

What issue arises from Bonhoeffer’s focus on the Sermon on the Mount

Answer 19

Do we just want Christianity to be the Sermon on the Mount?

The focus on this preach of humility makes his assassination plan for Hitler inconsistent

Question 20

Jesus would assassinate Hitler

Answer 20

Precedents of war in OT
- Unclear what Jesus thought of this? Is OT still relevant after Jesus?
- Very complicated picture

Liberation Theology - Jesus as a revolutionary

Question 21

Jesus wouldn’t assassinate Hitler

Answer 21

Jesus’ self sacrifice

Love your enemies

Jesus didn’t directly oppose the Romans

‘Turn the other cheek’

‘It is necessary’ that Christians obey their rulers since the rulers are ‘God’s servant for your good’ - Paul in Romans 13

Question 22

How did Bonhoeffer adopt some Augustinian ideas

Answer 22

He thought we should listen to our conscience and that scripture should be read personally

**Augustinian Antinomianism

‘Without me you can do nothing’ - Jesus in John 55 - submission to God’s will

Question 23

Was Bonhoeffer scripturally justified to attempt to assassinate Hitler

Answer 23

No, he contradicts it

His theology is dependent on individual reasoning and so can be a misrepresentation of what God wants (Hans Breivik) - it becomes highly individualistic

It leads us to an Antinomian Christianity that is so individualistic it could lead to any outcome

Question 24

What is the impact of Bonhoeffer’s theology being inherently anti-authoritarian in an authoritarian world?

Answer 24

Christianity is the norm in the West, so you have to say that Christianity is totally wrong to follow Bonhoeffer’s theory

In addition, it inherently has an enemy because he wants us to live as Jesus did; amongst our enemies. This consequently creates lines and divisions to make an ‘us’ and a ‘them’ for his theology

Raises the question as to whether his theology only works in war time

Question 25

What two key things does Bonhoeffer highlight

Answer 25

Urgency of action and obedience to God, rather than religion

Question 26

What does Bonhoeffer’s theology amplify

Answer 26

The battle between good and evil that exists in Christianity

working as individuals though

Question 27

Criticisms of Bonhoeffer

Answer 27

His theology is:
- Divisive
- Counter-productive
- Undermines the power of joint action, promulgated by the Church

Jesus wasn’t necessarily trying to champion the oppressed, but bring them up to a societally accepted level

Its political nature makes it become a form of ‘worldly’ Christianity - many Christinas think you have to right in this world but it has little consequence in the LR

Question 28

Karl Barth similarity with Bonhoeffer

Answer 28

Both saw what was happening in Germany and saw the same errors emerging

Question 29

Difference of Barth with Dietricht Bonhoeffer

Answer 29

Bonhoeffer put more power into the hands of individuals, whilst Barth denied the ability of human beings to understand God and what He wants for us

Bonhoeffer felt we had to get rid of the Church and religion, returning to a more traditional Christianity where people weren’t sheep and take individual responsibilities

Barth felt humans couldn’t be trusted to understand God and His will. He thought the only real answer was to listen and trust what God has told us to do; stop trying to reason

Question 30

Barth’s Neo-Orthodox view

Answer 30

Approaching the Bible with humility and meditating on it in a community of believers can create an encounter with Jesus

Bonhoeffer adopted this

Question 31

How does the Neo-Orthodox view protect Bonhoeffer’s theology

Answer 31

He thinks legalism is wrong; the will of God is not the stale set of ancient ethical rules written in the Bible. It is alive in a Christian church community. Each new day and situation needs a renewed attempt to understand the will of God

Finkenwalde is where he tried putting this to action

Question 32

‘[The Bible] contains no…

Answer 32

… ethical precept which we may or even can adopt literally’ – Bonhoeffer.

Question 33

Civil disobedience

Answer 33

Bonhoeffer thought that part of a Christian’s responsibility to the state is not only to obey its laws that encourage law and order but also to disobey their leaders if they act against the interests of the state and God’s will.

