1. ‘Bonhoeffer’s theology is still relevant today.’ Discuss

Question 1

intro

Answer 1

• we had to reposed to Jesus call to submit yourself to Jesus way and to his leadership
• Religion is taking action on what needs to be done and should be separate from the state
• Costly grace and sacrifice and suffering
• not all relevant

Question 2

paragraph 1

Answer 2

• Costly grace – Christians need to be prepared to give up their lives and accept the cost or consequence in receiving God’s grace
• Christians who are persecuted today may need to follow his example and be prepared for certain situations
• Sacrifice and suffering – sacrifice material things and be prepared to suffer (living a noticeably different life to non-Christians) – others are likely to reject you
• Materialistic society and the disconnect that we have from others means that religion-less Christianity and costly grace may be seen as more relevant
• NOT RELEVANT: His circumstances where extreme and not what many Christians experience today – where many are widely accepted in society and are not persecuted for their views

Question 3

paragraph 2

Answer 3

• FURTHERED: too much emphasis on suffering
• Removes from what Jesus did and the sacrifice he made – this was a sacrifice so that we didn’t have to sacrifice or suffer ourselves
• HOWEVER: Jesus should be central starting point for all expressions of Christianity
• Little emphasis on Jesus more on the key role of the bible
• HOWEVER: The emphasis that he places on the bible might not be as relevant today as the bible is not always take as the first authoritative ‘figure’
• Following God’s will is important but it is not possible to do so without specific guidance form church authorities

Question 4

paragraph 3

Answer 4

• IS: Spiritual discipleship – all Christians should be prophets and preach to the world about Christianity
• ISN’T: Globalisation makes the world a very different place through the way everything is no interconnected, methods of communication and what we have are so different to the society that Bonhoeffer developed his ideas in so it is harder to use them and for them to be relevant
• Christianity already has no borders or boundaries (different world)

Question 5

conclusion

Answer 5

• He is of partial relevance in today’s society
• Following Christianity with Jesus as the central point, not being taken away from true belief via temptation of modernisation and those who are persecuted are all of some relevance today
• HOWEVER society and the world has changed drastically since Bonhoeffer’s teachings – segregation from society is not as prevalent, in many societies Christianity is the main religion of the country, globalisation means that there are no boundaries in the world and therefore it is hard to differentiate