Bonhoeffer's theology [1]

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  • Created by: ekenny5
  • Created on: 13-04-22 14:07
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  • Bonhoeffer's Theology Summary [1]
    • The Church and State
      • CONTEXT: the Nazi ideology had strong influence on the Church, with church leaders showing their support, and promoting the Nazi Aryan Clause
      • Bonhoeffer accused Christians of not being true to their discipleship and the commands of God
        • He formed the Confessing Church who rejected the anti-Jewish rules
    • Obedience to God's Will
      • discipleship is a call to be obedient to the leadership of Jesus and the will of God
        • it is the exclusive obedience to the leadership of God
      • 'there is no road to faith or discipleship, no other road - only obedience to the call of Jesus'
        • 'let every person be subject to the governing authorities' St Paul
      • 'beside Jesus nothing has significance'
      • Bonhoeffer called for 'single minded obedience' - acting in response to demands of discipleship, with no time to think
        • simply actnig
        • reason, conscience, responsibility and piety all stand in the way of this
        • Jesus called Peter to risk his life and walk on the sea
        • 'we do not walk under our self-made laws and burdens'
    • Civil Disobedience
      • duty to God far outweighs duty to the state
      • Disagreed with Lutheran teaching that a Christian should obey the civil authority
      • Christians have a duty to disobey when the state is not in line with the ethics of the Church
        • what Hitler was  doing was gross distortions of God given order
      • tyrannicide (killing a tyrant for the common good) may be a Christian duty to establish social order
        • Bonhoeffer admitted that his attempt to kill Hitler could not be justified using ordinary ethical terms, but by 'bold action as the free response of faith'
          • God forgives 'the man who becomes a sinner in the process'
    • Community and Religionless Christianity
      • Christians should be moral people, and the Church must follow in its mission and be a sign for others. the 'visible community'
      • BH argued for religionless Christianity - Christianity without the baggage of the past and contamination of ideological beliefs
    • Finkenwalde
      • the Barmen Declaration was written at Finkenwalde by BH and Karl Barth
        • it reinstated the centrality of Christ as the way to God, rejecting any other leaders
          • nothing can have authority over people's lives other than God
      • Finkenwalde was a private seminary that trained ministers free of the Nazi ideology
        • marked with prayer, reflection and bible study
      • Proverbs 31:8 'who will speak up for those who are voiceless'
      • Bonhoeffer then went on to cirticise the leaders at Finkenwalde as he thought they failed to stand up to the tyranny

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