He engaged in civil disobedience by taking part in the confessing Church and the illegal seminary at Finkenwalde; arguably his plot to kill Hitler went beyond ‘civil’ action

Question 34

Evaluation of Civil Disobedience

Answer 34

There are many historical instances where people have done terrible things because they thought they had the will of God on their side (France that massacre of Catholics and then Protestants)

Even Nazi soldiers had the slogan ‘God is on our side’ on their belts

Paul Hill murdered an abortion doctor and claimed to be inspired by Bonhoeffer

George Bush cited Bonhoeffer to justify his war on terror

Question 35

How would Bonhoeffer respond to the evaluation of Civil Disobedience

Answer 35

Acting according to God’s will for B requires that we put aside both our human ethics and our personal desires for it to be a truly selfless act - the injunction of ‘Love thy neighbour’ was thought be B to require selflessness of us

This makes his recommendation less susceptible to justifying terrible things

The Nazis didn’t put aside their selfish ideas and neither did Bush

Question 36

Response to Bonhoeffer’s rebuttal to the evaluation of Civil Disobedience

Answer 36

It is impossible to truly put aside your own mind; your desires shape your perspective on the world in a deep and inescapable way

Harvey Cox claimed Bonhoeffer’s theology is like a Rorschach test; it revealed the theological presuppositions of the reader

The fact that such an inconsistent variety of people have drawn inspiration from Bonhoeffer suggests he is just providing an excuse for people to do as they will

Question 37

How do secularists argue against Bonhoeffer

Answer 37

They want a complete separation of Church and State, even rejecting the idea that the Church could act as a check on the state

They may argue that the Church is more corruptible due to its lack of democracy

‘The long peace’ is the significant level of peace after the Second World War to present day. Secularists use it to argue that the rise of secular liberal democracy is good and how unnecessary religion is for maintains social order

Thus, B’s view that the Church should act as a check on state power is unnecessary today and so relevant no more

Question 38

How does Stanley Hauerwas defend Bonhoeffer from secularism

Answer 38

Says how western democracies practice religious tolerance for pragmatic reasons without concern for religious truth.

Pragmatism without truth, leading to indifference and then cynicism.

Liberal secular western societies have undermined theological and religious truth which creates a void vulnerable to being filled by totalitarian powers

He is saying we lack purpose and guidance without religion and without purpose people don’t realise their freedom is being taken away

Arguably Bonhoeffer has a point that the Church can act as a useful moral compass for society to protect against this possibility

Question 39

‘Whoever wants to be my…

Answer 39

… disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ - Mark 8:34-35

Suggests costly action is required for true discipleship

Question 40

Critique of costly discipleship

Answer 40

Irrelevant today

Bonhoeffer’s emphasis on suffering made more sense contemporarily, resisting Nazi rule

We live in times of relative peace and security and thus suffering is not as required

Question 41

Defence of costly discipleship

Answer 41

Jesus called on us to sacrifice like he did and arguably that was the primary meaning of discipleship.

Our cross might be different from his but there are still sacrifices we can and should make today to prevent evil like racism/sexism and global issues involving war and climate change.

Question 42

Examples of successful resistance to tyranny using non-violent resistance

Answer 42

Ghandi’s liberation of India from the British

MLK was a Christian who had a different view to B about the effectiveness and morality of violence in civil disobedience

Arguably, Ghandi and King’s method is morally superior and more true to Christian ethics compared to Bonhoeffer’s which allows violence

Question 43

Defence of Bonhoeffer’s violent civil disobedience from non-violent

Answer 43

Jesus’ pacifism ‘worked’ because he was raised from the dead and thereby saved us from our sins

MLK’s pacifism ‘worked’ against the evil of racism in America, so B would provably have approved

However, it would not have worked against Hitler so B thought that fulfilling God’s will required violence

Non-violent resistance works only if the tyrant has a problem with killing peaceful protestors

This shows Bonhoeffer’s theology remains relevant because it’s saying you must figure out how to resist evil in your situation and have that it’s God’s will to act on that and that He will forgive you if you’re mistaken.

