Bonhoeffer's theology [2]
- Created by: ekenny5
- Created on: 13-04-22 14:58
View mindmap
- Bonhoeffer's Theology [2] - the Cost of Discipleship
- 'When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die ... Suffering then, is the badge of true discipleship'
- Cheap Grace
- theological idea meaning God's love and mercy, given freely
- includes forgiveness of sins and the offer of eternal life
- it is not earned by humans but a freely given gift
- 'grace without price, grace without cost'
- it is not earned by humans but a freely given gift
- includes forgiveness of sins and the offer of eternal life
- Being a Christian means 'picking up your cross' as Jesus did
- BH was worried that Christians thought that as Jesus sacrificed himself for us, we did not have to do anything to receive his grace
- it is effectively a lie, not the grace of God but the grace we give ourselves
- easy Christianity is no Christianity at all
- 'cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of living the Word of God'
- theological idea meaning God's love and mercy, given freely
- Costly Grace
- grace that is the 'treasure hidden in a field' that a person would sell everything to obtain. Matthew 13:44
- something worth sacrificing everything for
- 'it is costly because it costs a man his life'
- in an unjust society, the Christian discipline is placed in a dangerous and precarious situation
- God's grace cannot be brought about by ritual and ceremony - this is cheap grace
- receiving grace means becoming subject to the absolute obedience of God
- 'above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son'
- grace that is the 'treasure hidden in a field' that a person would sell everything to obtain. Matthew 13:44
- Sacrifice and Suffering
- 'whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me' Mark 8:34
- suffering and sacrifice are inherent to discipleship
- 'the disciple is only a disciple as far as he shares his Lord's suffering and rejection and crucifixion
- the life of a Christian is a life of suffering for Christ
- it is Christianity's engagement with the world
- Christian life involves the burden of forgiveness - bearing the burden of the sins of others
- God suffers in solidarity with us
- Bonhoeffer realised he would have to pay the ultimate sacrifice for his actions
- 'BH's resistance was essentially an expression of his theology' Von Klemperer
- Solidarity
- 'existence for others'
- BH believed he had to experience the suffering that his people endured - he could have stayed away from Germany but chose not to
- The German Christians failed at acting in solidarity
- Jesus was a 'man for others' so we must be a 'Church for others'
- 'I am afraid that Christians who dare to stand with only one leg on Earth stand with only one leg in heaven'
- being there for others makes a Christian
- the purpose of being a Christian was not to be 'religious' but to be in a relationship with God through living for others
- Christian discipleship is participation with 'existence for others'
- God makes a bond of suffering with humanity
- Christians are called to live responsibly in the world
- The church must question whether the state's actions are legitimate
- must help victims of injustice of whatever faith or belief
- 'not just to bandage the victims under the wheel but to put a spoke in the wheel itself'
- must help victims of injustice of whatever faith or belief
Comments
No comments have yet been made