In this Fallen world it is the best moral approach a Christian can hope for and it is what God wants of us - He wants us to act

Question 44

Aquinas on civil disobedience and duty to the state vs God

Answer 44

We can disobey laws if they are bad for us, only if the fallout from the disobeying is not as bad though

If the law is opposed to Divine Law e.g idolatry, then Christians mustn’t follow those laws

‘We ought to obey God rather than man’ - Acts 5:29

Aquinas’ view is therefore much simpler than Bonhoeffer’s about when civil disobedience is justified and there’s much less risk of it justifying evil acts, being misinterpreted or misapplied

Question 45

Aquinas’ Primary Precepts rejection of Bonhoeffer

Answer 45

‘To live in an orderly society’ is one of Aquinas’ Primary Precepts and thus civil disobedience could be seen to be hindering the ability to follow this precept, so long as the cause it is going against is not destroying this itself

Question 46

Defence of Bonhoeffer from Aquinas’ duty to state vs God criticism

Answer 46

Bonhoeffer mostly agreed with Barth that human reason was corrupted and so cannot be relied upon to know the primary precepts

So, Aquinas’ criticism fails due to the lack of validity that the argument it is derived from holds - only faith in God’s revelation in the Bible works

Question 47

‘The finite has no

Answer 47

Capacity for the infinite’ - Karl Barth

Question 48

Aquinas’ defence of his theology from OG sin

Answer 48

Only rational beings can sin - the doctrine of original sin claims that post-lapsarian humans are sinners

It follows that we must still be rational to some degree; our reason therefore still inclines us, through synderesis, towards goodness

Question 49

Does Aquinas’ defence of his theology hold up?

Answer 49

Barth still seems correct that our corruption makes our reasoning about God’s existence and morality also corrupted

Even if there is natural law, we are unable to follow it reliably as the bad in our nature unfortunate means we cannot rely on the good.

Whatever a weak and misled conscience discovers is too unreliable

Question 50

This-worldliness

Answer 50

A concept B used to describe the way in which he thinks Christianity should be less about personal pursuit of salvation and more about ‘sharing God’s sufferings in the world’

He initially thought that living a holy life would help him acquire faith, but came to think instead that ‘only by living completely in this world’ enables one to have faith

This worldliness focuses Christians on the concrete actions and sacrifices they would have to make in this world to stand their ground against evil in the service of God’s will

Question 51

Religionless Christianity

Answer 51

A form of Christianity Bonhoeffer thought should emerge following the ‘world come of age’, meaning humanity reached a level of maturity such that it no longer depended on the traditional legalistic form of religion in the past

B thought this could be a good opportunity for a new Christianity to assert itself, because it makes irrelevant the theological baggage, rusty swords and cheap grace of traditional religion and enables us to focus on what it means to live like a disciple of Jesus and trying to follow God’s will

The success of this defence of a version of Christianity which works in the secular age is vital to the validity and relevance of B’s theology

Question 52

Critique of religionless Christianity

Answer 52

Some argue B has gone too far in making Christianity relevant in modern secular times by stripping Christianity of its doctrinal content in appeasement of secularism

Question 53

How did Nietzsche influence Bonhoeffer

Answer 53

Prompted him to discuss religionless Christianity and this-worldliness

Nietzsche thought that the rise of secularism led to the death of God and thus a need to find our own ethic

He thought Christianity’s influence on us was to infect us with the idea of ‘sin’ and ‘otherworldliness’ - the idea we could only have purpose through a supernatural thing we could never live up to, thereby undermining our confidence in asserting our own purpose, making us reliant on religion

Nietzsche likened Christianity to a bloodsucking parasite

The nihilistic void will linger until become fully free of Christianity’s influence on us, telling us we need cosmic purpose in order to have purpose or moral guidance